Welcome to 2019, Its a new year
Isaiah 42:9 says Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
How can we use our new years resolutions, to give the new year a kick start?
Last year has gone. It’s a new year, what are we going to do about it?
Here we are once again, we are at the beginning of a New Year, for most of us it a time for re- evaluation and a season of new beginnings
How many times in life have we started a new year without realising the goals from the previous year we had set or even taken the time to evaluate why those goals weren’t made?
We cannot live on yesterday’s blessings and we certainly shouldn’t dwell on yesterday’s failures and disappointments.
The new year is a time to forget the past and move forward into the present and the future.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
New Year
Many people all over the world have made or are in the process of making New Year’s resolutions, of which many of them will never come to pass.
For us as Bible believing Christians this is an opportunity to look back over the past year to see if we were able to make all of the desired changes we set out to do.
• The beginning of a New Year can be a season of new beginnings for us.
• It’s a time to look ahead with a sense of anticipation and excitement towards the new things God wants to do in our lives.
• It is a season of setting new goals and putting into action those things you
have been putting off.
In Jesus every day should be a day of new beginnings, but we can look to this season as a time to reflect and re-evaluate where we are and where we are going in God.
2 Corinthians 4:16 Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
I believe God wants to create a sense of newness in each one of our lives.
I believe it is always God’s desire that we be filled with a sense of newness and freshness of what He desires and wants to do in our lives. He desires for us to be filled with a renewed sense of purpose and destiny. This is what is really needed before we can give ourselves a good kickstart.
Isaiah 43:18-19 reads “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Over the years I have had a lot of realised goals and a lot of failures and unrealised goals as well.
The beautiful thing about being a Christian and knowing the Lord is that we don’t have to live our lives in guilt and condemnation for our failures and un-achieved goals.
We get to wipe the slate clean and start over. God doesn’t hold our past against us as long as we sincerely repent and continually move toward the goal, the prize of the call of God in Jesus. We are a new creation in Christ every day of our lives.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we are told, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
How does Newness And Fresh Revelation Come?
Newness Comes By Letting Go Of The Past.
No matter how miserably we failed in life or in our Christianity, God’s desire is for us to receive His forgiveness and move forward.
Psalm 103:12 reads As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Hanging on and dwelling on the past is like air moving through a dirty filter. Even though something new and fresh enters into the filter it comes out dirty and tainted because of the filth it must flow through.
Jonah’s Example
Take Jonah for example. Jonah’s sulking disappointment came from a failure of imagination, a failure of heart. He had no idea what God was doing, the largeness of his love and mercy and salvation.
He had reduced his vocation to his own performance he was in the right place, doing the right thing but he interpreted everything through his Jonah ideas, his Jonah desires.
Many times, we, are in the right place at the right time, but because we are focused on ourselves we miss out on the new things God wants to do through us and for us.
Our own ideas and desires get in the way and we totally miss what God is trying to say and do.
One of God’s principles concerning new things is to forget the past and not to walk in condemnation and guilt, but rather to walk in the freedom and the liberty of His forgiveness, how cool is that!
Romans 8:1 tells me, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
If God has forgotten about our past sins, failures, and defeats, we must also forget and get on with the new things He desires to do in our lives.
Newness also Comes By Hungering & Thirsting For It.
Matthew 5:6 says Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
I Have an extreme hunger and thirst for God’s word and His purpose in my life. As a result I am filled with an overwhelming sense of newness.
Newness Comes By Allowing God To Renew Our Spirits.
Get in touch with what God wants to do in your life, rather than what you want.
David prayed for God to create a new heart and renew a right or steadfast spirit with in him. This should be our heart attitude.
The Psalmist writes Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, 0 God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
God can only create a sense of newness when we yield ourselves to Him with an open and contrite heart.
Don’t be to attached to your identity, God wants to continually change your identity as you are more and more conformed into His image. I’m convinced that one of the reasons many people do not change as much as they would like to is because they are unwilling to let go of their identity, an identity that is wrapped up in the sins of the past.
