Blog Archives - TheNewU

THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE

8/31/2025

August 31, 2025 THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE

John 5:40 “and you are unwilling to come to Me that you may have life.”
1 John 5:12 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Sadly, the first verse above describes much of the world’s population today. Simply by going to Jesus and by receiving Him as God’s Son, the Savior of the world, is the only way to have life; not mere physical life, but life as designed by God. There is no such thing as real life apart from the life that comes from God. As 1 John so clearly says, ‘He who has the Son has life.” So, life and the Son go hand in hand. This Ilfe that comes from the Father is eternal, but it also a life that can be experienced here and now in this flesh and bones-even in this fallen world. The physical life lived by the one who does not have the Son does not even compare in any way to the life that comes from God. As believers we must guard against just living a natural sort of life; if not alert, we succumb to doubts, fears, anxiety and the such, and not experience the full, genuine, rich life that comes from God. The life that we receive from the Son IS the life of God. There is no one sentence definition defining the life of God-it’s bigger than definition. As we read the scriptures, we learn of the nature of God and we see His attributes, and the good news is that He wants us to know Him and experience Him in personal ways. As we learn of Him and as we discover our identity in Him, we begin to experience His life through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. When we experience the life that comes from God, we experience love, joy, peace, contentment, hope, boldness, patience, kindness, gentleness and the like, we are experiencing the life of God. This life of God is not something we have to work-up or strive for; it is the gift of God-it’s the presence of God in us. It is amazing, but we have the opportunity for Christ to live His life through us.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Blessings, Buddy

RETURN TO YOUR REST

8/28/2025

August 29, 2025 RETURN TO YOUR REST

Psalms 116:7, 4:8 “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” “In peace I will lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

There are times when we need to talk to our souls, mainly giving instructions. Our souls can and do at times become downcast. In Psalms 43:5a, the psalmist asked his soul “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” Obviously, there are many things that could cause our souls to be downcast, whether it is sad news, loss, sickness, broken or struggling relationships, disappointment; or we may not know the reason our soul is downcast; sometimes depressing thoughts just seem to come out of nowhere. It helps to know that everyone has to deal with a disturbed or downcast soul at times. However, there is a remedy for the downcast soul and it primarily is a matter of taking dominion over our souls-we must not let our soul be independent of our spirits-and our minds. The b part of Psalms 43:5 hits the nail on the head when it tells the soul “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”There is no situation so dark and desperate that prevents us from putting our trust in God and praising Him because He is our God. It’s good to be at the place where we can say to God “If I loose everything, if my health fails, If others forsake me, my life is in your hands.” Even when we do not have a clue as to why our soul is downcast, we can still make the choice to put our trust in Him. We can do things that lead to a soul that is at peace; such as reading God’s word, immersing ourselves in worship music, reading what is up-lifting, spending time with friends, and very importantly, finding ways to bless others.
Isaiah 26:3-4 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.Trust in the Lord forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

Blessings, Buddy

KNOWING THAT

8/27/2025

August 27, 2025 KNOWING THAT

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Having a reason motivates us to do whatever it is we need to do. Doing something when we have no reason is a real downer. The ‘banner over our life,’ the over-arching view of ourselves should be that we have been purchased by God, our sins are forgiven, we have been made new with a new identity, we live to glorify God through our actions, we have been given a spiritual gift, we have a ministry, and we are destined for heaven. We must not separate what we do into ‘secular’ and ‘spiritual.’ All we do is to be done out of our new identity as ones who belongs to God and ones who reflect the character of God. ‘Therefore’ is an important word; because of who God is and because of who we are in Him, we ‘therefore’ are to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. The ‘work of the Lord’ is all inclusive; it’s more than bible study, attending church or teaching a class. Choosing to walk according to the Spirit instead of the flesh is a work of the Lord; helping someone in need, being a giver of time or resources, being faithful and diligent, encouraging others-are all works of the Lord. It’s awesome to realize that our life has a big purpose-a purpose set by God. We are flesh and blood-but the Spirit of God has taken up residence in us and His presence brings about a supernatural life; a life unlike the life of those who do not know Him. Only by the work of God in us and our working with Him as He works in us can we be steadfast, immovable and abounding in the work of the Lord. Sure-there will be trying spiritual and physical times and times when we need to renew our minds, but remembering who we are motivates and renews us and enables us to abound in the work of the Lord. Knowing that our work in the Lord is not in vain is motivation and reason to keep on keeping on in the work of the Lord. What we do daily matters in the kingdom of God. We have every reason and every motivation to be faithful in the calling we have from God. If by chance, we have failed along the way, He is always calling us back to Him and to the plans He has for us.
Colossians 3:23-24 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Jesus.”

