Renew & New Beginnings

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Have you ever wished for a do-over? Ever wished you could restart something from scratch? Have you wished you could hit the "rewind" button and back up a few years?

I wish I could restart my mission work in Prague. I was young, naive and inexperienced when we went to start a church in that world-class city. I was breaking away from my sectarian past, but I was still trapped in the narrow thinking that has doomed most of our European church works. I would love a do-over on that one.

There are others as well. I could name relationships that need a restart. There are projects that I would love to rewind. The list goes on and on.

Have you ever stopped to consider what it means that God is the Creator? As the One who created heaven and earth, He has amazing power to create and put things in order. He can make worlds from nothing.

As a God who creates, has it dawned on you that he still has power to create. And not just create. He is able to recreate. He can make things new. He is the great Restorer, Renewer and Refresher. The creation of heaven and earth demonstrates His great power.

God is the God of new beginnings. I know that some damage will not be fixed in this lifetime. Some things cannot be undone here and now. But with God's power, we can start the work of restoring things as we hope for the glorious day when He will take this world and make a new heaven and a new earth.

But even while we wait, everything is already new. Through the restorative work of Christ Jesus, we celebrate renewal and re-creation. Praise be to the God of new beginnings!

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