Pure

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:23-27

Almighty God of Hosts, creator of heaven and earth. You who know all things and yet cares for me so deeply, raise me from the ground. Take this heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh. Take away all the loneliness, desire, and sorrow and make it worthy of your holy name. Because my heart and my soul may fail, take away all my sin and make me pure again. Cleanse my soul and give me the peace and joy. Break me and mold me into a man of God worthy of your love. This in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Resolutions

Los Angeles is beautiful, and at the Griffith Observatory you can see this amazing view of the city. It is a picture that awes the soul and inspires you to sing. Take a deep breath, and you might feel your heart skip a beat. Take another breath and look around; romance is in the air. This is where couples fall in love. Celebrate. Aspire to build a life full of dreams, full of happiness, full of hope. As I stand by the balcony and look ahead, body leaned forward, it is as if the city is mine. I stretch out my hand and imagine Los Angeles sits at the palm of my hand. I feel like letting out a scream of joy... or sometimes frustration. As I sit there, I think about all the dreams I have and ask, "will they come to pass?" The answer to that (obviously) no one knows. Yet, as 2011 goes away like the sun in the falling dusk, I look ahead to a brighter 2012.

Resolutions are firm decisions to do something significant or deemed valuable. People make them every year only to eventually forget about them. After several failed resolutions, shamefully, I'll try to make another commitment. If it is the will of God, my resolutions will come to pass. Not that I am not already a conqueror in Jesus Christ, for through him I am already a winner. Surely, these are all things he wants me to have. By the end of the year, they will surely come to pass.

I will live healthier. 
I will read the bible from cover to cover. 
I will make life-lasting friendships & strengthen the ones I already have.
I will sing and dance and rejoice. 
I will take every opportunity God sends my way and make the most out of it. 
I will find true love. 
I will grow in wisdom and in strength.
... and in integrity. 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39