With God's Help in 2013 I will...

With God's Help in 2013 I Will...

It has to be more than resolutions by John Godfrey  



I want to Live life on Purpose! Life without living it on purpose passes by far too quickly! Before we know it we are near the end looking back and we have moved to the beat of others drums.


Without living on purpose we miss many of the opportunities to be with the ones we love, we miss their input into our lives and they miss ours. Sadly the time lost can never be returned to us. In the end our relationships are left weak and frail. We need each  other throughout life and that has to be done on purpose. It takes effort! I want to do better this next year at loving my family and friends and living on purpose for them. 



I want to Treat Others with Respect! Regardless of personal, religious, or political differences I need to be respectful. No one deserves a “know it all” attitude from me so even though I will always be open and honest, I'll try to do so with respect and answer tactfully.

God gave us the freedom to make choices even if we choose the wrong ones. We live with the consequences of our choices, so why should I do less for others? I'll share my values, guidelines, and input where necessary without hesitation, but I will never attempt force to my views on others. Others are due respect no matter how old or how young.


I want to Give More of Myself and Expect Less in return! My closets are full of clothes and other items that I do not use or need. There are things I can do to help the less fortunate and I need to do them. Time, Money, Clothing, Shoes, and more of my blessings are being wasted when they could be used. I want to be more aware of the needs of others and how I can help them. I want to be a giver and not a taker!

I want to Give God More of my time and effort! Days, weeks, and years pass by without thought of eternity or our purpose while here on Earth. Everyone has a reason for living, breathing, and being. God cannot, or maybe I should say will not use us if we do not make ourselves available without reserve. Of course that's not always easy to do and I'll most likely fail at times, but anyone that continually travels down the wrong highway in life will end up with an unfulfilled and empty existence. Life is not about stuff, it's about sharing and helping each other along the way as we follow God's leading. It takes strength to stand and give more time to God when others mock; its always easier to walk away, but we are told to stand in order to find our life purpose.

I want to Stand Strong even if it is on my own regardless of the manipulators and the pressure from others! No, I'm not saying that we should ignore others suggestions completely, however once I come to a decision that I feel is morally, spiritually, and economically correct for me and those I love, I will stand on that belief. I will not be forced to fit into any individual's, or any group's idea of what I should be, what I should do, or how I should act. Those decisions are between me and God.

I will do my best to avoid the manipulators that feel their way is always the “right way” and that everyone must follow their lead. I'll avoid the controllers that for the sake of getting their own way, have their own laws of life, but disrespect others feelings or wishes. In a way they live by the rules of their own minds and do not believe others have the right or the intelligence to make decisions. They lack faith and belief in others and everything must be their way. Selfish Manipulators and Controllers will be treated kindly, but for the most part they will disregarded in my decision process. God help me from manipulating or controlling others to further my own agenda or to simply be in control.

I want to Practice Forgiveness! As much as is humanly possible I want to forgive those that have wronged me, my family, and my friends. Some forgiveness can only come with God's help and I already know it will come hard, but I want to be available to let Him forgive others through me just as God has forgiven me. I cannot expect God to forgive my failures without forgiving others.

I want to Control my Tongue and even my Writing! Gossip, slander, or ridicule in any form, be it spoken or written, is wrong and hurtful. Every time someone is mentioned in a negative way by me or others it is a form of attack and personal destruction against that person. No doubt, some people are completely evil and need to be spoken against, but I'm speaking of normal everyday people that we know and associate with at work, in church, or in our relationships. The Bible says that the tongue has the power to kill. Good people in churches, groups, or personal relationships do easily get caught up in gossip and many feel it is okay to do so. Why? Because many times we feel that the gossip is true, but that matters not because its still destructive. I know I'm not perfect in this, I've done it. Even so, God forgives and forgets so when do we do the same? My goal is to move on with my life and not be stuck in the mud with others that have failed because I've failed as well. Or, in other words why should we throw stones when we live in glass houses of our own,

Finally, with God's help I want to be More Creative with the hands and mind that He has given me. God is the great Creator of all things and my desire is to be a small part of his continuing work by creating what I can. It may be writing, photography, music, or a combination of all three? Regardless, I want to express what I feel in a creative way because a person that is creating things has little time to be destructive.

