Out With the Old

 Have you made a New Year's Resolution to do anything you haven't done before or to change some things that should be better in your life? I made only one resolution – "Not to make any resolutions."

 

I look at it like this: The Holy Spirit is constantly dealing with us concerning the things we need to give some attention to in our lives. Then God gave us enough ability to think and reason for ourselves, to figure out that some things are good for us, and some are not. A resolution to change whatever the Lord is dealing with us about should be made the moment He speaks, not just at the beginning of a New Year.

 

If there is a resolution for one change in our lives, that change could be summed up in one single thing: that we may know and draw closer to the very heart of God.

 

One thing is for sure! The coming year of 2024 will be an exciting time to be alive. Not only do we get to see Bible prophecy playing out before us, but we also get to see what God will do through his Church as we draw ever closer to his second coming.

 

There be wars and rumors of wars? We can already see the saber-rattling going on between Iran, Israel, and the rest of the Middle East. They've threatened to close off the flow of oil to the West. If I know the Americans, $6.00 for a gallon of gasoline will make them mad enough to want to teach Iran a lesson they'll never forget. I hope it doesn't come to that. We don't need another Middle Eastern war. Still, we may as well prepare ourselves for such an event because that area of the world will be hotly contested until the very end of time. We will always be right in the thick of the battle. My main hope in it all is that our government continues to support Israel!

 

I'm ready for the start of this New Year. The old one is absolutely worn out. I'm looking forward to what God is going to do. I pray this is the year of revival in our country and worldwide. I hope that this is the year we will see more of the miracle-working power of God in our churches than ever before and that this is the year that God fills the Church with new babes in Christ. I also pray that many in our families will be born again and begin to serve the Lord.

 

Isaiah 66:8, "Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."

 

The fulfillment of our prayer is already promised, but there must be some travailing going on first. No child is born into this world without pain and suffering to some degree. If we really want to see a great revival and see our loved ones, friends, and neighbors come to Jesus, it will take more than wishing; it will take some travailing before God in intercessory prayer on their behalf. When God's people get serious enough to cry out to God consistently, we will see the mighty move of God that we all want.

 

1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

 

At the beginning of the New Year, we often reflect on the things that transpired during the past year. Usually, there were some good times and some bad times. The cares of life that result from events of the past year are weighing heavily upon some of us right now. But as the Word says, we can either continue to bear that heavy load, or we cast it upon the shoulders of Jesus and let him take it for us. The price of victory over those troubles has already been paid. We cannot go back and change the past, but we have the power through Christ to change the future by learning to entirely rely upon God.

 

Sometimes, the things that have happened to us are almost too hard to bear, but thank God, Jesus is there to lift us up, carry us for as long as it takes, and make us an overcomer.

 

No man, except Jesus, in the Bible matches the grief and pain that Job had to face in his life. Job had a happy family, a loving wife, and a life filled with wealth and influence. But he lost it all in a moment. His friend. Eliphaz had tried to encourage him with words that came from man's wisdom but did not come from the heart. Eliphaz's words did little to console the grief that seemed to swallow Job.

 

Job answered him in Job 16:5, "But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief."

 

In other words, Job says, I wish that only words could help, but words can't heal the pain in my heart. I get little strength from words spoken that are not of the heart. There must be something deeper that reaches right into my heart and removes the grief. That "something" can only come from God, who can touch the heart and make it anew.

 

Words of consolation from the lips of other people are good. Still, they cannot comfort us in times of great pain, anguish, and grief. Yet that's all that man can do.

 

So today, I give you Jesus. He alone can reach into your heart and soul and provide peace and consolation. I may be able to hold your hand, but Jesus can keep your heart, and he will never let go but will continue to bring the strength we need for as long as it takes.

 

The beginning of a New Year is always a good time to let so much of what has happened in the past stay in the past. If we allow the past to control us, we will never see the fullness of the future that God has in store. We must cast our care upon Jesus and let him bear it for us. Trying to carry that load alone will crush us, derail our faith, and sap victory from our lives. Doubts, fears, frustrations, and even anger will overwhelm us. All of these things will cause bitterness to grow within the heart.

 

We must remember what has passed, and sometimes we do need to remember. But let us not live there. Let us cast that upon the Lord and walk on with Him into a brighter tomorrow! There is victory, power, healing, and deliverance in Christ; just there for the asking and receiving. God will lift us up and never let us fall.

 

Even as it was with Job, he never regained what was lost, for it was gone forever. He could not go back and get his children that were lost. That which was stolen from him through the attacks of the devil that were meant to destroy his faith in God could never be regained. They were forever gone!

 

But Job never lost faith in God! In time, the grief eased, the pain subsided, and the healing power of God began to do work in Job. How long he grieved, we do not know, but we do know it was not forever.

 

God began to bless Job's life. The attacks of Satan that had taken so much from him ceased as God said, "That's enough, Satan, you've reached your limit. Now let Job alone that I may bless him." You see, God had Job's back. The things that happened to Job were allowed only to prove his faithfulness to God and were never meant to destroy him. As you reflect upon what has come against you, remember that God has your back!

 

Isaiah 52:12, "For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward."

 

God will not allow you to be destroyed. Victory is on the way, and God's blessings are just waiting to be poured out upon you; they have probably already begun. Many of you can already sense the hand of God moving Heaven and Earth to bring his blessings upon you. Hold on to your faith in God! Your answer is on the way!

 

And so, in our heart, we should say before God, "Out with the old, with all of its pain and grief; and bring on the new, with its joy, peace, and victory in Jesus!"

 

Just as God blessed Job, so are your blessings about to overtake you. Only God alone knows what he has in store for you, but we can only look to what God did for Job and know that what he will bring will be as great, or perhaps even greater, than what we have lost!

 

I know that my God reigns not only in Heaven but upon the earth and in the hearts of men. There is nothing impossible for God! Remember, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13

 

May we cast our sorrows and cares upon Jesus and bring renewed hope and joy in the Holy Ghost. May we cast out those heavy burdens that we have taken upon ourselves and take up the cross of Christ, for it is an easy burden to carry and light upon our shoulders, for it is all in Jesus! May we throw out the faults and failures of the past and take hold of the hope of a perfect life in Jesus. May we cast out the remembrances of what we have lost and embrace that which will come from the Throne of God to provide all we need.

 

A New Year is about to begin, and with it will come a new set of troubles, trials, tests, and blessings from the Lord. Let us look forward to what God will do, remembering that He is the Lord of our lives. God is with us, and we cannot fail!

 

It's time to cast out the old, the things of the past, and take in the new things God has in store for us! Let this day be a day of new beginnings for us all, a new beginning where we will walk in the presence of God and be led by the Holy Ghost every step of the way.

 

Prepare for the blessings of God to overtake you! God has great things in store for all his people. His promises cannot fail. Just as he placed a rainbow in the sky to remind us of his unfailing promise, he wants us to know that for all those who genuinely love him – there is always a brighter tomorrow and more incredible blessings to come.