Blessing 2023 and beyond...
There are blessings, but not all are easy.
Our good Lord's proffers a heavy challenge to you and I each day. He wants us to think of the faith-driven deepest, highest, and worthiest desires and longing of our hearts. He wants us to disrobe from our own chosen mantles and lay Christ's upon our shoulders, as Elisha took Elijah's.
Another's mantle is weighty to bear, far heavier than mine.
In fact:
Christians with the most spiritual depth are generally those who have been taken through the most intense and deeply anguishing fires of the soul. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He leads you through the desert or through a furnace of pain. (Anon)
Two mighty blessed 20th century prophets come to mind. Both familiar to a regular SoulSupply reader. A.W. Tozer was mentor to Leonard Ravenhill. We can but imagine what spiritual firepower they owned between them.
On Ravenhill's deathbed visiting acolyte requested Ravenhill to pass his mantle to him, prior to his death. Ravenhill's reply went something like this:
you do not know what you have asked. Are you willing to bear its deadly weight? The disciples' response was not recorded.
The Lord invited an imprisoned prophet, Jeremiah:
Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Would you bend your knee and clasp your hands this 2023 and pray Jeremiah 33:3 in your devotions each day?
The Last Word:
You will have no idea what your 2024 and beyond will look like, what blessings you can receive. Or, is it all just too hard?