What Is A New Beginning
We all love new beginnings, especially when we’ve messed up in a major way, don’t we? Knowing we can start over and be given a second chance is refreshing and brings a sense of comfort and relief. For those of us who desire to grow spiritually, the past experiences of failure will become valuable lessons that cause us to walk more carefully, not taking a second chance for granted.
New beginnings and second chances can take place in many areas of our lives. It may be in a relationship. It could be in our place of employment. It could be the fresh start of moving to a new city with new friends and different opportunities. Whatever the case may be, when we take advantage of the second chances and new beginnings that we have access to, our souls can experience times of refreshing, rejuvenation, hope, and expectation. This is what new beginnings is all about.
When God Gives You A New Beginning
One of the many things I love about the Lord is that He is always looking for ways to give us a fresh start, a new beginning. As Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Every day has the opportunity to be a new beginning if we choose to embrace the offer! We lay our heads down at night and slumber, waking up with a fresh start. His mercies are new every morning!
Many of us choose to look at the turning of another year as a time for new beginnings. The Lord’s mercies are available whenever we choose to reach out to Him. He loves to give us fresh starts! He is the King of new beginnings! And when God is the One who is in charge of our new beginnings and second chances, get ready for the miraculous and beautiful events our lives will behold!
New Birth
When we have chosen to walk this life with Jesus, the wholeness of the Christian journey truly begins with a new birth. God draws at our hearts and reaches for us before we know Him, but we begin to fully experience new life when we are born again.
John 3:5-7 tells us, “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
What is beautiful about being born again is that our ways or thinking and acting are no longer done simply by our own strength and knowledge. We now have the influence and power of the Spirit of God to help us navigate through this journey of life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” While we are still in our fleshly bodies, we are no longer “only human,” allowing the Spirit to not only bring new birth, but to continue working on us, changing us from our old nature. Even so, there will be times we make mistakes, but the great news is that God is readily waiting for us to come to Him with repentance, clearing our slate clean once again.
New Covenant
A new covenant is an agreement. In this case, it is an agreement with God. Our new birth is born out of a new covenant with God. This is a new way. This is a better way! The old covenant was full of laws and regulations that we could never keep. The appearance of Jesus on Earth and His selfless, ultimate sacrifice for mankind gave us a better way. We live every day in His love. When we fail in our flesh, He is there to help us.
When we consider the cost of what Jesus did to give us abundant life, that alone should be one of the many proofs of His merciful love and desire to see us lifted out of sin and condemnation. His will is that no souls would perish, as it says in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Second chances are the will of God!
New Mercies Every Morning
We are so blessed that our God is full of mercy. He waits and without hesitation extends His mercy to His children when we ask from a heart of sincerity and genuineness. Our mistakes and failures have never taken God by surprise. While His desire is for Christians to grow in their walk with Him, shunning sin and walking in righteousness, He has no limit on how much sin He will forgive, nor how many times. As we see in His Word, His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is steadfast, and forgiveness is ours for the asking.
The earthly ministry of Jesus gave us a beautiful example of forgiveness, and over 2,000 years later, we are recipients to such an amazing gift. Another amazing fact about our Lord is that His blood has not lost one drop of power. Until the end of time, mercy and forgiveness will never run out. With His Spirit dwelling within His children, and because of all He has done for each of us, extending mercy to others should be our passion and response to those around us.
Reflections On New Beginnings
The Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:26 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Newness in man’s heart was a desire of God’s long ago. Cleansing man from his sins and enabling him to walk in God’s ways were His plan; the new beginning for man’s ways would change the future for all who were cleansed.
When the cry of our hearts is like King David’s heart in Psalm 51:10 (KJV), which says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” that is when God can work in the lives of His children, molding them into what He desires them to be.
New Wineskins
Mark 2:22 says, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
The new wineskins were referring to the new covenant. The “new wine”, or the new covenant, was too much for the old priesthood and religious system to handle. Jesus wasn’t looking to put a patch on it, which is also referenced in Mark 2:21: “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.” He wasn’t looking to patch up the old. He was starting over.
New Heaven and New Earth
2 Peter 3:13 says, “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Furthermore, we see mention of the new in Revelation 21:5, which says, “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
When God speaks a promise, we know it is trustworthy, and we can count on all that He says He will do!
Pray to Delight in His New Story for You
The Passion Translation describes 2 Corinthians 5:17 beautifully: “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.”
Once we have the born-again experience and allow God to envelop our lives completely, we will have a personal story of a life that has been redeemed and given a new beginning.
Some of us have backgrounds that were just void of meaning with a feeling of drifting through life with no real purpose. And then there are those who were bound tightly in chains of sin and addiction. Poor choices, bad influences and lack of guidance from a nurturing family all play a part in the shackles that wrapped themselves around some of us and refused to let go. Whatever our former lot in life, whatever lifestyle or background we’ve come from, we all have a story of newness in one way or another once Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior.
Whether we’ve walked with the Lord for many years, or we feel like our own story isn’t of any great significance, we need to think again. All of us are in need of the Savior, and there are many who never find Him. Many have a missing piece in their lives yet never discover the Lord who can fill it. To have an experience with the Almighty God makes every testimony and personal interaction with Jesus worthwhile and worthy of gratitude.
Experiencing Your New Beginning
Colossians 1:10-12 gives us a good description of how the life of a new child of God should look: “…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Following the will and desires of God will bring us to a fulfilling walk on our Christian journey. A genuine new beginning with God is one that is fresh, with new habits, thoughts, understanding, strength and victories in our daily lives. Let us embrace all that God has for us, that we may experience a life in Christ that surpasses all other experiences!
Throughout the Word, time and time again we see the things as we’ve known them to be capable of changing when the hand of God touches them. Our Master Creator can take anything that is broken, damaged, condemned and heading for destruction, and turn each of those things to a place of redemption, renewal, and a fresh start.
Where Are We Today?
Why don’t we take a moment to reflect on where we are today in our walk, our experience, and our hearts? Life has a way of keeping us busy, making us tired, and causing us to slip in our Christian journey. That doesn’t necessarily mean sin, although it can, but even in our joy and zeal of serving the Lord.
While the demands of life convince us that there is not enough time to do it all, sometimes we overbook ourselves in areas that don’t really matter, while neglecting the most important things. Communicating with God through prayer and His Word, along with fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters may seem optional, but they are the things that will make a difference in our second chances and new beginnings.
Let us all be encouraged to take our new beginnings, our times of repentance and all of our second chances seriously. Let us face each new day with purpose and intention. Let the Word penetrate our hearts like never before and do our best to walk in God’s ways with a heart full of gratitude for His mercies and second chances.
Our lives are blessed when we know the Savior that offers new beginnings in many areas of our lives. As the One who created us, He knows just what we need, and how to fulfill the needs within. Whether they be a fresh start or the chance to correct some of our choices and mistakes, our God is waiting for us to turn to Him for the abundant life He has for us!
