Isaiah 65:17

For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.

This verse is a promise for the future when God will create a new heaven and new earth upon the return of Christ. It also, however, gives us insight into how God works when He is doing something new in our lives. We all see chapters close in our life – some gladly and others with weeping and mourning. God moves us through stages and continues to create something new for us while we fulfill our purpose in Him.

We see here that the past events will not be remembered or come to mind. God will certainly wipe away every tear and heal our hurtful memories. In order for us to move forward into our God-given destiny, however, we must be willing to let go of the past so we can step into the new. Holding on to things from the past will delay us into transitioning into the new thing God wants to do in us and for us.

Some things of the past that hold us back are sorrow, regret, failure, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, hurt, and offense. They have no part in the glorious new place God has designed for us, and we must leave them where they properly belong – in the past and at His feet. We may often want to let go of some things but not know how. I’ve found that those are the things we have to take to God in His throne room and submit them to Him. Ask Him to take them from you if necessary. He is able to heal and bind any wounds that have been afflicted upon you. Leave them at His feet, and don’t consider or think about them any longer. He is now in charge of them. When you do, He will begin to open doors that propel you into your destiny and start chapters that give you renewed life.

Let go of the past, and step into the new thing God is doing in you and for you. The old things are not worth holding, and your grasp on them will not change things; it will only prevent you from fully embracing the new thing God has for you. Rejoice that He has something new for you and that the pain from your past can truly be the past. Hallelujah!

Have a blessed day!

1 Kings 18:41

Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”

God had pronounced judgment upon Israel through a drought because the people had turned to Baal worship by the influence of Jezebel. Baal was the god of rain, prosperity, and fertility, and the prophets of Baal sought to please him in order for the land to prosper. God decided to send a drought to prove that Baal could not bless them with rain or prosperity, and that He was the true God.

Elijah warned Ahab that the land would not see rain again until he told him it would. After a long time of suffering from the drought, Israel continued to worship Baal in an effort to receive rain. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, and God consumed his sacrifice, while the prophets of Baal received no response from their god. God proved Elijah was a true prophet and He was the true God. In turn, the people immediately turned to worship God, and Elijah slaughtered their prophets of Baal.

When the people turned from Baal to worship God, Elijah knew rain was coming. God promised him He would end the drought. At first, there was no sign of rain, but Elijah sensed it in his spirit. Sometimes, we can sense a breakthrough coming, even though there is no sign of it. Such peace is assurance from God that He is sending His blessing. You may first sense it in your spirit before you ever see it in the natural. Believe it, speak it, stand firm in your faith, and look for it.

Elijah sent his servant to look for signs of a rain cloud. The servant went but found nothing. Elijah sent him back to look every time he returned with a negative report. On the seventh time, the servant saw something – a rain cloud the size of a man’s hand coming from the sea. While small, Elijah knew this was confirmation the blessing of rain was on its way, so he warned Ahab to take his chariot down Mt. Carmel to safety before the rain came.

When we let go of false sense of securities and things that distract us, God sends rain where we have experienced drought. He’s just waiting for us to realize He is our true sense of blessing. While you might not see anything at first, God will speak peace and joy to your spirit. You will know that you know your breakthrough is on its way. Just stay in prayer, as Elijah did, and believe God’s word to you. A breakthrough of blessing in on its way! I can sense it now! Look for a rain cloud. It is out there somewhere, heading in your direction.

Have a blessed day!

Romans 7:21-25

So I discover this principle: When I want to do good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

Have you ever wondered why you keep falling into the same traps of sin, mistake, and failure – or is it just me? In your mind, you know better, but your flesh overtakes you at times and you stumble or fall. Paul had the same problem, and he encourages us to take heart. We cannot overcome sin by our own flesh, and for this reason, Jesus came to die.

Jesus promised to send His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and He assured us He would be with us until the end of the age, which has not yet come. But just as Jesus is always with us, we must remember that evil is with us, too, because we are flesh and blood. We may still have emotions that run wild or are injured that cause us to sin. We may still encounter fear that drives us to do the wrong thing. As I once heard Christine Caine say in a sermon, the Devil speaks loudly. At times, his voice may drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit in us, which often speaks in the gentle whisper of a still, small voice.

If you have loud voices of condemnation ringing in your ears today, that is not the voice of the Holy Spirit. Paul continues in Romans 8:1-2 to explain that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Simply put, God knew you would sin and fail, and that is why He sent Christ to die for you. He knew you would make mistakes as a Christian. He does not condemn you for those mistakes; He transforms you through His Holy Spirit, and that work is a process. Submit to the process, and rest assured that God does not condemn you. You are loved, accepted, called, highly favored, and redeemed! You are His!

Have a blessed day!

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez and said, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not cause any pain.” And God granted his request.

The word, “honorable,” used here means, “heavy.” Jabez was a heavy baby, which explains why his mother experienced such pain in childbirth. By naming him “Pain,” however, she cast a shadow over his future since names were tied to a person’s character and destiny. Jabez would forever be known for pain unless God intervened and blessed him.

