a new year, a new beginning... He makes ALL things NEW!!!

    I created a schedule last night with the Spirit leading, and it wasn't daunting at all... I just needed that reassurance that God was with me and was going to walk me through it - and He did just that!  Part of my newly minted schedule (I only planned out one week in advance) is a chunk of devoted "God time" - that's my number one, non-negotiable, gotta-get-back-to-it, top priority, main focus of the week... so every day for the next seven days I have a dedicated two hour block labeled for spending time with God.

    As planned, right about noon, I sat down with my notebook to pray, and frustratingly my hand began to cramp rather quickly... so here I am on the computer, which I think may have been the whole point - that God wants to use my writing to reach others, and He can't do that if I keep everything He talks to me about in my notebook and to myself...

   I just posted last night's conversation, and I am here to pick up what I began earlier today for this conversation about the brilliance of getting a fresh, sparkly, brand new start to everything... and that with God in the mix of things, we actually have that beautiful opportunity all year long, in every situation and circumstance... not just on New Year's Day.

1/1/15

It's a new day!  It's a new year!

I praise You that You are in the business of making ALL things NEW!

    Thank You for the sparkly freshness of a new start - the chance to begin again - the chance to set goals and intentions, to aspire, to hope and to dream... to look forward to what can be.  Thank You that You offer the chance to start anew not just at the start of a new year, but with each morning - the glorious promise that Your mercies are new to me with each daybreak - those I've never experienced before.  It is all so very exciting to contemplate.  To know that in my walk with You, even with all I've gone through, there is still so much I have yet to experience, so much that is totally new to me - it makes me so excited to see what You have in store for me this year and for the rest of my life in step with You.

    Thank You that in every circumstance, in every relationship - once I have made You a part of it [indeed, once I have surrendered it wholly to You and made You the center of it], I have the chance to "start over" - to begin again - whenever I need to do so.  Thank You that when mistakes are made, when feelings are hurt, it is not the end of the world because You offer the chance always to begin again - the ultimate REDO.  Thank You for showing me in my life how much You are about restoration and hope and light and love - and proving full well to me that truly ALL things are possible when You are in the equation.  That when relationships seem totally broken and hopeless, when hearts have been utterly destroyed, seemingly beyond mending... they are not beyond Your ability to repair.  Thank You for showing me that forgiveness has nothing to do with forgetting what has happened to me - and that forgetting is not required to move forward in relationships in love.  Thank You for proving to me that You are capable of bringing about healing and offering new beginnings for the hearts of those who love You and seek You.   

    Praise You, praise You for all the new You have brought into my life - and the brilliant HOPE You have shown me bringing about restoration in my relationships with my dad and Nancy - to a degree I never dreamed possible because I was so limited by my human understanding of the situation.   Thank You so much that You are never limited by my reasoning and that Your love truly never fails, never gives up, never runs out, and always hopes, endures and believes and stays with all of us.  I pray You would continue to work in the hearts of my family to draw us together in forgiveness and love.  I pray You would repair the broken and strained relationships with Your grace and mercy that through it all the restoration of our family would be a testament of Your transformative power and show how great and how deep and wide Your love is for Your children.

    You are so wonderful and so good - so holy and perfect and lovely.  My prayer today is that all in my life who have hardened their hearts toward You would be moved this year to be more open to hearing You call to them.  That those in my life who know You but have fallen away would be drawn back to You - into a meaningful personal relationship with You.  That those in my life who know and love You would fall all the more into a place of pure trust and faith in You and would move into a deeper active relationship with You.  That those in this world who have never heard Your name would have witnesses dispatched to them to share this Glorious Good News that they would have the opportunity to walk with You.   

    I pray more and more, let my life be a reflection of Your love and light - let there be less of me and more of You!  Be glorified by how I carry myself, how I speak and act.  May I be but a vessel that others come to know You more through the Holy Spirit working in and through me.  If there is anything that is keeping me from You, show me, Lord - help me understand so I can cast it aside and run entirely unhindered toward You with all that I am.   I love You, and I want my life to be Yours.  

In Your Precious Name,

Amen <3

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Because I believe so in the power of music to connect us to the heart of God,

I will make every effort to share a song each day

related to what Jesus has revealed to me in my prayers with Him...

If you need to know today that Jesus truly can make ALL things NEW in your life,

I encourage you to go to youtube and listen to
Elevation Worship

All Things New

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Be blessed! <3

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© K. Michelle Payne 2015