What a nice quiet beginning to a new year. Yesterday was one of those for which you sit back and say, “Now, that was nice.” The morning had us dismantling the tree and rearranging the family room’s furniture so I can now be in my rut for 11 months where I am most comfortable. Some of the kids and grandkids came for lunch and the afternoon where we played games. The evening was with Hallmark movies. That is a perfect example of a calm beginning.

I am sensing God’s leading for this year to be the one of total surrender. I’ve thought for several years that I have been, but this past year has brought to the surface the areas of fear I dreaded and had them faced. The main one of these has been the belief of being a new creation. For 6 months now I’ve lived knowing and believing I am one. I always had this hope that if this were possible then I’d be free of all temptations which looked anything like dad or my brother. A new creation couldn’t look like them. Well, truth be told, a new creation is still one of human flesh. Human flesh does have temptations just like all men do. The difference–acting on them.

What will be a new experience for this coming year will be to not fight temptations with my will power that often loses, but to learn what genuine surrender is like as a new creation. Learning what relying on the strength of surrender truly is. I’m going to face the voices that say a 70 year old man has lived too long to genuinely know this. I’ll be a student of Jesus Christ’s lessons as long as I’m alive in this body of flesh. So, this new year will be year 1 of being a new creation living surrendered one day at a time.