NEW!

I have to admit that I greatly enjoy new things. One of my Christmas gifts this year was a new pair of jeans. I loved wearing them... mostly because they are new.

If you have ever had a new car, a new house or even a new shirt, then you understand the love of new. Some might argue that this is bad, but I really believe our love of new comes from the God who made us. Below are some verses that speak of God’s view of the new.

• Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
• Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
• Psalm 33:3 Sing to him a new song… (9x in Scripture we are told to sing a “new song.”)
• Revelation 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

In my devotions today, I was thinking about these verses and the fact that God is the creator of new mercies every day. He is making a new creation out of me and I am to ‘forget what is behind and strain toward what is before’ (Philippians 3:13).

This is a new day, a new year, a new decade. I can’t undo what was done yesterday. But, I can trust the God who is making all things new. The things I have goofed up, he can fix… better than new. The sins I have committed, he can forgive… cleaner than new. The good things I have, he can improve… “new and improved.”

This is the hope we have in Christ! Yesterday doesn’t control our tomorrows! I want Jesus to make my life and my world NEW!!!

Commitment to Core Values

Occasionally, I read a quote that makes me think. The following quote is from an article on Jim Collins book, “How The Mighty Church Falls.”

“Collins admits that when he started to study organizational decline, he expected to find complacency at the root of most trouble. But he found that he was wrong. Overreaching (in some ways the opposite of complacency) was the real issue.
Overreaching is the undisciplined pursuit of growth accompanied by the neglect of those core principles upon which an organization was originally built. It is about getting larger and larger, more and more expansive, even if it costs the organization its soul. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/communitylife/visiondirection/howamightychurchfalls.html?start=3 )

Today, my heart was broken by a friend’s “fall.” I had watched him struggle for years. There is one thing I never want to happen again, to get another phone call like that ever again.

I think that the organizational issue above is basically the same issue we have personally. We get enough of God’s blessing (a wife, a job, a ministry, etc…) and then we think we need more (a more passionate love, a bigger ministry, a better paying job, etc…). So, we walk away from the core values that God placed in our hearts to begin with…

We are called by God, given everything we need from God, burdened by the Spirit of God, passionate to please Him. In time, we walk away from what our core values were to pursue one more pretty trinket of this world. To quote Solomon (who pursued quite a few himself), “meaningless, it is all meaningless.”

Like a boat cutting through the water; when we die, we will leave a wake behind us. Will that wake be remembered as that of commitment to our true calling and core values, or will it be the damage done by selfish actions.

I still love my friend, but I want to make sure that no one ever gets that call about me. I want to be committed to my core values. To be fully sold out to following Jesus with all my heart.