Eight Ways To Make Life Great In 2008

New Years resolutions are all about making your life better. But God doesn’t want you to simply have a better life. He doesn’t even want you to have just a good life. God’s intention is for you to be great and to have a great life. So here are eight ways you can make life great in 2008.

1. DISCOVER GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE

The Bible says … be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you will never fall … (2 Peter 1:10 NIV)

God has created you to accomplish something wonderful. If you want to know what it is, you just simply have to ask him to show you. Don’t dream it up, you’ll fail. Instead, ask God “Why did you make me?” “What is it that you want to do with my life?”

Proverbs says … Many are the plans of a mans heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21 NIV)

2. LEARN TO WORSHIP

Wouldn’t life be great if it were just a little less stressful? In order to make life great in 2008 you’ve got to get your stress levels down and to do that you’ve got to learn to worship. Why worship? Because worship is the opposite of stress. Let me explain. The apostle Paul wrote … I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts (Ephesians 3:17 NLT)

His prayer is that Christ will be at the centre of your life. And you can know if Christ is at the centre of your life by measuring your worry and stress levels. When Christ is at the centre of your life you worship. When Christ is not at the centre you worry. To reduce stress and worry you’ve got to keep Christ at the centre of your life and you do that through worship.

The Bible says … A sense of God’s wholeness … will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life (Philippians 4:7 Msg)

3. THINK GOD’S THOUGHTS

The Bible teaches us that Christians have a special ability to think the thoughts of Christ … “… Has anyone ever known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice? But we understand what Christ is

thinking” (Isaiah 40:13 and 1 Corinthians 2:16 CEV)

If we want to live great lives we have to think God’s thoughts. Do things like … Spend time regularly reading the Bible; Avoid negative material from the media and in conversations with others; Feed your mind positive thoughts, knowing that they will lead to positive actions; And embrace healthy attitudes – drop the cynicism and take up an attitude of awe and wonder at the world.

4. PLAN WITH GODLY WISDOM.

The Bible has this to say about your plans …

If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand (Psalm 37:23-24 NIV).

This means that God will protect people who plan their lives according to His agenda and not their own. Do your plans have God’s protection?

5. REDEFINE SUCCESS.

If you want to live great you’ll have to redefine success. God’s definition of success differs greatly from the world’s view of it. Just take a look at what happened as Jesus ate a meal with his friends one day.

"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;" (John 13:3)

In other words, Jesus was fully aware that he was God; He had the power and the freedom to do whatever he pleased; and so this is what he did …

"… he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him" (John 13:4-5).

The world says that success is being able to indulge yourself by having people serve you. But Jesus, on the other hand, defines success by how you serve others.

6. FAIL FORWARD

We are only human so sometimes we will fail. But if you want to make life great in 2008 tey and at least fail forwards. Failing forwards means turning your failures into an opportunity. Failure is not pleasant, but it can be a valuable learning tool. Failure is an opportunity to learn what not to do next time.

The Bible says that Jesus is …

[To him who is] … able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 1:24)