by Tad Lindley
Let me come clean with you and confess that I am not a person who usually makes New Year’s Resolutions, but a lot of people do, and so I write to all the New Year’s Resolutionaries out there.
For all my Resolutionaries out there that are having trouble coming up with ways to change your
1. Read the Bible through this year
The Lord wants you to put this on your list. Remember when the people in Berea got a shout out in scripture, because when they heard Paul preaching they went home and read their Bibles to see if he was telling the truth? (Acts 17:10-11) And doesn’t it say, Study to show thyself approved, in II Timothy 2:15? If you get up every morning and read 3 chapters every day and 5 on Sunday, by the end of 2023 you will have read through the entire Bible!
2. Fast
Fasting is when we choose not to eat even though we are hungry. If we do it with the intention of increasing the influence of the Lord in our lives, we will never be disappointed. Jesus fasted 40 days straight (Matthew 4). I personally know a couple of men who have done this. If you are not experienced in fasting, perhaps 40 days spread across 2023 would be a good way to start. Jesus expected us to fast (Matthew 6:16-18), so if you have not been fasting, it is time to start.
3. Repent
Turn away from things you know to be sin. A short list of salvation killers is found in I Corinthians (6:9-11 NKJV) Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you weresanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
4. Get baptized in Jesus’ name
Nowadays, entire villages of people have been “baptized” as infants. And so as adults, we have no memory of the experience. I am told that I was taken to church where Reverend Shoup sprinkled water on my head and said something to the effect of, “I now baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” The problem is, he did not baptize me, and he did not say the name. In the Bible the only meaning for the Greek word translated as “baptized” means to put the person under water, and the only name that they ever used is the name of Jesus, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Also see Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16, Romans 6:1-4, and Galatians 3:27.
5. Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
Have you received the gift of the Holy Ghost like in the Bible? If not, 2023 is your year. It appears from what we read in the book of Acts that when people received the gift of the Holy Ghost they tended to be doing other things that they were supposed to be doing. In Acts 2:1-4, they were in a prayer meeting. In Acts 8, they had converted from sorcery to believing in Jesus and had been baptized in Jesus’ name. In Acts 10, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost while Peter was preaching. In Acts 19, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost while they were still soaking wet from baptism. In three of these cases, the Bible clearly states that the recipients began to speak in other tongues as the Holy Spirit moved on them. In fact the gift of the Holy Ghost is a promise to those who repent and are baptized in Jesus’ name (see Acts 2:38-39).
6. Tithe
The word “tithe” literally means one tenth. When we tithe, we return one tenth of what we made to the church. If you get a check for $2,430.00 before taxes, move the decimal one place to the left and you get a tithe of $243.00. If your Quest card gets charged up with $900.00, find out what your pastor needs and bring him $90.00 of that food. (Great chance that he does not need it and will direct you to bring that food to a widow or an elder). You may think to yourself, “The IRS is already taking so much out of my paycheck, that I cannot afford to take out an additional 10%, I would go broke!” Actually that is not true. People tend to think that preachers have a money printer at home, and so we are forever getting hit up for diaper money, food money, plane tickets, etc. But the real truth is this: I have never, ever had a person who tithes call me asking for money for any of those things or for any other reason. You may still not believe me, but if you resolve to try it in 2023, you will be amazed before March even gets here.
Happy New Year’s faithful reader!
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
