God’s promises to us are great! They are powerful! Perfect! And we can meet each new day expecting (Biblical hope!) to find God’s hand of faithfulness and forgiveness as strong to save as the day before. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” Lamentations 3:22-23. Psalm 119:156 reminds us, “Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgments (thy Word).” The ministry of the Spirit and the meditation of the Word have a powerful renewing effect to the heart and mind of the trusting saint. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” John 6:63.

Day 2:

I want to share with you a passage where a Holy God is speaking to His people, the children of Israel. Notice how He desires to see repentance and revival in their lives. He calls upon them to be renewed in their hearts and spirits. “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to His ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” Ezekiel 18:30-32. In an Old Testament picture of God’s jealous love for His people, the prophet Ezekiel testifies in chapter 36: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” The God Who Changes Not desires the same repentance and renewal in us.

Day 3:

There are several Bible words that share meaning with the Biblical concept of renewal.

Revive: an instance of returning to life or consciousness; a renewed attention to or interest in something; a reawakening of something

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.” ~ Psalm 85:6-7

“In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” ~ Psalm 138:3, 7-8a

Restore: to return to a former condition, place, or position; to repair or renovate so as to return to the original condition

In our daily walk with the Lord, each time we confess and receive forgiveness of sins, we are restored (returned) to fellowship. And not only does He return us to communion with Him, but He also strengthens us when we are weak. He makes repairs and provides for our soul’s true needs, thus renewing us to be like Him in our hearts and minds.

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” ~ Psalm 23:1-3a

Day 4:

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” Two things my body, soul, and spirit continually need are rest and refreshment. In the Old Testament, God called for a ceasing of labor on the seventh day, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed” Ex. 23:12.

Refreshment is the giving of fresh mental, physical, (and spiritual) strength or energy. Synonyms include revival, restoring, and strengthening. The rest and refreshment we need come from

* the Living Water, the Son of God (“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” John 4:13-14.) (“And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” Ex. 33:14.) (“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” Matt. 11:29.)

*the Bread of Life, the Word of God. (The Lord of hosts admonishes His people in Isaiah 28, “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? …For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: …To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing.”) (“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” Jer. 6:16.)

Day 5:

New Testament teaching on the topic of renewal focuses on the renewed mind. There are a series of instructions given in Ephesians 4 concerning walking in newness of life. “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: But ye have not so learned Christ; …put off…the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and …put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is laying out a pattern for the obedient Christian.

1. Put off
2. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind
3. Put on

The renewing of our mind is a most needfully repeated step in the process of putting on the new man. “For as (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he” Prov. 23:7.

Day 6:

The goal for each of us is clearly stated in Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” We renew the mind by replacing thoughts that are self-focused with truth about God. Meditate on Christ, don’t marinate in self.

Day 7:

How do we renew our minds? Memorize and Meditate! God’s Word is alive, and He wants us to live in the Word. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing” John 15:4-5.