What is a New Year's Resolution?

2008 is almost over.  we've literally gone through 340 plus days of it... who were you then?
who are you now?

seriously though...think about it. what have you done with your life this year? i mean sometime as teenagers it can seem that we don't have much of an impact right? i mean we're just kids, leave it up to the adults to get things done. but i mean that ideaology doesn't really hold up in the long run. write now i'm working on memorizing 1 John and from that i can give this verse
1 John 2:14
"I write to you, fathers, because you have know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

so what does that all mean? it means that we as the younger generation have the Word of God, Jesus Christ (see John 1) living in us. and with him inside of us we have crushed the devil under us. and notice what is written to the fathers. the fathers have known God, they have grown wise, they can offer aid and assist us. but are the fathers described as strong? or the overcomers? no. i'm not saying they aren't strong, because without them we'd sure make a bungle out of a lot of things, we need them their to help us out, but young men, young people are called to be strong. we have the direct spirit of God inside of us.

so what about that cliche verse we hear all the time? the one almost as common as John 3:16 Phil 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
funny how we can know all these verses and still fade away huh? i mean i'm the worst at this, i'm talking to myself right now ya'll. i mean thats one of the reasons i'm going through 1 John, cuz it cuts right to the core. and its hard. i mean it says in 1 John 2:4 "The man who says "I know him," but does not do as He commands is a liar and the truth is not in him." 
thats pretty harsh huh, so whenever i claim to be in the light and to be that light for Christ, i'm called to this? i mean it isn't possible right? haha right, its not actuallly possible. and that turns into grace, but thats another subject for another time.

but what i'm trying to get to here is this i suppose.
1) We have been empowered by God to do great things. I'm not talking helping an elderly woman across the street here ya'll. yes, that is one way to show the love of Christ, and i'm not trying to diminish that. but i'm talking on a bigger scale here.

last year i was part of Water is Basic, if you haven't heard of it yet, the gist is this, a few highschool students had a dream. we wanted to give the people in the Sudan clean water. we decided on a goal of $10,500 for 3 wells to save uncountable lives. God surpasses. way. way. way. we end up with over $30,000. and turns out each well is going to cost less than a third of what we thought. so thats 30 wells right there. 10 TIMES A GOAL THAT WE THOUGHT WAS JUST BARELY RESONABLE

why do i bring that up again? cuz we have the ability to do BIG things, all it takes is a dream.

2)Faith. kind of a broad term there huh? i don't know about you, but i always seem to take it for granted. i just have faith, its something i can carry around in my back pocket and just forget about. but when life gets tough, we have to go digging for that faith, and sometimes its hard to find. so my advice, don't wait to fall, be active. Psalms 119:11
"I have hidden Your word in my heart, that i may not sin against You."
so memorize scripture.(that ones a good one to start out with...hint hint) i never really thought it was that big of a deal, but trust me, i'm starting to figure that out right now. the more you know, the better prepared you are. and i mean, its not a contest, so what if one person knows all the bible word for word, and i only know a handful of verses, those handful can get you through a lot. so start out small. just take a verse, write it on an index card, and start reading over it. before you know it, it will be memorized, and you can call on it when in need.

3)So what is the BIG picture Matt?
i'm glad you asked. the big picture is January 1, 2009 is almost here. The day we make resolutions. The day we promise to do this and that. How about we all do this for a change this year. We make a commitment to God. We give him this year. We give our lives, our minds, our bodies, to his Good and for his glory, after all we are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

what do i mean by that? its simple. just say a quick prayer, "God, i don't know what you are going to do this year, and i don't know what my future is. Take my life and use it." and you will be surprised, i promise.

Make a new year's resolution with an accountability partner, challenge eachother to stay sharp, to learn more scripture. so lets give 2009 to God guys. it's in his hands now.

so as my new years resolution,
I Matt Bartlett, resolve to memorize 1 John this year. I resolve to learn more about what Leadership is and how to actively utilize skills while in positions of leadership and serving. I resolve to make a difference

godbless Matt Bartlett
Dec 23rd, 2008 AD

**AD is a latin abreviation meaning Anno Domini, in the year of Our Lord**