Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old, behold I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? Isaiah 43:18,19
With the New Year, there are new things, a time to make resolutions and change your way of life, it's a New Day! But as you know resolutions tend to fade away, the health clubs empty in a few months and it's back to business and life as usual.
This is a time to repent and confess those things that have weighed us down, kept us in bondage and stopped our forward motion in the Lord. This journey with Jesus is not a run it's a walk, a walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. Most never learn to follow Jesus and walk in the Spirit, always distracted and deceived by walking in the flesh!
Now is the time to deny yourself and dedicate your mind, will, and emotions, and give them totally to the Lord Jesus. Jesus doesn't want part of your heart; He wants it all. Would you want a spouse who only loved you with part of their heart?
For bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. I Timothy 4:8
WALK IN THE SPIRIT
Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. Galatians 5:16,17
We walk and live and have our being in a human body, but when we are born again, we have the Spirit of God living in us. The human side of us is a lustful being that is at war with the Spirit always resisting His lead.
To walk in the Spirit, one must submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, in other words, our human being doesn't lead us, God's Spirit does. When we are baptized this is our death to the world and our burial for our old man and when we are brought up out of the water this is our resurrection. Baptism doesn't save us, but it is an important part of our new life in Christ!
The "Born-Again" experience transforms us into "New Creations" in Christ and old things including our old man passes away! The New Year is a chance to make things new and if need be, to start over because God's mercy is new every morning so it's not too late to change your mind and your ways!
I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
RENEW YOUR MIND
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. Romans 12:2
My late pastor who taught me to renew my mind and hear God used to say, "Garbage in, garbage out," meaning whatever you allow to enter your mind will eventually come out. The mind of man is a Divine computer designed by God to hold whatever is programmed into it.
I would imagine we haven't scratched the surface regarding what the mind can hold but I know that if we fill it with God's word, we will know what God's will for our lives is and be able to hear His voice when He speaks to us. Conformed or transformed, the choice is ours, take every thought captive or let the world pollute your mind?
To renew your mind is like remodeling a house, first the old must be removed and the new installed. At first, you may think you need a dumpster to hold all the trash you have accumulated in your mind but as you eliminate the old and fill your mind with His word your mind will be renewed.
If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:21-24
Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