Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year and New You?

You know that saying you always hear at the New Year?! "Here is to a New Year and a new you!" Well this New Years was the first time I really thought about it. I am all for the new year part....change is the only thing that is consent. But the new you part made me a little uneasy.

We all want to be the best we can be......the person God created us to be. He has great plans for us.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11-12

We are each created to play a role is His symphony that tells the world of His great love for us. So when someone says "here is to a new you" my spirit cringes! I do not want to be a new me where the change starts with me!

Really! Think about it. If I was the person I wanted to be I would not be who the Lord created me to be! My natural self is selfish, greedy, stubborn, ugly, impatience,  you all know I could go on! So with all these sinful traits why would I not want more of the Lord?!

Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 
Romans 5:3-6

So this year I am asking the Lord for a new me, one that is of His design. For the next month I will be letting go of things and clinging more to the Lord. Giving up all processed foods, gluten, dairy, sugar, and more unnatural products that I so often put in my body. Giving up to replace what has been missing! Fruit and veggies will be the main staple of my diet for the next 31 days. 

Now, I am not naive. It will be hard! Very hard. But a wise friend has encouraged me to pray, A LOT! So is just what I am going to do. There are many things I could pray for. What the Lord has touched my heart to pray on the ministry He has called me to, Central Region Short-Term. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7

The Lord is doing a lot in our Short-Term missionaries, the countries and areas they are working in, in the people they are ministering to, and in me.       
  
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-21

The next month will be a wild ride! So excited to see what the Lord does. There will be change, for the better! I would love your prayers during this time, I am sure it will not be pretty for the first few days! 

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