New Year, New Me!

 Happy Sunday!

"He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  So, we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW PERSON. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:15-17 NLT).

You've likely heard the catch phrase, "New Year, New Me".  To live up to this concept, we must change. Change is inevitable, but we usually don't like to do it.   Nina Simone sang, "Everything Must Change; nothing remains the same..." and Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results". We are our biggest problem!  It's hard to admit, but it's true.  It's so much easier to play the blame game!  It's easy to blame our parents, our community, our pastor, and the "Man".  

Michael Jackson sang, "I'm starting with the man in the mirror, I'm asking him to change his ways, And no message could have been any clearer, If you wanna make the world a better place, Take a look at yourself and then make a change".  Such prophetic lyrics!  Change has to begin within each of us.  As we listen to God and obey his Word we change.  

In Luke 17:20-21,  Jesus was being grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come.  He answered, "The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!" or, "There it is!  And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you." (Message Translation).   With Jesus we have everything we need to change and to succeed.  2 Peter 1:3 says, "He gives us everything we need for life and for holy living. He gives it through His great power. As we come to know Him better, we learn that He called us to share His own shining-greatness and perfect life."(NLT).  

In Acts 1:7-8, Jesus told the disciples, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”(NLT).
 
Paul wrote to the Romans, " I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?  The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." (Romans 7:24-28 Message).  When we surrender to God, he adds his "Super" to our "natural" and empowers and anoints us to change for the better.  As we change individually, the church changes corporately, and the world will change completely.

Praying that you have a week full of positive metamorphosis - A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function!

Love and prayers, Cynthia