In a few days we will celebrate the dawning of a new year. Some of us will vow to become new people with new attitudes and new outlooks in life. We will resolute to lose weight, save money, love enemies, and enjoy life. Although there's nothing wrong with making resolutions, setting goals, and challenging yourself to be/do better...I want to challenge you to see the "new and better you" right NOW!
2013, what a year! Some of us were faced with many unforeseen circumstances. We've buried loved ones, we were challenged by our adversities, endured hardships, faced enemies, we overcame persecutors, so many unforgettable events.
We trained our ears to drown out negativity by speaking the word of God, trained our eyes to smile when they wanted to shed tears, cuffed our hands in prayer when we really wanted to fight, and covered our feet in peace when we really wanted to make haste and render evil for evil...oh YES, 2013 has been a challenging year!
As I ponder on this year, what appeared to be one of the most difficult, heartbreaking, and trying years ever...I realize it wasn't so bad after all! You see gold can't be pure gold...if it's not purified in the fire! A diamond can't shine as bright...if it doesn't endure the heat and pressure caused deep within the earths surface! A pearl wouldn't be fit for display...if it didn't endure the entrapment of the mantle inside of an oyster! The fire, heat, pressure, and entrapment didn't come to break you down...it came to prepare you, to reveal who you ARE! Once the gold is purified, it is shaped to the refiners liking! The diamond is cut, crafted, and used...more than any other gemstone! The pearl comes forth covered by the mantle of the one that made it! There is more to your making than fire, heat, pressure, and entrapment...there is PURPOSE!
2013 came to make you, to reveal to you not only who you are, but who God your Father really is! Because you've endured the process...you will now receive the promise!
Joseph endured the pit, slavery, false accusations, and prison. David endured the rejection of family, persecution, disappointments, even running for his life. Christ endured shame, suffering, rejections, and denial. But their stories didn't end with the negative...their promises still had to surface. Their promises had to manifest. Their promises had to come to pass! Your promises are here and you are now ready for display!
All that you've endured, everything that tried to take you out...was not to break you down. No, it was sent to bring you forth! So, don't wait for the clock to strike midnight to step into the "new you" when you shout "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" No, you are already here!
So, just keep walking from 2013 into 2014...right into your promise. Right into your purpose!
Blessings,
Leola
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