home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The California Collection
/
TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr
/
his086
/
newyear.lzh
/
NEWYEAR.TXT
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-07-09
|
4KB
|
103 lines
DEV:New Year's dedication by Bill MacDonald
As we come to the beginning of another year, we would do
well to make the following requests our own:
Lord Jesus, I rededicate myself afresh to You today. I
want you to take my life this coming year and use it for
Your glory. "Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord,
to Thee."
I pray that You will keep me from sin, from anything that
will bring dishonor to Your Name.
Keep me teachable by the Holy Spirit, I want to move
forward for You. Don't let me settle in a rut.
May my motto this year be, "He must increase; I must
decrease." The glory must all be Yours.
Teach me to make every decision a matter of prayer. I
dread the thought of leaning on my own understanding. "I
know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps," Jeremiah 10:23.
May I die to the world and even to the approval or blame of
loved ones or friends. Give me a single, pure desire to do
the things that please Your heart.
Keep me from gossip and criticism of others. Rather help
me to speak what is edifying and profitable.
Lead me to needy souls. May I become a friend of sinners,
as You are. Give me fears of compassion for the perishing.
"Let me look on the crowd as my Savior did, till my eyes
with tears grow dim. Let me view with pity the wandering
sheep, and love them for love of Him."
Lord Jesus, keep me from becoming cold, bitter, or cynical
in spite of anything that may happen to me in the Christian
Life.
Guide me in my stewardship of money. Help me to be a good
steward of everything you have entrusted to me.
Help me to remember moment by moment that my body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit. May this tremendous truth
influence all my behavior.
During the coming year, may the blessed hope stay fresh in
my heart, disengaging me from anything that would hold me
here and keep me on the tiptoes of expectancy. "Even so,
come Lord Jesus!"
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things; But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:41-42.
Mary sat quietly at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Martha
was flustered and upset in her service, and resented the
fact that Mary didn't pitch in to help. The Lord Jesus
didn't correct Martha for her service but for the spirit in
which she was doing it. Also there is a suggestion that
Martha' priorities were wrong; she shouldn't have put
service above worship.
Many of us are like Martha. We are achievers, who would
rather be doing than sitting. We pride ourselves on being
organized, efficient, able to accomplish. We are so
preoccupied with our work that our morning Bible reading is
often interrupted by the memory of sixty things that have to
be done. Our prayers tend to be helter-skelter because our
mind wanders from Dan to Beersheba, planning out the day.
It is easy for us to resent it when others don't grab a
towel and help. We feel that everyone should be doing what
we are doing.
Then there are those who are like Mary. They are lovers.
Their lives exude affection for others. To them people are
more important than pots and pans. One Person in particular
is the Object of their affection. They are not lazy, though
it might seem that way to us Marthas. It's just that they
have different priorities.
We ourselves appreciate a person who is warm and loving more
than one who is coldly capable and efficient. Our hearts are
captured by a child who showers us with hugs and kisses more
than by one who is too busy with his toys to pay much
attention to us.
Someone has well said that God is more interested in our
worship than in our service; the heavenly Bridegroom is
wooing a bride, not hiring a servant.
Christ never asks of us such busy labor
As leaves no time for sitting at His feet
The patient attitude of expectation
He often counts a service most complete.
Mary chose that good pert, which shall not be taken away
from her. May we all do the same!
From ONE DAY AT A TIME by Bill MacDonald.