Living Out Of The BoxSample

NEW LIFE 

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

When you start following Jesus, your whole life will change! Some things will change right away, while other things may take some time. Everything bad from your past has been forgiven and washed away. Jesus’ Spirit now lives in your heart, and you’ve been born again as a new person! Our salvation and new life is all because God gave Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. It has nothing to do with what we’ve done. So, what do we have to do?  Believe in Jesus and confess that He is the one true God who died for our sins and rose from the dead. By that confession and determination in your heart to follow Jesus, you are now a part of God’s family.

You see, the life we were living before kept us from having a relationship with God. Sin entered the world not long after God created it, and because of that there was a separation between man and God.  We are all born sinful, broken people. We’re unable to connect with God and have a relationship with Him on our own... I know, this sounds kind of depressing, right? But the good news, as we’ve talked about before, is that Jesus’ sacrifice has made the way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to have a relationship with Him! It doesn’t seem fair, and that’s the thing about God’s grace and forgiveness, none of us deserve it, but He freely offers it to us because He loves us that much! You would think we would have to do something to earn God's love and forgiveness, but we don’t! 

Now even though you’re a new person and forgiven, you still have a sinful nature and live in a broken world. That means we’re all going to struggle with sin. There’s going to be times when you fail and do something wrong. Satan will try to condemn you when this happens and convince you that you should try to hide from God, but don’t listen to him! God knows when we mess up. We can’t hide anything from Him. When we mess up, God wants us to admit that we messed up and ask Him to forgive us and to help us from messing up again.

As you get to know God more and more, understanding His love, grace, and forgiveness will really start to sink in. There will be times when you’re just amazed at God’s love and feel Him so closely to you. Treasure those times! He is always near to us.... There will also be times when He seems distant, or times when we’ve done something wrong and we fear He’ll leave us, but never let that stop you from spending time with Him.

Action Step: 
A new life means changes, and maybe God has already shown you some things He wants you to change in your life. Take a minute and write down anything you feel like God is asking you to change in your life. Keep it where you can see it daily and ask God to help you make those changes every time you see it. 

My Prayer:
Jesus, thank You that I am now a new person, you’ve given me a new life, and there’s nothing I can do to change Your love for me! Thank You for having grace and patience with me as I begin this journey of following You. When I mess up, help me to confess that to You and accept Your forgiveness. I love You, Jesus. Amen.