Turn the page

Old things crumble. God makes things new.

Greetings:
A new year has unfolded and there are many new opportunities to explore.
Pray that new doors will open for new experiences will come into our lives to improve our walk with God.
In Revelation 21:5  we read, “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
“I am making” is a present, on-going tense.
It doesn't say “I made all things new” or “I will make all things new.”
It says  “I am making – I am in the process of making – all things new.”
What better thing can we look forward to in the new year than a new you, a new me?
We can look forward to changing circumstances, or bettering conditions.
]What greater blessing can there be than being more sensitive or more understanding or kinder or more generous or more knowledgeable?
What better improvement could there be?
On this first day of the new year, let’s take to heart what God's Word is saying ––“I am making all things new.”
Look at Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV , it says "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!"
Today is a new year and a new day. It’s a day to turn the page.
 It’s hard, sometimes, to turn the page away from the chapter in life called 'Regret'. So many of us have regrets. I do.
We can say 'if only I had done this instead of that. If only I hadn’t done that! If only I’d worked harder. If only I’d done more. If only I’d said this. If only I hadn’t said that.'
It’s all under the category of regret.
Fra Giovanni Giocondo, who was an architect, engineer, and classical scholar wrote a beautiful letter to a friend on Christmas Eve, 1513 that should speak to us. It’s words were penned many years ago,  but remain meaningful.
He wrote: “I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No Heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take joy.”
It's a new year.
We can't go back and do over what happened last year, last month, last week, or yesterday.
We can only move forward. Jesus is making all things new. Feel his hand on yours, and turn the page. Turn the page away from regret. Keep the lessons learned, but turn the page away from regret.
Forgive yourself.
Turn the page, and ask God to help you.
With a fresh touch of God's loving grace we are new. The slate is clean. Move forward and turn the page.

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