A New Beginning: Affirmations Designed to Transform Lives and Help Others Realize Their Full-Potential in Jesus Christ

By Brian Henderson

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984558978

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Copyright © 2018 by Brian Henderson.

ISBN:                Softcover                    978-1-9845-5896-1

                         eBook                           978-1-9845-5897-8

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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

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Rev. date: 10/09/2018

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CONTENTS

Ch. 1 Self Discovery

Ch. 2 Internal Transition

Ch. 3 Putting The Past Behind You

Ch. 4 Moving Forward In The Face Of Adversity

Ch. 5 Resorting Back To Detrimental Behavior

Ch. 6 Learn To Forgive Yourself And Others

Ch. 7 Success Is At God’s Fingertips

Ch. 8 It Takes A Village

Ch. 9 Love And Relationships

Ch. 10 Moving To The Next Level

Ch. 11 Finding Your Calling

Ch. 12 God Is Watching Over You

Ch. 13 A New Beginning

CH. 1 SECTION 1

Have you ever wondered how you became you? There are several factors that contribute to our personalities. We inherit alot of traits from our parents and other family members. Our enviornments as well as our life experiences also shapes our character. But ultimately God decided before the foundation of the world the unique characteristics that we would possess. In order to understand who we are as individuals, we must first understand who we come from. We were created in the image of Almighty God. He desires for us to live our lives the way that Jesus lived. However, as human beings it is impossible to duplicate the life of Christ. As a result, we must confess to God that we are sinners; and that we believe that His son Jesus Christ died for our sins. Next we must believe that God raised Him from the dead on the third day; and ask Him to come into our hearts; and save us. Once you accept Christ in your life; You are a new creation and old things are passed away. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17). The next step is to find a Church home if you haven’t found one already. It is vital to read the word daily, in order to keep your faith alive. Faith without works is dead. (James 1:6). Sin entered into the world through one man and his name was Adam. Adam was the first man ever created and he was created in God’s image. While walking with Adam, God noticed that something was missing. God said that it wasn’t good for man to be alone, so God created Adam a helpmeet. Adam’s helpmeet was Eve, who was the first woman who ever lived. (See Genesis Ch’s 1-3). Consequently, God placed Adam into a deep sleep and God created Eve out of Adam’s side, which many people believe was Adams rib. Eve was able to see all of Adam’s flaws before he saw her. Once God created Eve, God gave Adam and Eve special instructions. He told them that you can eat of any tree except for the tree of knowledge. God said that the day that you eat from this tree you will surely die. Subsequently, the serpent who was Satan in disguise while Adam was present told Eve that it was okay to eat from the tree of knowledge. Eve told the serpent that God said that I will surely die if I eat from the tree of knowledge. The serpent said you shall not surely die. If you eat from the tree, you will be able see the previously unseen and you will be like God. Although the serpent had deceived Eve; being like God sounded good to her and she convinced Adam to eat from the forbidden tree. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He called for them and He knew that they were hiding as they covered their bodies. Before God called for Eve, He called for Adam because God orginally gave instructions to him. God asked them why they were hiding. They replied because we are naked. God responded who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I forbid you to eat from. Adam tried to blame Eve since she pursuaded him to disobey God. Then Adam told God that the helpmate that was given to Him by God was responsible for his disobedience. However, God didn’t except Adam’s explanation because He gave Adam clear instructions in the beginning. From that day forward God declared that Adam and Eve would surely die. God declared that since Eve entinced Adam she would have pain in child birth and Adam would rule over her. Moreover, God assigned the leadership role to Adam because when Eve assumed leadership by enticing Adam, they both fell into sin. Women are not responsible for sin entering into the world because God gave his first instructions to man; Adam. As a result, future generations inherited Adam’s sin because his sin was the first sin ever commited. Subsequently, God sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ into the world to die for our sins because Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. Henceforth, Jesus is a spotless lamb because He is perfect and He is not capable of sin. During biblical times people use to offer lambs as a sacrifice, in order to redeem humans from their transgressions. Jesus Christ was that spotless lamb and He paid a debt that we owed by dying on the cross for our sins. Without accepting Christ as your personal savior, you will still owe that debt one you die; and stand before God on the day of judgenment. Jesus died so that we may live. No matter what you have tried, Jesus is the only answer, so come to Jesus right now! Before you can find yourself, you have to develop a relationship with God. Many people reject salvation because they don’t feel that they become a Christian until they find themselves as individuals. However, God created us, and no one understands us better than Him. As a result, you will not find yourself until you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. It’s impossible to find yourself without salvation because without it you will be lost forever. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior; you won’t just find yourself; but you will receive eternal life! Also surround yourself with Christian friends, and always seek wise counsel. Once you become saved; that doesn’t eliminate temptation. Tempatation is not a sin. Temptation is only a sin if you yield towards it. The temptation to sin wil be present for the rest of your life; and that’s why reading the Bible daiy is vital. In addition, you will have monitor the T.V. programs you watch, as well as the music that you listen to. Moderation is very important, but you will need to eliminate behaviors that create seperation between yourself and God. Jesus only had 33 years to accomplish several missions. If He would have failed on one of his missions, then salvation wouldn’t possible. We should be cogniscent of the fact ; that we only have a short period of time to fulfil our purpose. Jesus is the son of God; and we can never measure up to His goodness. Notwithstanding, we are suppossed to be Christ like; and therfore we should display urgency; and take steps towards accompishing our missions on a daily basis. 33 years is a young life; and if we knew that we only had 33 years to live; we would probably show more urgency. Make everyday count because we can’t count on tommorow! Slothfulness or laziness can cause you to live in mediocrity forever if you aren’t careful. A lot of people have good intentions, as it relates to pursuing a goal, but they become complacent; and distracted by the things around them. They tell themselves that one day I will go back to school or one day I will start my own business. When people think of goals in terms of pursuing them one day; one day never comes. The only day that we have any control over is today because yesterday is in the past; and tommorow is not promised.

