TEXT: ‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him’ (Romans 12:1 NLT). While we can make changes at any time, the New Year gives us a golden opportunity to press the reset button, simply because so many people will be talking about doing the same thing. Some will write down their New Year resolutions and try their best to keep them. For others, it’s merely words, as they lack the will power to carry them out. Today’s Teaching highlights five actions that will help us to start and finish well in 2025. 1. Forgiveness Some wrongly feel that because of the past, they can’t forgive or be forgiven. The Lord’s Prayer covers both aspects, ‘Forgive us as we forgive others’ (Matthew 6:12 GW). Whether we are praying while we are walking, standing, sitting or kneeling, the Bible says, ‘If you have anything against anyone, forgive’ (Mark 11:25). Don’t take unforgiveness into the New Year. We can forgive, regardless of whether the one who has hurt us is sorry or not. Forgiveness frees...
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TEXT: ‘When Joshua had reached a venerable age, God said to him, “You’ve had a good, long life, but there is a lot of land still to be taken. All you have to do is allot this land to Israel as an inheritance, as I have instructed you’ (Joshua 13:1,6 MSG). When life doesn’t go according to plan, it’s very easy to start the blame game, play the victim and think it’s someone else’s fault. It’s time to take personal responsibility. The sales slogan is very apt, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” Peter reminded the Israelites that God’s promises were not just to those present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, but to their children and subsequent generations. Those promises are still true today for us. 1. Great leaders don’t last forever Moses died aged 120, and Joshua took his place. Now Joshua was old, having done all that God had asked him to do, but the tribes had not yet possessed their inheritance. Joshua had conquered the major cities and their kings. For him there would be no more fighting; it was down to the tribes as to how much of the land they would take. When Joshua died aged God did not instruct him to...
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