January 1, 2008

 A New Beginning — Weeds From A Different Perspective

If you have been with us for any amount of time you know that I hate weeds. Well I got a letter from my homeowners association and you guessed it, they saw weeds in my landscaping-in the rocks. I thought not again, it had been raining for the last few days and they just popped up. I dreaded going outside to deal with those weeds again. If you remember, I cried the last time I had to deal with it. For some reason God has made weeds spiritual for me.

The day I chose to go out was beautiful. It was December 31, 2007. I went to my cousin’s house to borrow the blower and went outside to deal with the weeds. Something was different this time. It was not like the other times I had been forced to deal with them. I was cool about it for some reason.

I went about digging up the weeds, cutting back a plant that had some dead spots, then I pulled up a dead plant that was sitting in the yard. The frost had killed it. I started the blower and began to blow out the old dead leaves from under the tree. There were a lot of dead leaves. Some of them had even dropped in my neighbor’s yard. I know what you are thinking, what does this have to do with my new beginning, my new year. ALOT!

Your new beginning has to start with something new in you. I had a new attitude. Instead of seeing the weeds I saw the new growth, the new opportunity. I saw the dead leaves as something that had to go because it was choking out the beauty of the rocks, the life of the tree and they were even affecting my neighbor.

Your dead leaves may be the old attitudes, past hurts, frustrations or ways of thinking. The dead leaves in your life may be relationships that you were not ready to let go of, but it’s time to blow them away. They are hindering your growth and stagnating your mind. The weeds and new growth on the plants are just Gods way of saying there is still life no matter what you have gone through. Cut off the dead parts and let’s move on. I think I told you there was a dead plant. Why was it still there? Why was I still holding on to it? Did I think it was going to come back to life? It really was not that hard to pull up and throw away, it just took some effort on my part, but it had to be done. It had to go. What in your life is dead? What are you still holding on too?

What is hindering you from moving forward? It is time to pull it up, throw it out and move on. Maybe it is an old relationship, maybe emotional eating has you bound, whatever it is, it has to go.

Your new beginning starts with a change in you. For me it was a change in attitude. Identify what is holding up or hindering your new beginning, deal with it the way God directs you to and move forward. My yard is missing a plant, but I felt good about getting rid of the dead leaves, the weeds and the dead plant. When you release that dead thing it may leave a hole like the one in my yard. Let God fill any hole that remains and blow some dead stuff away. He wants to do it. The yard looks healthier because it is healthier. You will feel better too when you remove the dead stuff. Removing dead stuff leaves room for all the new stuff God has for you.

If your closet is full of old clothes that you don’t wear any more, there is no room for new ones.

If your mind and heart are cluttered with old relationships there is no room for the right one.

If unforgiveness has you bound up, it will hinder you from trusting or letting anyone near you again.

If you still go to church just to go to church you are missing out on a real loving and liberating relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Remember 2008 is the year of New Beginnings. Change your thinking, change your attitude, change your actions, but don’t let anything hinder your receiving all that God has for you this year. Don’t miss it!!!

Weekly Scripture:

Isaiah 43:18-19: 18 “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

We just worked out spiritually. If you have not worked out your physical temple get up and join us in the:
New Beginnings 2008 Workout Focus
10,000/steps per day or 70,000/steps per week Walking Program*

This is the fitness opportunity that New Beginnings is promoting for 2008. It is simple and easy and almost everyone can participate at whatever level of fitness they are at. There is no great trick to walking. It does not require any special skills, advanced conditioning, special equipment or clothing. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes, comfortable clothing, a pedometer, and you're all set.

For further discussion contact angela@mynewtemple.org or write to us on the message board http://mynewtemple.org/aMessages.html or the Fitness Blog http://mynewtemple.org/wordpress/.