HAVE A PLAN FOR NEW YEAR

Bible: Psalm 37: 1-6

Main verse: PSALM 37: 5 – Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.

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– Human life always have some kind of period. For some, we can’t know exactly when they happen, for example sickness or unfortunate events. Sometimes we don’t get sick for several years, and sometimes we do twice in the same year. For those that come regularly with predictable time frames, we can prepare for them easier, for example a working day, or what we should do for the new year.

– Preparing for those periods is necessary, particularly for those that have a specific time frame. For these last few days of the year 2019, we will discuss how we can prepare ourselves for a new year.

– We are usually happy and excited to meet a new year, but experience lets us know that the excitement only lasts a few days. That’s why our happiness for a new year is often short and eventually we lose interest, even if the period keeps repeating it again and again.

– God wants us to be happy all year round and for all of our lives. That’s why He has instructed us in the Bible how to keep being happy.

– The human’s mistake in this matter is that we usually try to change our environment and circumstances in hope for happiness, but most of us forget to change our mind and spirit. As we have experienced, the environment and circumstances are always the same in human life, as the Bible had mentioned it from the ancient times:

ECCLESIASTES 1: 9-10 – The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Nature has been the same from the time it was created and everything suffers the same fate. They were new at the beginning, and then they get old and eventually pass away. If humans tried to make things anew, it would last for a short period of time. If we let our happiness depend on things like that, it will never be enough. That is the main reason why human life is so miserable.

God created humans not for those. He wants us to be happy. That’s why He had taught us to seek a new spirit and a new heart so that we can be joyful regardless of outside circumstances. This should be our goal for the new year in order for us to live a happy life, to glorify God, to help the church grow and to make our homes a warm and lovely place.

PSALM 51: 10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

In order to make our spirit anew, we should commit ourselves to keep Christ always in our lives, not only in the year 2020 but for all the coming years as well:

2CORINTHIANS 5: 17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

To be in Christ means we should always read and follow His teachings in the Bible. By doing so, we will have God in our hearts always. Remember: God and Jesus Christ are One:

1JOHN 3: 24 – And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us

JOHN 10: 30 – I and my Father are One.

At the beginning of each year, we usually have a new plan for the church, about what we are going to do to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow, and at the same time, to attract more people to the faith. It’s good to have a plan, but it’s better to have the strength and the determination to complete it. More than often, we see the excitement and willingness decrease over time.

As experiences shows, lots of Christians can’t keep a steady faith and constant attitude in serving God. As we have a goal to achieve a renewed spirit in 2020, we should also seek strength from God to go through with it.

ISAIAH 40: 31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Waiting upon the Lord means we depend on Him for everything, and at the same time, long for the day he comes back to Earth. By constantly waiting for that day, we will surely be blessed by God, and He will give us the strength to follow Him to the end:

2PETER 3: 13 – Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Our goal for the new year should be making our spirit anew by reading the Bible every day and following the instructions within it. We will have the strength to do so when we eagerly wait for the day Christ returns.

Our goal like that will not only glorify God and help the church grow, but at the same time, help to prepare ourselves for the future when we meet God face to face and be allowed to live with Him forever in Heaven. That is what God had promised long before:

ISAIAH 65: 17 – For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

God had repeated His promise many times in the Bible to make sure that we remember of what He is going to do for His children:

REVELATION 21: 5 – And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Because it is a sure thing to happen, so it’s quite logical that we change our spirits in order to follow God’s plan for us.

GALATIANS 6: 15 – For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Each passing year makes us older, but our spirits always become newer each day:

2CORINTHIANS 4: 16 – For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

As our spirit are made new, our lives and attitude will be changed accordingly, so that we can become proper witnesses for Christ and glorify God:

EPHESIANS 4: 23-24 – And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

ROMANS 12: 2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

COLOSSIANS 3: 10 – And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.

The changing of our spirits to become new is necessary because on the day He returns to Earth, Christ will change our bodies to become like Him and the angels to be suitable for Heaven:

PHILIPPIANS 3: 21 – Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Then we all will have a new name to be used in Heaven forever:

REVELATION 2: 17 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

That day will surely be the most happy day of our lives, because we all become new on the inside and outside, even including our names.

With that goal in mind, we should ask God to bless us, not only to the end of the year 2020 but to the end of our lives on Earth:

PSALM 37: 5 – Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.

This goal should be the goal for many of us in this new year, because God want us be like that. We should remember that we are following God and Jesus Christ’s examples while living on this Earth.

May God help us to keep this goal in mind and follow through to the end. May God give us the strength and the determination to change our spirits anew. May God bless us to the day each of us receive our new name on the white stone. May God bless us to see His face and to see each others on that glory day. Amen.