A shiny new year is here. Maybe like me you are struggling to see the sparkly sunshine. I guess I somehow thought that life would magically get less complicated once I flipped the calendar page from December to January.

I was wrong. 

I was really wrong.  

January 1st is not a magical season of Utopia where calories stop counting and the chaos in my life goes on hiatus.  

This week has been hard, y’all. Super hard. It hasn’t been one bit shiny or sparkly.  

But here is what I know is true as a person of faith even when it’s been a dark, dark week: The Light of the world has come. His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. (John 1:5). 

Jesus helps me do hard things. The light of the world lives in me, and I am called to let my little light shine in dark places.  

Arise from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life! Shine be radiant with the glory of the Lord, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

Isaiah 60:1, AMP

The secret is Christ in me — not me in a different set of circumstances.

~Elisabeth Elliot

Why the New Year Means a New You

God has given you a new song to sing.

 You have been rescued from the pit of hell, and sin no longer holds you captive. You are set free from your past to sing His praises in the present. Resolve to make melody so that your life is a memorable love song to Jesus.  

• “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:1-3)

God’s mercies are new every morning.

Come what may today, you can trust that God’s fountain of mercy will never cease to flow into your life and fill you up with His love and compassion.  Every morning is a fresh start with Jesus as your Savior. Just as you trust the sun will rise each day, you can fully rely on God to show up with an ample supply of His strength to help you make it through the next 24 hours.

• “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV)

God is about to do something new!

God has a way of turning what we view as barriers into blessings. Faith looks forward with expectation and trusts that the future is full of God’s favor. Let’s ask God to fill us with hope even in the midst of the hardest season of our lives. Nothing is too hard for Him. He can breathe new life into any situation and turn a dead end into a highway of hope.  

• “Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,
  rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19, CSB)

Are you ready to face the new year with renewed faith? To help you get fired up, I’m sharing a copy of My Pray Big Prayer Calendar with you. Start your year praying each day for God to do a miraculous work in your world.  Sign up today as a member of the Wildfire Faith Community and  grab a copy in our Faith Fuel Library. Print out your copy and start each morning inviting God to rock your world. Let’s #PrayBig and stand on God’s promises this year!

The new me will not allow doubt and fear to rob me of the new thing God wants to do in my heart. Every day  as we trust God, He is transforming our lives. Our past, my present, and future are safe in God’s mighty hands.  

Friends, let’s press on and persevere in faith in this new year. Greater things are yet to come. One glorious day soon, God will create everything new and give us a new name when we see Him face to face. This new year provides new opportunities for us to wait on the Lord, rely on His strength, and believe that He is up to something spectacular.  

A new year needs a new you.

Let’s Chat: What courageous step is God calling the the New You to take in this new year?

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