12 BEST THINGS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN 2020

Have you made your list yet? You know the one you make right before January 1st and throw away by the end of the month? I do it too! Today let’s talk about the best things you can do to change your life in 2020! For some of you, this may be a gentle reminder to keep on track as you have already made this list and are working on it. But for others, this may be the start of the best-is-yet-to-come part of your life!

Today let’s talk about 12 of the best habits to form in your life. Making these the emphasis of your life will have eternal rewards!

If you do not know Jesus as your LORD and Saviour you might want to start HERE

Let’s get started! 

GO TO CHURCH

Church is a crucial part of a believer’s life.  And finding the right church is huge! If you are already a member of a bible believing/preaching church then you are on the right track. It’s important not only to attend church regularly but it is also important to be involved in the life and mission of your church.

We go to church to praise God. It pains me to hear people say things like, I just didn’t get much out of church today.  Well, I’d like to ask those people how much they put into church today! 

Church is not a building or an established governing body that oversees people’s lives. Church IS people!

Church is people who love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to live life together praising, abiding and obeying God; uplifting one another in all ways, growing together in the knowledge and understanding of the Word and living it out, and helping the community beyond.

Your church should be a joy and a way of support and life! Church is family. So it is also hard and messy and noisy and all the other things that go along with a loving family too.

And here’s another great thing about church. Anyone should be invited to come in. Do you know someone who needs to meet the Savior of their souls? Or who needs the arms of others to support them? Then invite them into the fold!

If that person is you take a bold step and ask a friend to take you to church with them. This will be the best thing you will do all year!

STUDY YOUR BIBLE

The God of eternity, The God of all power, The God of the universe, and on and on, has given you HIS word, HIS thoughts, HIS instructions, HIS ways in the form of the Bible.

Why did He do this? So we can know Him, worship Him and know how to live. 

And if you think about it, God has been very succinct in what He has revealed to us. Succinct but very deep. The bible only contains sixty-six books. That’s all. And to know and serve Him we need to know what His word says.

When my children were growing up I used to say, “How can you serve a God you do not know?”.

And how can we know Him? By studying the revelation He has given us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says…

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I know many of us will start the New Year by starting a read-the-bible-in-a-year plan. And that’s is fine. HOWEVER, most of what you read will probably not lodge in your mind and heart. And how can you live out the word of God if you can not remember it?

If you are reading the bible in a year I suggest reading it chronologically. There are wonderful reading plans that help you to read God’s word in timeline form.

Just remember, reading God’s word does not take the place of studying it.

JOIN A BIBLE STUDY GROUP

This is the year for you to join a Bible Study group if you do not belong to one now. Other than my personal confession of faith this was the most important step I took to a deep and abiding relationship with my Father.

This is the year to get serious about knowing God and living out His Word in your life. You will never be the same. 

It is not important what YOU think God’s word says… It is imperative that you know what GOD says His world says! 

Not all bible studies are the same. Find one that is serious about studying God’s word and digging deeper into…

• what does God’s word say- observation
• what does God’s word mean- interpretation
• how do I apply and live out God’s word in my life- application

In that order!

Studying the Bible takes time just like building any close and rewarding relationship. God has given us 24 hours in every day. Shouldn’t we spend some of that time daily being studying disciples of Jesus?

If you live in my neck of the woods you are welcome to join THE BIG TABLE, a bible study I am a part of. There are women of all kinds and denominations. We are all seeking to know and abide in the word of God.

You can email me at stonegable333@gmail.com for more info. This is not a plug for my Bible study group, however. Our area has LOTS of extraordinary Bible Study groups. No matter where you are, find one and get involved.

PRAY

I think prayer is very misunderstood. Prayer is conversing with God. What an extraordinary privilege! We can actually be ushered into the very presence of the only and living God to talk to Him. We don’t need to have a special set of rote words that we mumble off or a special place for prayer. 

I pray while folding laundry and walking or driving the car and doing the dishes. When I pick the harvest from my garden I can be in deep conversation with my Father. I’m even talking to Him in the shower. It’s the best place to cry and unload my heavy burden!

Prayer is talking to God. It is acknowledging God for who He is. It’s pondering out loud and in our hearts His character and attributes and what you see of God in His creation. God has revealed who He is through His works, His son Jesus and His Names. If you want to know the names of God (names are tied up with God’s character ) you can see a short study of the HERE,  and HERE, and HERE. 

I’m so awestruck by God’s sovereignty lately! Oh, how the name of the LORD  should be praised!

Prayer is thanking God for… well EVERYTHING. I get a little overwhelmed in this department. I can’t seem to thank God enough. The list is too long. How can I even turn the first page of the list if I used every breath of my entire life for thanking Him? 

I ask God to make me hypersensitive to seeing Him at work in my life and the lives of others. Every time God manifests Himself to me I thank Him! It is so easy to get caught up in life that we miss seeing God in it. And He is in every life, everywhere, all the time. Don’t wait to thank Him for what He is doing in your life big or small! Thank Him on the spot!

Prayer is also making our requests known to God. God wants us to come to Him with our requests. It is not a bother to God at all. 

God knows you and He has a fabulous plan for your life. Ask in His will. Prayer releases the blessings God has for you!

You might like to read about prayer HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE,  HERE, HERE

Prayer should be the way we go about our day. Connected and in sync with our Father!

It is my prayer for you, my precious friends, that you find God right where you are and starting today you grow the most intimate, most loving, most cosmically incredible real relationship with Him and His people. 

Next week we will talk about four more life-changing things to do in 2020.

Happy New Year! Just know I pray for you and love and cherish you!!!!! xo