As I embark on the eve of my 51st birthday, today’s Small Straws encapsulates my view of the last 50.
I have often spoken that each lesson, each experience was a class in God’s University of Biblical Living. A university I entered on the day I accepted Christ as my Savior. Twenty-two years ago today, I made the public confession through Baptism under the pastoral guidance of Dr. Curtis T Harding.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, Jeremiah 29:11 NIV.”
From the teaching of St. Albans Baptist Church; to its continuation at Walker Memorial Baptist Church and Evangelism Explosion Ministry, to the education from Nyack College Biblical Studies, the foundational teaching for God’s University was set.
See, God knew the path I would walk before my birth. When He knitted me in my mother’s womb, the syllabus I would need was created.
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book, Psalm 139:16 NIV.”
These courses were designed to ensure that the phrase “Your Voice Is Your Power,” is more than the slogan of Beautiful Village Inc. But a complete embodiment of me. God has given me a voice to speak for His hurt and crying daughters whose voice has been silenced.
Have I passed each class with a perfect “A”? Though I strive to walk according to God’s word, only Jesus was able to be of no sin. I have made mistakes. I have veered off the narrow road a time or two. But, my loving Father as redirected my missteps as He heard my cry for forgiveness and restoration.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NIV.”
So no man can stand judgment over my life. No one can hold my future as a ransom for my past. Each day I strive to meet the will of God. I seek to be a light in these troubling dark times.
So tomorrow, I will be promoted to the next grade. Tomorrow I will acknowledge the spiritual muscles that have been developed over the last 50 years and use them as a launching pad into my future.
#ReleaseandSoar
#YourVoiceIsYourPower
#Celebrating51Years
JANUARY 30, 2020
SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by MARSHA BURNS
Do not waste time on regrets from the past. What’s done is done! Rather, use past experiences to gain wisdom and to modify your views and behavior presently and for the future. Beating yourself up will do no good. Set yourself to seek Me for the best way to deal with every situation you encounter, says the Lord. Position yourself to exhibit My nature.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.