A Brand New You

What makes life new? Only God's power and grace that flows through hearts of surrender and desire.
1. New life comes through personal spiritual renewal.
The Lord cannot make us new if we do things the same old way and disallow ourselves time with Him, His Word, His Spirit and His service. We are made new as we allow His glory to change us (from last weeks sermon - the message is available on CD by request). Our faith in Jesus makes us new and our surrender to be renewed, "day by day" allows God to increase in us with life-giving freshness.
Renewal is a result of surrender and not ambition.
Psalm 23:6 - "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever." In this Psalm, David has remembered how faithful God has been to him and has let that realization sink to the very core of His being. And then comes the wind that begins to fill his life sails...then comes the breeze of the Holy Spirit that creates a new hope and vision for his future.In verse 4, he's talking about the valley of death and then in verse 5 his enemies are surrounding him, but in verse 6 his confidence comes back as he experiences the powerful presence of God and he says, "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me (will chase me) all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." What an open heart towards renewal and life change!So how does this type of spiritual confidence come to him - even when he is facing some obviously challenging times personally. The word is renewal - Webster defines this word: To restore - to make new again spiritually. To begin again, to put back into a former condition that which has lost its freshness.
God's touch in our lives brings our souls to a different place. Sometimes the renewal is to restore them to where they were before life beat them up. Spiritual rest and reflection can put back the freshness your soul has lost. One of my resolutions is to open up my schedule to more time with God and allowing Him to bring His refreshing to my soul. How about you? These verses come to my heart:
Isaiah 40:28-31 - "Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Ezekiel 11:19 - God says, "And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give then tender hearts instead." Isaiah 41:10, 18 - "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. I will open up rivers for them on high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. In the deserts they will find pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the dry, parched ground." Isaiah 30:21 - ".whether you turn to the right or to the left - you will hear a voice behind you saying - this is the way - walk in it."
2. New life comes by reordering our lives in balance.
Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 "Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise - why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes." Does balance come easy for you? I know people who can't wait to go home each day and despise going to work. They would rather play and relax, while others are so dedicated to their work they rarely spend time at home or at rest. Both of these groups need to find balance. Balance does not come easy for me. I was raised with the mentality to go for it - work hard, make the most of the opportunities given. While books like Margin and The Overload Syndrome sit on my shelf (I have yet to read them) and I recently attended the Emotionally Healthy Church Seminar (in which a chunk of it had to do with balance and rest) I find myself being an all or nothing kinda guy. So you can see I need to make adjustments this year, but how about you? There is a massive price to pay for lack of balance in life - it is a lesson that we must all learn. Since we are all wired different, there is a newness that comes from knowing what balance means for you. Let me ask you - how's your balance? It becomes apparent very quickly what things we need to focus on - when we're just honest with ourselves about the balance in our lives. "If you do not consciously decide ahead of time where you are going, you may very easily end up somewhere else." - Paul J. Meyer
Eccl. 7:16-18"Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise - why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes."
3. New life comes through prayer-filled plans.
Proverbs 16:3 - "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." God, what should my goals be? God, would you bless me and guide me and strengthen me to reach these goals? Give me wisdom in this area, or that one. God I desire to live a balanced life. Help me see what that looks like." God does a great job of clarifying and directing our lives in wisdom We can easily forget how much God wants to improve our lives as we are fully committed to Him. There is much to learn and discover as we move forward. Don't shrink back - don't go to your old ways and old thought patterns - move towards God and renewal, balance, prayer and hearing His voice and following His ways - It's a brand new year, a brand new day - I pray it will make way for a brand new you and a brand new me.