Walking in the Spirit - 4 Key thoughts to take into the new Year

1 God prizes obedience above all else.
You cannot be obedient if you have no clue what His heart and will are. The only way to learn His heart and will is to read His Word to get to know Him and His character. This is priority #1! Don't attempt to do anything without first taking the time to do this! Then, obey Him by acting as he would desire you to act, in your daily life, and glorifying Him by being salt and light to those around you. Christ in human form always did the things that pleased Him, and was obedient unto death.

2 He will not accept anything you do for Him. It has to be Him doing it through you so that He gets the glory.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags and unacceptable. Our tools pollute His altar. So focus on letting Him working through you and STOP doing things in your flesh. Flesh work is motivated by a desire to satisfy ourselves (stop guilt, look for praise, satisfy our ego), not out of a desire to glorify Him. When you look to please only Him, and only He knows what you are doing for Him, you will see the fruit. Listen for what He wants and do that, instead of asking Him to bless what you want to do.

3 He is more interested in you who you ARE as a person than what you DO.
Being is more important than doing! If you focus on letting the Spirit transform your character, the doing will naturally flow from it. If you try to fake it by doing good things while your character is bad you are going to fail, be discouraged, and nothing you do will satisfy you. So don't be in a hurry to do. Get in the Word and Spirit and BE transformed to His character, then the doing will come easy, satisfy, and accelerate the transformation!

4 Understand that you are dependent on Him for everything! Your life, salvation, ministry, fruit, faith, health....
He is the one who allows both blessing and adversity in your life for His sovereign purposes and for your ultimate good. Without Him you can do nothing! Without Him you would be nothing! So ... Rest in Him, Trust in Him even though He seems to be slaying you - because His plans for you are for your good, and His commandments are for your benefit. Wait actively in Him by meditating on His Word, and ask Him to open your eyes to opportunities to glorify Him in your daily life. He is as/more pleased by small acts of obedience ( a cup of cold water, a kind word, a hospital/prison visit, a meal to the hungry) as mega-ministries- these are things you can do! Be His body that so loved Man that He gave His Best!