"Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a NEW creature; OLD things have passed away; behold, all things
have become NEW." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You can’t afford to let
your past infect your present or sabotage your future! That’s why certain
things that refuse to be healed must be forsaken and forgotten! There are
people praising God in Church every Sunday who lie awake in the privacy of
their homes, digging up bones, picking at scars and reliving old memories. You
need to accept that some issues will never be resolved, and if you let them,
they’ll take up residence in your head and in your heart! [The what if's? The
should have's? The maybe's?] These will all drive you nuts…if you let them!
Listen to what Tony Evans writes: "Every day you get out of the
same OLD bed and go to the same OLD bathroom to look at the same OLD face in
the same OLD mirror. You go to the same OLD closet to choose from the same OLD
clothes, and then sit down at the same OLD breakfast table to eat the same OLD
breakfast. Then you go to that same OLD garage and get into that same OLD car
to head down that same OLD road to that same OLD job. There you work all day
for that same OLD paycheck, next to those same OLD people, supervised by that
same OLD manager.
Then you get back into that same OLD car and head back down
that same OLD road to that same OLD house. Once you are home you sit down in
that same OLD chair to watch that same OLD television. At the end of the day
you go to that same OLD bed and sleep that same OLD way, so you can get up the
next morning and start that same OLD routine all over again."
AS
OVERCOMERS, YOU ARE TO WALK IN NEW VICTORIES EVERYDAY! DAILY WAVING A FLAG OF
VICTORY IN THE DEVIL’S FACE! With that said you
have to ask, if "NEWNESS" is supposed to be so EVIDENT in the
life of a believer, WHY
ARE WE SO CRAZY-GLUED TO THE “OLD?" Far too many of us, are stuck in the
same old routines.
In case you
didn’t know, THAT
IS NOT THE MENTALITY OF AN OVERCOMER! OVERCOMERS ARE DAILY IN HIGH PURSUIT OF
SOME NEW CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME! LISTEN, GOD DID NOT CREATE US, AND HE MOST
CERTAINLY DIDN’T REDEEM US, TO LIVE A PURPOSELESS EXISTENCE! OVERCOMERS DON’T
EXIST—THEY LIVE AND THEY LIVE NOT JUST ABUNDANTLY—BUT MORE ABUNDANTLY! For the
Bible declares, "The thief does not come
except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have
life, AND THAT THEY MAY HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY" (John 10:10) What Is Currently Around Us Is Not All There Is For
Us! God Has An Awesome Customized Plan For Each Of Us! We Simply Need To Seek
It, Find It, And Live It To The Fullest!
The Scripture says,
"No
one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away
from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put NEW wine into old
wineskins, or else the wineskins are ruined. But they put NEW wine into NEW
wineskins, and both are preserved."
When something is PRESERVED
it means it's, "KEPT, MAINTAINED, AND
PROTECTED". And what’s being "KEPT, MAINTAINED, AND
PROTECTED?" YOUR NEWNESS! UNDERSTAND THAT THE OLD CAUSES DAMAGE, IT TEARS,
IT DESTROYS, IT PULLS AWAY, IT SEVERS, BUT THE NEW IS PRESERVED!
IN
A NUTSHELL: IT’S TIME TO BREAK-OUT OF THE OLD, AND BREAK-IN TO THE NEW!
Overcomers,
Crush That Devil Under Your Foot On This Current Level, Then Lift It And Put It
On The Next Level And The Next Devil And Attain Your Next New Victory!
Revelation
21:7, “He Who Overcomes Will
Inherit These Things, and I Will Be His God and He Will Be My Son.” (NASB).
Grab
a hold of these promises and you will never again settle to live the same ole
same ole life again!
“
We
were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might
[habitually] live and behave in NEWNESS of life.” (Romans 6:4 AMP)
IT’S
NOT ENOUGH THAT IT’S DEAD—YOU HAVE TO BURY IT!
Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “A man can’t ride your back
unless it’s bent.” So straighten yourself up
and straighten yourself out! You Will Not Stay This Way!
I do thank God for the Apostle Paul though. Because he was honest
enough to admit that he still struggled in certain areas. Unlike those with a
Pharisee spirit who condemn others for doing the very things they do
themselves, Paul confessed, “But I need something more!
For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within
me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I
don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do
good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do badly, but then I do it
anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has
gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.” (Romans 7:17-20 MSG).
Thanks Paul, from the rest of us who mistakenly thought that once we
became Christians, there would be no more struggles! Thanks for helping some of us
who thought that once we became Pastor, Elder, Teacher, Prophet, that the
struggles would be over. That once we reached our 20 years saved, 15 years in
ministry, 10 years healed and 5 years delivered, that the struggles would be
over. Well, I’m here to serve notice on you: The Struggles Are Not Over! They
continue! That’s why we were told to “Fight the good Fight of
faith…” (1 Timothy 6:12). Not that we fought (past
tense) the good fight. But this is a Current and Continual battle! YET, it’s
one that doesn’t have to defeat us.
Think about it: If you keep looking in the rear view mirror, you’re
going to eventually crash into something ahead of you! And I would hate for
that to be your blessing, your miracle, your breakthrough, your season or your
way out! You don’t want to damage what’s before you, by daydreaming about
what’s behind you! Sure, you have to utilize all the mirrors on your vehicle to
some degree. But keep in mind, the main one is looking straight ahead out the
windshield! Looking, anticipating, ready, expecting, and seeking for what yet
lies ahead! SO…“Forget about what’s
happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to
do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19 MSG). Adjust Your Focus On Your
Future! The Vision For Your Future Will Always Look Distorted When You View It
Through Eyes That Can Only See The Past!
Warning: Paying Attention to Your Past, Will Cost Your Present a Pretty
Penny and Your Future a Fortune! Don’t Bankrupt The Blessing Before You!
Tell yourself, all my past issues I’m taking to the tomb TODAY and I’m
burying it! Yes it hurts, it’s disappointing, it’s caused me severe suffering
and pain, but TODAY I’m burying it! The actions were painful, the words
were hurtful, the thoughts were discouraging, but I’m burying it TODAY! I
refuse to let it hang around in the funeral home. TODAY, I’m packing it up and
finding an available plot, and if not, I’m fed up enough to dig one myself! One
way or another this thing is being buried TODAY!
Saints, Whatever You Do, Know That You Don’t Have To Stay This Way! You
Don’t Have to Settle For This! You Don’t Have To Accept This! NO! Change Begins
With You, And Your Change Begins Today! The Old You Will Not Enter The New
Year, The New Month or the New Day! Enough Is Enough!
Albert Einstein said it best: “Nothing Happens Until Something Moves”
And That Something Is YOU! Get To Moving Out of the Old and Into the New…TODAY!
Wave
goodbye to 2017 and high-five 2018! Look in the mirror right now and tell
yourself: THE OLD ME IS FINALLY READY FOR NEW! Past....Rest In Peace!
Future....Get Ready For Revival!
Blessings
J.P. Olson
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