Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “new start

What of the New Year?

What of the New Year? — Paths & Old History
16-This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves…  18-“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.  19-Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?   There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. (Isa.43:16, 18-19, Msg)


Be Vigilant in 2023

Free 2023 Calendar iPhoneMELISSA—Yes, it has come to this: Be vigilant in 2023—keenly watchful to detect danger; ever awake and alert; sleeplessly watchful. Let me go ahead and say, this is not a “you deserve a spanking for allowing the world to go down the toilet” post.  Rather this post is aimed at being an alarm clock to wake up God’s sleeping giants to war in this coming year! Is that you? Well, you’re the one reading this right now, and that is NO COINCIDENCE! So, here’s your wake up call, you beautiful heavenly-Change-Agent, you! What is a heavenly Change-Agent? It’s one who makes a difference wherever they are because they carry Heaven in them.  When I say Heaven, I mean one who carries the original intent of God wherever they go.  What is God’s original intent? That Intent is Heaven on earth, a Kingdom without end (Luke 1:31-33).  The difference between our Change-Agents and the ones making the news right now is that we cause life, healing, peace, hope, restoration—not death and destruction!  


Purposed to Run

As the people of God assemble today, may they see plainer than ever the road that they are purposed to run in the new year. May one be an encouragement to another to steadily get on down the path this year that leads to success for our Lord’s plan.

“…I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.” Eph.4:1b-3, Msg)


Wrapping up Tattered Ends

A huge, muscular draft horse was pulling a weighted sled in a competition.  The horse was obviously straining forward with every ounce of strength he could muster and was making some progress. But he was, with every step, getting closer and closer to a definite stopping point. It didn’t matter that he had dragged the heavy steel sled farther than any of the other horses in the competition, he still came to a sudden halt. It just happened to be a halt that was a bit farther down the track than the other horses’ halts. The “Year End Wrap Up” theme seems to speak to the need to not drag old stuff from the previous year (or even previous years) into the new year. Even though it is a burden, we tend to wrestle with old issues that seem to never get settled or worked out and we just continue to take them along with us into the future.

Lethargy, wavering commitment, fear and neglect are some of the weights that make for burdensome sleds that we drag with us from one season to the next. There are issues to resolve before the end of this year that would be easier dealt with and resolved more readily without adding the laborious task of not having ended things well. It is time for a season in our lives where we “wrap up” what has been left at tattered ends.

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Expectancy For The Extraordinary

waterfall-over-manMay the Lord wash and cleanse you from every failure, every doubt and every judgment from others so that you may enter the New Year with expectancy for the extraordinary of Jahweh all through the coming year.

“26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph.5:26-27

 

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