30. December 2010 by BruceSmith.

A New Pursuit of New

“Behold, all things shall become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Its here again!  The end of one year.  The beginning of another.  We’ve crossed this rubicon before, some of us many many many times.  Not much looks different this time around.  The same calls for big resolutions, new images, fresh focuses, bright futures, slimmer tummies, more passionate love, more money, new approaches to our problems and opportunities, an invigorating start to a whole new life…  On and on the refrains go…it happens every year.  So, how will this time around be different and actually lead to new things?  Can it?

The problem with really getting to “new” is the old.  The old has a way of clawing its way into our experience of new.  Just as our journey seems to be offering the freshness we so desired, the old seems to find its way back into our future, all too ready and willing to drag us into a renewed future of strangling patterns.  The old, indeed, is the enemy of the new.  Old approaches to conflict impact our desire for new peace and depth.  Old patterns of insecurity inflict devastating realities upon those we interact with even as we long to bring rest and emotional stability to those we love.  Old personality traits dim the light of bright hope when we fail to be aware of how our interaction with people is affected by our countenance and bent.  Old uninvolved ways of learning affect whether or not we will grow intellectually and in leadership.  We long to present better, think better, lead better, but the old way of ease and lack of intentionality with regard to our thought life and intellect lead us only to continued stagnation and ignorance in the truest sense.  Old manners of parenting hinder deeper relationships with our children.  Old habits of speaking hinder our leadership, impact, and influence as we accept crudeness, shallowness, common slang, and a lack of articulation rather than embrace the gift and beauty of language, one of God’s most precious offerings to human beings.  Was it not said, in fact, that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us”?  Jesus, the living Word, as He lived and moved and spoke, pointed others to the impact of language and being.  The two are deeply connected.  From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, the scriptures instruct us.  Is your heart new?  Listen to what comes from your mouth and you will know.

The old, always there, always lurking, always lusting to keep hungry people malnourished. The old says, “No!” to those who would get off the couch and run to the gym in order to care for the body, the temple, God gave them.  The old says, “No!” to those who would long to live with a hunger for righteousness rather than a life lived for self-gain, self-preservation, self-protection.  The old says, “No!” to any and all who would hope to turn a new leaf and live a new life in keeping with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control…).  The old attempts to imprison all who would turn from a crass and calloused and hardened approach to life as they seek a new sweetness, purity, beauty, and hopefulness.  The old.  It must be dealt with.  Its our only hope for NEW.

So, here is the deal.  If you really want to find a new start this year, you have to deal, mercilessly, with the old.  The old that hinders you must be dealt a death blow.  It will not do to relax and just hope that new will settle in some time this year.  It will not.  The old must be seen for what it is, and the dirt must be piled on that grave and packed hard.

Where is it that you desire to be new?  Whatever outward goals for newness you may have, I would challenge you to make the inward quest for newness supreme.  If your life, externally, is to be new, a lasting new, your inner world must be renewed.  Inward embrace of excellence leads to an outworking and pursuit of excellence in real life.  And remember, excellence honors God and draws people.  If the patterns of laziness and a lack of accomplishment are besetting you, you must bring an axe to the inner compulsion for inactivity.  Make a spiritual, psychological, and physical shift with your mind and body, your whole person, right now.  Recognize that you will be better as you enter the game with full vigor and energy, and get after it.  Sever the emotional tie to settling for mediocrity and see the advantage of pursuing your life with abandon and zeal.  Even if you fail to hit all your goals, you win inwardly, knowing you were actively pursuing a future.  Do something, one thing, new, this year.  Embrace a hobby, ministry, something to get your juices flowing for more activity.

If a new career or calling is the new you want to pursue, break out, get after it, do something starting today, that points you in that direction.  You do not have to get it all at once, but you do have to begin.  New must have a tangible start.  Give it one real honest try, now.  Pick up the paint brush, and make it take you somewhere.  Send out the resume.  Begin to work on your presentation skills.  Read more starting now.  If your leadership and interaction with others could be invigorated by a more precise way of articulating yourself, then begin, today, speaking in a new manner.  Take a speech course, eliminate crass talk from your verbal diet, get around people who support and model your goal.

If your goal is for a stronger marriage, get around Godly people and/or counseling that can help get you there.  If you are aware of old patterns that keep you from having a fuller experience of marriage, then kill them off.  The patterns, not your spouse!! 

Is your goal a more passionate pursuit of service?  Here is how you get there…start serving immediately, even in small ways.  Don’t allow the old to let you wait.  Get your feet moving toward your goal of new service and away from the old place of idleness.  Remember all lasting newness begins within, so, start by recalibrating your spiritual, psychological, emotional, and intellectual view of service.  Serve those closest to you more intentionally, notice the difference in makes in them, and branch out from there.  

