A New Beginning

I love the New Year. It is New Year’s Day and I have started it by spending time with the Lord. I have poured my soul out to Him like water as I have asked for more awareness of Him all through the day, more anointing to preach and to write, and stood in the gap for those I love.

2009 was a year of unexpected things for my family. I never dreamed God would uproot me from Paradise, TX and the FBC there. Brenda and I had even talked about buying cemetery plots there, thinking we would live out of our days in that church and community. God came and changed all of that by placing a new call on our lives to pastor FBC Seminole.

Seminole was a new beginning. The hardest part was building new relationships. There are still so many people I do not know but part of the new beginning is working to cultivate those relationships. We went out to eat with a couple for that sole purpose this past Monday. We spent time with several people last night to pray in the New Year and cultivated relationships during the process.

This new call and new beginning in this church and community defy description. In no way could I adequately describe how we have experienced the presence of the Lord in our worship services. The growth has been fast and unexpected by me. People cannot find seats in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. The balcony is full, the down stairs is full, people are rushing from Sunday School clamoring to find seats. The parking lot is full with people parking up and down the side roads. The energy is high and God has used the preaching of His word. He is calling us to a grand vision though I still do not have that vision in clear detail. The church is alive and we are being revived. Yet, there is still more spiritual land to possess by faith.

I like the new beginning of starting a New Year. It is a fresh start. I can look back at my blunders, inconsistencies, failures, and successes from last year and now tuck them all away. There is a brand new year staring us in the face. For some this will be the last year they will live. Before this year comes to a close we will attend the funerals of the ones we love. For others this will be a year of marriage, new births, seeing dreams come true. This will be a year of spiritual victories as well as set backs as we continue to battle our old nemesis the flesh or carnal nature.

One thing is sure, if you and I are walking with the Lord we are not just marking time. He has purpose for this year. We have the glorious privilege of sitting before Him day in and day out to learn what that purpose is. He will use His word to guide our steps and to clearly mark out our path.

I am excited when I think about all the possibilities of 2010. I have prayerfully set some lofty goals. I was eager to get up out of bed despite not getting to sleep until around 2:00 a.m. I am no late night owl. I am from the school of thought, “Early to bed – early to rise makes a person healthy and wise.” I could not sleep in. I was too excited to get started immediately on all those goals I set.

I went out of the garage to find my truck windshield was frosted over. While waiting for it to defrost I read scripture in the cab to get started on my goal of scripture reading. I made time to get into a book entitled Prayer Power written by Andrew Murray in the early 1900’s. Just the first chapter has been an oasis for my soul.

I have made a list of future blogs I hope to get to over the next several days. My mind feels alive, revived, my soul is burning and yearning to pursue God, and all of this on Friday and I still have to wait two more days before I get to worship with my new spiritual family and stand to proclaim the truth of His word. It truly is a new beginning.

Why? Not much has changed. I am sitting in the same office typing on the same computer I did last night. I prayed this morning in the same prayer room reading from the same Bible and writing in my same prayer journal I did yesterday. Yet, today seems new, exciting, fresh, unsullied, and novel. I was eager to get up this morning and to get going despite the late night we kept. I am excited about sitting at this lap top and pecking out the thoughts flowing fast and furious in my mind about a new beginning. My whole attitude has changed about doing the same old mundane things. I have a fresh perspective and new hope. It is a new beginning.

We need new beginnings. Not just for the start of a new year but for most of us even the start of a new day. It is so easy to fall into the religious rut of devotions devoid of power and passion and church attendance where we find ourselves going through the motions and doing things from rote memory rather than from fiery passion to grow in Christ and to pursue Him with intensity.

We need new beginnings. What will we do with this one? Will we meander through our days without purpose or living with intentionality. When 2010 comes to an end will we be closer to Christ or will we have drifted even further away than we did the year before?

I urge you to stop what you are doing and take a few moments to think about the new beginning and fresh start with God that is being afforded to you. What will you do with the gift of this New Year? Right now without any further delay I exhort you to start over. Pursue God with a NEW passion and a NEW energy that you may have lost somewhere along the way last year. Determine now that you will progress in your spiritual journey and resolve how you are going to do that.

This is a new beginning but if we do not seize the day before we know it we will be saying goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011 without any significant changes in our relationship with the Lord. That is not acceptable. This is not a year to pass time and mark the days off our calendars. This is a day and a year to start over and begin again. I am resolute that I will know God better and burn hotter in my soul at the end of this year. Let the journey begin.