Tag: new year

26 Ways to Grow in Your Faith in 2026

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

The promise of a new year is the promise of a fresh start. Indeed, God is a God of fresh starts! “His steadfast love never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lam 3:22-23). As the new year dawns, so does another chapter in your faith. Here are twenty-six ways to grow in your faith this coming year. Please note that these are not laws or obligations, but practices and disciplines that help facilitate the strengthening of our faith!

1. Commit to a local church.

    It may seem surprising for church to be at the top of the list. But I have placed it here intentionally. The local church is the primary place where we are to grow in our relationship with Jesus. It is the soil where the seed of our faith will be watered, fed, and strengthened through participating in worship, hearing the Word preached, observing the sacraments, and fellowshipping with other believers. Commit to a local church if you want to grow.

    2. Expose yourself to the Word consistently.

    The goal is not to check off days in a reading plan, but to regularly expose our hearts to God’s Word in various ways. Take seriously the preaching of the Word on Sunday mornings. Find a Bible-reading plan and stick with it. Read a Psalm a day. Listen to the Bible on audio. Find a time and a place every day to read the Word. Find whatever works for you, and stick with it!

    3. Memorize scripture.

    Don’t just read God’s Word. Memorize it. Memorize specific verses that standout when you’re reading or follow a specific Bible memorization plan (you can find several online). Use note cards or an app on your phone. Start small; something is better than nothing! Memorizing scripture not only exposes you to God’s Word, it writes His Word on your heart.

    4. Give attention to your prayer life.

    We all know we should pray and most of us want to pray, but we often become overwhelmed by the prospect of prayer that we end up not praying at all. I have found in my own life that when I don’t give attention to my prayer life, I don’t pray nearly as much. Or at least I don’t pray for the things I should.

    Sure, some prayer should be spontaneous, but regular, intentional prayer comes though specific attention and planning. Consider praying for your church on Mondays, your family on Tuesdays, your co-workers on Wednesdays, and so on. Find a schedule that works for you. Keep a list ( I do this digitally), and pray through it regularly!

    5. Practice confession, repentance, and thanksgiving.

    Don’t just pray for things and people. Search your heart. Where have you sinned against God, or against others? What have you worshiped and serve besides him? Confess it to him, and turn from it. Keep short accounts with God. Regular confession and repentance remind us of God’s grace and removes the seeds of guilt and shame that can take root in our hearts. Take the time also to give thanks to God for all that he has given you in Christ and everything you have to be thankful for in him.

    6. Find ways to serve.

    Use your gifts, talents, and interests to serve the body of Christ, your family, and/or your community. Or just volunteer to be there to help. I have found myself the most satisfied working with fellow believers doing the most menial tasks for a common purpose: we are serving Jesus.

    7. Give generously.

    Do you want to know a good antidote to materialism, greed, and selfishness? Give generously. Give your resources, time, and effort. There is more blessing in giving than in receiving (Acts 20:35). Pray and look for opportunities to give, and take advantage of them!

    8. Make Sunday worship a priority.

    Make Sunday morning worship the highlight of your week. Commit to it. Make attendance a non-negotiable. Look forward to it with eager anticipation. Prepare your heart for it. Eat a big meal with your family on Saturday night and discuss your excitement about the coming day. Pray for your pastors, leaders, volunteers, and ask God to save the lost, edify His saints, and to glorify His Son through it. Come ready to sing worship to God and hear from God through His Word.

    9. Pray with your spouse and/or family.

    Pray every morning or evening with your spouse. Pray with your family regularly, not just at meal times. Pray for specific family needs. Pray for others. Pray for your children when they are sick. Pray for people in your family/friend group. Pray for your church. Pray for missionaries. Pray with the nations. Commit to being a praying family.

    10.Join/Invest in a small group.

    If your church has life groups or small groups, join one. If you’re in one, invest in it. Attend regularly. Learn names. Invite people to your home. Go to lunch together. Get to know people and walk through life with them. Ask how you can pray for them, and do it!

    Continue reading “26 Ways to Grow in Your Faith in 2026” →

    Post-Christmas Blues: Why Christmas Leaves Us Longing for More

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Devotionals, Miscellaneous6 Comments

    It’s a feeling that comes every year. I felt it yesterday when our timed lights on the Christmas tree cut off for the last time of the Christmas season. We spent an entire month leading up to this day, and just like that, it’s over. I remember feeling the same way as a child. It’s the same feeling I would get when a good friend would have to go home after coming over to play. I call it the post-Christmas blues.