Do you want more peace in your relationships this year?  Start, now, by undoing the cords of reactive living and see the grace and sweetness of gently turning away from wrath and matching blows.  Again, this starts within.  In order to truly have rest we must come to the One who gives our souls rest.  This means regularly, incident my incident, submitting our hearts, minds, emotions, and mouths, to Him.  As Augustine suggested, “Our souls shall have no rest until we rest in thee oh Lord”.  Only God, through Christ, by the unmerited extension of grace, is able to put a soul at ease amidst relational strife.  Because one knows they deserve only God’s wrath, but have been given the gift of love, they are able to love others in all things.  We extend a presence of grace to others only when we have found the rest that comes from being forgiven by God.  If we think we have earned any favor from Him we miss it.  Humility and ease come from basking in the undeserved love of God.  If He extends that to us, failures and sinners, what right have we to exalt ourselves over others in our relationships?  Newness sees this and walks in it.

New.  Finding it is not easy.  Living in it, even harder.  Making it an ongoing character reality, tougher still.  But the pursuit and experience of it is unlike anything else we have ever experienced.  The scriptures promise us that for a heart turned to Him in passionate purity and devotion, newness WILL come.  The extent to which we experience a lasting and defining newness is derived from our desire and commitment to turn from the old at all costs.  Any lack of newness within us is not because God withholds it, rather, it results from something inside us, most often a lack of trust in the new and what it offers, and a fear of letting the old go for good.  The stronger the hold of the old, the fiercer our fight and resolve must be to kill it off.  Newness is both a gift and a battle.  Its one worth fighting for.  

Do you want newness this year?  Look for it in all things.  Pursue it in all things.  Commit to it at all times.  Each time we walk in new ways we add a little more dirt on the grave of the old demons that seek to dominate our lives.  Let’s do new.  Let’s offer new grace to those around us.  Let’s extend new love to those in need.  Let’s bring new to every situation we encounter.  Let’s bring new to our families, friends, foes, and futures.  In action, word (s), deeds, responses, reactions, desires, decisions, devotions, pursuits, practices, …all of it, let’s do NEW.

Get your new on.  Start now!

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

30. December 2010 by BruceSmith.

A New Pursuit of New

“Behold, all things shall become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Its here again!  The end of one year.  The beginning of another.  We’ve crossed this rubicon before, some of us many many many times.  Not much looks different this time around.  The same calls for big resolutions, new images, fresh focuses, bright futures, slimmer tummies, more passionate love, more money, new approaches to our problems and opportunities, an invigorating start to a whole new life…  On and on the refrains go…it happens every year.  So, how will this time around be different and actually lead to new things?  Can it?

The problem with really getting to “new” is the old.  The old has a way of clawing its way into our experience of new.  Just as our journey seems to be offering the freshness we so desired, the old seems to find its way back into our future, all too ready and willing to drag us into a renewed future of strangling patterns.  The old, indeed, is the enemy of the new.  Old approaches to conflict impact our desire for new peace and depth.  Old patterns of insecurity inflict devastating realities upon those we interact with even as we long to bring rest and emotional stability to those we love.  Old personality traits dim the light of bright hope when we fail to be aware of how our interaction with people is affected by our countenance and bent.  Old uninvolved ways of learning affect whether or not we will grow intellectually and in leadership.  We long to present better, think better, lead better, but the old way of ease and lack of intentionality with regard to our thought life and intellect lead us only to continued stagnation and ignorance in the truest sense.  Old manners of parenting hinder deeper relationships with our children.  Old habits of speaking hinder our leadership, impact, and influence as we accept crudeness, shallowness, common slang, and a lack of articulation rather than embrace the gift and beauty of language, one of God’s most precious offerings to human beings.  Was it not said, in fact, that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us”?  Jesus, the living Word, as He lived and moved and spoke, pointed others to the impact of language and being.  The two are deeply connected.  From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, the scriptures instruct us.  Is your heart new?  Listen to what comes from your mouth and you will know.

The old, always there, always lurking, always lusting to keep hungry people malnourished. The old says, “No!” to those who would get off the couch and run to the gym in order to care for the body, the temple, God gave them.  The old says, “No!” to those who would long to live with a hunger for righteousness rather than a life lived for self-gain, self-preservation, self-protection.  The old says, “No!” to any and all who would hope to turn a new leaf and live a new life in keeping with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control…).  The old attempts to imprison all who would turn from a crass and calloused and hardened approach to life as they seek a new sweetness, purity, beauty, and hopefulness.  The old.  It must be dealt with.  Its our only hope for NEW.

