New Life – Part 2
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of September 12, 2021
Colossians 1:6 TPT says, "...Every believer of this good news bears the fruit of eternal life as they experience the reality of God’s grace."
"For it is not from man that we draw our life but from God as we are being joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. And now he is our God-given wisdom, our virtue, our holiness, and our redemption" (1 Cor 1:30 TPT).
So, as we remain close to our Lord in Word and Spirit, as we focus on the eternal and extend our faith for new life, God’s Spirit-life in us will be imparted into our souls. By His Spirit, He will nourish us toward the outward fulfillment of His abundant new life for us (2 Cor 4:18, John 10:10).
We are bound to God’s righteousness and, therefore, His abundance as we choose to obey Him.
Romans 11:18 TPT reminds us that we owe our lives to the root that supports us. He alone is our life source.
Our key scriptures for this series are Proverbs 4:20-22 TPT, which instructs us to "Listen carefully, my dear child, to everything that I teach you, and pay attention to all that I have to say. Fill your thoughts with my words until they penetrate deep into your spirit. Then, as you unwrap my words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of your being."
In this verse, to "unwrap" means to discover, to find.
So, just like Naomi and Ruth discovered new life as they came into agreement with God’s leading, so can we.
As they went forth together in faith, hope and love, Ruth discovered new life with Boaz. And Naomi discovered new life through the gift of a son. Through their journey of faith, God built and established their new lives. He even made that which was old to Naomi—meaning her homeland—new again to her.
But even before this manifest renewal, Ruth followed God’s wisdom through Naomi. And Naomi stepped forth, encouraged by Ruth, out of the death of bitterness into God’s greater goodness.
Ruth, who reflected new life to Naomi, didn't give up on her in her bitterness, just like God doesn't give up on us when we feel like we’re in a dead place.
Ruth wisely obeyed God’s wisdom and received the new life God had for her as her faith manifested in the form of marrying Boaz. Then she gave it back to Naomi generously in the form of a new son.
Proverbs 11:25 reminds us that "Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favor."
God gave life generously to Ruth and Naomi through each other in different ways.
These two wise women abided with their Life-giving God and lived fruitfully again as a family restored in Naomi’s homeland.
So, we see here that, no matter what we’ve been through, God doesn’t leave us at dead! He is Creator of our life cycle, Master at making all things new. We need only to trust Him and put righteous action to our faith.
We need to depend on God’s new life in us in order to continue onward and work optimally.
Jeremiah 17:7 AMP says, "Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD And whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD."
Colossians 3:16 TPT says, "Let the word of Christ live in you richly, flooding you with all wisdom..."
Therefore, we must continue to feed on God’s Word, which imparts continual life and keeps us aligned with Him in every way, enabling us to experience a renewed mind and abundant life—all free from sin’s power (1 Cor 2:16, 2 Cor 5:17, Romans 6).
I believe "…it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to" us (Eph 4:23 TPT).
I believe it's time to shed old wineskins and align with God by faith and action, to be more fully alive and step out into the new that God has for us with greater clarity.
I believe God may give us flashes of understanding about former people and situations, so we can more easily release them to Him (2 Cor 10:4).
I believe God is freeing us from fixations on wrong things and offering us grace to move forward more fully with Him to become more established in His new life for us as master overcomers, who rule from the root, to the foundation to the ascended life with Christ.
I believe God is inviting us up higher by giving us opportunities with new people in new arenas to practice what He instilled in our souls in the last season for righteous decision-making, having been trained by patience, having expressed gratitude, and having been led by peace.
I also believe it's important to keep pace with our Lord as He has assigned us, so we can better receive His fulfillment coming into place just ahead (Acts 20:24 TPT).
Our focus and faith must be on and in Him.
Let’s remember Ruth, who reflected new life and was an example of 2 Timothy 2:22 TPT, which says, "Run as fast as you can from all the ambitions and lusts of youth; and chase after all that is pure. Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit. And live in peace with all those who worship our Lord Jesus with pure hearts."
As we run for a crown of life (1 Cor 9:25) into our new glory with our Lord, let’s also remember God’s Word in Song of Solomon 2:13 TPT, in which He asks and instructs us, "Can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth around you? The early signs of my purposes and plans are bursting forth. The budding vines of new life are now blooming everywhere. The fragrance of their flowers whispers, 'There is change in the air.' Arise, my love, my beautiful companion, and run with me to the higher place. For now, is the time to arise and come away with me."
Join me next week for Part 3 of New Life.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
