As this new year has begun I have been thinking about the change that takes place in us when we surrender our lives to Christ. How we are made new ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone , the new is here). As one year ends we reflect on all that has happened, some good, some bad, sometimes worn down by it all. As the new year begins we look forward to new beginnings. When we come to GOD we are worn down by sin, but He begins a transformation in us from the inside out. The old is being discarded. Then the church guides us towards becoming everything that God intends for us to be by  teaching us the Word, which is instruction on how to live our lives. We must be vigilant in studying the Word for ourselves, to be sure that we are not just gravitating towards teaching that we are comfortable with (see 2 Timothy 4 :2-5). Knowing the Bible is essential to a rich and meaningful life. You can find the answer to every problem you face in life within the pages of the Word of GOD. I am not saying that we will become perfect, we will still make mistakes. We will never be good enough to earn GOD's grace. It is a gift that He gave us freely (Romans 3:24 and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus) but if you use the Word as your guide your life will draw others to GOD, which is ultimately what every christian should be striving for. If we could really get a grasp on that knowledge what a change we would see in our lives. What is it that holds us back from stepping into all that GOD has for our lives? As followers of Christ we are called to be His disciples. What exactly does that mean? When Jesus walked this earth He chose twelve disciples to follow Him. He taught them many things. They saw Him perform miracles, they saw Him die on the cross, and finally they saw Him resurrected from death! Think about that for a minute, twelve men, they experienced first hand the grace of GOD. Jesus made such an impact on them that they spent the rest of their lives preaching the gospel, to the point of death even! Those twelve men changed the world, the work they did reaches us today, thousands of years later! Just imagine what the body of Christ could do today if we had the faith that these men had! They were designated witnesses of Christ, of His resurrection, and messengers of the gospel. We are all called to be disciples. We must stand up and answer the call by separating ourselves from the love of this world. That being said, the first call of the disciples was the same call Jesus has given us, to follow Him. That means spending time with Him, getting to know Him personally. For us today that means through prayer and the Word. He also called them to preach the gospel. Jesus chose them to be the leaders of the new testament church. Interestingly none of these men were scholars, none of them had any extraordinary skills. They were just ordinary people, just like us! They made mistakes, they stumbled, they doubted, they had to ask for forgiveness. He gave them power to cast out demons and to heal sickness. He chose them for a purpose, to fan the flames of the gospel so that it would spread all over the world. Those flames are still burning today! He used regular people to do this extraordinary task of being the foundation stones of His church! What will you allow God to use you for? He has a purpose for you. It maybe something so small that you can't see how it could have any impact, but God uses things in ways we can't even imagine. It may be just showing His love to one person who will end up doing great works for the kingdom. It just might be something so big that you never would have dreamed about it! No matter how big or small, your call is significant to GOD's plan. I leave you with this question today, how will you let GOD use you in this new year?