Seeking God's Blessings

Well, another year has passed and we have started a new year.  2014 - wow, seems like only a few years ago we were all concerned about the Y2K - 2000 year coming and now we are 14 years later.  Time does seem to keep right on moving.  "I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moments gone.... dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind."  (Kansas, Dust In the Wind)  It seems so easy for life to just keep passing us by, moment by moment, day by day, year by year our lives seem to pass us by and we seem so unable to make changes or make a difference.  We simply feel like dust in the wind at times.
But... God reminds me of a couple things this time of year when I get to lamenting the passing of time.
1. January is a great time to seek God's blessing for the coming year.  Spend a day, evening, early morning, or lunch hour or two this month to simply seek God and His blessing on your life, your family and your ministry this next year.  One of the best things we can do is to spend some time on a prayer retreat and just get away to seek God.  What we need more than a diet plan, exercise plan or any other resolution is to seek God's blessing.  If Jesus could bless a kids sack lunch and multiply it to feed 5,000 people; God can surely bless your life and multiply all your efforts this year for the Kingdom and make a difference.
2. January is a great time to remember how valuable you are to God and the Kingdom team.  We tend to be experts on pointing out our own failures and problems - this tends to lead to feeling pretty bad about ourselves.  God has the ability to see us as our potential selves and if we ask, just might give us a glimpse of that vision.  God sees you as a part of the Body of Christ.  The church is better with you if you are willing to let God use your natural gifts and your spiritual gifts to help the Body of Christ impact the world around you.  Remember also that you are doing more good than you believe you are by the power of God's Spirit that lives in you.
3. January is a great time to make the most of every opportunity.  One of God's challenges to me this January is to limit my time killer activities and replace them with reading/writing/being more productive for the Kingdom.  Nothing wrong with some time wasting activities, but what if you use some of that time to encourage a friend, write a novel, or whatever God calls you to do in 2014!
You are not merely dust in the wind - you are a valuable part of God's Kingdom team!  Seek God's incredible blessings for 2014!