    As a child, I felt the blues because there were no more presents or family gatherings, and I had to go back to school. Its certainly not as strong now, but I still feel it. I love Christmas and everything about it. Every year, I am sad to see it go. But why?

    I don’t think its the lights, trees, decorations, or festivities. Nor is it the family meetings, delicious goodies, or joy of seeing my kids enjoy Christmas day. All of these things are great, but what is unique about Christmas, especially for followers of Jesus, is a month long opportunity, not to savor the external trinkets of Christmas, but to savor the reason for Christmas: the Savior Himself. And to do so with the people that we love.

    As an adult, I’m not as concerned about all the external trappings of Christmas. I am concerned about worshiping Jesus as I ought to, and leading my family to do the same. And Christmas is an incredible opportunity to do just that. But here’s the thing. Every year when Christmas ends, I feel like I didn’t do enough.

    I didn’t read enough advent devotionals. I didn’t meditate on the incarnation enough. I didn’t lead enough discussions with my family on the meaning of God sending His Son. I didn’t encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ enough. I didn’t sing the songs of the season with enough of my heart. I didn’t sit back and rest in Jesus enough. I didn’t share the news of His coming with nearly enough people.

    The post-Christmas blues, then, are just a symptom of this underlying diagnosis: I am not enough. I will never worship, serve, and glorify God enough. But its at this point that I must remember the whole point of Christmas: that God knows I will never be enough. No one can be. But His Son is! True enough- I haven’t worshipped Jesus as much as I could have this season. But my relationship with God is not based on how much or how well I worship Him. It is based on the perfect life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. And in that I can rest in every season.

    A Longing for Heaven

    I have learned to embrace the post-Christmas blues. God has set eternity in our hearts, and if we are His people, nothing on earth will satisfy us. That’s a good thing, because we were not created for this world alone.

    In heaven, we will get to spend unhindered time with God’s people, with family, and with friends. In heaven, we will get to rest and enjoy all that God has done for us. In heaven, we will get to worship Jesus perfectly. And we will be able to do all of these things without the distractions of this world.

    In heaven, the warmth, the light, the joy, will never end. Because we will be with God. That’s what my heart longs for every Christmas. And that’s what remains just out of my grasp every year, so that I will never be fully satisfied until I take hold of it. Until then, I will be content to taste the coming beauty of heaven every Christmas season, and to embrace the blues that come along with it, as it reminds me year after year, the best is yet to come.

    Start The New Year Remembering Your Identity In Christ

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    As the new year begins, I believe that the church at large, myself included, needs to remember our identity in Christ- as it pertains to sin. If your like me, when you think about who you are in Christ-you often think of yourself as forgiven, loved, set-apart, saved, etc. These identities are very true and important, but God has reminded me early in this year of another aspect of my identity in Christ- dead to sin.

    Paul writes in Romans,

    “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Romans 6:6-8

    We as believers are told not only that Christ died for us (substitution) but that we died with Christ (identification). He not only provided the forgiveness of sins, he provided the deliverance from the enslavement of sin. Watchman Nee says, “Our sins were dealt with by the blood,we ourselves are dealt with by the cross.” The blood of Christ seals and provides our forgiveness (“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins- Hebrews 9:22b); But the cross of Christ delivers us from what we are in Adam- slaves of sin!

    You see, we were joined with Jesus on the cross. One may ask you, “who was crucified at Calvary?” Certainly most Christians would answer with Jesus, but how many would answer that we were crucified there with him, too? It is a beautiful fact–that we were united with Christ in his death and resurrection. We were united to him in death, as our old selves were crucified with him, and also united in his resurrection, as our new selves were given life!

    Fellow believers, we are set free from sin! We are not only forgiven from our past, present, and future sins, but we are a new creature! (2 Cor. 5:17), able to have victory over sin, and to say “NO” to temptation. C.H. Spurgeon once said, “You cannot be married to Christ until you are first divorced from sin.” You may ask, “How can we be divorced from sin?” The answer is that Jesus provided the very divorcement papers! He declared us divorced when we were crucified with Him at Calvary.

    Does this describe your walk with Jesus? Can you say that you have accepted this great truth by faith, and leaned on the Spirit to live by it? This is God’s desire for us: to trust in Christ, receive the forgiveness of sins, and to walk a new life in the Spirit, a life characterized by freedom from sin. Throw yourself upon Christ! Trust in Him! This was our greatest need- to be made dead to sin, and alive to God- and He perfectly provided for us. Our old self has been crucified, and our new self has risen with Christ in power. Will you join me in pursuing a life that lives out this identity this year?