Renewed

“Therefore if anyone be in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” -2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

The renewing power of Jesus Christ is a renewing power like no other. It’s unparalleled. There is no other remedy in the whole world like it. Only He can make us whole again. Like the old hymn says “What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus”. I find that statement to be true 100% of the time, not only in my life, but in my friend’s lives, in my family’s lives, and anyone else’s lives that has surrendered their lives to Jesus.

When you come to Jesus, it’s more than saying a prayer. It’s more than asking for forgiveness and telling Him you’re never going to do things again and end up doing them anyways. It’s more than that. It’s about giving up the old desires of your heart and realizing your need for a savior because you can’t do it on your own. You’ve exhausted all of your means of trying to make yourself whole and trying to figure out things on your own and you’ve come to realize that just leads to emptiness. It leads to more frustration, it leads to more hurt, it leads to more stress and anxiety and worry. But when you die to yourself and your desires and trade those for Christ’s perfect will and plan for your life, old things pass away and all things become new.

Friends, understand this. You will never be fulfilled until you truly know Christ. Trying to fill the void in your life with other things and other pleasures of this world don’t even come close to the fulfillment you will have when truly come to know Jesus Christ. I’m not speaking from a place of never having done wrong and never having lived in a fashion that I shouldn’t have lived. When I accepted Christ my desires changed. I was fulfilled, I no longer needed to try to fill that void in my life by my own means and my own ways. Old things had passed away and all things had become new. My desires, my mindset, my plans for the future, and everything else in my life had been made new.

Does that mean I live a perfect life and still don’t do things I wish I didn’t? Absolutely not. Any of us that say we’re without sin make God a liar. It’s not about counting sins and counting all the good things you did throughout the day and weighing them out and whichever you did more of determines what type of person you are. It’s not about that at all. When we do that we make what Jesus did for us on the cross seem like it didn’t matter. Grace and only grace, through the blood of Jesus is what is going to get us to heaven. We just have to accept it.

When we abide in Christ old things pass away and all things become new. We’re washed in His blood. We’re cleansed from unrighteousness. We don’t have to carry around the weight of guilt and the uncleanness we had to carry around before. We don’t have to let our struggles and our burdens weigh us down. 2 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us. How awesome is that? The God that created everything, cares about you and cares about me. He graciously gave His only begotten Son to die so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. By His stripes we are healed.

I’ve seen smiles on the faces of my family that only God can bring. Since we’ve committed our lives back to Him our lives have been made new. The way we talk to each other, the things we talk about, our entire outlook on life has been made new. The old things have been washed away from us and continue to be cast down as we continue our pursuit of bringing all thoughts and actions into the obedience of Christ. The smiles I’ve seen on my mother’s face and my father’s and my brother’s face as I’ve seen the Holy Spirit move in our lives brings me so much joy. The way I view people has changed. I’ve always loved people, but the depth of the love I have for people now is different and deeper. The way I view challenges and adversity has been made new. I focus on the Creator and my anxiety and stress seems to wither away. He’s not given me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

I am a new creation. Old things have passed away in my life. Old habits have died. New habits have sprung forth in Jesus name. I have a peace and love from God that passes all knowledge and understanding.

I’ve seen what my life looks like when I try to renew myself by my own power.

It doesn’t work.

It brings worry and anxiety.

It brings stress.

It brings emptiness.

However, when I yield to the transforming and renewing power of my God, I have peace like no other. I have joy like no other. I have hope like no other.

If you’re tired of the old and you’re ready to be new, it’s a good day to get saved. Ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and wash you in His blood. Accept His gift of everlasting life that He gave us when He died in our place. And live your life according to His will and purpose He has set before you. He has already paid the debt that we owe. There is no way to earn our way to heaven, there is no way to earn His love. It’s a free gift. We accept it or we deny it. Choose life today. Choose Jesus. Trade your pain and sorrow for joy and happiness. Trade your empty life for a full one through Jesus Christ.

If you have never been saved and would like more information on how to be saved and live for Jesus Christ and how to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior, then email me (Christian.stokes@yahoo.com), and I will give you answers that you’re looking for.

Thank you if you took the time to read this. If you read it and were touched by this, please share it. I’m on a mission to see people changed and living for Jesus Christ. I don’t care if I gain one follower, I want Him to gain followers and people to know Him as their Lord and Savior. I want this message to spread, not because of me, but because of Jesus and this hurting world needs Him. Only Jesus can change our hearts, save us and make us new and people need to hear that and experience that. That’s my goal and my mission. I’m not writing for likes, and for people to tell me how I’m a good writer, I appreciate all of that, but that’s not what I’m here for. I’m here for Jesus. I write so I can see His kingdom expand and more people go to heaven. We’re getting closer to the end of our days on this earth, and people need to hear about Jesus Christ. So please if there are people around you that need to be reached, share this so they can come to know Jesus Christ.

Thank you all and God bless.