Happy New Year!

2023. Can you believe it? Honestly, I am having trouble wrapping my mind around that.

And I admit… I am a creature of habit, so if you are anything like me, it takes at least a month for me to learn to say and write the new year. At least a month! By the time I finally get it figured out, it is almost time for another new year. Change is difficult. My mind wants to do what it has been pre-programmed to do.

And, when you think about it, walking with Jesus is much the same. It is difficult to change old habits. My mind, and my body, want to do what they have been pre-programmed to do. But the truth is, on our own, we have little hope for true change. We easily fall back into harmful old habits.

Fortunately, however, we have the Spirit of God available to us to make positive changes in our life a reality.

What this means is that while we once thought and acted in the ways of the world, when we surrender to Jesus Christ, we are changed and made new. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:16-17:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

- 1 Corinthians 5:16-17

And when we are made new, change begins to occur. A couple of chapters earlier, Paul writes:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  

- 2 Corinthians 3:18

God, through the Holy Spirit in us, is at work.

So, what is our role in this? Are we to just sit back and watch it happen? Absolutely not! The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

- Romans 12:1-2

We do play a necessary role. When we give ourselves fully to Jesus Christ, both in mind and body, and we make every effort to turn away from the things of this world, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, begins to change us from the inside out to become the person God designed us to be. And I can guarantee you this. This person God is working in us to help us become is way better than anything we can accomplish on our own.

Friends, I want to encourage, challenge, and invite you in 2023, to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives, that we might be transformed into the image of the Most High God.

Pastor Ken

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