Wow!  The year 2013 is coming to a close in just a few short hours.  We are receiving the gift of a new year.   What will you do with it?   What story will you write on the pages in your book of life in this coming year?

We begin tomorrow on this new journey into the year 2014.   Please do not look back on this year or previous ones with sorrow or regret.  The past is done, and there is not a single thing we can do about it now.  There’s no changing it.   Make peace with your past right this minute so that you do not carry around the weight of that type of baggage as we go into the new year.

If there were people that wronged you this past year, forgive them … not so much for their sake as that of your own!   When you hold a grudge and carry the weight of that around with you, honestly you are only hurting yourself.  This other person has probably gone on about their lives without giving a second thought to that which you are holding on to and that which is eating at you.   Anger and resentment only hurt YOU!   Pray for God to take this off of you, that He will release you from the chains that bind you!

There is only this moment in time that we are guaranteed.   We hope that we’ll wake up tomorrow to be able to share the beauty of another day with our families.   We pray that God will allow us a long life full of love.  We pray over our family, health, and finances.  We pray for healthy bodies, souls, and minds and that we would be protected and sheltered from all harm.

There are so many new opportunities as we ring in the new year.  You have a chance to make a difference in the world.  Yes, you!  If you think you can’t, I know differently!  I have faith in YOU!  I believe in YOU!    You have the power with the help of Almighty God to do great things in this life!

As I was writing the first paragraph about the pages in your book of life, I was reminded about God’s book of life.   Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?   Won’t you ask Him into your heart and life today?   Will you follow Him and trust in Him?   If things haven’t gone right in the past, if you’ve gone down the wrong path, this is your chance to begin again!  You can start fresh and new right now by asking God into your heart and life.   He won’t promise that there won’t be trials and tribulations along the way, but He will be with you every single step of the way.

If you are already a believer, yet don’t feel God’s presence moving in your life, ask yourself one question.  Who moved?   It wasn’t God.  He has been right there the entire time watching you, waiting for you to come to Him, waiting for you to trust in Him.   He’s with you as you read the words on this screen right this minute.  When you cry out to God, He will be there to wipe every tear from your eyes!   Oh sweet child, if you have strayed, won’t you come back to Him?  He’s waiting.

You may have lost some people along the journey this past year.   Some friends may have turned away from you.  Although it may have hurt deeply, please know that God was pruning people and things from your life.  He wants new things to happen in your life, and maybe the things that you have lost or the people you have lost just did not fit into the plan that God has for your life.   Maybe they served their purpose and were there for a time, a season.  Now that time has passed, the seasons have changed, and their place in your life is no more.   Know that while it may have been a surprise to you, it was not a surprise to God.  Trust in Him that He knows best.   Treasure the time you did have with these people or doing the things that you were once a part of, and keep those fond memories close to your heart as time marches on.  Pray that God will take away the sting of lost relationships and friendships.   Something better is on its way!   Just as the saying goes that if God leads you to it, He will see you through it, there is also another saying that if God closes one door, He will open another.  I firmly believe this.

There are so many possibilities for the new year.   There will be exciting things for this coming year.  So many will embark on a journey that they never imagined possible before.  Oh, but God knew … and He has His hands all over it.   Some will see great changes in their lives.  Carry God with you as you go.

As we say goodbye to the old and usher in the new, shed the old you and put on the new you.  This is your chance!   Accept the gift of a new year … be determined to be a new you!  Embrace change!   Take God’s hand on this new journey in your life as you carefully write the words on the pages in your book of life.

Blessings to you and yours for the new year and all year through!

~Shirley

Light, Love, Hope