There is something about a new start that fills us with hope. The whole slate-wiped-clean idea really appeals to most of us. It is kind of like my love of opening a brand new box of crayons. All the tips are perfect. The paper that wraps them is clean and crisp. They are all uniform in their size as they sit there in their beautiful box with no tatters or rough edges. There is still a lid to open and close. The bottom is not covered with tape to keep the brilliant colors from slipping through. The potential of what these crayons can do is limitless! But, as we all know the crayons do not stay this way if they are part of the bigger picture. They get dirty and broken. They are stepped on. The lid of the box gets torn off and the rest starts to lose its shape. Some of the crayons are lost when the bottom of the box falls open. The broken pieces won't fit together in the ratty box anymore so it gets thrown away and the crayons are tossed together into another type of container. Pieces of crayon without their outside covers begin to bump against each other. They leave part of their color on other ones so sometimes the original hues are full of streaks. They are changed.
I often think about a year filled with only pleasant things and no hurts- a year in which everyone is happy and content. However, I would say if we took a look none of us would be able to find a year in our lives that didn't contain both the good and the bad. That is the truth of this life here on earth. The truth of a fallen world is that it cannot be good all the time. Well.. that's enough to make you want to crawl back into bed and not come out again! You might be done reading because you are thinking you already have enough negative and doom and gloom on your daily news! But wait! Listen to what God wants you to hear!
Number 1-God wants a relationship with you!
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10
God loves you, even if you have not loved him! No matter where you have been in life or where you are now he wants you! No matter what you have done or have not done he still wants to share in your life. The thing is he already knows everything about you and he still wants to form a relationship with you that will change your life.
Number 2- He makes everything new! Including you!
This is what the LORD says— he
who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the
former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it
springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and
streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:16, 17-18
Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the
new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17
The Bible repeatedly uses the example of God being a potter and making us into a vessel that he can use. He has fashioned you already and will continue to make a beautiful thing out of you! If only you let him, you will be amazed at the things he can do in your life.
Number 3- There will be good times in your life. There will be bad times in your life. He will stand by you through it all!
So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
God's love for you is unconditional. He will not give you every desire of your heart or what the world considers to be important. He will give you exactly what you need when you need it. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Number 4-God has given you everlasting life!
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
That if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord"and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
Friends,on this last day of the year I pray that you will carve out some quiet time and think about these things. I pray that God will move you to believe the things you have read. If you already have a relationship with our Lord, then today at the dawning of the new year I pray he will bring you to a new commitment to that relationship. I cannot tell you what will happen in your coming days but I can tell you that making a choice for God will never be a decision you regret. Happy New Year!!
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