New beginnings...

 

Author: Denise Hamilton, Guest Blogger

2nd Corinthians 7:1 (MSG) - With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let's make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Lets make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

So how do we get a new beginning? We've made mistakes. Ok...let's be honest, we flat out rolled around in sin...enjoyed it even. It doesn't really matter what brand of sin you were in; from lying to murder...it's all sin. The Bible says sin has pleasure for a season. But did you REALLY enjoy it? Do you remember the last time you felt close to God? Do you remember when the Bible spoke to you with clarity? Have you ever prayed, "I miss you God"? That's actually the reason I started this blog. I am in this place right now. I missed the voice of God. I missed feeling "whole". This blog isn't for everyone. Its for those of us who, like me, lost their way for a little while.

The good news is, you and I are actually ripe for

a new beginning! The scripture reference above starts

out "With promises like this to pull us on..." What promises are so great that they can actually motivate us to make a break with the way we were living? Well, lets go back a few verses to see what those promises are.

2 Cor 6:14-18 (MSG)
Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God

There is a lot that we will examine over the next few days in just those few verses but lets focus on the promise that is so great is makes us break away from our old lives. God said he would live in us, literally move into us. What does that even mean? We are a 3 part being: spirit, soul and body. When we were born again, our spirits were reborn. That how God moved into us. His spirit made our dead spirits alive. He gave us His ability to be free from sin because He (Jesus) overcame it for us. He, the Great I AM, the Master, God...lives in us! I (and maybe you too) forgot what that means. It means we are not alone in this world. We are not orphaned or abandoned. We have a comforter. Someone who wants us all to Himself. Why? Because He is love. He's passionate and jealous. His love is a force of nature. He loved enough to sacrifice Himself to save us from sin. He wanted to reunite with us because sin separated us from Him. Yet we forget all that to run to sin that only comforts our bodies and souls. You know why? We spend more time feeding our bodies and souls than we do feeding our spirit. Its a two thirds majority in favor of our flesh.

So why this blog? Why put myself "out there"? For me, its so I can feed my soul the Word of God and gain a two thirds majority in favor of my spirit. Hopefully for you, it will give you the incentive you need to break free of compromise and corruption so you can be free to be who God sacrificed Himself for you to be.

I'd also love your feedback, questions, discussion. You can leave a comment here or on Facebook. Please take the time to peruse this site. There's lots of great articles by my friend Daniel Speller.

I want to thank a dear couple who gave me the courage to find my unique voice by blogging: Pastors Eddie and Altheresa Howard of the New Dimensions Ministry in Lancaster SC. I hope I make you proud.