So we have started a new year, 2019. For many reasons of 2018, I couldn't wait to begin a new year and hopefully, a new beginning. Many people say "I wish you a Happy New Year." Wishes are just empty hopes with a little luck involved. How much more meaningful would it be to say, "I pray that this year brings you blessings that draw you nearer to our Father in Heaven." I prefer someone's sustaining prayers over wishes any day.
I am reading a devotional with excerpts of writings from Amy Carmichael. One talks about, "The only thing that matters is to please God." As we start the new year, I think this is an important thought to dwell on. Before I decided to blog this year, my thoughts were on having fun and self-serving tasks. I considered though that I enjoy blogging and that I learn as much or more than my readers. So when I read this quote about what really matters, I knew my blogging pleases God and I made sure it was part of my year's agenda.
2 Corinthians 5:9 "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. "
From 'The Edges of His Ways"..... “All that pleases is but for a moment. All that grieves is but for a moment. Only the eternal is important.” This quote struck a chord within me. I'm still struggling with my new norm that my accident has beset upon me. Many people want to trade in their old 2018 self for a new 2019 self through their new year resolutions. I would trade my Jan 2019 self for my 2018 self in a heart beat now. This quote encourages me to remember to not focus on my flesh but to try to make my soul more Christ-like everyday, as much as I can.
2 Corinthians 5:4-5 "For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
To become truly new, each person of their own accord must be reconciled with God by being born-again. When one accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the change the grace of God in the soul makes old thoughts, old behavior,and old practices pass away. M. Henry says, "Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul; all things are new. The renewed man acts from new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company."
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them."
What does a new you look like for 2019 and what matters most in your life? Consider and dwell on it.