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The articles on this blog are open for view by all who seek inspirational reading. The link to this blog may be given to anyone seeking such reading material. However, all items on this blog are copyright protected, and may not be copied in any form without written permission of the author. Attempting to re-direct the traffic from this website through another website is considered internet piracy which is also strictly prohibited. Any deviations from these policies require the explicit written consent of the author.

The Next Step

The Next Step is about faith, hope and encouragement, focusing solely on taking the next step in life’s journey. If there is one thing I learned from the cancer, it is this: I cannot change my past, I cannot predict my future, but I can live wholly (and holy) in Christ today. Life really does come at us one step at a time. I know sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, but it is. It’s like running on a treadmill. The only safe step for me to make is the next one – there is simply no way I can run on the underside of the treadmill belt. Yet there were times I tried to do that with life, either looking back or looking forward, and forgetting that I am called to live today. Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV) says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

My prayer is that as you read through “The Next Step”, God will show you your next step. For me, the next step was forgiving my past, and eliminating the worry about what will happen tomorrow, and learning to stay focused on living a healthy, holy life today. I pray God will direct me through all my tomorrows; but, most importantly, that He will show me how to live life fully today. Jesus said in John 10:10 (NIV): “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” If the spirit of darkness had his way, we would all lose out on today by worrying about the past or the future, and failing to fully live today. That is one way he tries to pull us from the goodness God gave us through His Son, Christ Jesus.

I will be updating this website frequently, so please check back to see what God is doing as He directs my next step. And, I will end this as Paul did to the church in Corinth: “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV).

Mercy

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

There is a good possibility that the challenges I face today are challenges I have dealt with in the past. That seems to happen to me frequently, but it is an awesome thing to know that God's mercies are new every day. Thank you, Father, for being so faithful. I stand in awe of a God who cares that much!