Moving Onward and Upward—Our New Year’s Blessing

Moving Onward and Upward—Our New Year’s Blessing

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)
^“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

            As we move into this new year and new season in the Lord, I sense that the God is calling us into a time of radical change.  A radical change is one that is deeply seated.  It is a change that centers at the root of our being.  A radical change is more than striving to give up a bad habit.  A radical change includes a change and upgrade in our core belief system.  Paul wrote to the church in Rome declaring, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2 NKJV)  

            A radical change requires a change in our thinking.  An area in our thinking that most certainly requires an upgrade is our perspective of who God is.  When we know more fully who God is, we can, in the midst of the chaos of life, declare as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV).  

            God is love. Out of His love, He desires the best for His creation.  God, in His incarnate Son, suffered the agony of the cross to set us free from the eternal consequences of sin.  Therefore, because He is love, He hates sin. God hates sin because sin brings anguish, despair and suffering to those whom He loves.  

Because God is love, He is also holy.  In the Greek, the word translated as “holy” means morally blameless.  The English word “holy” means “whole” or “complete”.  The primary (pre-Christian) meaning  probably  was "that which must be preserved whole  and cannot be transgressed or violated," and was connected with Old English hal  and Old High German heil meaning "health and happiness.”  God is holy.  Therefore, He is whole, and in His wholeness, He is healthy and happy.  He wants the same for us. 

Because He wants health and happiness for us, He has declared us to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Romans 8:15-17 (NKJV) “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”   Loneliness, abandonment, fear, and shame are not what God has in store for us.  In Christ, we exchange loneliness for companionship and fellowship.  Our sense of abandonment is erased in the knowledge that God will never leave us nor forsake us.   That promise is reiterated at least seven times in scripture.  We can lay our fear at the foot of the cross and embrace His peace.  We can forgo shame and accept that we are who God says we are—His children.

We are also the Bride of Christ.  The “Song of Solomon” is an allegorical description of Christ’s love for His bride, the Church. “I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.”  “His banner over me is love.”   We are protected, sheltered and covered in His love.

Because we are His children, God has a destiny for us.  In Him, we have a future and a hope.  That destiny includes the fruit of the spirit manifested in our lives.  ^"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26 NKJV)  Our future, our inheritance, includes the fruit of the spirit beginning with love.  

As Christians, we know the Holy Spirit indwells us.  What we don’t always understand is that indwelling includes the fruit of the spirit.  We do not have to sit and wait for God to shower the fruit of the spirit upon us.  We simply have to allow the fruit of the spirit to grow, to produce, and to flow out of our inner most being. 

When our perception of God includes a greater acceptance of His love, we can easily move into the second fruit of the spirit, joy.  God is calling His church into greater joy in the season ahead.  Greater joy will be the sign that we have undergone the radical change that God is calling forth in our lives.  

              During the troubled times of rebuilding Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, Nehemiah encouraged the workers:  "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV)  God is not desirous of a weak, sickly, fearful Bride.  We are strengthened by rejoicing but weakened by murmuring and complaining. 

            Remember the words of Solomon in Proverbs: 

▪ Proverbs 15:13 (NKJV)
¹³  A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

▪ Proverbs 15:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.

▪ Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)
²²  A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

           

 During this new year, let’s begin a new season in the Lord.  Let’s bask more securely in His love; let’s allow His joy to flow out of our inner most being and refresh the world around us; let’s declare Isaiah 55:12 over our lives:

  "For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”  (Isaiah 55:12 NKJV)

Happy New Year!!