Clean out the old--Make room for the new

By Hope Wilbanks

With each new year comes promises and hopes of a brighter, happier future. Our thoughts turn toward the all-familiar New Year's Resolutions. We make great promises, to others and ourselves. Yet somehow, many times those big predictions end up falling by the wayside along with all our other good intentions.

It isn't that we don't want to make good on our word. Maybe the standards are set too high. Or perhaps the plan was not fully researched and customized to the way we live. Or perhaps we simply lost sight of the final outcome-our ultimate goal of completion.

Year after year, new resolutions are made, then quickly forgotten. Why not create a `new and improved' life-changing plan for the upcoming year?

Transform your life by setting reachable objectives, then aiming and shooting for your target. The following three ideas will help you search beyond the exterior layers. Keep a special journal to write down your answers, thoughts, questions and ideas. Later you can re- read your entries for reflection and/or revision. Journaling will also enable you to check on your progress.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalms 51:10

1. Empty yourself out before God.
• What has you bogged down? Search within yourself. Be honest. Are there outside influences that bring negativity into your life? What things do you harbor in your heart that you know shouldn't be there? Purity is defined as being undiluted, or unmixed, with extraneous material. The Hebrew interpretation of the word purity means an emptying out or being clean. What are the non-essentials that continue to weigh you down? What can you empty out?

• Consider not only your spiritual and mental levels; success and achievement factor in as well.
• Spiritual: Are you devoting time to bible reading, prayer, moments with God?
• Mental: What relationships are detrimental to your state of happiness?
• Success: How do you define it and what obstructs your success?
• Achievement: Are you accomplishing what is most important to you? If not, why? What is holding you back?

"I love You, O Lord, my strength." Psalms 18:1

2. Find your strength once more.
With the world pulling at us in so many directions, we easily become thinly stretched and grow weary. What affects your strength? Record your thoughts on the following points.

**Physical Agility**
• Do you try to fill your entire day with activities? Are you on the go so much that you're never home? Do you constantly feel zapped of energy? Are you so busy that you literally don't have time to think? Do you have chronic pain or illness? If so, BE HONEST ABOUT IT! What are you running from? What problems are you NOT facing? In order to regain physical strength, we must commit to open honesty and deal with what is troubling us. Our physical well being depends on it!

**Mental Durability**
• Mental powers are amazing. If you set your mind to do anything, the possibilities are endless. Happiness, success, achievement are all a state of mind. If you think you're happy, you will be. If you believe you are successful, then no one can tell you otherwise. Are you "thinking" your way to victory? Or are you quickly becoming a failure?

Every time you have a negative thought about yourself, write it down. You will be surprised at how many of these thoughts you will have at the end of one day. Now for every one of those negative thoughts, write a distinct and contrasting positive one based on who you are in Christ. Remind yourself that God loves you and He wants to grant you the desires of your heart.

**Spiritual Stamina**
• How many times do we throw ourselves into a pit of despair? It is important for us to praise Him not only in the good times, but the bad times as well. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he tells them to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). It is so much easier to worship Him when things are going great. But it's in those dark, dreary hours--the hours when it seems as though trouble and darkness greatly abound--that we should cling even more tightly to God. ("The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?" Psalms 27:1 NAS)

So how do we gain spiritual strength? With joy! "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:3) Practice joy, even when you don't feel joyful. Look at a passerby and smile--ON PURPOSE! Do this at least five times while you're in a public place. What kind of reaction do you get? Do they smile back? Does it start a conversation? When you practice joy it will rub off on others.

"He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light." Job 28:11

3. Refill your cup.
Now that we have cleaned out the excess baggage and found strength in Him once again for all aspects of our lives, the next step is to replenish. Instead of making resolutions, make a list of Goals to Live By for 2004. Here are a few thought sparkers to help you create your own list.

• What is the thing(s) that you most want to accomplish this year (tangible or metaphorical)?
• What will you commit to doing this year to promote your well being (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.)? (A bubble bath, 30 minutes of reading time daily, ten minutes of quiet "me" time to reflect.)
• How can you "give back" to someone else? (Charity work, sponsoring a child, etc.)

Remember to include a diverse, well-rounded range of goals. Include personal, spiritual, and career goals. Write down your yearly goals then break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
Mark Twain said, "Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it." Have courage to create an atmosphere of purity in your life. Empty out the baggage and start 2004 God's way. Success will surely arise from it!