A New Door Opens: The Future Is As Bright As the Promises of God
For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9 KJV)
Don’t look back at vain regrets but soar to the mountaintop where you will see the divine promises: exceeding great and precious promises! Second Peter 1:4 promises divine presence, protection, and provision throughout the coming days. Look ahead, not behind!
Don’t pine over useless regrets, but gather the fragments that remain. We serve such a sympathetic Lord. He can turn past regrets into new promises. God can turn twelve baskets of regrets into twelve baskets of new promises. Put your failures into His basket, and He will turn them into blessings.
In every difficulty is an opportunity, and in every opportunity, there’s a difficulty. But turn your eyes to the great opportunity, which lies before you. Do not waste your time on past regrets. The god of this world blinds our minds, but let us have the mind of Christ. May we see the new year for what it really is: a great door opened for us.
God has put within every believer a deep longing and craving for fellowship with our Creator. The greatest joy this side of heaven is fellowship with God. No wonder why so many people are miserable and at the breaking point. We were made to walk with God. At the beginning of the new year, our Heavenly Father calls each of us to a closer fellowship with Him, which will then result in an open door to greater usefulness for Christ. Those who walk with God are the ones that He uses greatly.
The pleasures and pursuits of this world are so empty; they will not fulfill the true believer. It has been said that a pessimist is one who sees difficulty in every opportunity, whereas an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty. Let this be a year of seeing opportunities rather than difficulties. If we have eyes to see, there are open doors everywhere. Leave your regrets from last year behind, and remember that the future is as bright as the promises of God.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV)
(Thoughts taken from Awake, My Heart by J. Sidlow Baxter)
We Would See Jesus,
Karen Pulley
PS - It’s not too late to join the book of Acts study, “Encountering Jesus,” resuming Tuesday, January 16. For more information, click here. We’d love to study and fellowship with you!
Lastly, we invite you to find encouragement from C.T. Studd’s poem, “Only One Life, ‘Twill Soon Be Past,” by clicking here. It was often quoted by Pastor Chuck Smith and beloved by many.