Blessings, Buddy

A NEEDED REMINDER

8/25/2025

August 26, 2025 A NEEDED REMINDER

Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the Lords, and all the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.”

It goes without saying, but if you focus on what is taking place in the world, it can easily lead to dismay, depression, anxiety, fear and hopelessness. Psalms 24:1 is a reminder we need to hear. Sure, there is a lot of horrible things going on in the world, but the fact remains that the earth is the Lords. You might ask “If the earth is the Lords, why all the problems?” That is a good question and our answer to that question is all important. In the beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect world; but you know the story, sin entered the heart of man-and the downfall. God knew sin would enter His perfect creation, BUT God had a plan of reconciliation in place. The sacrifice of His Son was the plan; His Son would bear the penalty of the sin of man. The reconciliation and restoration of man as well as the creation is in progress as I write this-right now. The Old Testament pointed to Jesus as the Savior of man and the New Testament or New Covenant reveals in great detail just what it mean to be saved. I say all that to say, be patient and be confident that God is ruling over all in spite of what we may see with our eyes. We are in the process of being transformed into His image and we have been made over comers in this world. So let us focus on the works and plans of God and work with Him as He works in us. If we focus on anything else, we will be greatly disappointed. Be encouraged with truths from God’s word
Psalms 22:27-29 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over all nations.”
2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.”

Blessings, Buddy

CONTENT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE

8/23/2025

August 23, 2925 CONTENT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE

Philippians 4:11-13 “ Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Like so many of the scriptures, this is without a doubt counter-culture. The culture of the world says that one should always be on a path where they are receiving more and more and they should always be becoming more prosperous. To live a life as described by Paul in this verse requires the work of the Holy Spirit; a work that transforms in the inner most part of our being. The issue is not how much or how little one has, or what the circumstances are at the moment. The real issue is that of being content in any and all circumstances. This may sound paradoxical, but it is a work of the Spirt in us, and it is also something we learn. We learn as we walk with the Spirit and work with Him as He works in us. We will walk through difficulties, but the Spirit of God will be with us and will strengthen us in such times. It is amazing, but Paul had learned how to be abased, and how to abound. I read about a CEO of a major corporation who lost his job due to company downsizing. He applied for jobs, but was turned down for being over qualified. A long story- but he eventually saw an ad for a job as a cook cooking potato fries at Chick-fil-A. He got the job and decided he would be the best potato fry cooker anywhere. He had promotions and eventually became a store operator. Sorry for the long story-but you get the point. We must believe and know that God is ALWAYS present with us. Our part is to seek to learn of Him and to make the choices to walk in His ways. It is a mystery, but we can be full and we can be hungry and we can abound and also suffer need. That is the miracle part; that is the part that the worlds culture has no understanding of. The key statement that Paul made was that He ‘could do all things through Christ who strengthens him.’ That is not true just for Paul; that’s for you and I as well. Let us, with the Spirit working in us, be lifted out of the culture of this world and discover a ‘higher-plain’ of living. Again, there is no way we can have a lasting contentment without knowing that Christ is our life.
2 Corinthians 12:10 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Blessings, Buddy

MORE THAN WE CAN BEAR

8/21/2025

August 21, 2025 MORE THAN WE CAN BEAR

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape, also that you may be able to endure it.”
2 Corinthians 1:9 “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

