As we launch another new year, as believers in Jesus, we should have an anticipation of the good things God is going to do in 2025.
We are God’s masterpieces, designed by him for good works. (Ephesians 2:10) We are not a hopeless people but a hope-filled people.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Every day we are alive is a gift of God for us and the world around us. We are expected to impact every person and situation around us for good! Even the difficult situations cause us to grow in our hope
Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
But not just hope, we should count it joy! James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Not that the trials and difficulties bring us joy, but with our hope in the Lord, we see them as an opportunity for growth and to watch God’s hand of deliverance and grace poured out on us as we walk through them.
You have heard me say, “Christians don’t have problems, only opportunities for God to move!”
We must walk in freedom.
– Freedom in Christ because we truly understand how much he loves us and has poured out his grace on us.
– Freedom from our sin and sin nature, knowing we are no longer that person and that sin, shame, and guilt are no longer part of our lives because when we do sin, we are quick to bring it to him and, through grace, receive His complete, total forgiveness. We know we have much further to go in our growth in Christ, but that didn’t stop Paul as he realized the same thing!
Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT)
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
The singer Dan Fogelberg came to Christ later in life and wrote these words that are a reflection of what Paul said in Philippians
“Lessons learned are like bridges burned you only need to cross them but once”
I know it is a battle, but we have to remember that we are not the same people we were before we came to Christ! Having come to Christ, we can if we are open to receiving, be filled to overflowing with power from on high through the Holy Spirit, daily and God’s great mercy toward us. As Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations, we receive His new mercies every morning because of His great faithfulness toward us, not our goodness. That is renewing us daily.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Yes, our flesh and sometimes friends and family will remind us of who we were, but God does a work in us to mold us and shape us into who we were designed to be. In our own strength we could never become who God designed us to be but as we surrender to Him we begin to fulfill our destiny and are freed from the bondages of this world.
Part of the blessing of walking in Christ, living a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit is the fruit and gifts of the Spirit alive in us.
You see the fruit of the Spirit that is being poured out on us daily is not simply emotional responses to things….
Galatians 5:22
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
But as you read through the Bible in 2025, I challenge you to find examples of how God is these things. They are characteristics of God, not merely emotions and thus they become who we are not merely emotional responses….what do I mean….God doesn’t just love us, He is love and so as we become these new creations then we too are love, God doesn’t just bring peace, He is peace and so we too can become peace not just act peaceful but allow Him to flow through us and watch peace pour out all around us and so on!
God will produce this character in us, but it requires two things: letting go of who we were in the process of becoming who we are called to be and remembering all the good God has done for us and through us and building on that!
Psalm 77:11,12
I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.
As we talk of God’s deeds, it reminds us and all around us of what God has done in the past with grateful expectation of what He will do in the future. An Attitude of gratitude goes a long way in the world and with the Lord (read the Psalms if you don’t believe me). David, when challenged with the giant Goliath’s mockery, stood righteously indignant and reminded himself and all around him of God’s hand of deliverance, “I slew the lion and the bear, who is this Philistine?”
Psalm 103:2-5
Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
By now I hope you are thinking, “How can I make this work for me?” This verse is really the key to making this all work for you.
– Remember and rehearse all the good God has done for you….it is far too easy to forget, especially in times of difficulty
– Remember your sins are forgiven and remember to forgive others of their sins against you
– Remember the cross and what Jesus did on it because you are the one He loves the most
– Guard your heart from getting old, don’t whine and complain about things, don’t look at the limited years ahead of you but look at the years ahead as more time of opportunity, recognizing that your days are in the hands of the Lord.
I would also encourage you to join us in our fast, January 6- 26, which I’ll be talking about in more detail next week. Jesus expected that fasting would be a natural part of our lives. He said in Matthew 6:16 “When you fast….” Giving us the idea that fasting was meant to be part of our regular spiritual discipline.
My prayer for you this year is that you will forget what will hurt you or limit you in any way but that you would remember all the good the Lord has done for you and called you to be. One last verse for today
Galatians 2:20
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Forget your old self, your old failures even your old dreams. God has so much more for you and remember that you belong to Christ, He lives in you now, able to use you to bring hope, wisdom, grace, insight, life, and power to every person you meet. As this new creation you can remember the successes and build on them, with the expectation that greater things will flow through you. I know we are not perfect but we serve a perfect God who loves us totally and completely and loves every person in the world and has designed you to be a success as you daily grow in Him, forgetting your failures, or how others have labeled you and recognize you are A child of God, have the right to royal inheritance, are given the power wisdom and insight to overcome all and be an overcomer in all things…..after all what can stand against you when you truly begin to believe and see that you are the one your heavenly Father loves the most!