CH. 1 SECTION 2

As human beings, we all dream, hope, fail, succeed, learn, grow, make good decisions, as well as bad decisions. As a result, we should remember that it’s exceptable, if it takes us longer than we expected to acheive our goals, and aspirations. It is not easy to accept falling short from time to time, but remember that’s what makes us human beings, so learn to embrace your humanity. Instead of getting discouraged; and measuring your accomplishments against your peers, use their success as motivation. Your peers didn’t become successful without sacrificing. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself realize success is right within your grasp, you just have to sacrifice like they did. Redemption can not be acheived without sacrifice. In addition, one of the greatest barriers that blocks our progress is self-hatred. When we don’t love; and accept ourselves for who we are, we have the tendency to settle for mediocrlty. Also others have a hard time getting close to you because you don’t realize how valuble you are. Without self-acceptance; it is not possible to experience life-acceptance. Change can be a scary because in many cases it will require greater responsibility on your behalf. But don’t allow yourself to miss out on everything you ever wanted for your life because of fear. It is a lot easier to accept something not working out, as opposed to losing out all together because of fear. Conversely, people often make the mistake of judging someone based on their exterior. When you limit your perception of someone based on the way that they express themselves, or carry themselves, you can be missing out on getting to know a very unique, and special individual. What’s on the inside of someone could be more prescious than gold. They just need someone to see the value of their character. Only God truly knows a person’s heart. Notwithstanding, you can often discern a person’s nature based on how they treat others, as well as how they live their lives. If a person treats others with compassion; and geninue care; then that speaks volumes about their character. Also if a person is selfless and willing to help others in their time of need, that often indicates that their heart is in the right place. Christians, as well as non-believers make the mistake of unjustly juding others. However, a Christian is more adept to looking at a person’s character, then a worldly person. If a Christian does make the mistake of judging others continuosly, then The Holy Spirit will have to deal with them in that area. Conversly, when a worldly person judges someone they will have a very difficult time getting past there own view points As a Christian you realize that the transformation that took place once you got saved was an internal-transformation. Once you got saved there was an internal transformation. Once you get saved; the old you dies; and a new you is formed. Subsquently, when God reminds you of how He changed you on the inside, you will realize that you shouldn’t judge others because God’s objective is to change the inner-person; not the outer person. Once you let go of your pre-conceived notions, you will be able to share the gospel with others. When you accept others inspite of their differences, you are displaying an act of love. It’s very easy to belittle those who society considers to be outcasts. But; when you accept others inspite of their differences; those who are within your inner-circle will be more inclined to want what’s on the inside of you. When you are in the body of Christ it can be very disheartning when some of your closest friends don’t belive that Jesus is God. But; if you witness to them, and they still don’t believe, pray for them; and continue to show them unconditional love. In time they may realize that what’s on the inside of you is special, and they may desire to have what you have. Be a living example of the goodness of God. Also remember it’s not all about us. Many times we become so consumed by our own difficulties that we neglect to reach others during their time of need. There are too many people who are hurting, and who feel abandoned not to humble yourself, in order to help others. By helping others you are also enabling God to activate His healing power over your life. Remember to appreciate where you are in your life currently. We should never become complacent, but it’s vital to make the most out of blessings that God has already given us. If we fail to appreciate the blessings in our lives now, then how can we expect to receive all the blessings that God wants to give us in the future? Learn to embrace possibilites. Obviously most things in life rarely go exactly the way that we planned, but if we learn to wake up each day with great expectancy, then we will leave the door open for amazing things to enter our lives. A possibility is definitely not a guarentee, but we should at least give ourselves a chance for increase because it is certainly worth it. In order, to be who God wants you to be you have to stop trying to be the person who you think you should be. When you allow Jesus to direct your steps, He will take you to heights beyond your imagination. It’s really easy to complain about others hindering our progress, but oftentimes we hinder our own progress just as much if not more so. It’s definitely unfair when someone who we trusted puts us in a bind. But; if you sabatoge your own progress out of frustration just remember that the wrongdoer won’t be blamed for your lack of success; you