Let us continue with our guidelines of growing in our new
creation from last week:
- 1. When you wake up in the morning, remind
yourself to live in the new creation. This also helps me to get my
mind-set right for the day. I must be honest, my thoughts run
rampant once the day gets started, but a reminder now and again
helps me. Maybe you can even put physical reminders all around you
in your home or office to remind yourself to renew your mind.
Reminders are a good way of redirecting your thoughts to where they
should be.
- 2. Be grateful for what Jesus has done. Live
every day with gratitude that Jesus came and rescued you from all
the evil of this world. Even if you feel that nothing in your life
is going right, be grateful that you are saved. Be grateful that
Jesus came for you and that you are part of the new creation. Thank
Him for it every day. What a privilege to be part of it, to be able
to call God your Father. What a privilege to be part of the Bride
of Jesus. Thank Him for it every day; never lose the awe of what He
has done for you.
- 3. Spend time in nature. I have always found
that nature has a way of reminding one of what is truly important
in life. Nature has a way to calm the soul, and I have experienced
God more in nature than in the concrete jungle. Take a walk along
the ocean, make time to see the sun rise, stop to smell the flowers
along the way, listen to the birds singing, look at the beautiful
formations of the clouds, feel the wind caressing your cheeks, feel
the water of the stream rushing through your hands, listen to the
roar of a lion, look up to the majestic mountains, the full moon,
and the stars and praise God for it all. Praise Him for this
creation, but more than that, praise Him for the creation to come,
where everything is going to be in harmony and at peace and so much
more beautiful than the present one.
(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)