Jabez saw limitations in his name. He had nothing to do with his weight at birth or the pain his mother experienced. He could do nothing about his mother’s choice of a name for him. He could, however, cry out to God concerning his limitations. With God’s blessing, he could be fruitful and productive in spite of his name. God granted his request.

Our pain can limit us, as well. We can hide behind our pain, carry it as a trophy, or surrender it to God and ask Him to bless us in spite of it. Jabez didn’t want pity; he wanted blessing. He asked for grace and received it. He asked for favor and received it. He asked for blessing and received it. He asked for protection and received it. We can ask for these things, too. Only God’s blessing can help us overcome the pain we carry and the stigma attached with it.

Determine to live beyond your limitations today by asking God to bless you, extend your border, and to keep you from harm. You cannot overcome your limitations in your own strength, but God’s blessing upon you can propel you beyond the confines of your circumstances. Your limitations can become opportunity for God to be glorified if you will humble yourself and cry out to Him, as Jabez did. Ask God to bless you and make you a blessing. Jabez received such a request, and so can you.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah.

2 Chronicles 18 tells the story of Ahab as he went into battle against the Arameans to take Ramoth-Gilead against God’s instruction. In an effort to hide himself from the enemy, he took off his kingly garments and disguised himself as a soldier. He convinced his partner in battle, King Jehoshaphat, to wear his kingly robe. At first, the enemy troops went after Jehoshaphat, but God drew them away from him. One enemy soldier drew his bow and aimlessly shot a random arrow into the air. This one, random, aimless, unintentional arrow hit Ahab in the chink of his armor, delivering a death wound. Hiding from God is never the answer to our dilemmas; on the contrary, hiding in God is our refuge.

Whether we have deliberately rebelled, made an error in judgment, or are the target of enemy attack, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to run to God. In repentance we turn back to God and receive forgiveness for sin, whether intentional or unintentional. If the enemy is trying to steal our peace, our joy, or our goods, running to God provides refuge. We can find a safe hiding place in Him, but there is no safe place outside of Him. Nothing is hidden from His sight, and we literally have no place to hide that He doesn’t already see. The quicker we make peace with Him, the safer we will be from enemy attack.

If something is troubling you today, seek refuge in God. He is your one true deliverer! Repent of anything that you see that has caused you to fall, and receive forgiveness. No one can protect you like He can, and no one can rectify any wrong like He can. He is your truly safe place, and He will grant you shouts of joy as He delivers you from your true enemy.

Have a blessed day!

Romans 11:22

Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you if you remain in His kindness. Otherwise you will be cut off.

Paul explained to the church at Rome that Israel’s unbelief caused them to be cut off from the olive tree of God’s kingdom. Because of their unbelief, God grafted in the Gentiles as branches. His kindness is designed to lead us to repentance, and as long as we remain in that kindness, we remain in Him.

Unbelief works as a virus to cause a branch to die, creating deadwood. Deadwood will only drain the living branches. In order to keep the entire tree healthy, God will prune away the deadwood in order to preserve what is still thriving. Since He is a miracle working God, He can also graft back in any dead limb that repents and turns to Him.

Expect God to prune away any branches in your own life that are dead and draining those that still have life. While it may be painful, He is actually preserving you. If you feel you are nothing but deadwood, know today that our God is a restoring God. He has the ability to graft deadwood back into the tree and cause it to live and flourish again. Hallelujah!

If you are struggling with unbelief today, simply repent and turn to God. Joel 2:25-26 gives us an amazing promise that God will restore what the locusts have eaten in our lives. The deadwood we have created can be restored! Verse 26 tells us that He deals wondrously with us. The Message translation explains it further: The God who has set you back on your heels in wonder.

God still wants to amaze you. He will deal wondrously with you. Believe Him today for the restoration you need. He extends His kindness to anyone who seeks Him, and that includes you.

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 56:3-5

No foreigner who has converted to the LORD should say, “The LORD will exclude me from His people,” and the eunuch should not say, “Look, I am a dried-up tree.” For the LORD says this: “For the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold firmly to My covenant, I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give each of them, an everlasting name that will never be cut off.”

This passage is a word of comfort to anyone who is in Christ and serving God, yet feels outcast, unqualified, disqualified, or forgotten. God knows who you are and each contribution you have made to His kingdom. Your efforts are not in vain, and He will honor you.

The foreigner and the eunuch are both examples of people who felt God’s judgment for their sins. Foreigners were non-Israelites who had converted to Judaism, and the eunuchs were male exiles who were castrated so they could serve in the Babylonian and Persia courts. Here, however, we see a replacement of God’s judgment with salvation. The good news for us is that we don’t have to keep the same covenant of sacrifices and burnt offerings they did. Christ is our sacrifice, and we live under God’s new covenant of grace. God judged our sin at the cross, and when we come to Him in repentance, He forgives our sins. We now have the righteousness of Christ, and God accepts us. We are no longer outcasts, unqualified, disqualified, or forgotten. We have a place in His house, and He will honor our service to Him. Hallelujah!

