Beyond the Threshold: Navigating Life’s Paths with God in the New Year

The New Year always comes with a time of reflection of the past and setting future goals. The first in the Divine Devotion Series is about pushing beyond the threshold to navigate life’s paths with God in the New Year.  “Out with the old, in with the new ” is what I’m being told.  As I sit down to write this devotion I’ve opened my Bible for inspiration.  I laugh because this is the third time TODAY I’ve opened it to the following scripture: 

Freedom in Christ  “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure you stay free.” Galatians 5:1

Moving from Past to Present in this New Year

Starting a new path comes with leaving what no longer serves us behind as we walk into this new year. Here are some things you need to leave behind to fully embrace the new, and become your best self :

1. Failures:  We all have them, so who really cares? We all fall down at times, but that’s how we learn and grow. Look at a baby learning how to walk. How many times did the baby fall down? All the while, their loving parents are there to encourage them that it’s going to be OK, and to try again. And that’s what a baby does..gets back up. This is true for you too. God is our parent, and He encourages us even in our time of failures. He wants us to walk towards him as a baby walks towards their parents.
2. Past Sins:  Take a moment right now and forgive yourself. We’ve all caused disappointment, whether it’s to those that we love or to our own selves. Know this is OK, and it’s expected. God is our Father and he forgives us, so forgive yourself. Again, think about if you have a child and how many times they’ve messed up. As their parent, we still forgive them and forget about it. God is our Father, therefore, when we ask for forgiveness he accepts and forgets about it, just as any parent would. 
3. What If’s?:  Stop second-guessing decisions. You can only live right now…In this moment of time! Not in the past, not in the future, but right now!! Don’t get stuck in repeat thinking of “what if I would’ve done x,y,or z?” It doesn’t matter at this point  if you would’ve chosen Path X or Path Z. Path X may have been a straight path to your desired outcome.  Whereas, Path Z may have had you stuck in a roundabout for years, just going in circles, but you do eventually get off to make it to your destination. It just took a little longer.  Just know, in this moment right now, you are right where you need to be.  Stop thinking of past mistakes.  It’s time to look at what’s ahead.  How to do that is to focus on the following:

Things to Carry With You into the New Year:

1. Love: Especially focusing on finding balance of giving and receiving. Many people tend to either love too much or take too much love. Balance is what’s most important. You need to fuel your own self with love (add gas to your gas tank) so you can help others and give love(driving your car).
2. Gratitude and Appreciation:  You may not be where you exactly want to be right now, but think about all the things you DO have. Make time and say aloud how grateful you are for them. You could be grateful for the roof over your head, the coffee you had this morning, or finding $5 randomly in the washing machine.  Believe me, you will be rewarded more when you start to give thanks to what you already have.
3. Peace: Due the state of the world we are currently in, it’s even more important to allow peace to encompass our hearts and to surrender.  Have peace and know that God is holding our hand as we walk with him into the unknown of this new period in our lives.  What a time to be alive!  Know whatever happens, “if God is for us, who can be against us?”  Romans 8:31

At the end of each devotion, I like to open my Bible and have the Divine pick a scripture that is fitting for what/ how we should end.  I ask God to pick and I just open my Bible.  It’s so funny how He works.  Today’s ending scripture is fitting considering we are talking about going into a New Year:

”Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Romans 12:2

So I encourage you to go into this year, allowing God to transform you and think about love, gratitude, appreciation and peace. God bless.