The New Year 2014 Have Faith within the Decay! (2+0+1+4=7)

The New Year 2014 Have Faith within the Decay! (2+0+1+4=7)               1-5-14 By Kelly Durant

Mark 11:20-22, 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

2. We are all creatures of habit. Studies show that if you can make something a habit for 2 weeks then probably you will be able to keep on with the good habit for the rest of the year. So what new habits do you & I need? Are our priorities really in order?

Often for the New Year we hear of people starting a new diet, or getting into an exercise program while others create a strict budget. These things are good but they are only personal and benefit the body. These things are just things of the flesh, and in general as humans we get bored with the flesh easily. John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Try making a goal centered around spiritual growth and getting closer to God: that goal will last you as it is invigorating!

The truth is we all must review the bad news of the past as this can be a motivator to get you and me to react! Like when a king gets news of losing a battle, the news makes him and everyone disturbed and upset so they unite, work hard, get fired up, prepare tools and supplies, and then go on the attack so they can win the next battle! God wins battles through people and he needs you to be in action for Him in benefit of yourself and others in this New Year of 2014!

3. Every year many of us make new goals but to our own frustration! A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that,”88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning.

Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.” In other words any one of us will succeed better if we plan to how to make our goals and then make our goals public and then get support one from another to be accountable!

But Imagine how different the world would be for you and for me if people’s goals (yours and mine) were to be centered around growing spiritually having more faith, to respond more maturely to life’s difficult events, to pray more, to study the Bible more, to get involved and become more useful to God and more active in the Corps!  I wish each one of us could say as John the Baptist said, (John 3:30) “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease”.

4. Don’t get discouraged but setting New Year goals seems for the most part in vain because usually they are left unaccomplished! Man proposes but God disposes! The factor is people have pride and a lazy sinful flesh that gets in the way so most people put forth very little interest in their own physical or spiritual development: but this we must change. People in general are undisciplined and do not pay attention to their inner voice of conscious of right and wrong, and then take the conviction to do what is right for God no matter the cost & sacrifice!

To please God you and I must produce fruit for God’s kingdom and that requires seriousness, dedication, work, sacrifice, discipline, humility, and a resilience to the resistance, mockery, and persecution that others will lay on you for doing what’s Godly. These attributes mentioned do not appear to be attractive qualities at first since you must put forth so much effort but in the end, these are values that will invoke respect from others (of high caliber people anyway) and this will produce respect for one’s self, not to mention God’s respect!

5. One simple doctrine of the Salvation Army is to live a Holy life. Today, because so many people have lost their holiness and failed to live as a real Christian should, there exists an increasing overpowering subliminal Satanical passiveness to just let things go in everyone’s mixed up world.  Every year more indifference dominates. The promoted politically correct posture that no one should ever have feelings of guilt or remorse over any sin, scandal, or damaging failure is destroying us!  People are not being punished with appropriate consequences and they have no shame.

A true Christian, however, does not live as a brute animal that falls into any simple trap repeatedly but instead will have the Holy Spirit as an inner voice to correct them to do what is not right in their lives and not be as the cursed decaying world but instead progress in holiness from year to year sincerely evaluating what was done right and what was done wrong.

Due to an increase in the amount of people who rationalize, legitimatize and endorse sin in the world, the world is decaying beyond repair, like a losing battle with a deadly disease! Only a rise in reactionary moral movements could swing the pendulum back to the other side, but these types of movements always get heavy ridicule and persecution by the media and the powers that be. Individuals in collective groups in society have in general lost their desire and legal ability to fight-for-the-right to uphold Godly standards in leadership; however, the church should be the exception to this trend and be a light in the darkness! We must live what we pray when we repeat as Christians’ “thy kingdom come!”

The trend is ‘more of the same’ for this year and it is not good! Unless Christians wake up, pray and do their part to bring God’s holiness back into all areas of establishments, which includes within the home, the workplace, the government, and in the churches, the world’s systems will continue on with their rapid decay.

6. Do you remember when Jesus was walking with his disciples and he was hungry and they came upon a fig tree that had no fruit and Jesus condemned the tree and it withered up that same day? Mark 11:20-22 The message of eliminating the useless is affirmed by this act. This we should do at the end of a year to begin a New Year: eliminate the fruitless things quickly!

The way God assesses the useful and non-useful is collectively and individually as He takes into account that you and the group are either going up or going down in your walk with Him.  The Christian life is kind of like a roller coaster ride, you are getting higher, lower, going back up again, or slowing to a stop! Where are you on the growth track? 2013, was it an up, or down experience in your walk with God? And your spiritual fruit?  So where are you headed in 2014, up or down? Your free will is in control and you must make serious commitments to see fruit.

The entire chapter of Mark 11 teaches us a lesson on having more faith in our prayers, and the final line of verse 22 is of great importance, “Have faith in God”. The disturbing part is that the tree without any fruit was considered by Jesus worthy of quick judgment, of rapid decay and destruction, since its function of producing good fruit was not being exercised.

 7. The past for many was very discouraging and you read can read about it in the news from reports of the 2013 year. On www.drudgereport.com there was an article that 2 in 3 people who answered an inquiry stated that it was a bad year. Few people see hope or help coming, but the solution for hope is that you and I have to be one that brings it into being in our homes and community! You and I must increase our faith to bring about more good into being! Never underestimate yourself, you as a Christian living a holy life, offer the world much more hope than anyone else can! If you are doing good and producing you don’t have to worry about Jesus drying you up! The decayed dry ones of the world have the warning of what’s coming for them!

There is another verse that sends a severe warning to the decaying, to those who do not progress in their walk with God from year to year, to those who have no good fruit and little desire of His ways of correction but they instead continue in their sin. Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

8. This year of 2014 will for some will bring more growth in the things of God, more good fruit, more faith, more blessings and happiness. However, for others that are only concerned for their selves and the flesh, this year may be just as bad, if not worse, than the one that just passed!

The 2014 year, which for numerically interested people (but please restrain from superstations) adds up to number 7, and that looks good! But how you react to all the challenges that will come, whether you have faith and chose the “good and eschew the evil” in your decisions, will determine how the year’s events will turn out for you. For some the future will sadly bring more frustration, more dryness of spirit, and more bad news. But for us who are sincere Christians it will bring new opportunities to grow in faith, to get a new start to get closer to God, a new chance to climb higher with more fruit produced before the final day of the eternal solidifying of a being permanently good or evil.

Stay positive and optimistic by keeping your spirit wet with the water of God’s word so you produce fruit! The past year has brought billions of people disappointments, insecurities, frustrations, shock from scandals, feelings of personal violations, and more decay, but never under estimate the power of one person with God! A righteous Christian person accomplishes much!

May the Lord this year help you and me to make a real difference in our home, church, workplace, school, and community!  May the Lord help us to be busy this year “doing good” by getting closer to Him, growing more in faith, serving others more, saving souls for Jesus, and doing the most we can according to our gifts, calling, and potential! In Jesus Name, Amen.