"God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that."

                             1 Corinthians 1:9 - Message Bible

     Everyday should be an adventure in the Holy Spirit. Something on the inside of us should be seeking, searching, and uncovering something new and fresh in our relationship with the Lord continually.

God has the vast unknown awaiting us, if we will only determine to become adventuresome.

That's what we have standing before us on this final day of the year. As we cross over, we need to capture the moment by making plans to pursue new territories, new explorations, and new adventures in God.

     Just stop and think for a moment what it actually means to be a Christian. The Bible tells us, "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). The idea of newness is reflected both in form and in substance. In other words, we were made into something brand new with a superior form and far better condition and of a new kind, unparalleled and unprecedented in substance from anything previously existent. Being a new creature means we have been made into a new species - a "one-of-a-kind-that-never-existed-before" species. All the vast dimension of being in Christ is so far beyond our natural understanding that it takes the Holy Spirit to fathom its depths. Essentially, our expeditions in life should center around the discovery of all that we have been made as sons of the Living God. We have untapped resources that lie within us. We have expanding territories to discover that encompass more than our natural eyes can see. This life is far more than just an existence. It is a journey - an adventure of major proportions!

     God not only made us into a new creature, he gave us a new nature and a new mind (the mind of Christ). We are to live by a new law (the law of love), and our steps are to take us on to a new path (paths of righteousness). The glory of this "newness" never ends! That's why the Bible tells us we are being renewed day by day! This glory is so far surpassing that it is certain that what God holds for us today can and should so far exceed what we experienced yesterday that nothing can compare to it. And what he has for us tomorrow is meant to transcend what we experience today. When Paul penned the words: "But we all, with open face beholding in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18), he had in mind this changing glory of newness!   All that we have been made into, in Christ, holds the splendor of heaven. It is a treasure contained within these earthen vessels(4:7), the magnitude of which cannot be realized all at once. We must become partakers of it measure by measure, portion by portion, and degree by degree.

     But we will never know the deeper side to this life unless we purpose to pursue it! That is why it must become an adventure. We must go beyond ourselves. We must contend for what awaits us! We must determine to expand our horizons - to stretch our limitations. I believe with all my heart that the discovery of new adventures must become compelling. It must demand all our efforts - bringing us into a place of complete surrender. We must make God's eternal purpose our determined purpose in life!