Monthly Archives: December 2013

Five Resolutions for Better Relationships

Posted December 30, 2013 | Judith Ingram

A fresh new year is a good time to reflect on the quality and effectiveness of our relationships. Consider these five practical tips for enhancing your daily encounters with people and living out Christ in your business, social, and personal life.

#1 – Clean out your grudge closet

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (Ephesians 4:31, NLT)

We all have them—secret closets where we store up old grudges and offenses and injuries that we have never been able to forgive.

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Resolutions That Stick

Posted | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Ephesians 4:22-24 (New Living Translation)

Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Consider

“Headaches are like resolutions. You forget them as soon as they stop hurting.”

This quote from the movie Psycho (1960) gives us a clue as to why our New Year’s resolutions tend to give out before the winter snow melts.

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Naughty But Nice

Posted December 23, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Revelation 3:5 (New Living Translation)

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce them before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Consider

Like Santa, we each have our personal Naughty or Nice list. We evaluate people according to how they’ve treated us and let our feelings determine how we think about them. We count ourselves justified in treating people differently depending on where their names appear on our list.

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Forever Love

Posted December 16, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Psalm 118:1 (Amplified Bible)

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!

Consider

How fortunate we are to be children of a God whose loving faithfulness never expires, no matter what we do. Although we cannot earn his love, by the same token we cannot disqualify ourselves from his loving favor! We may ignore him, turn our backs on him and go our own way, yet our Father stays right beside us, showering us with mercy and loving-kindness in blessings we are often slow to acknowledge or even to recognize.

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Fill Up With God

Posted December 9, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Proverbs 29:18 (New Living Translation)

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

Consider

Aristotle was probably the first to say it. Horror vacui, or “Nature abhors a vacuum,” is a natural principle we all understand. Pour water from a pitcher, and the pitcher fills with air. Extinguish a candle, and darkness replaces the light. Take God out of our lives, and ungodliness rushes in.

We see it in our nation, in our schools, in our places of commerce: Wherever God is banned, Satan is glorified.

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