Welcome to the New Year, 2014. We thank God for His numerous blessings of 2013. We thank Him for answered prayers, for broken marriages restored, for lives surrendered to Him, for healing experienced by many, for open doors and especially for new birth granted to many. Peter in his first epistle has this to say: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3
New Year brings new hope. New Year offers us an opportunity for new resolutions. We are encouraged to put the past behind us and to focus on the future. It is exiting to know that our life in 2014 has already been planned by God. All we need to do is to fit into God’s plan. In Jeremiah 29:11, we read; “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” This New Year calls for New Life.
Many people make New Year resolutions to turn a new leaf in their Christian journey; to surrender their life to Christ. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation, putting the past behind us. As the Apostle Paul says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. God addressed this subject of New Life in the words of Prophet Ezekiel: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.” Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NLT)
The Apostle Paul spoke from his own experience of New Life in Christ. For Paul this spiritual exercise is ongoing, similar to a New Year resolution: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.” Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT).
Be prayerful and commit yourself and your family to God in 2014. He will guide your parts. Trust God for open doors for you this year. This will be your year of opportunity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 assures us that God has made everything beautiful in its time.
May the Lord bless you and your family in 2014! May He give you strength and healing and provide for you and your family in every way, that you may shine for Him. Happy and Blessed New Year!