Rev 21:3-8 (NLT, my emphasis)
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever."
And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making all things new!" And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."And he also said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega--the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give the springs of the water of life without charge! All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those who practice witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars--their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."
In contemplating the new year, a new chapter in my life, and other things, the Holy Spirit brought the phrase that is in bold above to my heart. I included the surrounding verses because that is how God is making all things new, totally opposite of the world's point of view. This year will be new for me in many ways; I am graduating from college, which will bring many new experiences and changes. Being a senior in college and "at the top of my game," so to speak, is still new for me, but I think I'm finally starting to settle into it. God has also re-newed certain promises to me, but they feel entirely new and wonderful at this moment. He has shown me that I can be in three places at once (figuratively) as long as I'm with Him and that the battle of life is His and not mine to worry about fighting, phenomenons that I've never been able to realize until now.
I'm also feeling new as a person, most probably because I'm getting used to the new medication that I'm on, but I think that it is a good thing. I'm taking one day at a time and relearning how to be "Anna," which gives me some opportunities to change things about me and habits that I had developed which I didn't like. Whether or not I will succeed in changing them is yet to be seen, but all this "new-ness" and God's promises has given me imense hope in anything that I encounter. Jesus is reminding me over and over again that He is holding my hand at all times, as a lover and hero to me on this adventure. So as I contemplate the new year, I am not reminiscing about 2009 because I am too enthralled about my newfound hope and re-newal in 2010 with my Divine Lover.
2Cr 5:17 (NLT, my emphasis)
What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
