His New Beginning
by Peggy Fry
After all of the chaos, the change and the unexpected that we experienced in 2020, I’m sure we all embrace this new year with hope, faith, expectation AND excitement to see Him unveil what He is going to do this year! One thing we do know, though, according to Lamentations chapter 3, verses 21-23, is:
”Yet there is one ray of hope: His compassion never ends...Great is His faithfulness; His loving-kindness begins afresh every day” (Living Bible).
Recently I was complaining to the Lord (again) and saying, “Lord, help! It’s no fun getting old.” The Lord reminded me, “You don’t have to get old…you can just age.” I actually looked up the verb to age, and it was defined as “to bring to full growth, to mature.”
I said, “Oh, thank You, Lord. I’ll take that!” Then He gave me the above verses and reminded me that every day is a new beginning. My mind went immediately to the first chapter of Genesis and the beginning of creation. I felt the Lord say to me, “These are words for every day of your life!” Here are a few thoughts I wanted to share from that passage:
Verse 1—In the beginning, God was preparing. He was forming and fashioning creation for His purposes. Likewise, during every day of 2021, the Holy Spirit is creating, forming and better equipping us for our intended purpose and our reason for being — all for His glory!
Verse 3—And God said, “Let there be light!” On every dark path that we face, He wants to speak into the situation and shed the light of His love, His mercy, His grace and His peace to give us new beginnings.
Verse 4—And God saw. Even today, He sees every step of our journey and ALWAYS leads us to the good and fruitful fulfillment of His promises to us!
Verse 17—And God set. These are the placements in our lives, the circumstances in which we find ourselves, many of which may seem challenging, unpleasant and even unfair. But when we see these things as Joseph did, and as we remain faithful to the Lord, each one of those situations is a new beginning, a new opportunity in our lives for us to go to the throne room of God so that He can release the promises He has given us!
Verse 22—And God blessed. In each new season and change in our lives, with each new beginning, He has promised blessing!
As I was contemplating all of this, I thought, “Lord, how can I continually walk in this new beginning every day?” He spoke Ephesians 4:23 into my mind and my spirit: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” He said, “Don’t try to renew your mind with principles, theories, ideas, ministries, gifts or talents — instead, be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
When I researched this, I found that while the mind is the part of a person that knows, thinks and chooses — the intellect or understanding — the SPIRIT of the mind is the moral, spiritual and emotional nature of one’s personality.
So while our flesh nature wants to engage the natural mind as we walk along life’s pathway, we must instead lay hold of (literally, grab onto) the renewing of the spirit of our minds on a daily basis. We must press in with our spirit and allow the Lord to make our minds new, or as Paul describes it in his letter to the Colossians, “put on the new spiritual self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self” (Col. 3:10).
As Proverbs 16:1 says, “The plans and reflections of the heart belong to man, but the wise answer of the tongue is from the LORD.” The wise answer on our lips comes through the power of the Spirit flowing in us and through us every day!
So in 2021, let’s be determined, through the renewing of the spirit of our minds, to:
SEE HIM…fix our eyes on Jesus, not on our problems (Hebrews 12: 2); and
FOCUS ON HIM… who HE is and how He works in all things! (Romans 8:28)
Blessings to you all!