Make a Fresh Start!

Last week we began a new series called Family Affairs. One of our theme songs for this series is "I Have A Hope" each weeek this song becomes more and more real to me. I love the words "my lifes not over a new beginings just begun" and I love Jeremiah 29:11 that assures us that God is for us and has great plans for each one of us. I believe that we all regularly need to find places to begin again in different areas of our lives. It's in these places that we need to draw a line separating us from all that we've known in the past and move forward with a new outlook based upon the truth of God's Word.
In order to make a fresh start, we need to be willing to let go of what lies behind and take hold of what lies ahead. Trust me as I type these words I am talking to myself first and foremost. I believe that some of the most important areas where all of us need a fresh start are how we see ourselves, how we think that God sees us and what we see before us in our future. As we begin to see ourselves the way that God sees us and to get a good picture of the things that He desires to bring about in and through our lives, our outlook on life can take on a whole new perspective.
How Do You See Yourself?
We get aggravated and frustrated about many things, but I think we get aggravated with ourselves more than anything. Our self-image - how we see ourself - is very important. It is the portrait we carry around in our heart and in our head. It is just as real as the pictures of our children that many of us carry around in our wallets, but it has a much stronger effect on us. I struggle often with a very poor self-image. I often feel like I am a failure, that I am unlovable and that I am not as good as other people. Many times I go around thinking that God is not pleased with me and that I will never overcome hurts from my past. Because I see myself in the wrong way, I hesitate to ask for what is rightfully mine through the blood of Jesus. I am not bold enough, and I don't feel like I deserved it.
God brought me to 2 Samuel 9, to the story of David and his quest to bless anyone who remained from the house of King Saul. Before he died, Saul disliked David greatly because he knew that David would one day be king. On the other hand, Jonathan, Saul's son, loved David and was probably one of his closest companions. After Jonathan and Saul were killed in battle, God promoted David to be king. Deeply moved with sorrow at the loss of Saul and Jonathan, David said, .Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake?
(2 Samuel 9:1).
After talking with one of Saul's former servants, David discovered that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth who had become crippled as a child but was still alive. So King David sent for Mephibosheth and had him brought before him. David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father [grandfather], and you shall eat at my table always. And [the cripple] bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I am? (2 Samuel 9:7,8). In other words, he was saying, "Why do you want to help me? All I deserve is to crawl around on the floor and lick up the crumbs that fall to the ground."
I believe that one of the main reasons why Mephibosheth had a poor self-image was because he was crippled. As a result, he didn't feel worthy of King David's kindness. You and I may not be physically crippled, but because of our failures, inabilities and weaknesses, we see ourselves as crippled. And since we see ourselves as less than perfect, it's difficult for us to imagine how or why God would want to bless and care for us as He has blessed and cared for others. But just as David was good to Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, God is good to us for Jesus' sake.
God doesn't want us looking at everything that is wrong with us or the sins of our past; He wants us to look at everything that is right with Him. Hebrews 12:2 says, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith and is also its Finisher.
The more we focus on our failures, the more we are likely to repeat them. That's why you and I need to get our eyes off of what is wrong with us and onto what is right with God. Whatever we continually think about and talk about will be magnified - made larger and larger. God is at work every day, changing us to be more and more like Jesus (see Philippians 2:13). Once we begin to magnify His power and minimize our problems, we will discover a new realm of victory and get a fresh view at how we see ourselves. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future."