Ano novo

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: *forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for *the prize of the upward *call of God in Christ Jesus.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already *obtained this or *am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: *forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for *the prize of the upward *call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are *mature think this way, and if in anything *you think otherwise, *God will reveal that also to you.

17 Therefore, if anyone is *in Christ, he is *a new creation.**The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Born Again to a Living Hope

3 *Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! *According to his great mercy, *he has caused us to be born again to a living hope *through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

10 *Create in me a *clean heart, O God,

and *renew a right* spirit within me.

11 *Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not *your Holy Spirit from me.

7 *Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

*fret not yourself over the one who *prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Oh, *taste and see that *the Lord is good!

*Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

31 but *they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings *like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

11 *For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare* and not for evil, *to give you a future and a hope.

25 *I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from *all your uncleannesses, and *from all your idols *I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you *a new heart, and *a new spirit I will put within you. *And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 *And I will put my Spirit within you, *and cause you to walk in my statutes and *be careful to obey my rules.*

14 And above all these put on *love, which *binds everything together in *perfect harmony. 15 And let *the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called *in one body. And *be thankful.

11 He has *made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot *find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, *that we may share his holiness. 11 *For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields *the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, *"Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For *you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, *"If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. *All such boasting is evil. 17 *So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.