“Behold, I am making all things new.”
Revelation 21:5

It is hard to believe that a new year is already upon us. Better go ahead and start practicing writing 2014 instead of 2013! This has been a year of big changes for my family and I. Our daughter, Allison, graduated High School and started college. Our oldest son, David, graduated college and started working. Heather, the boys and I moved to Waco and started ministering with the New Road family.
Change brings with it new joys and challenges. One of the great joys of being a Christian is knowing that we serve a God who is able to provide a new way. God saw the way of man leading to destruction and sent Jesus to show us a new way. Our world is filled with the perishing, Jesus offers us the everlasting. The way of man is hurt, hate, and hell. The way of Christ is help, holy, and heaven. As Christians we receive newness of life, but sometimes old habits have a way of creeping back into our hearts. The Scriptures are filled with reminders warning us of this temptation:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13b-14

And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. Hebrews 10:38-39

In Christ, every day presents a new opportunity to start fresh in our faith. He loves us all and has the power to not only forgive our sins but to help us grow from them. His Word, Spirit, and church help to transform us from what we were into what God wants us to be. May this New Year be a time of growing in your faith. Start each day by dedicating it to God. Keep him on your mind and seek ways to better serve his Kingdom. No matter what lies ahead always remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).