Final note.
Throughout this past year and my life in general I have failed many times at all of these things, however should I stay in this rut simply because of my past?

With God's help these Eight things can transform my life in 2013. When I Focus my attention on: Purpose; Respect; Giving; God; Standing Strong; Forgiveness; Control My Speech; and Creativity, my life will be moving in the right direction. If not, then my life will be on my usual self-centered terms.  Time is fleeting for us all.

These things really are important to me. They are not rules and rituals that I feel are necessary for me to earn a place in Heaven, no not at all because I firmly believe and know that Heaven is because of my acceptance and belief in Jesus plus nothing and minus nothing. We cannot earn it or buy it through our quote "Good Works", "Traditions" or "Rituals". If we could work our way in then Heaven would be because of us and not because of Him and that does not match with Holy Scripture. No, these resolutions for the lack of a better word are just common sense things to help me be a better person and more true to who I fail to be, but really who I want to be. If I slip, I pray I'll get up and try again.

So what is important to you in the year ahead?  Lord willing 2013 will come and go before we know it, or who knows all things could come to a finale and that would not surprise me at all. Think about it!  My hope is that you will have a Happy and Fulfilling New Year!

HAPPY 2013!

Easter and Motion Sickness

In about one hour from the beginning of my starting this post Easter 2012 will be a reality. I have no doubt that Easter and all that it represents is a reality of historical fact and is without a doubt one of our most basic spiritual truths as well. If there was no first Easter; no bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; then our faith is in vain. Without the first Easter we have nothing and our Christianity would be based on a lie. So, the first Easter and Christianity as well are either absolute truth or absolute fiction. We cannot have it both ways. I won't go into the reasons as to why I believe in the absolute truth of Easter, but I will just say that in my life's journey for me it would require less faith to believe than it would to for me not to believe. Over the centuries since Christ's resurrection untold millions have come to the same conclusion and they have lived and died with that hope.

However, for those of us that still are alive and live in that hope I can't help it but I find myself looking at how far we have come both in our observance of Easter and our worship services in general. The things I'm about to say may sound judgmental, but that is not the reason for my writing. God knows I have no room to judge anyone. I know that what I'm about to say may offend some even though that is not my intention at all. Others may even call my words heresy, but I guess that's okay too because the religious crowd accused Jesus of the same. Not that my words are on equal grounds as Jesus by any means, no they are far from it, but its just a fact that some people clearly do not like to hear anything that is unusual or different from what they have always heard or have been taught. Truth is some can get down right angry if you have a different opinion regarding church matters! If you don't believe me then I suggest you do a little research regarding church start ups and you will find that many began after a church split or fight. It's an ugly fact, but unfortunately it's a true one. However I'll leave that subject alone for another time.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I suffer from "Motion Sickness". No not the kind you feel when aboard a ship or spinning in a circle, no this is a sickness caused by going through the motions, specifically in this case I mean our "religious motions" that we find ourselves going through in the name of Christianity.

Recently I listened to a well known preacher on the radio that said something that took me completely by surprise. He wondered out loud about how far we as Christians have drifted back toward some of the forms of worship that were followed during the time of Christ without knowing it? Those early religious practices where mostly religious traditions that, if you lived back then, well you were expected to follow or you would be considered a heathen or blasphemer. This was not from Jesus perspective, but it was from the religious crowd. He then said that whether we know it or not it seems that many times we Christians, or at least those that claim the name of Jesus, fall into the same trap in the things we religiously expect of each other. And on top of that we find ourselves believing that our actions are exactly what God expects before He will notice us or give us His favor. Here are a few examples.

