God is good and His mercy endures forever.

GRADUATION

Life is a road of graduations. One after another. Multiple moments of moving your tassel from the right of your cap to the left of your cap in recognition of the accomplishment you have achieved and acknowledgement of the race you have finished. It's a reward for the journey you took on. Putting your head down, while resisting the urge to quit when the load seemed too heavy and the finish line seemed too far. Graduation is for those who have the determination and commitment to complete the task. It is for the obedient and for those who have courage to press through no matter what. It's for the ones who can follow the rules.  

Graduation -- is from God.

God designed you to be a graduate -- a continuous graduate in life. This is why you should always be looking to graduate from where you are. Having a hunger and an appetite to surpass your previous step. Growing spiritually, mentally, physically, and financially. That is the purpose of life.
Taking on new tasks to challenge yourself in an untapped area that will improve who you are as an individual.

There are many positives to graduating. Recognition, growth, new job opportunities, gifts, strength, self-esteem and so much more. Every time you graduate people see a new side to you, and you see a new side to yourself as well. You experience a new skin and a new glow when you graduate. Your confidence increases. Your self-esteem builds. Graduation releases the Lord's hands  to pour a new scoop of joy inside of you as a reward for the task. This is why graduation feels so good. God gives you joy in graduation because He loves you, but also, because He wants His children to continue to develop and pursue the next step in life. It is God’s way of giving you an incentive to keep going.

The apostle Paul was a multi-level graduate. He graduated many times throughout his travels in the Bible and walk with Christ. The reason why Paul was so successful was because he knew the secret sauce. He knew the power of obedience. One of Paul’s graduations was when he passed his test after being beaten and thrown into prison with Silas. Paul and Silas, after they were beaten, had an opportunity to complain and be depressed for their mistreatment, but they knew the power of worship and what the secrets of praise to the Lord would do for their life. While Paul and Silas were wrongfully thrown into prison, they prayed and sang multiple praise songs to the Lord in the midnight hour (The King James Study Bible, Acts. 16.25). The great faith of Paul and Silas in their praise and prayer ignited a forceful earthquake in the prison that opened all the doors and released and broke every man from his shackles (The King James Study Bible, Acts. 16.26). The Philippian security guard who was watching over the prisoners at the time was overtaken with fear because of the magnitude of what occurred. He came to Christ that same hour, falling down asking Paul and Silas “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas baptized the man, and after being freed from jail, they brought the Word of God to all in the security guards home to be saved also. In recognition of the security guard's graduation into the kingdom and Paul and Silas’ graduation, passing their test in prison,  a celebration was set in the home of the Philippian with meat and they all rejoiced with joy believing in God every person in the home.  

Graduation is based on obedience. It is what the Bible is all about too. When you graduated, it was because of your obedience. God ties His rewards to obedience. If you keep being obedient, you will keep graduating. And the rewards will continue as well.

The joy of graduation is evident from a young age. This is why babies smile when they figure out how to walk, taking the risk teetering from point A to point B hoping and believing they will make it to their destination without falling.  It is a journey. That smile a child has when he/she begins to walk is because the child is graduating. The joy of the Lord has been deposited into them. "For the  joy of the Lord is your strength." (The King James Study Bible. Nehemiah. 8.10). It was deposited into you as well, at every point in your life you have graduated. If you remember the feeling of graduation, there is something inside of you that desires to do more — to stretch further once you have crossed the finish line. This is from God.  He gives you an extra push to reach for more.

Graduation reflects growth. God wants you to continue to grow, so He can continue to reward you  with more. The measure of desire the Lord places in you once you graduate only lasts for so long. If you do not start a new goal or commit to another graduation, your life will become stagnant. This is what happens to some people once they graduate from dating to marriage, or from the minor league to the pros. They enjoy the good times of their graduation too much and too long  and do not set new goals to pursue and fall into a place of stagnation. Many people are stuck in this room. Make sure you do not become complacent after you graduate. Continue to dream.  Continue to develop. Write down new goals and move forward on them. Declare to yourself what you are going to do next. See yourself completing the next goal and do it. You are designed to keep going; to achieve heights you never thought you could. The sky is the limit. Have faith in God on your journey and do not forget that obedience and faith is why you graduated before, it will be the same reason why you do it again, and again.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (The King James Study Bible, 2 Timothy. 4.7).

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