Word of the Week - Everything "New"

He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true' Revelation 21:5

As we begin 2021, we have the opportunity to start fresh and begin a “New” chapter of our lives, especially in our walk of faith. I love this about God and our faith as Christians; as foundational as God is in the fact that He has been around since the beginning of time, He is the same today as He was in the beginning, He is a God of New. He desires for us to be born anew in His spirit so that we can experience the abundant life He promises us. He also desires for us to be renewed and refreshed in Him so we can continue to experience the fresh life of God and have the capacity to minister this hope to others.  In the Spirit of God there is always life and Newness and He calls us to pursue New things in Christ so we can flourish and rejoice in this amazing life giving truth.New Life in Christ, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 The New life in Christ, which is the abundant life that He speaks about in John 10:10, comes to us when we surrender our hearts and lives to Christ and are born afresh of His spirit. In order to experience the New things of God we have to get ourselves out of the way by letting go of the old self, and allow Jesus to do a new work within us by surrendering our hearts and lives to Christ. This is where salvation and New life begins and we literally become New persons in Christ. I experienced this rebirth nearly 20 years ago at the age of 33 and it changed everything. I was given a New identity in Christ and it awakened in me a New perspective that has truly been the biggest blessing of my life and made me a New person with New priorities, values, interest, disciplines, hopes and dreams. It is never too early or too late to become New in Christ.New daily perspective, disciplines and rhythms, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins: otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins: but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Mark 2:22 It is hard to get new outcomes from old habits; therefore, we need to constantly be working toward being renewed in the things of God. Routines and rhythms of life are key to growing and realizing our full potential but they must be frequently evaluated to ensure they are still working toward the original intent. Many times we start a new routine or form a habit that initially had a good purpose but over time for varying reasons become less relevant our outdated in achieving their initial purpose/objective. Routines become habits and habits can create ruts if we are not careful and conscious. We must take time to reflect, evaluate and assess. We should never do something just because it is the way we have been doing it. I am all about traditions, systems and rhythms and have built my entire business and life around these principals, but I know that we must keep ourselves fresh and not grow stale in “our ways”.Be Re “newed” in Christ daily, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 According to this passage in God’s word, the key to living a healthy life is that we allow God to renew us each day by connecting to the vine of Christ, which provides the sustenance that we need to stay strong and faithful within our inner spirit man. This is what gives us the strength to press on through the challenges of life with strength, faith and hope. To maintain a healthy perspective we must have daily disciplines and rhythms that keep us in connection with the Lord. Investing focused time each day with the Lord by talking with Him about life and our challenges (prayer), receiving guidance and instruction from Him (reading His word), and telling Him how much we love Him while gaining love and encouragement from Him (praise and worship), are some of the basic disciplines and rhythms of our faith that are key to having intimacy with the Lord and experiencing New things in Christ.As we begin the new year, I pray we will take inventory and make adjustments to our lives so we can experience the Newness and Goodness of God. You can’t put new ideas into old mind-sets and you don’t typically get new results with old behaviors. But God can renew your mind and with him all things are possible. . “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.  Make your relationship with the Lord the priority and experience newness like never before. Since it is the most important relationship in our lives, I would submit that it requires the most focus and attention.I pray the you will experience God in a New and Fresh way in 2021…-Duane