January 2019
By Seth Halpern/Editor Happy New Year! Hello January! Many of us have been waiting for you. For some reason, January is the acceptable starting point. The kickoff, runners starting block, tip-off or first hole depending on which sport you’re playing. Every January, fitness centers see a huge surge in membership. Whether it’s getting in shape, a new try at dieting, stopping smoking, or whatever it is we need to change, January is the month to start. But Why? Is it simply because we hang a new calendar? Do we have to wait until January to start? Are we so conditioned by New Year’s Resolutions that we can’t try to better ourselves any other time of year? After all, we know that most resolutions Sponsor Spotlight: Angel Reynoso State Farm Insurance
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don’t make it past mid-January! The reality is that we can try to change any day of the year. January 1 is no better a day to make a positive change than April 24th or October 7th. Yet, we even make spiritual beginnings on January 1st. How many devotional or Bible reading plans begin on July 15th? No, they begin on January 1 (unless they are the non-dated type). Wouldn’t it be great to have a “Life Reset” button? You know, when things are just going badly and you just need a fresh start. For some, it might be a relationship gone sour. For others, it’s an addiction that you can’t beat. For many of us, it could be the areas of heart that only we (and GOD) know about. Those secret areas, pet sins, prideful attitudes or maybe
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the opposite. Maybe nagging insecurities or painful memories. Yes, it would be nice to have a “Reset” button to do away with the past and start all over. Unfortunately, while devices that clear memory or reformat peoples’ minds may be seen in some sci-fi films, our current reality doesn’t have such a device. However, there is something that works in the spiritual realm. The truth is that we can change anytime. In fact, the Lord would be pleased for us to hit the “reset” button just as soon as we’ve failed, confessed, and repented. That is His Reset button. He calls us to do exactly that. He doesn’t want you or I to spend one more minute in anxiety, insecurity, failure or sin. I’m NOT saying that life will be perfect,
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happy and free of trouble or suffering. The Lord does not promise a Pollyanna experience in this life on earth. Yet, while the situation that we find ourselves in may not be great, our heart, soul, mind and spirit can be right with God and totally at peace. Getting back to the things that need to change, whatever area we need to change, God will help you. If you are willing, the Holy Spirit will tell you what areas need to change. Again, these may be outward destructive behaviors like addiction or gluttony, etc or inward matters of the heart (judgementalism, racism, insecurity, anxiety, etc). When you read God’s Word (the Bible), the Holy Spirit will convict
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