March 16 - Fresh

Revelation 21:5

5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new..."

This passage is in reference to making the earth new one day when Christ returns to the earth to bring his people home. The desolation and ruins of the earth during that time will be repaired and made new. I cannot help but think of Christ's promise and willingness to make things new at all times. His desire is for us to come to him broken, in humility ready to be made new and to live a life focused on bringing glory to him and striving to be pure. Throughout the gospel, we are given scriptures of God's willingness to make our hearts new.

In Psalm 51:7b, David pleads for God to wash him (not necessarily in the physical, but certainly in the spiritual) and make him white as snow.  Psalm 23:3 says, "he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake".

We are blessed to serve and worship a God who is readily willing to renew us. In Ephesians (4:22-24), Paul explains that as Christians we are to put off our old self or our old way of living. Our minds were futile and deceived by sin. After obtaining an understanding of God's greatness and will, we are commanded to acquire a new attitude and mindset. The old self is off, so what do we do now? The scripture tells us that we are to put on our new self, being created to be like God in a holy manner of living.

How can we be expected to put on a new self on our own? We can't. We were never asked to because Christ takes care of it for us as long as we believe. We are born with the curse of sin and God has provided a way to life...a new life -  a new self. The old life we lived was damaged, dirty, and unpleasing to God. Through faith we are given a new life spiritually. This new life is to be apparent to all who can see us or those that come in contact with us. God's promises are not empty promises. We are given such a beautiful and true gift for FREE. Many take this gift as just a way out of hell, but there is so much more to it. We are to do something and act on that free gift that we've been granted. Salvation is to be shared with the world, from your family to your co-workers, from the person working the cash register to a third-world country. It is our responsibility to reach the unreached.

Tonight, our pastor said this and it is so true:

"There is nothing that God cannot do through a people who are completely submitted to Him".

Some people, including myself, still carry some old self with their new self. God gives us a fresh breath...God makes us new.