Renew You!
Well, the old year is over and the New Year is here with thoughts of how last year went by so quickly. Some might be thinking that last year was a great year but want this year to be even greater. Some are glad that last year is finally over, and happy to not repeat any of it, with hopes of a good year. Either way, it’s a new year!
Although you can’t relive anything or remake choices from last year, you can stop and reflect on what you can do differently this year. Some choices that we made will have residual responsibilities in the New Year such as payments, loans, purchases, a new home… Ok, we get that!
With the Christmas season not far behind us, we all have gotten busy with family and friends, Christmas parties, and Christmas Eve services. Some of us have rekindled relationships that had been broken or compromised. You also may reflect on a New Year’s resolution that was made at the beginning of last year, maybe a list or spoken promise of what you were going to do in this New Year. Perhaps the New Year’s resolution list was tucked away but with good intentions of viewing it. Yep, a very busy year.
I myself have done the same. Neglected resolutions and un-kept promises that have faded away only after a few months into the New Year. We may have to admit that it isn’t going to happen–resolutions are hard to keep. The reason perhaps is because we compare ourselves to others.
We try and measure ourselves to achieve unrealistic or impossible goals, although not impossible for God. In our own human strength and abilities we tend to fail. We hear stories of how the Holy Spirit delivered someone from addictions, miracles of God delighted in someone else’s life. We can all think of many more things of why we may feel that God isn’t reaching down from heaven to help our particular set of circumstances, or someone else’s for that matter. We may be frustrated crying, “Why can’t I keep my promise or resolution, I want a great New Year and better life!”
Let me say this first. We need to see ourselves as individuals in God’s presence. We don’t always know everyone else’s personal story or journey, what they are going through or have gone through. Not everyone knows our stories or journeys, but God does!
Here are a few things you may want to consider for this year. You cannot go back to last year or yesterday and make changes. You can, however, move forward planning ahead in this New Year. Don’t make resolutions or promises that are unrealistic or hard to keep. Instead, make purposeful changes and develop new habits. We can renew ourselves by deciding to become and live purposeful in everything we do. Each of us, as Christians, are to live with a purpose in Christ. Look at this New Year as a turning point, a new beginning. We need to see ourselves as God sees us and how we want to be seen. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun!” Ephesians 4:22-24 AMP “throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy”. To “put off” literally means to “strip yourselves of your former nature.”
Renew our commitment in being a Christ follower and know that He is our Savior by asking Him to forgive, spending intimate time with Him in prayer. Pray for others. We need to be true to ourselves and others with integrity by honestly stripping off sinful behavior, knowing where we stand before God. 1 John 1: 8-9 NLT “If we claim that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”.
Pray all the time, looking for every opportunity to pray, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 NLT “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus”
I saw this post on Facebook and it’s great, “When prayer becomes your habit, miracles become your lifestyle”. Renew our thought life. We all own our thoughts and no one can control what is in our minds except for us. This is not surprising to most of us that everything we do in our personal lives starts with a thought. What we entertain in our minds is what we will focus on and eventually do. Most of us remember the cartoon characters of evil and good standing on each shoulder, one whispering good, and the other whispering evil. It was funny back then, but what voice are we listening to? The devil cannot control what we do unless we allow him. He can only use temptation. It is up to us to follow through the miracles of grace, yielding to the voice of the Holy Spirit. We are responsible for changing our minds and thought life. Romans 12:1-2 NLT “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let’s then be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”.
Life isn’t perfect and we obviously don’t live in a perfect world. We can decide how we need to make positive changes in our own lives, being vessels of change, willing to reach out to others, and changing how we think and do things.
God is perfect, He will reach down to anyone who calls upon the Name of Jesus. Don’t get caught up on New Year’s resolutions and unrealistic goals. Start with ‘you’ first. God wants you for His plans and purposes, and other things will fall into place.
Happy New Year!
