Hi how are you all? I am well and started back at work last week after my holidays. Do you find it hard to go back to work after a holiday? I do and sometimes by day two, it feels like I never even had a holiday. How was your week?
In this blog, I want to look at the first step to being renewed this year. Remember the definition we had last week. If not, let’s be reminded together. The third definition of renewal in the Oxford dictionary is:
“(among charismatic Christians) the state or process of being made spiritually new in the Holy Spirit.”
“the call to continual spiritual renewal”
So if we have already given our lives to Jesus, what is the process for being made spiritually new.
I believe it is found in Isaiah 61: 1-7 and in the Message Bible it states:
61 1-7 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
planted by God to display his glory.
They’ll rebuild the old ruins,
raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They’ll start over on the ruined cities,
take the rubble left behind and make it new.
You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks
and foreigners to work your fields,
But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”
honored as ministers of our God.
You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,
you’ll bask in their glory.
Because you got a double dose of trouble
and more than your share of contempt,
Your inheritance in the land will be doubled
and your joy go on forever.
I want to really consider the sentence where it begins “they’ll rebuild the old ruins”. Last year we reimagined what our life could be like but now let’s think about what parts of us feel like we keep failing in and rebuild on that. God doesn’t want us to start over. He wants to rebuild what has been torn down in our lives by us or others.
Have you had a year where you have felt like a failure or maybe you kept speaking that over your life? Maybe 2024 had a lot of pain or grief in it. My question is how do we rebuild?
I am going to answer that question with a question? How does God build? In Genesis 1 it tells us. He created with words. How do we rebuild our lives? With words. What words?
- God loves me and finds no fault in me.
- I have a new nature because of Jesus.
- I operate in the fruit of the Spirit.
- I am right with God because of Jesus.
- I am worthy to be called a child of God because of Jesus.
- I am greatly loved.
- God meets all of my needs.
- He is my strength when I am weak.
Read your Bible, it will tell you who you are.
It is time to renew and rebuild you- the temple of the Holy Spirit. God needs Christians who have built their identity in Him. We can’t be Jesus to others if we don’t know and don’t operate in Who Jesus is in us.
A new you is going to emerge out of the old new. Will it be easy? No- we will have to listen to every word we speak and take note of every thought we have. But will it be worth it? A thousand times yes.
Let’s start renewing us with the Word of God this week. That’s how we keep living the life God intended for us.
Bless you
Karen
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