So, here is the deal.  If you really want to find a new start this year, you have to deal, mercilessly, with the old.  The old that hinders you must be dealt a death blow.  It will not do to relax and just hope that new will settle in some time this year.  It will not.  The old must be seen for what it is, and the dirt must be piled on that grave and packed hard.

Where is it that you desire to be new?  Whatever outward goals for newness you may have, I would challenge you to make the inward quest for newness supreme.  If your life, externally, is to be new, a lasting new, your inner world must be renewed.  Inward embrace of excellence leads to an outworking and pursuit of excellence in real life.  And remember, excellence honors God and draws people.  If the patterns of laziness and a lack of accomplishment are besetting you, you must bring an axe to the inner compulsion for inactivity.  Make a spiritual, psychological, and physical shift with your mind and body, your whole person, right now.  Recognize that you will be better as you enter the game with full vigor and energy, and get after it.  Sever the emotional tie to settling for mediocrity and see the advantage of pursuing your life with abandon and zeal.  Even if you fail to hit all your goals, you win inwardly, knowing you were actively pursuing a future.  Do something, one thing, new, this year.  Embrace a hobby, ministry, something to get your juices flowing for more activity.

If a new career or calling is the new you want to pursue, break out, get after it, do something starting today, that points you in that direction.  You do not have to get it all at once, but you do have to begin.  New must have a tangible start.  Give it one real honest try, now.  Pick up the paint brush, and make it take you somewhere.  Send out the resume.  Begin to work on your presentation skills.  Read more starting now.  If your leadership and interaction with others could be invigorated by a more precise way of articulating yourself, then begin, today, speaking in a new manner.  Take a speech course, eliminate crass talk from your verbal diet, get around people who support and model your goal.

If your goal is for a stronger marriage, get around Godly people and/or counseling that can help get you there.  If you are aware of old patterns that keep you from having a fuller experience of marriage, then kill them off.  The patterns, not your spouse!! 

Is your goal a more passionate pursuit of service?  Here is how you get there…start serving immediately, even in small ways.  Don’t allow the old to let you wait.  Get your feet moving toward your goal of new service and away from the old place of idleness.  Remember all lasting newness begins within, so, start by recalibrating your spiritual, psychological, emotional, and intellectual view of service.  Serve those closest to you more intentionally, notice the difference in makes in them, and branch out from there.  

Do you want more peace in your relationships this year?  Start, now, by undoing the cords of reactive living and see the grace and sweetness of gently turning away from wrath and matching blows.  Again, this starts within.  In order to truly have rest we must come to the One who gives our souls rest.  This means regularly, incident my incident, submitting our hearts, minds, emotions, and mouths, to Him.  As Augustine suggested, “Our souls shall have no rest until we rest in thee oh Lord”.  Only God, through Christ, by the unmerited extension of grace, is able to put a soul at ease amidst relational strife.  Because one knows they deserve only God’s wrath, but have been given the gift of love, they are able to love others in all things.  We extend a presence of grace to others only when we have found the rest that comes from being forgiven by God.  If we think we have earned any favor from Him we miss it.  Humility and ease come from basking in the undeserved love of God.  If He extends that to us, failures and sinners, what right have we to exalt ourselves over others in our relationships?  Newness sees this and walks in it.

New.  Finding it is not easy.  Living in it, even harder.  Making it an ongoing character reality, tougher still.  But the pursuit and experience of it is unlike anything else we have ever experienced.  The scriptures promise us that for a heart turned to Him in passionate purity and devotion, newness WILL come.  The extent to which we experience a lasting and defining newness is derived from our desire and commitment to turn from the old at all costs.  Any lack of newness within us is not because God withholds it, rather, it results from something inside us, most often a lack of trust in the new and what it offers, and a fear of letting the old go for good.  The stronger the hold of the old, the fiercer our fight and resolve must be to kill it off.  Newness is both a gift and a battle.  Its one worth fighting for.  

Do you want newness this year?  Look for it in all things.  Pursue it in all things.  Commit to it at all times.  Each time we walk in new ways we add a little more dirt on the grave of the old demons that seek to dominate our lives.  Let’s do new.  Let’s offer new grace to those around us.  Let’s extend new love to those in need.  Let’s bring new to every situation we encounter.  Let’s bring new to our families, friends, foes, and futures.  In action, word (s), deeds, responses, reactions, desires, decisions, devotions, pursuits, practices, …all of it, let’s do NEW.

Get your new on.  Start now!

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »