The Only way to start the New Year (Part 1 of 2)

Are you tired and frustrated about not keeping up with your New Year’s resolutions?

Here we are again; this is the New Year. We are contemplating the challenges last year brought and looking ahead to the new opportunities the New Year will bring. We have been here before. We have made promises and resolutions before, but days and weeks into the new year, those promises and resolutions are long forgotten, and we go back to our ways of living.

Hello friends, I am Dan Fenco. I am here to encourage you in your faith walk with God.

Perhaps you are tired of doing that and gave up on making promises and resolutions for the new year. You may want to try to do something different. Let me tell you that there is a “better way” to start your new year, and that is starting your new year with God!

Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us – tells us in the Gospel of Matthew, “to seek first the kingdom of God and His justice.” Here are FIVE things that will help you have the best year ever.

STEP 1: Recognize that you can’t do it on your own

The truth is that we have tried to do life on our own and in our own way, and for most of us, it is not going well. We cannot do life alone; we need our creator to help and guide us. God, the creator of heaven and earth, is ready and willing to help us. He created us and knows exactly what we need. The first step is recognizing that we need God’s help to do our life.

STEP 2: Repent and ask for forgiveness

Once you recognize that this God is here to help you. Once you realize that you cannot do it alone and need God, the next step is to turn to God. And we turn to God by acknowledging that we have not followed God’s commands and desires. That means that we have sinned against God, and we have also sinned against our neighbor because we have not loved our neighbor the way God wants us to. Repentance is turning from our evil ways towards the ways of God. Repent and ask God to forgive you for not following His commands. God promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). Repenting and asking for forgiveness is the second step. This step can be done daily or weekly. We sin every day, and we must repent and confess our sins every day.

STEP 3: Read the Bible

The only way you can know what God desires for your life, and the only way to see the heart of God is by reading the Scriptures. The Bible is the Word of God; that is how He speaks to us, and there is no other way. I get it. God may not tell you which college to go to or which career to follow, but He will say to you that no matter where you are, He is there with you . . . and that gives us hope and trust in Him. The more you read/hear His Word, the more you get to know God and grow in a closer relationship with Him. It’s ok if you are not good at reading. There are audio and video messages that you can listen to. The point is that you listen/read God’s Word. Click HERE for some resources that you can listen to.

This is the first of two blogs discussing a “better way” to start your new year, which is starting your new year with God! Let me know what you think about these three things we talked about. Click HERE to go to the next blog.