Aloha
Dearest Family,
The
other night I had a bad dream. For twenty years I had been in the US Navy
serving on submarines. And for many of these years I was in charge of the food
service division on my ship and was the leading petty officer for all galley related
items. In my dream, I was back on the boat, running the galley. I instinctively
knew that I was behind in everything and all of the old anxieties came back.
The ship was leaving port and I knew we didn’t have enough food on-board. My
menus were behind, my receipts could not be found and the divisional training
was behind schedule. And besides this, my inventories and food orders were due.
I thought that if I worked through the night I could get caught up (maybe). The
pressure was on and I started to sweat. Then somewhere in back of my mind, I
came to the full realization that that part of my life was over- I
was now living a new life. I cannot describe the sense of relief
that I felt. I awoke with joy and thankfulness.
Many
Christians do not fully realize the drastic change that took place when we
changed Lords in our lives. Each of us, at one time, decided that we were
not too good at being the lords over our own lives so we changed Lords. We
confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and that God raised him from the dead and we
were saved. At that point we were rescued from our old lives and given brand
new ones. The life we now have is not just an improved old life,
but an entirely new, out of the box, sparkling new kind of life. Every aspect
of this life is different from the old one. Here are a few examples:
New Identity – Most people find their identity in something,
whether it be in their race, their family’s place of origin or their political
affiliation. But Christians find their true identity in Jesus Christ and what
he accomplished. We acknowledge that when he died on the cross our old life
died with him. And when he was raised from the dead, we were raised too. We can
now walk in “newness of life” – just like Jesus Christ. We now walk in his righteousness
and every charge against us has been cancelled. (Romans 6:4-11)
New Goals – When we start living this new life, we find that
our old goals in life become secondary to God’s goals. We find that we have
been incorporated into the ‘family business’; the business of winning men and
women back to God. He now works within every Christian so that we not only
desire to do His will but He also empowers us to accomplish His will.
(Philippians 2:13)
New Power Source – In our old life each person relied
upon their own strength to get things done, which wasn’t that much (unless
you’re a super-hero). In our new life we have the unlimited resources of God
Almighty at our disposal. Just look at what Jesus Christ was able to do - this
is the kind of life that we have been called to. We have been given holy spirit
which gives us access to God and every Christian has Christ dwelling within.
(Colossians 1:27, Ephesians 1:19)
New Future – Before God rescued us, we had no future! We were
without God and without hope (Ephesians 2:12). The joy of this new life
includes living forever with new perfect bodies. God’s Word says that we can
earn crowns and rewards today for our life to come and we will have the
privilege of living in the New Jerusalem (Now that is quite a future!)
(Revelation 21)
We
need to keep reminding ourselves who we really are and what we have received
from God. If we don’t we could be talked out of it. For example, let’s say that
we are living in poverty. We live in the slums of the city, we don’t have decent
clothes to wear and we have to scrounge for food each day just to
survive. Life is a struggle. Then one day we discover that we are rich – super
rich! We now are able to buy new designer clothes and eat in the best
restaurants. We also buy a big house in the best part of town to live in. But
our old landlord keeps calling us up trying to get us to move back to his slums
to live. So why aren’t we enticed to move back? Because we are now rich and we don’t have to live there any longer.
Our old life is now a thing of the past.
The landlord in this story is the devil. He’s trying to get you to go back to
your old life – even though a brand new life has been given you. Don’t
be fooled! Satan wants you to live a defeated life - a life without
purpose and without hope. But we no longer have to live this way.
Much
like my dream, we now have a new life to live. We don’t have to be burdened
down by the cares and fears of this present life any longer. We can now fully
enjoy a life with purpose and meaning. A life where we can make a difference
and change people’s lives by bringing them back to God. A life that concludes
with us living forever with Jesus Christ and enjoying the rewards we have
earned. Wow!! what a life we have been given.
Love
Always, Ray
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
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