New Year, New You!

Everyone is familiar with the good 'o New Year's Resolution - right?
The Common New Year's resolutions are to be better spouse, spend more time with family, to quit smoking, drinking, to manage finances wiser, excercise more. Certainly the most common New Years resolution is probably to lose weight, and eat better foods.
Great goals! 1 Timothy 4:8 wants us to keep exercise in its proper place, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
Reality Check: The vast majority of New Year's resolutions, even among Christians, are in relation to physical things. Though this is not horrible, there is more we could be reaching for!
Now there are many Christians that make a New Year's resolutions to pray more, to read the Bible in a year or every day, and to get more involved in church. That's Great!
Unfortunately, these New Year's resolutions fail just as often as the non-spiritual resolutions. WHY? Probably because regardless of INTENTION there is no power in a New Year's resolution.
Resolving to start or stop doing something has no power, value or authority unless you have the proper motivation for stopping or a particular habit or activity.
Why do you want to read the Bible every day? Is it to honor God and grow spiritually, To fall more and more in Love with Jesus or is it because you have been told that it is a good thing or the Christian thing to do?
Why do you want to lose weight? Is it to honor God with your body, or is it to honor yourself?
Philippians 4:13 tells us, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
John 15:5 declares, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
If God is the center of your New Years resolution, it has chance for success, depending on your commitment to HIM. New Year's resolutions are not bad, infact they are a good thing to aim for most of the time...But if it is only powered by YOU, It is likely to fail, WHY? Because we ALL FALL SHORT of God's intended glory!
If it is God's will for something to be fulfilled, He will enable you to fulfill it. If a resolution is not God honoring and/or is not in agreement in God's Word, we will not receive God's help in fulfilling the resolution.
So, what sort of New Year's resolution should a Christian make?
Here are some suggestions: (1) Pray to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what resolutions, if any, He would have you make; (2) Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you; (3) Rely on God's strength to help you; (4) Find an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you; (5) Don't become discouraged with occasional failures; instead allow them to motivate you further; (6) Don't become proud or vain, but give God the glory. Psalm 37:5-6, "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."



Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com

Unwelcomed King

This is a time when the first few chapters of Matthew and Luke are re-visited. We have a sweet and serene picture in our head of a mother and her child cozily wrapped warm and tended to within a picturesque stable with several animals gazing adoringly on the new born child.

But in reality, was it really as wonderful as it is portrayed in a Kresh, picture or movie? Certainly not. It was dark, dank, and dirty. Mary and Joseph were alone, uncared for medically by midwives and without a room in the town.

Why would a King of such Magnitude, who orchestrates everything and orders the universe create an entrance into the world so desperate and crude?

Perhaps because that's the true state of our world regardless of how glorious we feel it is at times? Perhaps He was making a commentary on what we deem valuable? Perhaps He was showing that even if we wanted to give the Lord of Creation an entrance of splendor the best we could provide from our sinful state, in comparision to His True Majesty, would be no better than a dirty, filthy, unworthy, chaotic mess.

How true it is when we don't know Christ...Our world dark and disorderly, is unwelcoming of who Christ is... We go about our day, busy and flurried...We have no room for Him, we permit Him to play a small part in our world perhaps, but only give him the area in the back ground. Perhaps there is part of us that feel like we should remember the religious reason for the season...so we relegate Jesus to the back cave somewhere in the dark... we gave Him some room . It's the most we will do. Afterall, there is so much we have to tend to, so much work to do, visitors coming, places to go, things to make, prepare, buy and give....

They only time it really hits us, is like the shepherds, while tending to things, God in His mercy shines His glorious Light in our hearts and declares as if by angels Who He is! ... Humbled and even fearful we come to acknowledge that Jesus is not just a new King born, one of thousands, BUT THE KING of KINGS...

Then when it strikes our hearts we are in awe of who He is, with a realization that He Has come to us to save us from our dark and dank world and existance...To proclaim us as His own, to establish a hope and to restore man to Himself.

What Glorious news, what hope and redemption. Then we get it and like those shepherds, run through the town proclaiming all that they had seen and heard from the heavenly messengers...

I encourage you to truly consider what it is that Christ has done, why it was that He came, What it is we celebrate and to give Him room this Holiday (HOLY DAY) season...Not in the background somewhere, but in the best room of your heart!



Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com

Christmas Poem

We Celebrate His birth
Yet, pay Him little mind,
Happiness is thought to be found in gifts,
While true joy is hard to find.
Could it be we've been caught up in superficial things
and forgotten who is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings?
We see Him as a helpless child
In a small and distant manger
We proclaim to know Him,
Yet to many, He's but a stranger
Let us not forget the reason that He came,
Powerful Freedom and Forgiveness
Is that which He proclaims!

Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com

Whewww! I did it!

Well, I did it...

Sang the National Anthem and God Bless America! - Acappella - no less! I had been invited by the New York State Chief of Staff, Fred DiFabio to sing the opening and closing song for their annual, 'Dropping of the Roses Ceremony' hosted at the Farmingdale AirPower Museum...It is a wonderful ceremony commemorating the infamous day of December 7th, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Each year, several hundred people attend the ceremony, with several state and federal dignitaries which is coordinated by the Long Island Air Force Association, in conjunction with the Navy and various other military branches and personel. Special guests are the Long Island survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack...Roses, one for each year since that day, are blessed with waters that come from the area surrounding the USS Arizona in Hawaii...then they are flown by the Geico Skytypers in vintage WWII planes over the Statue of Liberty and dropped...

It was a very Somber moment, the introduction and then the formal Presentation of Colors, as the Navy, the Civil Air Patrol, the Airforce and the Vietnam Veterans (I'm sure there were others), marched forward in carrying the flags. It was so official, so somber, so perfectly coordinated...I didn't even feel like I should smile...

So, properly I stood, put my hand over my heart, (silently prayed) and there it was that first note...OOOOooooooSAY can you SEE....

Oh goodness I didn't start where I wanted to. The note was fine, but not the one I was practicing....ahhhhhh - will I hit all of them ok? Thoughts, and nerves ran almost wild as I simultaneously tried to keep my cool, not say - 'Oops wrong note, let me start again, do over please.' NOPE - I was committed - 'Forward Christian soldier....'

I resolved my self to focus on the back wall gazing past the flag..., above the heads of every one there, praying God you would cover and help me get to those high notes now...

I heard in my own voice a tremble and stress at them, but 'so I'm told' it couldn't be noticed...
So I finally finished, hitting every note, at least 'ok', and thankfully in the flurry of nerves and fear and raging thoughts and prayers didn't forget any of the words...That would have been worse - I think.

I was far more comfortable for the closing song 'God Bless America'. Everyone joined in and sang along...

It was a true honor and a blessing...a small way to give honor where honor is due, to be thankful for this great nation, for those who surrendered their lives that we might be able to walk and live in the freedoms we so abundantly enjoy...

Thank You Lord for the privalege!

You can watch some of the videos that were shown at the ceremony this year here...

http://www.joannafruhauf.com/apps/videos/

Raise the Banner was written, recorded and coordinated by me and shown at the ceremony.

Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com