Hi how are you today? Happy new year! I can’t believe it is 2025. Where did 2024 go? How was your New Year? Mine was quiet. We were on holidays but stayed in and watched a movie. We could see some fireworks from our balcony which was great. Now back to work tomorrow.
Drum roll!!! The word for 2025 for this blog and all of us reading it is renewal. What do you think of when you hear the word renewal? Sometimes we think everything old new again or sometimes we look at the physical and want things around us to be made new again or even us. We go on diets and exercise plans in order to renew our bodies. But that is not the definition I want to use.
Renewal in the Oxford dictionary can mean :
- an instance of resuming something after an interruption.
- the action of extending the period of validity of a licence, subscription, or contract.
- the replacement or repair of something.
Let’s have a quick look at these three meanings.
Resume something after an interruption- is there a spiritual discipline that we haven’t been attending too? This is the year for renewing them.
I am going to skip the second definition as it doesn’t apply but look at the last definition.
Replace or repair something- what was our 2024 walk like with God? Is there something that we are currently doing that needs to be replaced, for example, too much scrolling and not enough time spent with God (I can be guilty of this)? Is there a relationship that we need to repair?
However, there was a note at the bottom of the dictionary definition of renewal which stated- among charismatic Christians) the state or process of being made spiritually new in the Holy Spirit.
Renewal for me this year is really this one. All of us, no matter how long we have been a Christian, need to be made spiritually new. Each of us has an area to work on to become more like Jesus. I believe God is going to do a deep work in each of us this year that will birth a spiritual renewal. It will be a time of holiness and separation to God. It will be like the Israelites in Egypt where God separated them and the plagues didn’t touch them. This year will see a marked difference between the followers of Jesus and the non- followers of Jesus. It will be like the line in the sand between the two is clearly marked. Some may try to sit on the fence but they will topple off- fence sitting is no longer an option. This is a time of renewal.
On the website www.biblehub.com, the Greek dictionary word for renewal is anakainoó. This word is a verb which is a doing word and the usage in the New Testament for the word describes the process of renewal or making something new again. It conveys the idea of restoration and transformation, often in a spiritual or moral sense. This renewal is typically associated with the inner self or mind, indicating a profound change that aligns with God’s will and purposes.
That last part of the quote is where we are all headed. There will be a profound change this year in all of us that will align with Gods will and purpose. Are you ready?
This can be scary but exciting too. Who is ready to let God begin that renewing process in us? I am. Will you join me?
Until next time, bless you and keep living the life God intended for you.
Karen
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