It’s Time to Advance - Spiritual Nugget 63

As the end of this year approaches, I am reminded of specific types of puzzles such as cryptic, logic, or trivia. Each puzzle is structured to be solved, but extracting the solution to solve it may necessitate the puzzle solver to come up with vague guesses, have specific knowledge about a particular topic, or follow and understand the well-defined rules of the puzzle design.
 
This has a very familiar ring to it when we preview all of the happenings that occurred during the year. Finding solutions that would sustain an entire population in an environment that has seen more change than a chameleon, more bitterness than coffee beans, more mental and physical stress than overwork, and more upheaval and unrest than a boiling pot of water, has seemed like a puzzle teaser.
 
The inspiring part about the close of this year is the upcoming opportunity for a new beginning. Beginnings signal the dawn or the inauguration of something new. Genesis, which means beginning, is the story of the creation of the world. It recounts the beginning of the world, and the origination of mankind. It illustrates the eternal promises of God’s love for all humanity.
 
This New Year affords us the choice to make tremendous strides in moving forward, advancing, and carrying onward in our life journey. How do we do this?

• Seek a relationship with God.
• Decide what’s most important--family, children?
• Become enthusiastic about staying healthy--exercise, sufficient sleep, nutritional foods.
• Help others, love others, the list is endless.
• Avoid arguments as often as possible.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Laugh or smile often. Count the smiles you get back.

 
The Apostle Paul reminds us to forget what is behind and go forward to win “the higher prize.” (Phillipians 3:13-15) Take an inventory of your journey during the year. If particular situations added valued to your life, store them in your tools of the heart to advance you forward. If they tracked dirt into your heart or added unwanted clutter, delete them.
 
Make this New Year an award-winning year! The Journey Forward award has a nice ring to it.

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