Did you make any New Years resolutions? I did not. Do you want to forget about the past and put your heart and mind on the future? I do. I learned a lot about getting rid of the past and looking to a new future. Join me in learning what I learned and see if it does not help you as it does me.
One of the things that The Holy Bible tells me is to forget the things in the past and move forward into a new beginning. Paul explains it this way as race where we are running a race striving for the finish line and not looking back“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)
Ezekiel 36:26-27 promises me something new. It tells me that I will have a new heart and a new spirit when I forget about the past. This happens when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (ESV)
It tells me to become new. We are to become a new person. The first step is to get to know Jesus. If you do not know Jesus the true source of hope does not abide in you. Learn how to get the hope you need. Learn how to know Jesus. The next step is to accept the fact you are now a new creation you have a new beginning. 2 Corinthians 5:17says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Getting a new start is possible. It is easy but I cannot do it by myself. I must let The Holy Spirit do it. I must let Him lead me and the old will pass away and the new will come. I must then believe that my old ways and circumstances have been killed on the cross with Jesus. Those would be the manner of life that is corrupted by deceitful desires. Then we must put on the new self by having our minds renewed by the Holy Spirit. That new self is made in the likeness of God and is in true righteousness and holiness.
So, join me starting a new life, forgetting the past and striving for the future. In doing so you will have hope as I have found hope. Understanding that Jesus is the only source of true hope. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
