During this past "Holiday Season" everyone of you heard or uttered the phrase "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." In Spanish, the customary greeting is Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo. (A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year) If the intentions of those who share this latter phrase with you are sincere, they are hoping you will prosper in the coming year. However, I believe it is safe to say that we mostly connect the word "prosper" with finances, and while that is one of the meanings, to prosper mostly means "to succeed in an enterprise or activity, or to become strong and flourishing" That, perhaps, is one reason why the author of the first Psalm wrote that godly people are "like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither ---- whatever they do prospers." (Ps. 1:3)

    Without a doubt, God wants all His children to prosper. So do I. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the truth conveyed in Psalm 1. That is, the chances of us actually prospering are greatly enhanced when we live our lives with the purpose of honoring and serving God. That, of course, includes serving others, although it begins with Him. 

       I don't know if you made new year resolutions or not, but if you did, I already shared a verse that gave you a clue regarding your chances of success. Even so, it is possible that some of you already broke one or all of your resolutions. That’s okay, its not the end of the world. The truth is that God’s children fall from time to time. Proverbs 24:16 says: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” David, on the other hand, wrote: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”(Ps. 37:23-24 NLT) At first glance, it may appear that these two verses contradict each other. One says “a righteous man may fall” and the other says the righteous “will never fall.” The original Hebrew word for “fall” (naphal) is the same in both verses. It can mean to literally fall down or it it could mean to fall short. Besides, “falling” and “failing” are two different things. Someone has said “Failure is never failure until it reaches the heart.” I trust that if you “fell short” you will not permit your heart to call it failure. If you stumbled and fell, just dust yourself off and start all over. Besides, it’s still early and they can still qualify as new year resolutions. More importantly, we can “resolve” to better ourselves any day of the year. God helping you, I know you will have success this year.

God’s word for today: (Romans 14:4) “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own Master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”