Isaiah 43:19 KJV Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
The beauty of being a born-again Christian is that we are ‘born-again’ again every morning. Jesus’ love and mercy are new every day. Every single morning is a New Chapter in our lives as born-again believers. The newness every day of my new life in Jesus is what has kept me going for many decades.
Every day, every event, for a born-again Christian has a newness of life to it. It’s literally being born again, again. That’s how I keep going. That’s why I keep hope, even in these dismal times. Every morning is a New Chapter to my book of Dean Peters, and to the Book of Million Friends.
When I go to sleep at night (more like faint and fall down in the direction of my bed, better put.) I am bone weary. I am almost always bummed out because of mistakes or under achievement. I usually don’t even say amen to my nightly prayers, I just mumble some stuff, like “Lord I love you, please forgive me Lord, I’m a disgusting sinner” and konk right out.
When I wake up, it’s like “Here’s Johnny”. Can’t wait to get to it again. Excited to write the NewChapter of my life. It’s almost always the same! It’s marvelous!
Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
When I was a child, I lived on a relatively busy street in Burton Ohio. I remember waking up every morning in the winter. If it was quiet, it was a snow day! Meaning no school because of heavy snow! I would be elated! Now every day that I wake up I feel that same kind of joy. Not because I didn’t have to go to school that day (never was a fan) but because I am a new creature in Christ. I wake up with an overwhelming expectancy of good things. What am I going to do for the Lord today? Where am I taking Him? How am I going to impact the kids, the teachers and my wife&kids with the things of God that day? How am I going to evangelize that day? Every day is a brand NewChapter in my book.
Lamentations 3:21-23 always gives a fresh perspective. Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations (Jeremiah, the wailing prophet). He wrote this after Judah was captured by Babylon. In the midst of this horrible time, Jeremiah (through the Holy Ghost) was reminded that God is merciful. Then, he realized that he had no option but to put his hope and trust in God.
I thank God for renewing His mercies to me, and every other believer, every day. From the days when I would listen for the sounds (or quietness) of a possible snow day, all the way to this morning, today, when I awoke to the sound of the tropical birds barking, God has not ceased to lay His mercies upon me, every single day, for ages.
Lamentations 3:22b-23a ESV “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”
“New every morning” means that His mercies never get stale and expire. It means an exciting, unexplored NewChapter in my life here in Nicaragua, working with at-risk children from impoverished families for the glory of God. I am never going to run out of His mercies. I get to try to do better every day. To show Jesus’ great love to anybody and everybody. It NEVER gets old.
As surely as the sun sets in the evening and rises at daybreak, when I open my eyes in the morning, God’s mercies are always there to greet me. It’s just like every day is Christmas morning with tons of gifts under the tree to unwrap. Every morning is a fresh beginning. A new opportunity to give Him thanks and Glory. My circumstances or how I may feel are unimportant. (FEELINGS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING!)
When I call His mercies to mind, I have hope. I choose to focus on God instead of ongoing challenges and adversities. Those will come to greet me soon enough that day (:
But I choose to focus on God’s Mercies that are there. They are New Every Morning. I embrace them before anything else gets a chance to kill the buzz.
I thank God for His steadfast love that would never cease on me. That He will always love me.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
His mercies will never ever come to an end. His love and faithfulness that is so great it reaches the heavens and can’t be measured.
I am so happy that God will never fail me. Just gotta keep reminding myself that as the day goes on, and on!
Do you remember how your mornings sounded when you were a child, and how the sounds made you feel? How is it different from now that you are saved? Hopefully they sound even sweeter now that you have the Creator of the Universe living within you, excited to write a NewChapter in your life.
I invite you to reflect on God’s mercies using the 5 Scriptures below. Give Him thanks today and every single morning before you even open your eyes, with a sense of expectancy! Remember that you are writing a New, Fresh Chapter in your life as you start the day. Remember that you have the poetic license, it’s up to you.
Here are the five verses about God’s mercies, love and faithfulness to help us get through today. Remember to use this joy in the writing of this NewChapter of our Christian book of your lives.
1) Titus 3:4-5 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
2) Psalm 145:8-9 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
3) Psalm 36:5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
4) Exodus 34:6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”
5) Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.