![]() A new year is almost here. New years usually arrive with great expectation. This is especially true among Christians. We have this belief that God is constantly up to something new. He created everything brand new in the beginning. He makes us a new creation in Christ. He will one day make all things new as He restores the creation. So when we come up on a new year, we anticipate that God is going to do some more new things. The new year is a reset of sorts. It is as much about leaving a year as it is beginning a new one. Now, this past year may have been great for you, filled with successes. It may have been so good that you don't really want to leave it, but you hope that the new year will be a continuation of it. For some, this year may have been painted with failures or valleys so deep that you do not want to remember them ever again. But time is not static. It is dynamic. Moving toward one year or leaving another is not like leaving a fencepost. It is like leaving the wind. Your past is not dead... it is alive. The enemy is going to use your past, because it is all he actually has to work with that is real. He will use your failures to discourage and trip you up. He will even manipulate your successes to get you off track. Satan does not see your past as dead. Neither should you. God is willing to use your past as part of your testimony. This past year is already part of your story. Christ makes it part of your story of transformation. This year is not something to escape as you enter a new year. It is something to surrender to God. I would encourage you to put this past year under the blood of Christ. Let Him purify and rule over it. It is part of your story. He is the Redeemer, the Restorer. If you will stop trying to bury your life, He will raise it up. The blood of Christ not only covers sin, it gives life to that which is dead. You may think things are in the past, but remember, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) We believe He is the God of today, right now. We believe God is the God of tomorrow, right now. We must get to the point where we believe God wasn't just the God of yesterday, yesterday... He is still the God of yesterday, today. Today... right now, pray to God and give Him this year. Just as you trust Him with the year to come, trust Him with the year that is past... strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, wins and losses. Ask for forgiveness and repent of those things you messed up. Ask for grace to survive those bad things done to you. Ask for wisdom to learn from the struggles. Ask for help to build upon the victories. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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AuthorMy name is David, and I want to know God more, and help other people find Him. Archives
March 2019
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