We often hear it said that ‘God will not put more on you than you can bear.’ I have said the same thing. However, believing that God will not put more on us than we can bear is a great misunderstanding of the gospel. The misunderstanding comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13 where we see the phrase ‘who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.’ That verse is about temptation; God says that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond a point that we cannot escape or endure the temptation. We see the contrast in 2 Corinthians 1:9: Paul and his companion had the ‘sentence of death’ within them-they though they would die. God will allow trials to come and we may feel that there is no way out and we feel we cannot bear what we are facing-we feel the sentence of death. God takes no pleasure in seeing His people suffer, but He will allow things we cannot bear to come our way. Here is the point we must not miss; God allows the unbearable for a purpose. We tend to think we can handle the situation, we can deal with, we can fight our way out, we can survive-and that is where we err. God is showing us that it is useless to trust in ourselves-our best effort. In the deepest, darkest hours; when there seems to be no way out, God tells us not to trust in ourselves, but to trust in Him who raises the dead. We may feel as good as dead and hopeless, but God raises us from that death as well. So, in the midst of the unbearable burdens, let us yield our lives to Him and trust that He will sustain us and lead us to life. As I think about this, I realize how flippant it is to tell someone who has just lost a loved one or who is experiencing a really difficult time ‘that God will not put more on them than they cay bear.’ There is no comfort in that. What we should say is that we understand having a sentence of death and seeing no way out-but encourage them not to trust in themselves, but trust in God for His comfort, strength, and deliverance. There is comfort in that. We can be alive physically, but feel dead emotionally and spiritually, but when we put our trust in Him, He raises us up-even in the midst of the trial.

Psalms 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He bought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Blessings, Buddy

OLD DEBT CANCELED

8/19/2025

August 19, 2025 OLD DEBT CANCELED

Colossians 2:13-14 “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

I can say without any doubt that we are all guilty of past sins; and these past wrongs we have committed can ‘haunt’ us or make us feel condemned. Living with regret over past actions and choices robs us of peace and joy. At the heart of feeling condemned and or guilty, is the issue of forgiveness; it can also be a pride issue-it’s just difficult for us to accept the fact that we did what we did. If we can grasp the liberating truth of the above scriptures, we will be set free from the things in the past that would condemn us. This truth applies to the sins we committed before we were born again as well as any sins we committed as believers. Before one comes to know Christ as Savior, he is lost, or dead in his transgressions; but when he comes to know Christ, he is made new and made alive with Christ. The good news is that ALL of our sins, no matter what they were, have been forgiven. If we cannot fully accept the truth that we have been forgiven, then we cannot know the joy of our salvation. If we do not know and do not receive the fact that we have been forgiven, our past sins keep us in bondage-like a ‘certificate of debt’ over our heads. Not knowing and not receiving the fact that we are forgiven enables our enemy to make us feel condemned and unworthy. So, there was a certificate of debt and decrees against us; we were guilty, but Jesus HAS CANCELED the debt and has cleansed us. As the scriptures tell us, as far as the east is from the west, he has removed transgressions; that means they are no more! Psalms 103:12. When Jesus died on the cross, our sins were dealt with once for all-believe it. No longer do we have to live with regret, shame or condemnation; we have been freed from the power of sin. There will likely be times when the memory of a past sin comes to mind; when it does, agree that yes I was guilty of that sin, BUT God has forgiven me; this is using the remembrance of sin as a springboard to proclaim our forgiveness. It comes down to this: are we going to believe what God has said-that He has forgiven us of all sin. There is great power in forgiveness-both receiving it and giving it.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Thought your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Blessings, Buddy

DO NOT

8/17/2025

August 17, 2025 DO NOT

Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body, and refreshment to your bones.”

If you want some solid advice for life, these verses are it. There is a strong tendency in man to trust in his own understanding and reasoning. Some things just seem right and logical, and others will agree that they are right and logical, but yet they are not according to the ways of God. We may mistakenly think we know all there is to know about a certain thing we are considering, but the fact is that we cannot look one minute into the future and the circumstances in which we may find ourselves in tomorrow. I hate to say it, but we are not all that smart. On the other hand, God has all knowledge about the past, the present and the future. And the really good news is that God desires to guide and direct us, but it’s our place to trust Him with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding. The key words are ‘with all your heart.’ God wants our hearts. In our hearts, we can be 100 percent certain that God always knows what is best for us and we can know without a doubt that He will make our paths straight-we will not be wondering about without clear direction. There will be times when God is leading us to do something that contradicts our own understanding or preference, but that is when we must make the choice to trust Him and follow His leading. Trusting God with all of our heart may sound like that is difficult to do or something unobtainable. However, when we come to know our true identity, that God has made us new creations with new minds, it becomes natural for us to trust Him with all of our heats and not lean on our own understanding. This is another way of saying that we have the choice to walk by the Spirit. As this verse tells us, it is a blessing to us to acknowledge Him in all we do; to walk hand in hand with Him. And, trusting Him brings healing and refreshment.
1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God,”
Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Blessings, Buddy

