A new year brings about a fresh start. It allows us to set our compass so that we are not adrift on the open sea, and just hoping that somehow, someway we will arrive at our desired destination. This drifting through life is the result of never setting your life’s compass according to the Word of God.

 

A ship adrift is totally at the mercy of the wind and waves. Is that how your life has been? Far too many Christians just let life happen to them, instead of making a plan and setting a course for victory in every area of their lives.

If you are constantly living up and down, and tossed from side to side by the storms of life, it will begin to take its brutal toll on you. One day you’ll be convinced that what God promised in His Word belongs to you and is completely obtainable through faith. And then the very next day you’ll be equally convinced it’s not going to work out and that nothing is changing for you at all. This miserable lifestyle is the consequence of never setting your compass. In fact, this is what the Bible refers to as being double minded, as you will see in the verses below.

“6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8 KJV

The Amplified Bible makes verse eight of the passage above even more clear to us.

“[For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].” James 1: 8 AMP

If you have been unstable, unreliable and uncertain about everything you think, feel and decide, then start off the year making the decision to set your compass. Determine to arrive at the destination of the manifestation of the promises of God in your life by year’s end. Here are a few tips on getting your compass set for the New Year.

First of all, you will never arrive anywhere God wants you to arrive if your communication lines with “headquarter” have been severed. If you are not in constant contact with the Lord then things won’t turn out well for you this year. So make the decision today to have a set time for prayer and reading the Bible every single day.

Sadly, most Christians do not do this so they allow their calendar and daily schedule to be dictated by the busyness of life, instead of through proper planning. Your time spent daily in prayer and in the Word are two key elements to set ting your compass. You will get off course quickly with out these.

(To aid you with this you will find a daily Bible reading plan available on the Kenny Gatlin Ministries website. Please take advantage of this. It is the same one I use in my own life.)

The next vital key to setting your compass is to get completely sold out and locked in at your local church. God has raised up your pastor and a church for you. Don’t take it for granted. Be in every service. And be supportive with your prayers, your faith confession, and through your tithes and offerings. Most Christians lives are adrift because they fail here.

Another important step to take in setting your compass for the New Year, based upon the Word of God, is to set some godly goals that not only build your life and family, but build the Kingdom of God as well. For example:

• Have you decided to read through the Bible this year?
• Have you established your goal yet where church attendance is concerned for this year? Read Hebrews 10:25 and then set a goal to "go all the more...." Use a calendar to monitor your attendance goals. My advice is to just be in every service!
• Have you determined to be a faithful and consistent tither in your local church this year?
• Have you set your offering goals for this New Year? It is good to determine to give more to the House of the Lord than ever before, because doing this will cause you to reap much more in the New Year than you ever have before.
• What are your prayer goals for this year? Have you established a set time for prayer every day of the New Year?
• Have you established a goal for how many people you will invite to church each week? Do you have a soul winning goal for this year?
• Have you set your faith on certain promises of God for this year? Determine now not to let this year be anything other than the best year of your life. Live it to the full! Live it all hot for God! Live it faithful to God's House! Live it as a doer of the Word!

These are important keys that will allow you to set your compass for victory and fulfillment in this New Year. Don’t just drift. Set your course and get to the place that God has planned for you. Decide today to start the year off strong and end it even stronger in Jesus’ Name!