A Year of New Beginnings

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions?  Are you turning over a new leaf for 2019?

So many people start out in January with great intentions.  They are determined that this year’s resolutions will be different.  Unfortunately, most of the New Year resolutions we make simply don’t work. We’re committed and excited in January and by February we’re frustrated and done. Just go to the gym in January and then in February and see how dramatically the attendance drops. Why is that?  Could it be that all of these changes and tweaks we want to make to ourselves and in our lives are rooted in the wrong place?

The changes we want to make are often related to the way we spend money, the way we look, our relationships with our friends and/or family, our habits, etc.  So many of these changes we want so desperately to make are rooted in shame and condemnation.  This is why they don’t work.  We’re caught up in a destructive cycle, a feedback loop that is doomed for failure.  This message of “necessary shame” is reinforced with a disastrous misunderstanding that sets in early in life.  This message reverberates in each of our heads…”you just didn’t do bad…you are bad.”   In other words, the world doesn’t teach us the difference between “doing bad” and “being bad”. The world tells us we ARE is based on WHAT WE DO. This is a lie!  When we do something bad (which we ALL do) we get mislabeled as bad.  Our identity becomes tied to what we do. Then we feel anxious that others will find out we are “bad” and this creates a self focus and a duplicity within us.  In other words, instead of admitting and confessing we’ve done something wrong, we hide it because we have a deep desire to be accepted and included. (this is why Adam and Eve hid in the garden after they disobeyed God).  We don’t want to be rejected because we believe we are “bad.”  Instead of asking ourselves “why did we act that way” or “what made me do that” we tuck it away. We hide it from others and often tuck it away so far back in our minds we hide it from ourselves.  This is NOT what God wants.  Things that are hidden in secret destroy us.  It’s like raw sewage that eventually makes its way to the surface and infects our lives. God knows we live in a fallen world and that we are not perfect.  He knows that we will mess up, make some bad decisions and need some help. The fact that He sent His son to save us clearly shows us He understands our situation. He knew that NO ONE could navigate this crazy world alone. He knew we needed a Savior!

 You see, God sent His son to equip and empower us with what we need to prosper in this upside down world.  He wants us to obey Him because He knows that disobedience leads to self condemnation.  That is, when we do something wrong we are our own worst enemy. We can punish our self for our misdeeds far worse than anyone else. We are the masters of self condemnation.  Satan also understands this very well and uses our conscience against us.  When we do something wrong Satan is the first to loudly shout the accusations and criticisms in our ears…“You’re not a good parent.  If you were you wouldn’t have yelled at your child” or “You’re a loser. You’re never going to get out of debt.” Whatever it is you are doing or not doing Satan will always tell you it’s not good enough.  You then repeat the lies to yourself and guilt and condemnation set in.  The guilt leads to your demise. You experience adverse reactions in your physical, emotional and spiritual well being.  This is WHY resolutions we make based in shame do not work!

Grace cannot flow where there is shame and guilt. Shame does not receive grace. Shame is the opposite of grace. The word tells us that where sin increases grace super abounds. Think about it...of all the disciples who did Jesus give the greatest position of authority and leadership to? It was Peter, the one who had failed the most. Grace is not natural. If you are thinking naturally you cannot appreciate grace. Based on Romans 11:6 Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor. If you work for it you frustrate it. Sin is not the biggest problem in our lives. We all have sin. The biggest hindrance is our performance. The sin qualifies us for a savior. If we had no sin we wouldn’t need a savior. It is the grace in your life that empowers you to sin no more. The only woman in the Bible that is mentioned as a virtuous woman is Ruth (married to Boaz). She was a Moabite woman (land of Moab, present day Jordan). Under the law no Moabite could enter the congregation of the Lord as there was a curse on them... yet she is called a virtuous woman. The law disqualified her but Grace qualified her. Tamar, a former prostitute, was the great great great grandmother of King David, the first king appointed by God. David had 18 sons, 1 daughter. Of all the sons God chose Solomon, the son of Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah, the man whom David had killed. David committed adultery with her. So you see... where sin increases grace super abounds. What is God saying to us? He is saying that your sin is not your final destiny. It will not define you.  Grace, super abounding favor will define your life. This message gives us HOPE!!!  All of us sin... either outwardly or inwardly... doubting God, fear, worry...all of these are sins. Anything that is not of faith is sin. Because of Jesus, sin doesn’t define us... grace does!   

