Your BEST Year Ever
Your BEST Year Ever!
In the midst of this uncertain time, are you ready to have your best year ever? Did you set some New Year resolutions or choose your word of the year? I would love to know what a great year would look like for you. Have you made a list or formulated a plan? Or are you just waiting to see what happens?
As the new year began, I was reading from Oswald Chamber’s, My Utmost for His Highest. I love his devotional because he is a straight shooter, never sugar coating God’s word. The devotional on January 1 focuses on Philippians 1:20 (I am listing the NLT version to make it easier for us to understand.) which says,
… For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
Oswald then says, “It’s as if Paul were saying, My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest – my best for His glory.” He concluded that “Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted.” As I read that, my best for His glory, lept off the page and resonated deep within my heart. That is what I want – I want to give my best for His glory. God has given me His best and I want to give it back to Him.
My Best for His Glory! (Don’t you love that?)
Are you all in? Are you ready to have your best year ever? Isn’t it time you gave your best all for the glory of the Lord?
Ways to offer my BEST for His Glory
1. Show up to offer your BEST. Do you know that God wants to spend time with you? He wants you to know Him more and has invited you into an intimate relationship with Him. He wants more than you just barely doing enough to check it off your To Do List. How & when can you show up to spend quality time with Him – reading His word, spending time in prayer and being quiet so your spirit can hear from Him? My best time is first thing in the morning – before the world enters into my day. This is when my house is quiet, my mind is clear, and I can make the time to be still.
2. The BEST Priorities are His Priorities for you. What does God want you to do? Who does He want you to become? Do you know the answer to these questions? If not, start asking Him. He tells us in Philippians 2:3, Let nothing be done for selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind esteem others better than himself. So, in other words, it’s not about you. God wants us to be different, to stand out, to be like Him. So, if your priorities for this year are self-centered, re-evaluate them and make changes where they are needed (here are the 3 most popular)…
Exercise / Lose Weight – Is this a priority because you are concerned with your appearance, want to show off a six pack or wear a size 6 jean? Is this priority all about you? Or is your priority to honor God in your daily habits and to get healthy so you can show up to love and serve others?
Save More Money – Is this because you find your security in your savings account? Do you feel like it gives you control over your future? Or is your priority to be wise in the way you handle your finances? Do you obey God’s word and tithe first, take care of your responsibilities, and then save - remembering that God also wants you to be generous to others?
Pursuing Success – Why is a title important to you? Why do you need to be recognized for your accomplishments? What is it you are trying to prove? Our priority should be to say YES to what it is God has for us. We are to acknowledge that every good and perfect gift (including our job, our income, our career path) comes from above and it is Him who gets all the glory. Our focus should be on becoming a good steward of the position or platform He has given us and to allow Him to use it how He sees fit.
3. Choose to Do your BEST. Instead of living a life that brings us shame (poor decisions, pride, arrogance, laziness, etc.), we can choose to be bold and live a life that magnifies Christ. How? How do we do that? God sent His Son to not only be our Savior, but to show us how to live. However, there is a big difference in acting Christlike and becoming like Christ. (Check out 5 Steps you can take to Becoming More Like Christ. Scroll through the blog. In July, I wrote about each step.) We are to be growing and changing – transforming into who it is God is calling us to become.
We are to love others the way He does – not judging and condemning.
We are to offer grace the way He has offered us His amazing grace. It is a gift. Instead of holding onto offenses, we are to offer grace and let it go.
We are to be humble. Philippians 2:5-11 tells us that we are to be like Jesus, the King of Kings, who became a bondservant and humbled Himself to God even to the point of death. Jesus lived a life on earth fully surrendered to God and that is what we are to do.
4. Use your BEST for His glory. What is the best of what God has given you? How does God want to use your gifts and your talents? You have some and He surely wants to use them. Will this year be the year that you will say, Yes to God? Is there something you know you are supposed to do, but it seems crazy to you and you are scared? It is scary to step into the unknown. Mark Batterson said and I paraphrase because his book isn’t in front of me – Sometimes God puts us in ‘this is crazy’ situations, so we can experience ‘this is awesome’ moments.
I get it. This is why we must choose to trust and obey. I think it is crazy you are reading words that I have written. I have nothing that qualifies me to write. But can I tell you a secret? It is awesome when someone shares that the words I have written prompted them to take a step closer to Jesus. God uses our obedience in ways we could never imagine. Wow. So, if God has called you – be bold and sing your song, write that book, bake those cookies, feed the homeless, share the plan of salvation, design that living room, open that business, do your job well, create, raise those babies, teach your students, encourage others, serve, lead, step up, etc. Do what God is asking you to do. Do your best – using the best of what God has given you – to point others to Jesus and to bring glory to His name. Nothing on your To Do List is better than that.
May this be your BEST YEAR EVER because you chose to give God your best. I am praying for you, sweet friend. God has given you so much – the gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ. For those of us who have received this precious gift and invited Jesus into our hearts, we can never repay Him. But what we can do is be faithful to seek Him first in our life and give Him back our very best.
Let it begin right now! Tell me. Type it out in the comments. How are YOU going to have the BEST year ever? What is your BEST gift or talent that you are going to offer up to Him to use for His glory? What is it that you haven’t said out loud, but you know that God is calling you to do? I cannot wait to hear from you!
Oh, and p.s.
I’ll be back next week to talk about how choosing to offer your best for His glory will bring about some pretty cool things in your life. God’s word is filled with His promises. He has so much for you, if… Well, we will talk about it next week.
Note from Pam:
Hi friends! Thank you for reading this post. It is my heart’s desire to help you stop worrying about all the things that don’t matter and instead, focus on what matters most! I have created some resources to help you do just that and there are so new things on the way! So if you haven’t signed up for our Blog/Newsletter, be sure to do so at the bottom of this page.
I believe we were created to be in relationship with one another and to encourage each other on this journey. So, will you share this and invite your friends to join us. We just never know who might be looking for something covered in this very post.
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I have no words to express have honored I am to get to chat with you. We need one another to keep nudging each other to look up and keep moving forward in our relationship with Jesus. If you are looking for a resource to help you grow more intimate with Him, check out my book, Saved by Grace, Now What? It is available on the MWM Marketplace along with some pretty cute faith based tees.
I love you and am thankful you are here.
P