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A Toast To You

by Todd Horne
12/31/2010 / Christian Living

God reminds us of our past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present. Oswald Chambers says this in "My Utmost For His Highest" at the end of his December 31 entry.

Chambers says that God is the God of our yesterdays, and that he allows us the memory of our past to turn those experiences into a ministry of spiritual growth for the future.

A ministry of spiritual growth . . . It literally blows my mind that God can take my past and all the things I have done and, through me, by using me, let those experiences not only serve to continually grow and mature me spiritually, but that it can and it will be a ministry of spiritual growth for others. My past the good, the bad and the ugly God uses it to spiritually grow other people. Wow!!!

That, my friend, is what I call a toast-topper the toast of the evening, not just this year, but every year.

December 31 New Year's Eve. Tonight, all across the world people will kiss another and a year will fade into memory, while another will come into full view, fresh and appealing. Have you ever noticed how hope fills the air on New Year's Eve? It's exhilarating, hopes and dreams.

Everybody apparently loves hopes and dreams.

Did you know that God has hopes and dreams? That's what the Bible tells us. God has hope and dreams. He is not as removed from us as I think most of us tend to think He is. Quite the contrary, God knows every single detail there is to know about us, every single thought we have and every single motive and intent, whether we understand it or not. God knows all these things about us and He still loves us, more than we can imagine.

When you realize the truth of our position in God's heart and yes, God has a heart and a mind, too it really isn't that hard to grasp that God's hopes and dreams are for you.

You see, God does not sit around dreaming up mere resolutions for others like we have a tendency to do, both for others and ourselves. God does not invest His hopes and dreams in end goals.

Resolutions like, "I'm gonna quit smoking" or "I'm going to lose 20 pounds" or "I'm going to be nicer to that jack-wad neighbor of mine" are harmless, I suppose. But they are really empty, if you know what I mean.

Resolutions are too often end goals without any substance, without a plan. God has a plan. God's hopes and dreams for you and I are not mere resolutions, rather God is resolved to substantially process His hopes and dreams for you through His plans. God is a worker. He is a doer and he is a communicator.

11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land." Jeremiah 29:11-14

So, God has a very specific plan for you. He wants to give you a future and a hope where you and He will have a very openly communicative life with one another, one where when you are talking with Him, He will listen. Do you have ever feel like God isn't listening to you when you pray right now. Well, it's pretty clear that when you are following His plan, He says He will listen. If you feel like God is not listening to you right now, you might be right. That would mean, you're not following His plan.

To start living out the plans God has for you, you are going to have to find Him so that He can share this plan for your life with you. Don't worry about your past remember, He is going to use that past, whatever it is, to grow you spiritually and to have your past experiences, whatever they are, minister to other people's spiritual growth. That's how God works!

Wherever you are in your walk with God this applies. Seek Him, look for Him with everything that you have in you, wholeheartedly, and He promises that you will find Him. This means you will know Him and you will begin simultaneously living His plans for you. Your captivity will end because He will have ended it and your fortunes will be restored.

Did you know you have a fortune? Well, you do? You and I are rich beyond measure and beyond our imaginations. God's plan for you, His hope and dream for you, is that you would come home to Him so that fortunes untold can be restored.

These are my hopes and dreams for you, too, on this New Year's Eve, which is also my birthday. Four years ago on New Year's Eve, and after a period of time of honestly and wholeheartedly searching for God, He showed Himself to me during a service. With open and loving arms, He welcomed me Home. I ran to Him as fast and as hard as I could.

I have never looked back.

May God bless you and yours! This is my prayer. And, this will be my toast, too. Happy New Year!!!

Todd Horne is a husband, a father, a writer, editor and publisher. He lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter and is a member of Crossroads Church. Todd publishes http://www.DerDiZ.com in his free time.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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