A New Creation in Christ in this New Year

For many, with the ushering in of the new year, comes the hope of new things. Decisions that things will be different…better this year than they were last year. Plans are put into place to see these decisions become a reality.

For some, the new year comes and goes. They may celebrate, but not much thought, planning, or strategizing goes into the course of the new year. They just flow wherever life takes them in the new year. For some, it’s just another year. Nothing seems to change. Goals are never met so what is the point in trying.

For many who have come to know Christ, the same applies. There are promises in scripture of a newness that comes with knowing Christ, but many haven’t seen this change, don’t know how to allow this change, and become apathetic, hopeless, or angry at God because there is no change.

One of these promises can be found in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away: behold, the new has come!” The Passion Translation gives a more descriptive translation of this verse: Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.” Verse 18-21 continues: “And God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling other to God. In other words, it was through the Anointed One that God was shepherding the world, not even keeping records of their transgressions, and he has entrusted to us the ministry of opening the door of reconciliation of God. We are ambassadors of the Anointed One who carry the message of Christ to the world, as though God were tenderly pleading with them directly through our lips. So we tenderly plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Turn back to God and be reconciled to him.” For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.”

Friend, change is real. Transformation is ours through Jesus. He did the work on the cross for our eternal salvation but also for our right-now salvation. Transformation is a process and starts with us repenting (turning away from) and crucifying our old ways, our old self, our old life, our old thought patterns, our old desires with Christ. We reject the old man, and we embrace the newness that is promised to us in Christ.

My newness (freedom) in Jesus came when I began reading scripture and wrapping myself in Jesus. He began to reveal all the areas in my life where I was holding on to my old self. As these were revealed to me over the years, I had to take action. I had a decision to make. Do I die to these areas? Do I crucify them with Jesus? Do I keep them? Do I keep one foot in the world and one foot with Jesus? Is that even possible? Either I follow Him or I don’t. If I follow him in some areas but not in other areas that really isn’t following him…I am going in another direction. Selective following is not following. I needed to be all-in, or I wasn’t in at all. Revelation 3:16 in the AMP version states this: “So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].” I decided I certainly did not want to be vomited out of the mouth of God. His promises and ways of life were infinitely better than my ways. I chose to be all in and asked the Lord to do his transformative work in me.

Over the course of the next 10-15 years, he did exactly that…transformed me from the inside out. It was a very slow but very effective process as I combed through my life and gave every part of it completely and fully to Him: my past, my present, and my future. Dying to self and living in complete devotion to Him.

As I worked in ministry and in the marketplace, my heart desired to see the same radical changes in the lives of others. I saw people struggling with anxiety, overcome with fear, seemingly blocked in their careers, unable to hear the voice of the Lord, trapped in unhealthy cycles and patterns, battling anger, suffocating in trauma, having their life, relationships, finances, etc. stolen from them. They desperately wanted to be free and living in the fullness of God but just didn’t know how to get there.

My heart cried out the Lord to be able to help these people receive the same freedom…the same daily peace that He had given me. I received the newness for me. I wanted to see this same newness in the lives of others. 12.5 years ago, I prayed asked the Lord to use me to help others experience transformation at a foundational level through the same work He did in me. 12.5 years ago, I couldn’t tell you the work He did in me. I just knew he changed me…he took away all the hurt, pain, trauma, unforgiveness, anger, entitlement, pride, fear, etc and grew in me his fruit. How that happened…I had no idea. This prayer was me asking God to allow me to be a minister of reconciliation for His Kingdom and Ambassador for Christ that brings people back into the fullness of God as mentioned in the scripture above. He began the training.

12.5 years later, He has trained me up in not only leading individuals to this place of complete peace and fullness in Jesus but training others in how to lead people as well. So much of my journey was just me and Him walking things out and me doing what He asked me to do. Many times, I longed for human fellowship and connection. Now, He has built up entire community of believers that partner together to seek Him, who fellowship and learn together, and are being trained up in how to lead others to complete Freedom in Jesus.

Total surrender. Total submission to the Lordship of Jesus. It’s totally worth it.

We still have struggles, we still have the things that grow us and stretch us, but we are free to do this in partnership with Jesus unhindered by the enemy or our own adulterous flesh.

If you need help getting to this place, we have a team of people ready and willing to lead you there. This New Year, let’s go back to the place of full fellowship with God through the reconciliation work that Jesus did on the cross. We were meant to walk with Him daily as He created Adam and Eve to walk with Him. Let’s choose to walk in the Blessings of Obedience instead of the Cursings of Disobedience (Deuteronomy 28). We want to help you make this transition through Jesus.