Embrace New Beginnings: Biblical Guidance for a Fresh Start

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Happy New Year Y’all! This is the time of year we think about goals or resolutions for the coming year. I don’t do resolutions anymore because I feel like I set myself up for failure. A few weeks into the new pattern I fall off track and fail to get back up. If that happens to you, I want to encourage you with verses from Scripture.

• “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 desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19). So friend, don’t beat yourself up by dwelling on past failures. God is doing a new thing in you. Watch for it and be aware.
• “Do not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We can change how we think by making a daily habit to read God’s word. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I am amazed that I still learn new things!
• “Love sincerely. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9 my paraphrase). This is a life-long endeavor for me. I am always thinking how I might love better, but I often miss the mark. The good news is that God picks me up when I fall and helps me get back up.
• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God” Philippians 4:6). It is hard not to be anxious in our uncertain world, and we often do not know how to pray. Friend, a very powerful prayer is, “Help me, Jesus!” He is always with us and ready to offer comfort and peace in our troubling situations.
• “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment . . .” (Romans 12:3). It can be tempting to let pride take an unreasonable stand in our lives, but God would rather us think of others more than ourselves.
• Be generous. “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). These verses have been misused in a health/wealth gospel. Don’t be deceived. Give from the heart to serve God and others, and be mindful of messages about giving to get rich.
• Consider what you are here on earth for. Be a believer who lives on purpose with a purpose. Use the gifts God has given you to know God and to make Him known. People need to know about His amazing love and the abundant life He has for them.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for a fresh start on a new year. Help us to live according to your will for our lives, knowing your love us and care about us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thankfulness

Puppy Annie Smelling a Rose

My five-month old puppy Annie has great personality. The chips might fall around me. Things may not turn out the way I plan, but Annie has shown me how to be thankful no matter what happens. She zooms around the house and the yard, but one morning she stopped to smell this rose. She caused me to stop and enjoy God’s creation too. It’s fun to watch her discover ducks and squirrels and birds on our morning walks. Everything is fresh and new to her, and I am learning to see the newness in the flowers and birds through her eyes.

Thankfulness in the Bible

I also see through David’s eyes a heart of thankfulness. He said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4). I wonder the same thing – why does the God of creation care so much for me? Thank you, Lord, that you do!

Sometimes the worries of this world can overwhelm us, but Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25). Then He explains how the Father takes care of the birds, even though they do not sow or reap or store their food. And about clothes, Jesus said, “See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28).

God loves us and does not want us to worry about anything. “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Instead of stress and worry, we can take time to be thankful and draw close to God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come close to you with thankful hearts for all you have created and all you have done for us. Help us to be more aware of your amazing love and blessings on us, and help us to love others as you love us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Don’t Worry

Lilies of the Field

Our guide fanned her hand over flowers that looked like red poppies. She said, “Lilies of the Field.” In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they: Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:26 NKJV).

If you do not worry about food or drink or clothing, what do you worry about? These are troubling times. People are anxious or fearful or angry. To be honest, I am often grumpy when I can’t do the things I want because of a quarantine that has lasted more than sixty days. At first I enjoyed a slower lifestyle and found time to write and time to focus on what is really important. I thought of the isolation as forty days of cleansing, but this has lasted longer than forty days. I miss going to church. We are fortunate to be able to hear the music and the pastor’s sermons online. But I miss corporate worship, the gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ. I thought of God’s people in times past–before the tabernacle, the synagogue or the temple. Before church buildings. People loved God, and worship was important to them. That was the reason Moses gave Pharaoh to get out of Egypt–so the Israelites could worship their God, which is something they could not do during the 450 years they lived in Egypt.

Worship is essential to the believers. I am praying that very soon we can join with our church families without masks or social distancing. The Bible says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24), and “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13:12). Paul said that James, Cephas and John gave him the right hand of fellowship in Galatians 2:9. Part of corporate worship is shaking hands, hugging each other and sometimes giving a brother or sister a holy kiss.

So what do we do when we can’t do the things we want? I think the answer is in God’s word: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God” (Philippians 4:6)., and “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we miss the time we share with our church families, times we worship you together. We are thankful for President Trump who wants to open the churches again and for pastors and teachers who long to share your truth with love and compassion. We want to show our brotherly love with no restrictions. Make it so, even now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.