-- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, those are in Christ become New persons. They are Not the Same anymore, for the Old Life is gone. A New Life has begun!

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"A New Life"

Last Week I threw out Worrying,
it was getting old and in the way.
It kept me from being me;
I couldn't do things the Right way.

I threw out those Inhibitions;
they were just crowding me out.
Made room for my New Growth,
got rid of my old dreams and doubts.

I threw out a book on MY PAST
(didn't have time to read it anyway).
Replaced it with New Goals,
started reading it today.

I threw out childhood toys
(remember how I treasured them so)?
Got me a NEW PHILOSOPHY too,
threw out the one from long ago.

Bought in some new books too,
called I CAN, I WILL, and I MUST.
Threw out I might, I think and I ought.
WOW, You should've seen the dust.

I ran across an OLD FRIEND,
haven't seen Him in a while.
I believe His name is GOD,
Yes, I really like His style.

He helped me to do some cleaning
and added some thing's Himself.
Like PRAYER, HOPE and FAITH,
Yes I placed them right on the shelf.

I picked up this special thing
and placed it at the front door.
I FOUND IT - its called GOD'S PEACE.
Nothing gets me down anymore.

Yes, I've got my house looking nice.
Looks good around the place.
For things like Worry and Trouble
there just isn't any place.

Its good to do a little house cleaning,
get rid of the old things on the shelf.
It sure makes things brighter;
maybe you should TRY IT YOURSELF.

-- Unknown

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-- Ephesians 4:22-24
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be Made New in the Attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the New Self, Created in God’s likeness -- Righteous, Holy, and True.

-- Romans 6:4
For we died and were buried with Christ by Baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live New Lives.

-- Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a New person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how Good and pleasing and perfect His Will really is.

-- Psalms 51:10-13
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.



-- 2 Corinthians 5:17: (New Life in Christ)
Believers are changed when they meet Christ. Christians are new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives them New Life, and they are not the same anymore. Christians are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated -- they are recreated (new creations), living in vital union with Christ (Col 2:6,7). At conversion, believers are not merely turning over a new leaf; they are beginning a New Life under a new Master. The old life of sin and death has gone; the selfish, sinful human nature has been dealt a death blow (Ga 5:16-21,24). Old ways of thinking, old distinctions, have been abolished. In its place, a New Life has begun.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: (Be reconciled to God.)
This Newness of Life is not of any human doing. God Himself has begun the work. Only God can allow people to approach Him. Only God can satisfy His own righteous demands. Only God can save. God is the Author and Finisher of salvation (Heb 12:2). God brought His people back to Himself through what Christ did. When they trust in Christ, believers are no longer God's enemies, or strangers or foreigners to Him. Through Christ's self-sacrificial work on the cross, God has made believers part of His family. Jesus died in our place so that we might enjoy fellowship with God (1Co 15:3). Because believers have been reconciled to God, we have been given the task of reconciling people to Him. God, through Christ's death on the cross, was bringing back all people -- Jews and Gentiles alike -- who had fallen (Ro 5:10; Ep 2:14-17). Although we were enemies of God, Christ reached out to us, saving us from certain destruction. He even washed us in order that we might approach God with clean hearts (Col 1:21-22). That is indeed a wonderful message.

(Life Application Bible)
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-- 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!
+ 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

-- Colossians 2:6-8
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

-- Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
++ 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.



++ A good attitude toward life begins with gratitude toward God.

++ When life gets tough, toughen your faith.

++ Faith is simply trusting in God when life gives you reasons not to.

++ Don't give up because the pain is intense right now. Get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose in Christ.

++ What ever life brings today, know that one day we'll be rejoicing before His throne praising Him and giving Him all the glory for the things He doing right now in our lives. Let's give the LORD some praise! Hallelujah!

++ You can see God through a spiritual Window...the more you sin, the dirtier it gets, but the more you do God's will, the clearer the window becomes, and the more you can see God at work in your life.

++ We can endure trials in this life because of the joys in the life to come.

++ God can only be God in your life when you are not!

++ The goal of your life must be love, not power. Then He will give you power to love with.

++ The tragedy of life and of the world is not that men do not know God; the tragedy is that, knowing Him and His Word, they still insist on going their own way.

++ (Pray) God will use every circumstance in your life to fulfill His eternal purpose for your life.

++ (Pray) God will bring the right people in your life to fulfill His will, and He will put people out of the way that are trying to stop it.

++ The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.

++ A healthy life beats with the love for Jesus.

++ If you give your life to Jesus He will give you back something that is so wonderful that no one else can give you - Eternal life in Heaven with Him.

++ A life is worth living when it is lived through Jesus, in Jesus and for Jesus, as He is the Ultimate Victor forever.

++ Life without Christ is a hopeless end. Life with Christ is endless hope.



-- John 3:3-7
3 Jesus replied, "I assure you, unless you are Born Again, you can never see the Kingdom of God." 4 "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be Born Again?" 5 Jesus replied, "The Truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being Born of Water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, But the Holy Spirit gives New Life from Heaven. 7 So don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be Born Again."

-- Romans 8:8-10
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

-- 2 Corinthians 3:3-6
3 You show that you are a Letter from Christ, the Result of our ministry, Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on Tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a New Covenant -- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

-- John 15:5
I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who Abide in Me and I in them Bear much Fruit, because Apart from Me you can do nothing.

-- James 1:17-18
17 Every Good and Perfect Gift is from Above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly Lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He Chose to Give us Birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of Firstfruits of all He Created.

-- 1 Peter 1:23
For you have been Born Again. Your New Life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this New Life will Last Forever because it Comes from the Eternal, Living Word of God.

-- Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by Grace you have been Saved through Faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the Gift of God -- 9 Not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, Created Anew in Christ Jesus to do Good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

-- Galatians 6:15
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a New Creation.

-- Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

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-- Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us Reason together," says the LORD. "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can Remove it. I can make you as Clean as Freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can Make you as White as wool."

-- Ezekiel 36:26 (11:19)
I will Give you a New Heart and put a New Spirit in you; I will Remove from you your heart of stone and Give you a Heart of Flesh.

-- Psalm 51:7-9
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be Clean; Wash me, and I will be Whiter than snow. 8 Let me Hear Joy and Gladness; Let the bones You have crushed Rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

-- Jeremiah 32:39
And I will give them One Heart and Mind to Worship Me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.

-- Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. + 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
++ 31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

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-- Revelation 3:20-21
20 Here I am! I Stand at the door and Knock. If anyone Hears My Voice and Opens the door, I will Come in and eat with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who Overcomes, I will Give the Right to sit with Me on My Throne, just as I Overcame and Sat down with my Father on His Throne.

-- Hebrews 4:16
Let us then Approach the Throne of Grace with Confidence, so that we may Receive Mercy and Find Grace to Help us in our time of need.

-- 2 Corinthians 13:14
May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, And the Love of God, And the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

A New Life In Jesus Christ! +*+ Happy New Year Of The OX - 2009!