December 28 2022

Today, Wednesday December 28

Preparing for a New Year

Psalm 19:7-11

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.”

It is hard to believe but the old year is almost gone, and a New Year is just around the corner. It’s about this time that we start thinking about how we can have a better year and we start making “New Year resolutions”. Most of them concern our physical health. We are determined to eat better, exercise more, and hopefully lose some weight! Some of them concern our relationships, others are about our finances, or they might be about our success in our vocation. These are all good and worthy of attention, but we often miss the most important thing we can do that will actually determine our success or failure in every area of our lives.

I’m convinced that the most beneficial thing we can do is to have a daily intake of God’s Word. Of all the spiritual disciplines, this one stands out above the rest! To daily, regularly, diligently, consistently, and systematically listen to, read, study, memorize and meditate on God’s Word will do more for us and our relationships both with God and man than any other thing we do (Proverbs 3:1-6). But I guarantee you that the devil will do everything he can to keep you from practicing this discipline.

We are promised again and again through the Scriptures that if we have God’s Word in our minds and hearts, we will have strength to face any day and deal with any and all circumstances that might arise. There is not enough space to write about them here, but please take the time to listen to our chat today and tomorrow as we share these promises.

I’ve often said that there are two reasons that I’m still in the ministry and serving the Lord and people around us. The first is prayer. My mother and dad faithfully and consistently prayed for me in the past. I have been blessed with a wife who prays for me. God has blessed me with dozens of people over the years who have daily lifted me up in prayer! Secondly is the fact that I took the time and practiced the discipline of taking in God’s Word every day. Listening, reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on it from the very first days of my spiritual birth, February 21, 1971 until now.

I’m convinced there is no substitute for this discipline of a faithful and regular intake of God’s Word. Listen to the many verses that we share in the chat and there are many many more that assure us if we do this, we will be supernaturally empowered by God’s grace to stand against temptation and live a holy and healthy life!

Years ago, we begin producing a daily Bible reading calendar to pass out at the churches I was pastoring. We have one we call Plan A that gives you a daily schedule so that you read through the Old Testament once, the New Testament twice, the Psalms twice and the Proverbs monthly. Today, you can access this one from Pastor Mike Impact Ministries website at this link: https://www.pmiministries.org/daily-bible-reading-calendar

You can both download and print it. I will be posting a new calendar for each month so you can keep up with this schedule. This schedule will only take about 20 to 25 minutes a day.

I call the other schedule Plan B. With this one you will read through the Old and New Testament once, and the Psalms twice. You can access it at this link: https://www.pmiministries.org/bible-reading-calendar-plan-b

This schedule will only take about 15 minutes a day! If you can’t access them, please message me or email me and I will send them to you. pastormike@pmiministries.org

It is my prayer that you will determine with God’s grace and help to make and take the time to do this one thing that will impact and transform your life more than anything else this next year.

God bless!