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 HAPPY NEW YEAR!--LIKE A NEWBORN BABE

As we celebrate a New Year, NOW is the time my friends to start all over again! “Let us throw off all things that hinders and run the race laid out for us”! (Hebrews 12:1)
What a wonderful gift we are given to have the ability to let go of the harmful things of our lives and start over. It is time to release the negativity and fear of 2020.
In Christ, we are a new creature, made new through Jesus Christ.
(2 Cor. 5:17) Not only once but EVERY SINGLE DAY! How wonderful is that. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 (NIV)
Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins so that we can live lives renewed, revived and thriving for the Kingdom of God! Jesus gives us victory over daily battles and the larger battles of life.
Sometimes that victory does not come as quickly as we think it should. But it comes through persistence and focusing on Gods good, perfect and pleasing will.
Jesus lived, died and is resurrected so that we can live our lives renewed every day, like newborn babies. Our Heavenly Father speaks healing, growth and renewal into our lives as we grow, discover and taste the world anew every day in our journey with Him.
What better time to celebrate the gift of being reborn, repeatedly, then at the beginning of a New Year. The key to renewal is repentance, sincere repentance. Repentance simply means to turn away from and to turn in a new direction. May we very purposefully turn away from sin, destruction and misery and turn towards love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness and self-control.
What will you resolve to do to become a better, happier, and more peace filled person? What will you commit to do to be a blessing to the Lord in 2021?
There is so much for us to discover about ourselves, one another, our world and of greatest importance—our relationship with God. May we know His character and walk within His will so that we might be blessed and flourish. Let us be a people filled with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Self-Control. Against such things there is no law.
-- Galatians 5: 22 & 23
In His service and yours,
Rev. Shelly A. Zook

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