We All Need Fresh Starts

[hldude]

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“We All Need Fresh Starts”
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This past Sunday at church, we played and sang one of my new favorite worship songs from River Valley Worship called “Ask, Seek Pray”. I want to share the first verse of this song as we embark on a brand new year.

Give us clean hands give us pure hearts
Show us that's where the miracle starts
Beyond what I want beyond what I see
The change for my world begin it in me

As I listened to these words yesterday as we played this on praise team, I was thinking about how we came to the end of a full year and looking to begin a brand new year. Our pastor had an amazing sermon on sadness as he talked about how so many struggle with this time of year and things that have happened to leave voids in our lives. Many enjoy this time of year while others struggle with losing loved ones or remember hard times from the past for this time of year. There can be many reasons why people struggle during Christmas.

During response time, after the sermon, as we started playing “Ask, Seek, Pray” people were invited to come and ask for prayer through their hard times of sadness. As I sat there playing on stage, I watched so many people come forward and it was so moving. As we all start this new year, whatever we might be struggling through or trying to recover from, let’s ask God to help us begin a new year seeking Him and relying on His strength for each new day.

Let’s pray that God would start to do amazing things through us so that we can love on others as He has called us to do.

“Father give us clean hands and hearts as we begin this new year. Forgive us for all the ways we have been so selfish and consumed with only what we want. God, please give all those who are experiencing hurt and sadness Your strength and comfort. Surround them with people who can relate and show comfort through these hard times. Help us to ask, seek and pray for Your will to be done in our lives so that we can see past the things we want and focus on how we can help change people’s lives in a positive way with Your love.”

Happy New Year to you all! May we all experience a fresh, new start to the year.

 

[Mandolin Wood]

What is this thread about?

 

[rocknanchor]

What is this thread about?

A thread was appropriately positioned, to encourage. For I would like to remind those reading, mature Christians can also "stumble" requiring some sort of recovery, however minor or major back to that "new" or fresh source of life. That is my view of the depth of the OP.

Now, while the truth in this includes both mature and babes in Christ, is most certainly directed at babes. Why would I say that? Because foremost, it doesn't touch on what soon follows, the development of what Jesus describes as one's "root", or, the inner man being fashioned after the image of Christ, which soon will fully comprehend the sufferings which we all endure to move up to that mark of maturity.

But if that understanding is left alone, that describes a miserable existence, which it isn't. We are advised to "cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for you". That is why we shouldn't fear advising others is this mighty conflict to PUT ON THAT ARMOR OF GOD, for the Master's use. "The battle is the Lord's".