We all love the new year. It gives us the hope of a new start, a new beginning. It affords us the opportunity to forget the past and press on toward something better. This year is no exception. W
While the hope we feel at the advent of each new year may be illogical (really, it is just another day and a human measurement created to track time), the hope we experience as we place our lives in Christ's hands is profoundly real-- for He truly does erase our every mistake, our every misdeed and wipe our slate clean! The Bible states in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed, behold, all things are made new!" 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness"-- ALL unrighteousness! Isn't that amazing!
W
This year I am hoping for a year of new beginnings. I have made decisions in the past that have put a strain on me-- relationships that still pull me down emotionally at times. And just when I was about ready to give up all hope that I could ever be freed from that weight, the Lord reached down in His grace and illuminated His glorious truth: "Behold, I am making all things new." What sweet words!
W
For He has said to Israel: Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, "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." (Isaiah 43:16, 18-19)
W
I am hoping that this year I will (finally *ahem*) meet someone and fall in love. :) I am hoping to finish a little demo CD I am working on. I am hoping to be freed from the fear of man-- to become someone who blesses those around me and loves without reserve. In my own strength, none of those things can happen-- but in Christ all things are possible. And even if one or more of these things should not come to pass, I have the peace and assurance that He is working in me to will and to do for His good pleasure, and that all He has purposed for me will have been done... He is faithful to complete what He has started!
W
So here's to a new year, and the hope of newness in Jesus Christ! Amen! :)
W