Some Christians believe you must wear certain clothes, or speak a certain Christian lingo, or wear your hair a certain way, or your church pastors must comb their hair and wear their suites with almost the same look, or some believe that churches that sing "the old hymns" are quote spiritual while the ones that sing praise type music are not. Some believe that if you do not act the way they do then you are not even a Christian. Others believe that if you're not in a church every time the door is open then you must be less of a Christian or worse... not one at all! We go on and proudly say that we are not "conformed" to this world while we follow the same expected traditions that our fathers and forefathers set up in the past. We never seem to question if our traditions are really from God. We have become conformed to each others expectations and not necessarily to Gods expectations. Basically, we put God in our box where He can fit into our way of doing things and God help the one that tries to do anything different in our midst. Its sad, but unfortunately we sometimes can feel real good about ourselves just by looking down at those that are not like us. Funny that judging others can make us feel spiritual, go figure?

Some go even deeper by going through ceremonies and rituals following their church traditions in order to gain favor with God or to reach a quote "higher status". Others also add more works to gain salvation. Its an endless cycle that many may even question to themselves, however they do not dare to express an opposite view lest they be ostracized from the so-called faithful. I have heard people say things like ..."I covet your prayers" even though the Bible says "Thou shalt not covet". One church has a praise team to lead the service so others have to have one too. Churches have two services in order to get the quote "Traditional" old timey crowd and the other service is called "Contemporary" in hopes of getting the young folks that like up-beat worship. I'm not saying this is bad, I really don't know? Yet is all this really necessary to be given a chance to be a true follower and worshiper of a living and self-described loving God? It seems that we cannot become one as a body of believers because we keep splitting each other up at every turn!

We go through these same motions in our American churches every Sunday, or others go through the motions on Saturday, and I have to say that all of this working and jerking has led me to feel a little "Motion Sickness". Don't get me wrong I'm not against churches at all, after all Jesus is the head of the church. But, is all of this on going motion that we line up and follow really the church? Honestly, is that where we are in our faith? Or a better question would be...is that where we should be in our faith? Do you and I have to act just alike in order to be considered Christian? Do we all have to jump through the same religious hoops? Or did God have a plan for you or me that is different from my neighbor? If so do I need to judge my neighbor because he isn't just like me? Other than the basic fundamentals of the faith that include believing the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus to pay for our sin and then accepting that as a free gift from God to me...well then ...I think not. Its not my place to be the judge of others.

Easter and Christianity mean that you accept as fact that Jesus died on the cross for you and that he literally rose from the dead on the third day. He conquered death for you and I. You either accept that as fact by faith or you reject it and choose your own way. Jesus said..."Follow me". He never said follow others. When we think that others must follow ours or our churches religious ways of doing things then we are simply stuck in traditions and going through the motions. If you think about it and realize what we expect from each other in the name of religion then you may join me by feeling a little "Motion Sickness".

Jesus was, and is, Easter in the flesh. Don't you think that we should stop adding our traditions, our rituals, our own works, and our own religious twist that do nothing more than make us feel spiritual. That is why Jesus said that in the last day he will say to many "Depart from me I never knew you." Sad words that will be spoken to religious people as well. The Bible also says that "Our works are like filthy rags in the sight of God". It also says that none are righteous...do you understand what the word NONE means? Of course you do. In plain words there ain't nothin' you can do to make God accept you and there ain't none of us that stand a chance to be good enough to be righteous in God's eyes outside of the blood shed for us by Jesus. Take it or leave it.



Unfortunately, Easter morning is one of those times when churches are full of people going through the motions and many are there in order to feel spiritually good about themselves. They are in the mode of religious ritual and tradition and they are not there to worship the one true God. Easter is about a God that traveled through time and space to pay our debt in a way that we never could ourselves. Our motives for church attendance should be more than just motions in front of others.

I wonder if God ever gets "Motion Sickness".

PS...For those of you that believe you have to add more to what Jesus did that first Easter then you have missed Easter all together. When Jesus said "It is finished" He alone had completed the work of redemption. He had no need for another to finish his task. To think otherwise is a false belief. I hope you will think it through.