So how do you increase this favor in your life? Grace doesn’t come by “doing” more! Grace is increased by “seeing” more. Grace is first mentioned in Genesis 6:8...”But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” The name Noah means “Rest.”  So the answer is found in Rest. You increase God’s favor in your life by “resting” more. The more you rest the more the favor flows. When you rest in the Lord you trust Him. You don’t allow worry, stress and fear to control your thought life. When water flows it finds the lowest places. The low place is a position of rest, a position of humility. Grace will always find the lowest places. Without the vine, us as the branch, can struggle all we want but cannot produce a tiny grape. Many times we don’t believe in this grace and we struggle, we strain and we strive. When we do this we are frustrating the grace of God without realizing it. When you rest grace super abounds. When others push themselves forward you just say “Lord I rest in you.” REST and you will achieve. You will win your race. 

Christ came to this earth to invite YOU, my friend, to live an entirely DIFFERENT kind of life.  You will never change believing that you’re bad.  Believing you’re bad just makes you worse.  This is why diets don’t work. This is why resolutions don’t work.  This is why anything we commit to changing does not work unless it’s based in truth.  What is the truth? The truth is that Christ loves YOU! Your value is not determined by what you do or don’t do! YOU are priceless in His eyes!  Of all the people in the world who could have been born He CHOSE YOU!  YES….YOU…the one reading this devotion. YOU are GOOD!  YOU are precious!  Your worth to God is not based on your actions!  Your worth is based on WHO you belong to!  When you accept Christ as YOUR savior God sees YOU washed by the blood of His Son!  You are righteous in God’s eyes based on what Jesus did for you!  As soon as you accept that your identity is in Christ!

 When most of hear the word “repent” we think ‘remorse and shame”. Religion has made it a heavy word.  Jesus said in Mark 1:15  “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news.”  Jesus said…”repent and believe the good news.”  Repent is associated with GOOD NEWS!  It simply means to change your mind, your way of thinking.  Christ came, not as a threat, but to invite us into a fuller picture of our humanity. Have you forgotten that YOU are more?  God is NOT mad at you!  God wants you to change your view of HIM.  He is not mad at you because of your misdeeds.  God isn’t full of anger and condemnation. He wants us to repent. (change our thinking) because He wants to show us who we really are.  The most spiritual thing you can do when you do something wrong is confess it and know it.  Don’t feel guilty or ashamed.  Satan wants you to hide it so it can eat away at you.  Christ wants you to get it out so you can be FREE! Grace cannot flow where shame and guilt exist.  Christ wants you to know that you don’t have to settle!  He wants to show you WHO you really are and WHO God made you to be!  Drop the act.  Quit rehashing your mistakes and turn the page!  Stop murmuring about what you did or what you should have done!  His love for you is perfect and unconditional!  Accept it my friend and enjoy your life!

What can you expect in 2019?  My niece made me a wall plaque for Christmas that really sums up how we are to live in this new year. "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10). To be "still" means to put our TRUST in Him. It means to cast our cares on Him without all of the stress and worry. I believe that "RESTING" in Him is our theme for 2019.

I have a “behold” sticker placed on the front of my phone to remind me that I am not alone and to REST in what Christ has already done for me. What we focus on we magnify. Stress and worry come into our lives when we have our eyes on our problems, the challenges we try to overcome on our own.  We need to be continually reminded that WE ARE NOT ALONE.  We were never designed to be alone or to handle our problems on our own.  Rather than making shamed based resolutions that are doomed to fail we need to REST in THE ONE who has already fulfilled IT ALL!

Just rest. Stop struggling to please God. You don’t have to strive for God’s favor and blessings to live a victorious life. Because of Jesus finished work you can live unafraid, stress free and fully confident in God’s love for you. When you choose to rest in HIM His grace flows like a mighty river into the broken areas of your life.  He restores, renews and replenishes all that you’ve lost. This is why 2019 is a year of new beginnings. Stress, worry and fear will no longer dictate your life because you have a NEW focus, a new way of thinking.  Feelings of inadequacy will be replaced with feelings of strength and power.  Your identity will no longer be in what you do or don’t do. Your identity is WHO you belong to.

2019 is a year of light as you will get a greater revelation of who you are and why you have been placed on this earth at this given time by your Father.  Make no mistake my friend...there are no coincidences, just divine appointments and you not reading this by accident.  You are here for a purpose. Your life has meaning. You are a powerful force God wants to use to change the world. This is your year to RISE AND SHINE! Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination...the best is yet to come! 

Happy New Year!

Love, Sherry :-)

Copyright © 2019 Sherry Braswell Ministries, All rights reserved.