Renew, Restore & A Word For January 1, 2014

Where did this idea of 'out with the old, in with the new' come from? It's a great way to clean a closet and tidy up a kitchen cabinet, but when it comes to our lives, God's mind is RE.

The prefix RE comes from the Latin meaning "again and again" to indicate repetition, backward motion. Regenerate means to GENERATE again and again. To restore is to store repeatedly. To RENEW, you will now see, means to bring to new, again and again.

The Hebraic culture and calendar was never set in motion with this habit of 'out with the old, bringing in the new.' Nothing was ever wasted. God didn't do away with years gone by in order to create what He was dreaming of for the future. He built upon, rebuilt, again and again until new. Growth was a process of pruning, refining, replanting and moving ahead.

So what does that mean for us today?

Let us lay aside our secularized notion of leaving behind to move ahead. What we must do is many times, cut off to begin anew. It's called pruning. We don't kill a rose bush to make it stronger. We don't abandon it and buy a new piece of land so we can plant a new bush. We cut, prune and make new. Stronger, built on the same root system, giving way to what is to come. The internal fibers of the plant are made stronger with the cutting away.

I'm not suggesting we cut ourselves off to become new. But I do advise we take a good hard look at where we are going and what God is summoning us to, in order to BE MORE.

Are there relationships that must end?

Are there habits that must once and for all be cut off?

Are there mistakes that must be forgiven, forgotten and released?

In order to restore and renew, we build upon our mistakes and gain new ground by knowing that NOTHING was wasted and even the pain has it's purpose in our growing!

2014 is a year of IMAGINATION.

It will be a year that is pivotal.  Like a seasaw, hanging in the balance.

Some will renew and some will fall away. Some will blast forward and some will need to retrace their footsteps to find from where they have fallen.

It's a year of new. It's a fresh season, a new year and it's time, for you and for me, to do what God is calling us to do. Generations ahead of us will build on the foundation we lay. Lay your foundation well my friends….. Be more in everything you do!

With love,

Sandi Krakowski