The cry of our hearts should be for God to continually create a new heart within us and to continually renew our spirit in Him. As we do this it will put us in the proper position for God to speak and create new things in our lives, which isn’t what we all really want?
It takes a restored and renewed vision to move forward in God.
and this means spending time with God, so that He can renew and strengthen our lives.
Having the Holy Spirit reveal new things comes from waiting on God and
allowing Him to speak to our spirits.
New Year, New Wine
Isaiah 40:31 put it this way, But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Learn to wait on God with the expectation of new revelation and understanding of what His desire towards you is. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
Ways To Kick Start Your New Year
Rely on the Holy Spirit to Help You and Equip You.
Colossians 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
Mightily in this case coming from the Greek word dunamis, meaning miraculous power, ability, abundance, might, power, strength, violence, mighty.
The major reason unbelievers have a hard time fulfilling their new year’s resolutions is because they are doing it with their own strength.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
As Christians, God has given to us the Holy Spirit and all things that pertain unto life and life and godliness.
Therefore a new hope comes with new challenges and goals, because all the promises of God are ours!
Build on Past Successes and Learn From Past Failures.
Great accomplishments are often attempted but only occasionally reached. Those who reach them are usually those who missed many times before. I cant remember who said
Failures are only temporary tests to prepare us for permanent triumphs.
Philippians 3:16 put it this way, Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
We all have failures in our lives. It’s what we do with them and how we respond to them that makes the difference.
The way we deal with failure can determine how we sustain motivation.
It has been said that a successful person fails two out of every five times, while the unsuccessful person fails three out of five times. Thats not a whole lot of difference. let me say it again a successful person fails two out of every five times, while the unsuccessful person fails three out of five times.
We need to look at how much we missed the mark and then make the necessary adjustments that will help us to make the mark more perfectly in the coming year.
We should think of a goal as a target.
The bull’s eye is 100. Concentric rings are 80, 60, 40, and 20. You should aim for 100, but sometimes you may only hit 80 or even 20. But if you don’t aim for 100, you will hit zero every time.
Someone said, “I would rather attempt to do something great for God and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.”
Set New Goals.
Proverbs 29:18 reads Where there is no vision or revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.
let me tell you without vision and direction you will cast off all restraint and not fulfill those areas of change that the Lord wants to bring into your lives.
What are your goals for the coming year?
I encourage you to think about what your goals are for the coming year and
write them down.
• Make a list of areas you want victory in during this coming year.
• Make a list of areas you want to be more diligent in.
• Make a list of new areas and experiences you want to come into.
• Make a list of new areas in which you want to commit yourself to or recommit yourself to.
• Make a list of what God wants to do in your family.
• Become accountable to someone in the areas you are looking for change and newness.
Philemon 1:6 The sharing of your faith becomes effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing, which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Expect The Holy Spirit To Bring Forth New Beginnings.
We should have a great expectation in our hearts that new things and new seasons are going to break forth in our lives because this is God s desire towards us. Its just a matter of us agreeing with Gods will and purpose for our lives.
Philippians 1:6 He who has already been doing a good work in you is going to keep on doing it until Jesus returns (thats my translation)
My prayer for each one of us is that as we begin this new year we would focus on making Christ centred plans with a desire for what God wants to do in each of our lives. As a result we would allow the vision that God is giving to us in each of these areas cause us to grow to new levels of victory in Him.
Hopefully, at the end of this year you will be able to say, “My relationship with God has deepened and matured, my marriage is considerably better, my family is more secure, my involvement and commitment to church life has grown, my gifts and ministries are being exercised and I have a good testimony at work, where I am a witness for Jesus Christ.” The plans of a righteous man will cause these things to happen for you in this coming year!
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word. When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer. There’s nothing that’s too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.faithministries.com.au. When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you. So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us at www.faithministries.com.au/contact/
2019 IS A YEAR FOR REFORMATION
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