New

The good news is that I try not to be a pack-rat. I regularly donate old clothes, shred old papers, and get rid of stuff I'm not using. For some reason, the rules that I apply to my material possessions, I do not apply to electronic files. I'm one of those weirdos that keeps almost every email sent and received, filed alphabetically by the people they are to/from. I know, it's ridiculous, but it's true and I don't have plans to change it in the near future.

So this morning I was going through my inbox of 548 emails, putting them into the appropriate files, and I discovered a little gem. It was an email I sent to myself from work (at the church) on November 29th. It was a Thursday, and as usual I was busy finishing up preparations for that evening's lesson for the youth group. In my study, I had stumbled upon an exciting truth that I didn't have the time to flesh out right then, and so apparently I emailed it to myself for further reflection. Here's the text of my email:
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Wow! Look at a Biblical Theology* of Newness!

In the Old Testament

• God promised Israel that he would give them a NEW HEART that would be soft to him, and undivided. (Ezekiel 36:26)
• God mentioned that he would bring about a NEW COVENANT in which he would forgive all their sins.

The New Testament teaches that those who trust in Jesus receive...

• NEW BIRTH into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3)
• They are a NEW CREATION. (2 Cor 5:17)
  Given a NEW ATTITUDE. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
• For their NEW SELF, which is created to be like God in righteousness. (Colossians 3:10)
• Hebrews tells us that we are now a part of the NEW COVENANT

I wonder why I feel so out of place, so lonely, so…homeless…sometimes.
It’s because I am NEW, and I am living in an OLD place. My eternal home, my dwelling that I long for, will be in the presence of God when he MAKES EVERYTHING NEW (Rev 21) and establishes his kingdom on the NEW EARTH centered around the NEW JERUSALEM—his holy city!

Amazing! Absolutely Amazing! :-)
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I think I was teaching on the future kingdom when I got all excited about this stuff, and when I read it today my excitement got refueled.
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*When I say "Biblical Theology" I'm referring to the study of a particular theme traced traced throughout the Bible.