WHAT CAN THE LORD MAKE NEW IN YOUR NEW YEAR?

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” Mark 1:27

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)

 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As you read this, either you will already be in the New Year or you will just be hours from ushering it in. The 365 days of 2012 are past and a fresh series of days and months are ahead of us.

We call it the New Year and it is but what can be new about it?  What can the Lord make new in your New Year?

Well, to answer that question I have extracted six scripture passages for us to ponder, all having the theme of the Lord doing something new. Here we go:

1. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

As we enter into the New Year, we leave a 2012 that was filled with a lot of tragedy and heartache, particularly in several shooting incidents that took the lives of innocent children, teachers, and firefighters to name a few. As we see evil in our world seem to want to dominate the headlines, let us look at 2013 with a renewed sense of hope, and not just any hope but a living hope found only through the salvation resurrection promise of Christ Jesus. For all those who place their faith and trust in Him as Savior are victorious people. No one can take away the eternal life that awaits you and friends, that is truly good news. Hold onto that into and through the New Year.

2. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

Life might offer you and me lots of promises but they all are fleeting compared to the new covenant we receive through Jesus Christ, a covenant that is carried out in and through all Christians every day through the Holy Spirit. As we enter the New Year, let us turn to the Spirit living within to lead us toward glorifying the Lord in all we do while we carry out His will and testify to the new covenant offered all through Jesus.  

3. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

Want to know how to operate within all of the relationships that the Lord draws you into? You need only look to this command from Jesus to find the answer.

It’s love.

Love will always be the right call as we coexist with one another in this life season on earth. And we aren’t to love as the world loves because the world has done a good job of polluting and corrupting love, taking it far from what the Lord intends for it to be. No, we’re to love as Jesus loved, loving unconditionally and in a way that would have us die for another if need be. In the New Year, let’s recommit ourselves to loving agape-style, modeling the love of Jesus in all our relationships.

4. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” Mark 1:27

Rest assured of this, no matter how well you think you know the word of God, I guarantee you He is ready to teach you something new every time you open His book and enter into communion with Him through the Holy Spirit. I’m amazed every day as I write these devotions by how the Lord is speaking to me powerfully, new and fresh, every single day. My prayer in the New Year is that you’ll devote yourself more to the scriptures and experience the newness of the Lord’s teaching that will want you to tell others with excitement about all He is revealing to you about Himself and His purposes.

5. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

When we turn to the Lord every day to receive His instruction and Holy Spirit, something amazing happens inside us. We are transformed and conformed more and more to the image of Christ and, through that process, find our hearts changed – new, caring, forgiving, and compassionate.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). When Jesus is your treasure, then He will be in your heart and thus everything you do will be an extension of Him, every action, spoken word, and thought.

Won’t you turn your heart over to Jesus more in the New Year? If you do, I guarantee you will have a new heart, a heart that beats like the heart of Christ.

6. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)

Maybe you’re reading this today and you have yet to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Maybe you have done so in the past but have drifted away from Christ in your life, living more for yourself and the world than others.

Well, today you have a chance to change things, to make your life new or renewed.

If you haven’t accepted Christ’s invitation to eternal life, I ask you to pray this prayer right this very moment and receive salvation:

O God my Father, I come before you in the name of Jesus as a sinner in need of Your forgiveness for my transgressions. I believe that Your only Son Jesus died for my sins, shedding His precious blood on Calvary’s cross. I want to turn from my sins and who I was before. I want to be a new creation with Jesus as the Lord of my soul.

I fully believe and will proclaim that You raised Your Son Jesus, my Savior, from the dead and in doing so, opened the gates of heaven for all who would place their faith and trust in Him as Savior. I want to be counted among that number and receive the rich inheritance You promise in Your Holy Word.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and saving me. Change and transform me so every part of me is like You. Teach me Your ways and show me to love and extend grace and mercy as You do.

May all that I am be all that You are Lord Jesus. 

Amen.

If you received Jesus as Savior with this prayer then you are saved and are now a new creation in Christ. What you were before is behind you and there is an endless wave of new experiences coming your way through Christ Jesus in 2013.

And if you need to renew your commitment to Jesus, then you can pray this prayer right now and enter 2013 with a new focus with your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for how I have lived apart from Your will and way. I now recommit my heart, mind, and soul back to Your purpose, to Your will and way. Lead and guide me back into Your righteousness and holiness I pray and use me as an instrument of Your will so that in all things I do, say or think, I will bring honor and glory and praise to Your precious and holy name.

Amen

So there you have it, all the things the Lord is ready to make new in your New Year. Won’t you receive His everlasting hope, His amazing promise, His unending love, His wise counsel and instruction, His offer of spiritual rebirth, and receive His renewed Spirit that will lead your hearts toward righteousness and holiness.

2013 has the potential to be your greatest year ever, full of fresh spiritual growth through Christ Jesus.

I say, “Come Lord Jesus, come. I’m ready to receive You and carry out Your will and way.”

Will you join me?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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