Questions to ask at the start of a new year

I love thinking about these questions. One of my favorite things is to look back on my answers from last year. My favorite from 2011? Tallulah's salvation - prayed for and answered by the Lord.

I'm not sure where I found these originally, but they have become a personal tradition.

Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or On Your Birthday

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with

Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai.  “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them. 

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings.  To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years?  In eternity?

11. What’s the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what’s one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

Where your treasure is, ...

I recently finished The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. It's a little book with a big punch. In it, Alcorn addresses giving, a topic some avoid and others misinterpret. In my opinion, Alcorn does a great job of looking at God's Word and interpreting it well.

The book centers around six key principles:

1. God owns everything. I'm His money manager.
2. My heart always goes where I put God's money.
3. Heaven, not earth, is my home.
4. I should live not for the dot but for the line.
5. Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
6. God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving. 

Alcorn repeatedly reminds us that all we have belongs to the Lord. Living in a prosperous society makes it easy to forget that we are merely stewards. And, he presents these truths in such an enticing way, I am eager to be shaped to be more like Christ in this way.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Refreshingly honest

While reading Life, In Spite of Me, by Kristen Jane Anderson, I was touched by her honesty about her struggles. I was also encouraged by how the Lord used her struggles to draw her to Himself.

I've never experienced the trials Kristen faced, but I can understand the helplessness she felt prior to knowing the Lord as her Savior, prior to her suicide attempt.

 I think this book would be a great encouragement to someone struggling with their purpose in life, someone who is lost. It's a great reminder that so many of us have similar struggles. I think it would be a great read for teens who feel like no one understands them.

Kristen writes, in detail, about the experiences leading up to her suicide attempt, her memories of that night and her life after she lost her legs. Her honesty is so refreshing.

The book flows easily. I read it in an afternoon.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Have you thought much about Lazarus?

I haven't. I mean, I know the story of Christ raising him from the dead. I know he was Mary and Martha's brother. I know he was there when Mary anointed Christ's feet with oil. But, that's about it.

Joanna Weaver takes a closer look at Lazarus in her latest book, Lazarus Awakening. It's her third book in a series looks at each member of this family from Bethany.With each chapter, she takes a look at the next part of the story as told in the gospels. Weaver opens by reminding us that we do know little about Lazarus, except that he was one who Jesus loved. And, she reminds us that "when Jesus comes on the scene, what seems to be the end is rarely the end. In fact, it's nearly always a new beginning."

Weaver addresses the truth that life doesn't always look like what we expect. But, Christ came to make dead men alive, just as He did with Lazarus. We were made to live in fellowship with him.

I liked the chapter "When Love Tarries." Weaver addresses the part of the story when Jesus tarries to return to see His sick friend. She plainly addresses her desire - and mine - to want control of life. "Surrendering the quill of my will has always been a difficult process for me." She does a lovely job of addressing why and how we should wait for the Lord.

Weaver's look at the "tombs" we choose to live in caused me to think about the things in my life that keep me from trusting the Lord fully. Like Lazarus, He gently calls us to "come forth."

My favorite chapter is "Unwinding Graveclothes." Weaver discusses how we can walk alongside others - through prayer and action - to move them to the fullness of life Christ promises each of us. She includes in the appendix further "helpful hints" for serving others.

Finally, she challenges readers to live the joyful, resurrected life we're called to live in Christ.

The book also includes discussion questions and a list of additional resources.

I thought Weaver did an excellent job of unpacking the story of Lazarus. And, I'll never skim over Lazarus again.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I agree. I disagree.

I finally finished Steven Furtick's Sun Stand Still this weekend. It has been such a hard book to finish. I eagerly opened the book hoping to be challenged to be bolder in my prayers. Furtick's catch phrases "Sun Stand Still prayers" and "audacious faith" are definitely appealing. And, the account in Joshua of the Lord's provision of extended daylight and victory in battle for the Israelites is amazing.

Furtick writes, "if you're not daring to believe God for the impossible, you're sleeping through some of the best parts of your Christian life." I agree completely.

He asks, "does the brand of faith you live by produce the kinds of results in your life that you read about in the biblical stories of men and women of faith? Chances are, not even close." Again, he seems right on the money. I, too, believe we're inherently sinners and often fail to experience all God has for us. We rely on ourselves and our abilities instead of asking the Lord. But, we're not that different from the men and women of the Bible. They sinned and made mistakes, too. God used them anyway.

Furtick explains that we limit God by not asking and believing Him for seemingly impossible things. We need to dream big and look beyond our circumstances. Our vision needs to be based on who God is and not what we can do. Agree.

He warns "if the dream in your heart isn't biblically based, focused on Jesus, affirmed by the key people in your life, and tethered to your passions, gifts, and life experiences, chances are, you're way off prompt."

My struggle with this book was what I saw as a "me" focus instead of a God focus. Our ways are not His ways. Our dreams and desires are not always His best for us. All that happens on this earth, all of the events of our past, present, and future should be for His glory. I wish Furtick had driven that point home more fervently.

His way of writing was a bit too self-glorifying for my taste. When I read a spiritual book, I want to finish it with a bigger picture of who God is and a greater desire to glorify Him. Instead, I finished with a desire to get through the book as quickly as possible. 

I disagree with anything that promotes self and our ability to do anything for ourselves. While we need to pray fervently, we need to be responsive to the Lord's leading each moment of the day. I am concerned that some may read this book and see in it a possible way to get what they want in life.

I did like Furtick's chapter "When the Sun Goes Down." He addresses the reality that God does not always answer our prayers in the way we desire. I just wish he had approached the book from that starting point.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.