God knows where you have served and where you feel as if your efforts don’t matter. You are valuable to Him, and He will honor you. He qualifies you, and He promotes you. Your service to Him is never in vain. Continue the good work He sets before you, and know that it will produce a harvest at the appointed time.

Have a blessed day!

Revelation 12:10

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have now come, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out: the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

In the verses just previous to this passage, war broke out in heaven, and God’s angelic army defeated Satan’s entourage. God cast him down to earth, where he was extremely angry and began to wreak havoc on God’s people because he knew his time was short. The reason we see so much evil in this world right now is because the Devil has already been defeated, and he is doing all he can to destroy God’s people before he is ultimately thrown into the Lake of Fire, where he will receive his final judgment.

Satan’s goal is to destroy the relationship we have with the Father. He tempts us and lures us into sin using our own weaknesses, then he uses that sin to accuse us to God by revealing how bad we are. He will use our sin or his demons to cause problems in our life and place thoughts in our head to make us think God is punishing us. He tries to convince us that we must pay for our own sins and that we will never be good enough. He is the father of lies! When we turn to God in repentance, the authority of the Messiah breaks the power of the devil to accuse us. Instead of punishment, God offers us grace to overcome.

Paul struggled in weakness, just as we do. He acknowledged that he was not perfect and admitted to a thorn in the flesh. While he pleaded with God to take away his weakness so he might better serve Christ, God responded to him with a message of grace: My grace is sufficient for you. God’s grace in light of Christ’s sacrifice was all he needed to overcome and fulfill the purpose to which God had called him.

The Message Bible has the most comforting and encouraging words regarding our weakness and Christ’s strength I’ve seen. Please read carefully Paul’s words of 2 Corinthians 2:10:

Once I heard that (God’s grace is sufficient), I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer; these limitations that cut me down to size – abuse, accidents, oppositions, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over. And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Thank you, Lord, for your powerful grace. Enough said!

Have a blessed day!

Philippians 1:12

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the advancement of the gospel…

Paul wrote to the Philippian church from prison. His situation was not ideal, to say the least. Because he was imprisoned and unable to travel and preach, however, he had time to write letters – very important letters that still speak to us today and make up the greater part of the New Testament. Yes, what happened to Paul certainly did result in the advancement of the gospel, and his letters are still advancing the gospel and encouraging Christians around the world on a daily basis. Isn’t it amazing what God can do from the confinement of a prison? God is not confined by our limitations!

We are ordained and anointed to undergo trials. Our faith cannot grow unless we endure the struggles of life. Our difficulties, however, enable us to minister to others who encounter the same trials. When we gain victory from a trying time, we give hope to someone else who is struggling. Because Paul was imprisoned, he could speak to the Philippians about enduring difficult times. His word was credible. Our struggle serves to lend credibility to our own ministry, and when we can learn to see our problems from this perspective, we gain momentum in claiming the victory.

Whatever your struggle is today, dare to look at it differently. Your purpose is to learn something to share from it that will glorify God and enhance His kingdom. You have a ministry tool in front of you. Take whatever the Devil has done to you, and beat the fire out of him with it! Dare to tell your story, including your struggle. God is not finished with you, and your victory comes when you own your problems and use what you’ve learned to help others. To God be the glory in it all!

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 8:2-3

Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.”

The leper knew Jesus had the power to heal him. Without a miracle from Jesus, he was doomed to live as an outcast and waste away in his disease. Out of desperation, he turned to Jesus with the faith to be healed.

Notice carefully the leper’s request. He wished to be made clean. I think many times we turn to God begging for a miracle, but do we wish to be made clean? Herein, lies a turning point for anyone desiring a change in a bad situation. Do you want God to change your circumstances, or do you truly want to change?

In the movie, Fireproof, we see an example of the need for a miracle and change. The main character is a very self-centered and demanding man wanting a miracle for his situation, but he thinks the problem is with his wife. In his eyes, she is not giving him the respect he deserves, so he treats her badly and considers ending the relationship. He wants God to change her so he can be happy. In order to change the situation, however, God has to change him. If he wants his wife to respect him, he must be respectable and show her the love she deserves. He needs to be made clean.

You may be in a situation where you need a miracle. Do you want God to change your circumstances so you can be happy, or are you willing to be made clean? Unless God cleanses you from all unrighteousness, your situation will only become infected again. You may not have the faith to believe your situation can change, but you can always be sure that Jesus can make you clean! When He does, anything can happen.

When the leper was made clean, he could live a different life. Surrender to God today, and be willing to be made clean. You can live a different life and see a miracle when you are willing to change. Until then, you could waste away in your wait. Jesus is willing to make you clean, and He will do it immediately.

Have a blessed day!