Happy New You!

2 Corinthians 5:17 The Passion Translation

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. [a] Behold, everything is fresh and new.[b]

Well, 2020 is finally here! An entire decade is behind us and we can now move forward with a fresh mindset. I believe there are so many new things that await us in 2020. Some of you may already be experiencing them. I know I am!!!

I want to share with you some of the things that Holy Spirit put in my heart to share with my congregation as I was preparing for the first Sunday of 2020.

We all know how it goes. Everywhere we turn we greet everyone with, Happy New Year! We say it without thinking because it is just programmed into our brains to do so. Whether we mean it or not. Whether we believe it or not. Whether we expect it or not, we still say it.

But this year Holy Spirit switched it up on me. I heard Him clearly say to me, ‘Happy New You’! I don’t know what it was, but changing just that one word literally shifted my perspective and my expectation for 2020 and beyond. As soon as I said those words out loud new things began to come alive in my spirit! As Dr. Alexis Maston says all the time, words create worlds!

I am sure that was the intent of Holy Spirit. He was letting me know that I was not only crossing over into a new year but a new me! Suddenly I had a new mindset and new desires. I saw new assignments and new relationships coming into my life (2 Corinthians 5:17 ).

Needless to say, when I came down from my high, fear tried to grip my heart. Whenever there is talk about letting go of what we know to embrace what we don’t know, fear looks for an opportunity to block our movement. Fear puts the spotlight on our inadequacies, our weaknesses, and any other area where it can expose our shortcomings. Truthfully, in the past, I would have listened and retreated. I would have come into agreement with the spirit of fear while holding tightly to the old order.

But not this time!!! As quickly as the enemy tried to deter me, Holy Spirit reminded me that everything is fresh and new...even me!!!

I don’t know who else this word is for. I don’t know what your ‘new’ is. I don’t know what kind of fear you may be facing as you strive to obey the Lord in 2020. I know that taking steps of faith can be scary. Facing the reality of situations can be scary. It is natural for the natural man to be afraid of change. It is natural for the natural man to find comfort in a familiar hell than to step out into the unknown. But let me encourage you to remember the God that you serve!

I, too, had to take a spiritual and mental inventory of what it would take to obey God in 2020. Let me tell you, I saw many areas of deficiency! Do I stick with the old or do I move forward? Is this God or is it me? Suppose it doesn’t work or suppose no one supports me? As I pondered these things, Isaiah 43:19 AMPC guided my decision, “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Holy Spirit said to me, stop worrying about what you don’t have. God will handle every deficiency!!! He will take care of everything that you need at the moment that you need it!

Glory to God!!! Am I the only one who felt the impact of that statement? God will handle every deficiency!!!

Let me encourage you to obey God in 2020! He has great and rewarding things waiting just for you!!

Happy New You!!!

Pastor Karen Jethroe