2023 Manifesto: A primer for change and how to get there

A friend asked a group of us a yes or no question yesterday:  Are you making resolutions for this new year?  I felt like it was the wrong question.

What different choices am I making?  What changes in my heart do I want to see?  And how do I get there?

If I want things to be different, something has to change.  And that would be me.

Being faithful to God does not just suddenly arrive on the doorstep like a package from FedEx, but intentionally walking with God through whatever He places on our paths and praying our way through.
 

Here are a few little things I have been pondering for the new year --practical steps to take, not resolutions to make and break -- incremental decisions to adopt on a daily basis.  Not downloading all at once, but how I choose to respond in this situation.  Pick one and carry it into the day..  It is not like suddenly writing at an entire 800-page book, way too overwhelming, but a new word, a single sentence, built slowly into a paragraph. In choices layer upon layer, God welcomes us to enter His grander narrative and invites us into what He is already doing.  We choose to walk with Him.  We are not alone in this.  The LORD lives...(Psalm 18. 46)  And that changes everything.

Try something hard, something new, and something I have to work at.

 Do not be afraid of sweating, stretching, or getting my feet muddy.

Take a hike on an unfamiliar trail.

Love others well, even those I don't know, are hard to like, or who don’t see me.

Find a connection, if only at first the most delicate filament.

Live both sides of forgiveness.

Let God hold all things together.

Read God’s Word daily.  Dwell in it.  Expect it to change me.

Serve a bigger slice of grace instead of turning away.

Pray with an open heart, listening ears, and shoes tied with double knots.

Pick up twigs when that is all I can do.
Do what is right, gracious and kind to give others the freedom to do the same.

Take out the trash in more than one dimension.

Make the bed first thing in the morning. Click here to find out why.

Be kind, learn names, bake cookies.

Use my phone as a tool, not a distraction.

Know when to walk into unknown territory, run for my life, or stand in the gap.

Be a 2 a.m. friend.

Avoid pride, mirrors and feeling noble.

Remember humility is not thinking less of myself, but less about myself. (C. S. Lewis)

Make prayer my first response, not my last resort.

Allow others to go first.  “After you.”

Wear the red scarf of courage.

Solve a complicated puzzle by praying with a different heart.

Do what makes no sense at all, if not for God.

Bear fruit in barren places.

Let God change the landscape.

Embrace the awe of the wilderness and be unafraid of it.

Dwell in contentment, not complacency.

Don’t slouch.

Make sure I haven't locked the door of opportunity from the inside.

Practice the unexpected.  Surprise others with grace.

Dress in layers, grace underneath, love over all.

Prepare for the cold. Train for the race. Pack extra socks.

Realize that in the gaps and the cracks, the Spirit rushes in.

Don’t call it exercise.

Who encouraged me?  Be that to others.

Repack it and see if it fits now.

Find a network of saints.  “I have many people in that city.” (Acts 18. 9)

Smile, hold out my hand first and introduce myself.

Get lost and discover a network of unexplored trails already here.

Bring the name of Jesus there. (Henri Nouwen)

Read, write, pray, and praise every day.

Go MAD:  Make A Difference.

Engrave faithfulness into the ordinary.

Seek to bless the LORD and be a blessing to others.

Write the name of the LORD all over this day.

Strive for resurrection here. "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21. 5)

Recognize God in this.

Praise well with others.

“Trust Me in this.”

Realize what I can't fix, but I can always pray.

Take one little step in this.  And only then, the next.

Grasp that mercy always triumphs over judgement. (James 2. 13)

Always seek out the reconciliation road. 

Claim "Not I, but Christ in me." (Galatians 2. 20)

Know assuredly, even the little irritations, dead ends, accidents, speed bumps, huge mistakes, impossible people, glitches and cancelled plans, that nasty cold, a blizzard or boulder that appears to block the way, even all these weave profoundly the eternal purposes of God.

Plant trees that someone else will enjoy.

Stake my life on His promise, "Do not fear. I am with you." 

And first, to pray.