Thank you for joining our Happy ReNew Year calendar devotional. Many of you participated in the Spaces of Grace Advent calendar devotional. We had so much fun that we decided to do a similar event to kick off the New Year. If you’d like to join us, access the digital, interactive calendar here. You may download it to your phone, tablet, or computer. Each week, we will release that week’s work on our website. Simply click on your Advent calendar on January 1 and then on each succeeding Sunday of the month to find the scripture reading, activity, and prayer for each day of the week. We’d love to hear your thoughts on any of your work in the comment section at the end of the post. We do recommend using a journal to keep track of your work each day.
Ready? Let’s get started!
*All scripture for Happy ReNew Year is from the online public domain WEBP Bible.
Day 1 ReNew Your Vision (Week 1)
Scripture:
Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see.” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” He struck them with blindness according to Elisha’s word. Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria. When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria. 2 Kings 6:17-20
Activity: Having a vision for the year is critical. It is what drives your decisions about where you spend your time and your resources. A vision will help you make your goals for the year. I know it can feel overwhelming to set a course for the entire year or season; but if you don’t, you will wander through the year haphazardly, and life will just happen rather than you and God making a plan and working the plan.
For today’s activity, set aside some time with your journal. Pray and ask God about setting a vision and priorities for the year. Write down any impressions, thoughts, words, or pictures that come to mind. Organize them into themes or categories and use them as a springboard to make a vision board for the year. I usually set 9 or 10 goals for the year. Mary likes to break the year up into quarters and sets fewer goals for each season. Do what works for you. Teri Savelle Foy has a wonderful $8 vision board course. Both Mary and I have taken the course and have found it so valuable. It’s easy to make your vision board in Canva. You can use their free version and just search for vision board in the template sections to get started. I make mine in Canva and then print it at Walmart. You can also handmake your vision board on a poster or sturdy paper if you prefer.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray You will open my eyes to the vision You have for my life for 2025. Infuse my brain with Your words, pictures, music, and inspiration. Then show me how to bring the vision to life. I want 2025 to be a year of living with purpose. Amen.
Day 2 Renew Your Hope
Scripture:
and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.”* Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”* Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.”* Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.”* Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Activity: In the winter months, hope can feel in short supply. Our moods can match the short, dark days. We need to remember that with Jesus, there is always hope no matter our circumstances. For today’s activity, write down the most hopeless situation in your life. Pray and ask God for the hope to believe Him to do something new. Pray about anything He may be asking you to do. Then write it down in your journal and make a plan to do it. Schedule it in your daily calendar and follow through. Watch for how God will work.
To help improve your mood during dark days, try what my sister Laura calls a 30-second vacation. Do something small you love each day. For example, take 30 minutes and curl up with a favorite book; take your book to your favorite tea shop and read; go outside for a 15-minute walk; grow a potted plant. You’ll soon find hope rekindled in your heart. We’d love to hear what some of your 30-second vacations are. Drop them in the comment section below.
Prayer: Lord, I pray you will breathe new life into this situation. Revive my hope from the ashes of past disappointments, illnesses, grief, or abuse. Thank you that nothing is impossible with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Day 3 Renew Your Heart
Scripture:
Therefore say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” “‘They will come there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them. I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:17-20
Activity: There have been times in my life when I have felt my heart is at odds with how God wants me to act. One of those times was this week. My help was sorely needed, and the very last thing I wanted to do was help. I was grumpy and definitely had a stony, rebellious heart in need of renewal. God convicted me that my attitude was grounded in selfishness. After struggling for a few days, I dropped to my knees and repented, asking God to change my heart and my attitude.
For our activity today, search your heart and ask God to show you if you are being resistant to something He is asking you to do. It can be a little thing or a big thing. If you are convicted of anything, repent and ask for a renewed heart. And then make up your mind to do it. With the Holy Spirit’s help, you can win this battle.
Prayer: Father, I acknowledge I sometimes must ask You to renew my heart so it realigns with Your plans for me not my plans for me. Remove my stony heart so that I can reflect You to others and walk in Your ways. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and shake me out of self-centeredness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Day 4 Renew Your Mind
Scripture:
But you didn’t learn Christ that way, if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Ephesians 4:23
Activity: Thoughts have a way of becoming stuck in our minds. Perhaps your stuck thought is an unflattering childhood nickname or label you were given. Maybe it’s a mistake you made or sin you committed. Maybe you don’t expect much of yourself because you were never encouraged or supported as a child. Your stuck thought may be true or partially true, or it may be totally false. Either way, this year, you are going to shed that stuck thought.
- First, you need to identify it and write it in your journal.
- Next, you need to reframe it to the truth of how God sees you. Write the new healthy thought in your journal.
- Now you need to commit to living out and becoming the renewed you.
- Take an action each week that lives out the new you — the person you want to be. For example, if your stuck thought is that you are a spendthrift (and you are), then this week research how to set and stick to a realistic budget. Also, start repeating an affirmation to yourself, something like “I am careful with my money.”
- Pray and ask God to renew your mind and habits in this area. Each week keep working on it. If you backslide, simply start again.
Prayer: Lord, for so long, I have thought of myself this one way ______________. I’m asking you to renew my mind in this area of my life. Show me how to change my thinking, my actions, and my life. Give me the perseverance to get unstuck. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
