NEW!

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This has long been one of my favorite verses from the Bible.  I like it because it's a message of "new".  Christians are to be "new creatures" who are experiencing "new things".  I don't know about you but I'm encouraged by new--new opportunities, new experiences, new life, etc.  Today is a new day and in it each of us will experience God in new ways as He reveals Himself to us.  We will, perhaps, make new friends, develop new skills, and receive new gifts.  The day will absolutely be filled with new.  The only question is to whether we will open our hearts to receive all of the new that God has for us today. 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” --C.S. Lewis, Mere Chrisitanity

2015

As we stand on the verge of another new year, allow me to suggest seven worthy resolutions that will make your life richer and your church stronger.

I will meet together with my church family to worship God, to share my life, and to grow in ways that would never happen alone.  "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together . . . " (Hebrews 10:24-25).

I will experience prayer every day.  "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 1:17).

I will minister in the way that God has gifted me as needs arise.  "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).

I will bask, bathe, and bury myself in the Bible each day.  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).

I will enlarge the Kingdom of God by sharing God's good news. "Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled" (Luke 14:23).

I will resource the church through my tithes and offerings. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house" (Malachi 3:10).

I will sense the supernatural activity of God. "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:19).

“Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.”  ― Brad Paisley