THOSE WHO WAIT

8/15/2025

August 15, 2025 THOSE WHO WAIT

Isaiah 40:29-31, 41:10 “He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power, though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” “Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look around you, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Most of us do not like waiting. Yet, in many places in the scriptures we find the admonition to ‘to wait on the Lord.’ Waiting implies trust; if we trust someone fully, we wait for them to do what they said they would do. To wait, also implies dependency; as believers we depend on God to do what only He can do. It is the nature of man to fight for the things he wants, to go after whatever he thinks will be fulfilling or whatever he needs for survival. No matter how strong and determined one may be, they eventually become weary and stumble-and that is because what they are striving for is found only in the Lord. In contrast, those who wait on the Lord, those who trust and depend on God, gain new strength and they do become weary and they do not stumble! Don’t misunderstand; its possible for a believer to not be waiting on the Lord, but to be living according to their own dictates, or what the scripture calls, living according to their flesh. The promises we see in the above scriptures are for those who have a heart to live according to the ways of God and are indeed walking in His ways. This is not saying that we must be perfect; if we are walking in His ways and we in someway do or say something that is wrong, we quickly confess, turn form it, and then continue to walk according to His ways. Living with an attitude of wanting on the Lord brings with it amazing blessings for us: He gives us strength, increases power, we run and do not get tired, and we do not become weary! We do not have to be anxious, worrying what will happen next BECAUSE HE IS OUR GOD. He will surely help us and uphold us. Sounds to good to be true? It’s not; that is who our God is. The key for us is to have our hearts and our minds turned to the Lord-that is our part. Present circumstances may be difficult and we may have desires and dreams that may not have come to fruition, even though we may believe that God gave us these desires. The word for us is to wait on the Lord to move in His own time and in His own way. Waiting on the Lord in no way means we are to be spiritually lazy or indifferent. We are to be about the task that God has put before us-but as we are about doing what we must do, let us be waiting on the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14 “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”
Blessings, Buddy

A TREASURE HIDDEN

8/11/2025

August 12, 2025 A TREASURE HIDDEN

Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

( If you read Matthew 13 carefully, you will find that many have the events taking place at the end of the age out of order-check it out.)

We can make two important conclusions from this passage. One is that the kingdom of heaven is not obvious to the natural eye, and two, it’s worth everything and any price to find it. We are prone to be driven by and motivated by what we see with our eyes and what we perceive to be true or right. Even though we cannot ‘see’ the kingdom of God as it is spiritual, it is more real than what we see with our eyes and it affects and influences our natural lives in tangible ways. (See 2 Corinthians 4:18). God’s kingdom is bigger than life. We learn of the kingdom of God in His word, and by faith, when we receive Jesus as our Savior, we also receive the kingdom of God. Even though we become members of His kingdom, there is still the need to be seeking and learning of His kingdom. Once we experience life in the kingdom of God, nothing else satisfies; everything else is less than. We cannot escape living in the flesh in a fallen world, and there are certain responsibilities we must be about in this life here on earth; however, all we do here is done as representatives and agents of His kingdom. As members of His kingdom, we have been given the power to conduct our affairs in a way that reflects the kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Let us give up on seeking to find life anywhere other than life in His kingdom. The kingdom life is not mysterious and its not ambiguous; again, it’s more real than the temporal, natural world in which we live. We now live according to the ways of God; we have new motivations in life and we have higher and more worthy goals. And hear this: we-you and I-are God’s representatives here in this life; this truth deals with any poor self image problems and it does away with boredom and aimlessness. So, let ‘finding’ and experiencing His kingdom be our passion in life. And here is the good news: He has shown us His kingdom through His Son-and He desires for us to live in His kingdom.
Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Blessings, Buddy