So, last Sunday in church, I spoke about how to have a new you in the New Year. Here are the basic facts, for those who missed the service.... We Read from Proverbs 2:1-8, then I gave the illustration of a little child whose mother has a terrible sore on her hands and the girl was always ashamed to go out with the mom or bring her friends home: why because of the odor on the sore and the ugly look of the hands. The girl will always require the mother to cover up her hands with long sleeves whenever mother and daughter went out together. However, on day the girl summoned courage to ask mom the reason for the scar. Her mother told her, for the first time how she rescued her daughter from a flaming fire, getting terribly burned and scarred in the process. The girl responded with tears: oh mother, these are beautiful hands. I also said that it has been discovered that we don’t have to do something big to get a significant change. According to a recent Self Magazine article, losing just one dietary bad habit can result in significant weight loss over a period of one year. If you just substitute high calorie offenders for similar tasting, lower calorie choices, the weight loss can still be significant. Give up one teaspoon of cream in your coffee and lose 6 pounds a year, or switch to a similar amount of skim milk and lose 5 pounds. Give up a glazed donut a day and lose 25 pounds a year, or switch to a medium sized bran muffin and lose 11 pounds in a year. Skipping a teaspoon of butter on a daily bagel will leave you 11 pounds lighter at year's end, or change to a similar amount of cream cheese and drop 5 pounds. Some other items you can drop and save on are a 12 ounce can of soda a day and forget 17 pounds in a year; a 1.2 ounce chocolate bar a day saves you 12 pounds in 18 months. There's nothing to it but to do it. Turn these around: a little kindness, a little caring, a little welcoming spirit, a little forgiveness, a little forbearance and your family will stay together. A little understanding of your wife or husband and you’ll be having a honeymoon again. Yes, you can have a honeymoon, not a stinger at home. You can have joy not quarrels all the time. Phil 4: 8 says add to your virtue this year and you will add to your blessings. If you are looking for a heaven-sent miracle this year, can I give you a rude shock: YOU ARE THE MIRACLE! Your miracle starts with you. (Exodus 8:9-10 – Moses told Pharaoh: set the time, glory over me). You can have power and progress, anointing with a little prayer, a little fasting, a little more Bible reading, a little devotional time, a little…just a little more and you are closer to God more than you’ve ever being. ILLUSTRATION: Years ago when the western U.S. was being settled, roads were often just wagon tracks. These rough trails posed serious problems for those who journeyed on them. On one of these winding paths was posted a sign which read: "Avoid this rut or you'll be in it for the next 25 miles!"
