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Day 9 - Because I’m Risen with Christ I can be renewed
Newness comes from God, and the newness of life is Christ Himself standing up in the tomb. Because He stands, I stand with Him. This is newness. It means something is presently coming from Christ to me and supplying me with something that I wouldn’t have otherwise – life.
We practice walking in the newness of life by receiving the new mercies moment by moment. When you come to the throne of grace, you can be renewed. This means you are reminded not of sin, but of the benefit of the forgiveness of your sins so that you stand in the presence of the Lord today without any accusation lingering over your head.
You may have some consequences in your life today because of your bad behavior yesterday, but you no longer have a record of those things before God – He blotted them out and refused to remember them anymore. This moment is new before Him in the newness of His mercies. Walking in newness of life starts with saying, “No, yesterday's sin does not dictate my relationship with God today. He has blotted it out. I now need to learn to forget it and lay hold of new mercies from God today, walking in fellowship with Him by believing the gospel and rejecting the lie that tells me I’m under condemnation, that I owe God, that I haven't repented enough, haven't prayed enough, and now God thinks I’m not serious and knows I will repeat that sin.” No, God doesn't base anything on how serious you are. He bases everything on the blood of Christ. What God looks for from you is faith in the blood, and He responds to faith with the Spirit!
Verses
- Romans 6:4 - "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
- Lamentations 3:22-23 - "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
- Philippians 3:13 - "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
- Isaiah 43:18-19 - "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 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."
- Colossians 2:13-14 - "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
Prayer / Confession
Father, I thank you that because I am risen with Christ, I can walk in newness of life. Your mercies are new every morning, and I receive them today. Thank you for forgiving my sins and blotting them out, so that I can stand in your presence without any accusation lingering over my head. I choose to forget what is behind and reach forward to what is ahead. I believe in the blood of Christ, and I reject the lie that I am under condemnation or that I owe you anything. I trust in your faithfulness, and I know that you will make a way for me in the wilderness. Help me to practice walking in the newness of life every day, independent of my circumstances and history. In Jesus' name, amen.