Happy New Years | December 31, 2017

Good evening everyone…and a Happy New Year to you! I am so glad that you decided to stop by this evening and spend a little time with me, at the Heart to Heart Blog! I hope your Sunday has been a good one…I know mine has…especially after several hours of rest! Praise God; that He has given us a time to let go of everything from the week and just rest in His loving arms!
 
Tonight, as I look back into my life, I see a journey that began many years ago…a journey that would continually bring me closer and closer to the prize, which is Jesus Christ. It seemed that as I continued this journey with Jesus, each New Year led me down different paths that have brought me to where I am today. Some of the paths have been easy going, with blue skies and sunshine…with a beautiful fragrance in the air, while other paths appeared to be gray skies and weeds along a darkened pathway…a pathway that would make a person feel as if they were walking down a dry and dusty road.
 
Sometimes, a new path…brought about by a New Year, would fill my heart with anticipation, while other times, there was dread and fear; that the path would become even more darkened; then what it already was.
 
Through time, I came to see that whether each new path…represented by each New Year, was full of beauty or dormancy; there was a plan and purpose, for each path I would walk down…and I truly came to see that it’s not always the beautiful paths that lead us to our true destination; but also the dark and dreary paths too.
 
You see…there is something about these dark and dreary paths; that can give us the determination to press on…that is, if we will but seek the true purpose for these paths. I have come to see; that pathways such as these, are only Satan’s way of trying to keep us, from reaching the best that is yet to come. In other words, it’s his way of trying to keep us away from a pathway that can bring blessing into our lives or even possibly detour us from a direction that is leading us toward heaven.
 
You know…sometimes, I think we perceive the difficult paths before us, with an earthly mind, rather than what Jesus may be trying to convey to us. I’ve learned over time, while walking these difficult paths within my own life; that when the paths become more difficult to walk down; then that should be the best reason to keep going and never give up. Sometimes, we just need Jesus to step in and lift us up and over the obstacles; that Satan has place in our way…obstacles that can actually make us give up and just sit in the midst of a broken path.
 
As we enter this brand New Year, Jesus may be preparing to shift us onto a different path; but one thing we must always keep in mind; is that no matter what kind of a path He places us on; it’s only so we can be drawn closer to Him and our eternal home in heaven.
 
I don’t know about you…but I’m ready to leave the traveled roads behind and anticipate what God has in store for me next! For some it may not be as easy, as I’m conveying it to you tonight; but when we anticipate God’s next move…no matter what it may be; we will know that these paths will lead us to our eternal prize…awaiting us in heaven.
 
As we close our time together tonight, I would like to invite you to join me, as I step out of the year 2017, into a brand New Year…a year that is full of new possibilities…a year that will continue to lead us away from this world and into the arms of Jesus forever…AMEN!!
Blessings…as you enter the year 2018!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…
Diane
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