Are you a new creation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
(2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV))

Anyone who has accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior has a tremendous reason to celebrate!

We like to celebrate the passage of time by having a major event at the transition from the last day of one year to the first day of a new year. In all honesty, this celebration is nothing more than a time to celebrate the fact that we made it through another year. For this simple fact, the whole world celebrates and then within just a few hours, we are back to the very same things as before the celebration.

What if we could celebrate something that would leave us completely different? What if we could celebrate receiving a gift so magnificent that it changes our eternal destiny? What if we could discard our sinful nature and replace it with the very nature of God through the gift of His Son, Jesus?

Each one of us was physically born into a sinful world and we inherited a sinful nature. That nature has condemned us. That nature has destined us for eternal separation from God. Through the gift that God gave us in Jesus, we can replace that condemnation and that destiny with a grace filled rebirth. We can be made new! We can repent and take hold of the promises of God. We can be made better than new! We can be made new in the image of Christ!

Are you a new creation?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have a happy and Spirit filled new year!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:16-17 (NIV))

How do you plan on going into the new year?

Will you still cling to the old, sinful ways that have shaped your life up to this point? Even if you are a believer in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you probably still carry things inside of you that you just haven’t been able to turn over to God. It may be bitterness toward someone who hurt you long ago. It may be anger at someone who is supposed to be a loved one. It may be pride, or it may be arrogance. No matter what it may be, everyone still carries something that just will not relinquish its hold upon you without the direct intervention of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father.

Think about that for a moment.

As believers in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we long to have our lives filled with what God has in store for us. Have you ever thought about why God has not poured out His blessings on you? It could very well be the thing that you cannot let go of is the one thing that is holding back God’s plans for you. Contrary to how this may sound, I am not professing a prosperity based reason for turning over those areas of your life. I am professing a simple, spiritual truth.

If you are angry because you have no friends, what happens when you walk around in a terrible mood and shun everybody because you have no friends? It is a self-perpetuating cycle. You must break that cycle to allow something new and wonderful to fill your life. God knows that if He fills your cracked and parched life with an overflowing of the water of life, you will not be able to hold it. We must change our cracked and parched lives for what God desires. We must turn to God and allow Him to work in our lives. We cannot turn to God and gain maturity on our own merits. He will grow us in our maturity if we turn to Him.

This coming year, I pray that each of us finds the increase in faith to make our lives like the new wineskins so that we may be able to hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit so that we may share that wine with those whom we meet.

I pray that each of us have a happy and Spirit filled new year – a new year that will be obvious to those whom we meet.

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Can you commit to be a new creation in the new year?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
(2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV))

Did you make any resolutions for this new year?

Most of us have the best of intentions when we make resolutions, but how many of us actually follow through with them? We all have made the resolutions to lose weight, find a new job, find love, or to start exercising, but how many of us actually make a resolution to be a better follower, a better disciple, of Jesus?

Is that a resolution that we can all get behind? Can we commit to seeing this resolution through?

Can we do the things that are required to be a better disciple of Jesus? Can we spend time in God’s Word on a daily basis? Can we spend time in prayer on a daily basis? Can we slow down our hectic lives and spend time in God’s presence? Can we make a commitment to get to know the Creator of all things?

Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

Can we make a commitment to spend five minutes a day, each and every day, getting to know the Creator of all things? I would venture to say that you will soon find that five minute commitment growing into more. You will find yourself building a relationship, and as the relationship grows, so will your understanding.

Are you ready to be still, to cease striving, and spend time with God in the new year?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Visit us on facebook