How to Make 2024 the Best Year for Jesus Yet!

Tips to personally make 2024 the best year for Jesus yet!

1. Increase Prayer:

• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6

• Commit to consistent and meaningful prayer routine.

• Pray often.  Every prayer doesn’t have to be a long conversation, God loves to hear from us, even if it is in a quick 30 second moment of praise and worship.

• Express gratitude to Jesus for willingly submitting to the cross, for enduring the horrific beating and mocking.

• Bring your requests before the King of kings, seek guidance and His will for your life.

2. Be in Scripture:

• “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105

• Read, study, meditate and memorize scripture.

• Set a goal – whether a daily “read through the bible in a year” or a specific book study or something else, set a goal to be in God’s word daily and commit to it.

• Set aside a time and place.  Routine is the key, commit to a time and place where you will spend time with God.

• Keep at it – if you miss a day or days, pick up on the current day readings.

• Supplement with daily devotionals.

3. Be a Doer of the Word:

• “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” – James 1:22

• Integrate biblical principles into every aspect of your life.

• Practically this means striving to live a life that imitates Jesus.

4. Be a Regular Attendee in Church Service:

• “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” – Matthew 18:20

• Corporate worship in person is very important to engage with fellow believers, worship our amazing God and receive spiritual nourishment through the preaching of God’s word.

5. Live in Community:

• “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” – Acts 2:42

• Join a small group through your church/

• Foster relationships with fellow believers though the breaking of bread or a cup of coffee.

• Invest in lives of fellow believers.

6. Service:

• “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace” – 1 Peter 4:10

• Steward your time, spiritual gifts, and resources to help those in need.

• Build margin in your schedule to account for when God’s sovereign plan intersects with your life.

7. Seek to Live in Peace:

• “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” – Matthew 5:9

• Conflict will inevitably happen but remembering the Gospel - that God made peace with us by sending His son to die for our sins – is key to quickly resolving conflicts and making peace.

• Glorify God by owning your part in the conflict.

• “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”   Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” – Matthew 18:21-22

• Be quick to seek forgiveness and to forgive. 

• Our human nature is not to forgive, to hold onto grudges and seek vengeance - forgiveness is supernatural which in turn leads to God getting maximum glory, personal healing and a life filled with the peace of God.

8. Be on mission for Jesus:

• “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20

• Boldly look for opportunities to share your faith with others. This can be through conversations, acts of kindness, or by living a life that reflects the teachings of Jesus.

9. Recognize Grace:

• “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” – John 1:16

• “Grace upon grace” literally means overflowing grace, never ending grace.

• The pastor of our Church (Christ Church - Gilbert), in a sermon mentioned the “million little graces” every day.  We know of the big grace – Jesus on the cross – but in our daily life, there are “little graces” that need our recognition.

• Little graces examples – getting from one place to another, sun rises/sun sets, health/healing, near misses of accidents and God’s perfect timing.

10. Self-Examination and Repentance:

• “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” – 2 Corinthians 13:5

• Take time for self-reflection and examination.  Ask God for guidance in areas where repentance is necessary.

• Seek God’s wisdom for identifying areas where you can grow spiritually and continue transformation.

11. Cheerfully Give:

• “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7

• Be reminded that everything belongs to God, therefore, steward God’s gifts to you generously – time, skills, resources, and money.

12. Focus on Trajectory, not Velocity:

• “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6

• Understand that your journey of faith is a process, and sometimes that process is slow but the path should always be moving closer to God.

• Embrace the learning opportunities and spiritual growth that God places in your life.

Be well beloved friends and make 2024 the best year for Jesus yet!