Bible OfflineBible OfflineDownload free
Back to the blog

A new life

by Ana Julia Luiz··2 min read
0
Share:
A new life

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the phrase: “New Year, New Life”. At the end of the year, here in Brazil this sentence is posted on the social media and said by family members, friends, pastors… It is a typical end-of-year sentence.

During this period of the year I have the habit of briefly reflecting on my year: what got better, what got worse, the best moments, the worst, among other points. A former leader once also encouraged me to think about something I take into my life: what about my relationship with God? Has it improved, worsened or stayed the same?

After all, regardless of all the other things that happened (if I got a job, got into the school/college I wanted, got a car, moved house), what matters most is my relationship with God. Everything loses value if I don’t dive deeper.

Relationship with God

Sometimes I find myself thinking about the ups and downs I’ve had throughout the year, including my relationship with God. After all, I’m not perfect. I always end up sinning and moving away from His presence a little, but the important thing is to always return to the Father’s feet.

One of the reasons we turn away from God is that we treat eternity as something future, not something present. And that way we are leaving the moments with the Father in the background.

“Oh, then I read the Bible, I have to sleep a little longer, God will understand”, “Oh, no, then I pray, I have to finish this book I’m reading”, “Oh, but fasting? Just now that we will have some parties and evenst”.

These are all phrases that you must have thought of at least once a year. However, there comes a certain time when we need to make our choice if we really want to change our lives.

New Year

Going back to that phrase “New Year, New Life”, it’s time for real and sincere change. It’s time to stop playing at being Son of God, because God doesn’t play at being God and the devil doesn’t play at being the devil.

Face this new year as another chance to change your life, to change your relationship with God. My pastor once said the following sentence: “External contacts with Jesus never saved anyone”.

No more external contacts and let’s begin to relate deeply and intimately with our God. May this year be a year of diving deeper and going where you’ve never been before. May it indeed be a New Year with a New Life.

Happy New Year, God bless,
Ana

Ana Julia Luiz

by

Ana Julia Luiz

Ana Julia Luiz, faço parte da equipe Bíblia JFA. Tenho vivido de acordo com o propósito de Deus em minha vida.

Comments

Be the first to comment.

Read next

The Cycles of Life
·Ana Julia Luiz

The Cycles of Life

It’s interesting to think about how our life is made of cycles. People come, people go, situations come and situations go. Hardly anything that comes stays forever. There are exceptions, but often that’s not how it works. If you say you’ve never gone through a cycle closure in your entire life, I’m sure I’ll find it very strange. Chapters I love to read and even more to write. I like to think of our lives as a book. At first, for us it is blank, but for God (the Author) it is filled with stories, situations, twists and much more, from our first little steps to the biggest decisions. God sees from the moment we arrive in this world, still in our mothers’ wombs. Closing cycles can often be a very tense chapter in life. Situations or other characters can leave the protagonist (me or you) confused and make him question: “why am I living this?” I was once talking to a friend, venting about a bunch of things that were going on. She looked deep into my eyes and said: “you are in despair because everything got out of your control, but that is normal, it is part of […]

Read more
Prayer: Cleanse me Lord
·Ana Julia Luiz

Prayer: Cleanse me Lord

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9 We are human beings, full of sins. The Word itself says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We are in need of the Lord’s forgiveness. And for that we need to repent. Today, I invite you to pray with me, asking the Lord to purify our hearts from any and all sins. Remembering that you don’t need to pray exactly as I wrote here, because everyone has their own way of talking to the Father. But if you want, I’ll be happy to accompany you. Prayer “Lord, my God and Father, I thank you for this day, Thank you for the chance to pour myself out in Your presence and for Your Amazing Grace that tore the veil that used to separate us. Father, I ask forgiveness for my sins, all those that I have committed. Forgive me, for I am flawed and need correction. Cleanse my heart, purifying it of all the evil present in it and help me to become someone better. That every […]

Read more
Wonderful Grace
·Ana Julia Luiz

Wonderful Grace

Last weekend, we went through the Easter holiday and honestly, it’s one of my favorite dates of the year. I like to reflect on what brought us to celebrate this very important date. How did it start? Easter started long before Jesus, actually the celebration started in the book of Exodus. Hebrews were slaves in Egypt and I believe you remember that God raised up Moses to free them. Before the Red Sea miracle happened, we know that the Lord sent the famous 10 plagues. We started with the waters that became blood, then the frogs, the lice, the flies, the plague in animals, boils, hail, the locusts, darkness over the land of Egypt and then the tenth plague: the death of the firstborn. God guided, through Moses, that each family of the people of Israel killed a lamb, male, just one year old, without defects, and spread the blood on the doorframes. That way, the firstborn of that house would not be harmed. The lamb delivered in place of the first born symbolized what would become the work and sacrifice of Christ, our Paschal lamb, delivered in our place. By Grace Today, we celebrate Easter because we are freed […]

Read more