New Year, New Beginning

I just composed an email to my lifegroup:

Hi all,

Wish you a very Happy New Year this year. I don't know what's been happening in your life last year, no doubt some of us had a pretty good year, yet some would have had a pretty rough year. Whatever it was, it happened last year, nothing we can do about it anymore.

No doubt we would have made some mistakes and hopefully we would have learned some lessons along the way too.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

May I give 2 tips (of course there are other things we can do such as goal settings, spend less, save more, read Bible etc) to start this year expecting God to fulfill your dreams this year, no matter what it is, whether it's new job, opportunities, friends etc.

These are basic tips, but they work:
1. Pray
Not just pray once a day (or week), but pray continually, prayer is not only setting apart time in your bedroom (or whichever room) and spend the next 5 minutes praying. It's more than that. It's talking to God continually. Imagine if you have a close friend or a loved one who is living together with you, but you only talk to him/her for 5 minutes everyday. And most of the talking is to ask the other person that you want him/her to help solve your problems, what would the person feel? Yet so often we do that to God. Our prayers are filled with requests for Him to bless us, give us more money, give us new jobs, etc.

God wants us to have a constant communication with Him, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

2. Change your thinking
Our thoughts are very powerful. There is an old saying (I don't know who is the author): Sow a thought, reap a habit; sow a habit; reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.
It all starts in our minds, if you keep having negative attitude, don't expect something good will happen. Many of us know this verse from Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Some of us may have been brought up in a negative environment all our lives, and you may think there's no hope for you. Let me say this, there is hope in God. If you will change the way you think, God will start changing your lives too.

You may ask: And how do I change my thinking? Some things you can do:
- Read Bible regularly
- Read good Christian books such as: Battlefield of the Mind (Joyce Meyer)
- Start saying good things about yourself:
If you are used to saying negative things, it has become a habit that needs to be changed. If you like to say things like: Nobody likes me, I'm ugly, I can't get a job, I always fail, I'm a loser etc., it's definitely a time to stop saying those things and start declaring God's promises for your own life such as: I am more than a conqueror in Christ, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, God has good plans for my life and many other promises.

Let me end by saying this: God loves you, and He longs to see you live a fulfilling life. Jesus came into this world not only to die for your sins, but to give you a full life (John 10:10)

We will continually pray for God's breakthrough in all your lives in this new year. May God bless you beyond all you can even ask or dream.

Jackson

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”- Isaiah 43:16, 18-19