The best new thing we can find is a restored relationship with Jesus.   ~~~   Are you ready for something new? It’s here! Happy New year! This month, it’s all NEW! Join me at lifeword.org as I look deeper at scripture around the word NEW. God always has something new for us to discover. Let’s discover it together and get this NEW year started off right, because ready or not, a bright and shiny NEW year is at our door. I even wore sequins for the occasion. Do you find yourself looking back at all this past year held? It was a doozy for me and one that will be marked forever by the loss of my Dad. In one way I kind of wanted time to stand still a bit. I wasn’t ready to move on. You know what I mean? But it doesn’t work that way does it? No matter what may come in life, time keeps on ticking away and we must put one foot in front of the other. So here we are. Even if you’re like me and your heart is still trying to catch up, don’t we long for something new? We may feel like we’re headed into uncharted waters on a foggy night, but shouldn’t we have an anticipation of what lies in store? Yes we should. I do! Today IS a new day. This IS a new year. New possibilities and bright hope lie ahead even if I can’t see it or feel it. I believe it. THAT is the one thing you need to step into something new this year! If you’re ready for new possibilities, a new start, a new mindset and HOPE for something new IN your life, you must FIRST believe. Isaiah 43:18-19 ​​“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. What you can believe today is this, God is always doing something new! Through the prophet Isaiah, he is encouraging His people to have HOPE! Don’t look back. Don’t look to what you think you know, or how you think I will work on YOUR behalf, because I am doing something new! Look ahead with HOPE because I am at work and I will make a way! God fulfilled that promise of something new with the birth of his son Jesus. He will once again fulfill His promise of something new with His return. When you believe God IS who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do, you’re always stepping into something new. Each day your eyes are open to see His goodness all around you and the possibilities that ONLY He can bring. When you believe there is more to this life than your circumstance, you HOPE for something new. When you believe you are not defined by anything in your past but you are accepted, loved and forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus, you are MADE into something new. When you believe God holds all things, is in all things and has your every step ordered, you then can boldly step out of the boat INTO something new because you trust HE is with you and He is already there. It doesn’t even have to be a new year! You simply believe HE is ABLE to do what He said He would do, something new in and through you, that is for your good and His glory. Aren’t you ready for something new? Stop looking in all the wrong places for it. In these early days of this new year, the world will try to sell you all sorts of ways to make yourself new! A new you. A new body. A new look. A new start. A new attitude! And while yes, this new year holds lots of possibilities that require you to take steps to achieve, Jesus simply stands at the door of your heart knocking. He wants you to come as you are. He’ll do the rest. That’s the truth! If you’ve tried everything else, try Jesus. He’ll do a new thing in your heart and life like you’ve never seen. It’s the BEST way to start this new year. I’m Lori Cline.