Are you ready for what God has made available to you in 2020? Have you prepared yourself for the next level of living?

Think of your life like a video game. There are levels of the game. No one ever gets through a level in one try. You try, you fail and you try again. You keep trying until you learn the challenges of the current level and you conquer them. Then, the next level is made available to you. And what do you do when you get there? You fail again, and you learn.

The only way to level up in this life is to learn the challenges and conquer them. God has a next level of living available to you in 2020.

My kids taught me about hacks you can buy in games now to rack up the points, acquire the weapons, and skip ahead to new levels. Hacks. Shortcuts. Secrets to success made faster and easier. Free game apps on our cell phones are worth millions of dollars … how? The sale of hacks. You don’t have to earn it, you can just buy it.

How did the makers of these games know their free apps would be a goldmine of money … because they know human nature. We’re all looking for the hack. How can I get to the next level faster and easier, without continuing to battle the level I’m on? We are so susceptible to the magic pill, the quick fix, the overnight rich. Who remembers the vibrating belts everyone wanted for Christmas about 10 years ago because they would magically give you abs without a single sit-up. Hmmmm … where are those today? Now we can just paint on the muscles and definition … it’s called contouring.

We want to be better. We want to level up. We want more. But how do we get it?

Let me tell you WHY we so desperately seek that next level of living and that advancement from where we currently are … are you ready for this?

BECAUSE WE WERE MADE FOR MORE.

WE HAVE MORE IN US.

Our souls are crying out for more because we were never meant to settle for our current level of life. We are meant to move forward. We are made to conquer.

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHEAT YOUR WAY THERE.

Within you is already everything you need to move to the next level of living. Within you is already everything needed to overcome and conquer the challenges you currently face. It’s already in you.

How am I so sure? As a follower of Christ, you have Christ living IN YOU. Honey, that’s what I would call FULLY EQUIPPED! The power of God resides in you. Remember Ephesians 3: 20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

In Joshua chapter 5 we read about God causing the walls of Jericho to crumble. Walls which had kept people out. Walls which could not be scaled and could not be torn down. Impossible walls … and God caused them to crumble with nothing more than marching around them and blowing trumpets. If the power of God can causes walls to fall, don’t you think that same power can cause your walls to fall? Those walls that you’ve run head on into and can’t seem to overcome … The struggle you’ve faced and felt defeated over … The habit you just can’t see to break … Will you trust the power of God living in you to start breaking down those walls in 2020? Will you be ready to step into a land you’ve never seen before? Are you prepared to breakthrough to the next level?

You’ve been playing little, surrendering to the defeat of your current level. May I remind you, that defeat was never meant to knock you out of the game. That defeat was meant to be your teacher, showing you what doesn’t work, therefore leading you to what does. Every struggle you’ve faced this year has served a purpose … a refining purpose. Don’t let the hardships of 2019 go to waste. Now it’s time to use those hardships to conquer this level and step into all God has available to you in 2020.

Things can change in this new year … or things can stay much the same in this new year. The truth is, it’s all available to you, you just have to stay in the game and keep getting better.

Don’t you know you have MORE in you? Don’t you know you were created for MORE? Don’t you know you deserve MORE?

If you’re not sure about having MORE in you and available to you, let me ask … do you ever feel bored and unsettled? Do you ever feel desperate for something to change, but too defeated to do anything about it? Do you ever feel jealous of the lives of others who have more and do more? Ahhhhh, let me tell you the source of all of those feelings … that is the MORE inside of you begging to see the light of day. This is the MORE your creator put within you, won’t you let it come out?

The question is, do you want the MORE God has available to you? Do you want it enough to demand more from yourself? Will you be disciplined enough to actually work for more? Or will you spend your time, energy and money searching for the hack?

Jesus warned us of the hack. He warned us of seeking the easy way like so many do, and he said it would lead to destruction.

Matthew 7: 13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Can we declare now we will stop seeking the easy way?

Can we declare now this new year is full of potential and we want to live up to it?

Can we declare now we will show up and walk that narrow path that leads to life, we won’t despise the hard work, we won’t quit in the struggles, and we will be faithful on our journey in 2020?

Remember, you are capable of hard things. You were actually made for hard things. The enemy tries to convince you change is too hard and you’re not capable of the next level of living. You know why he works so hard to keep you from leveling up in your life? Because the enemy knows if you ever break free of what is holding you back, if you ever overcome the obstacles of the here and now, you will rise up and step into the woman you were always created to be and he won’t have a chance to break you. His lies will no longer cause you to doubt. His schemes will no longer trip you up. He knows if you ever step into your truest potential, he will be defeated, not only in your life, but in generations to come.

Your opportunity is here, that’s why you’re hearing this. God has so much more available to you, and now is the time to decide once and for all you’re going for it! You will no longer settle for the ease of a lower level of living. You will rise up in 2020. You will battle, you will lose, and you will do it again until you conquer.