Blog

• New Beginnings

When I was in elementary school, I participated in Girl Scouts. We sold cookies and learned life lessons. One of the simple songs I remember from those gatherings went like this:
“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other, gold.”

Whether new friends or old, silver or gold, my prayer now is that they each be made of iron as we sharpen each other in our friendships.

I have come to value the friendships made in different seasons of my life. I have strong memories from early friendships that shaped me into the person I am today. Mentoring friendships modeled what it meant to be a Christian, a sister, and a friend. Sibling friendships have matured past the pettiness of the teen years.

Yet the deepest friendships I have encountered and with whom I continue to have a solid, iron-strong bond is those with whom I have prayed and studied God’s Word. When we share our lives through the filter of God’s eternal perspective, we connect in ways that only God can facilitate.

My Iron Rose Sisters are those who point me to God and for whom I can do the same thing. Their perspectives are as unique as their colorful qualities as roses in God´s garden. God values the beauty we each bring to His garden and He knows how, when we focus on Him, we can walk with and encourage one another on that journey.

And over the years, the garden changes its makeup. Friends come and go. People move. Jobs change. Death separates us for a time.

With each of those changes, we are blessed with the opportunity to make new friends and keep the old. No matter where I have lived, whether a brief or lengthy period of time, the best place to find new friends and develop lasting friendships is through a women’s small group Bible study.

Right now, on Wednesday nights, a diverse group of women, some I have met before, others I am meeting for the first time, gather weekly to go through a pilot study of the book to be released later this year, I already AM: Testimonies of Belief in the Great I AM.

Please share with us a picture of your small group. Let’s celebrate the new friends and the old, connecting with God and one another more deeply!

#IronRoseSister #newbeginnings #makenewfriends #keeptheold 

• New Beginnings

Think back to when you first became a Christian...
Was there a song sung at your baptism that is still special when you hear it?
Were your family and friends there supporting you or did your decision to join the family of Christ feel like rejection to your own family?

What about the place... Was it in an algae-trimmed river? A chlorine-filled pool? The church baptistry on a Wednesday night?

I once helped an elderly woman wash away her sins in a trash can. Yes. She was baptized in a large trash can because there was no other place with enough water in that rural town in Venezuela. Now isn’t that the perfect place to throw away the old life and put on the new life in Christ? She is now rejoicing with our Father in Heaven because of the confession she made that day and repentant life she led from that point forward, until the day she died.

No matter where you died to self and were raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), take a moment to remember that new beginning. You confessed Jesus as the Son of God and Lord of your life—Master, Commander, and Chief. But have you really let Him be in charge of your life?

A new life in Christ cannot fit into the old mold of how we were living before. They are incompatible. As Jesus put it, no one puts new wine into old wineskins, unless they want to burst the wineskins and lose the wine (Matt. 9:17).

Thankfully, we have a gracious Father who walks with us in the light and offers us a new beginning each day. His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). And “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The slate is wiped clean. We can begin again. The old mold is broken. The old wineskin thrown out. Thank you, Jesus!

If you feel yourself sliding back into the old wineskin, take a fresh start at the new life in Christ.

And if you are reading this and have not yet tasted the best new beginning offered by our loving Heavenly Father through the sacrifice of His one and only Son, please consider this a special invitation meant for you.

In addition to the verses already referenced, I have listed a few more verses below for additional reading on this topic, especially for those who have not accepted God’s offer for a new life in Him. And please contact us if we can put you in touch with someone locally who would be able to talk more about this with you!

Romans 6:1-14; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 1:5-10; Acts 2:38; Acts 16:25-34