"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)
Let’s reflect on “The New Normal”
Far too many of us, are stuck in the same old routines, forgetting that Isaiah said, "do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing..." then Paul takes us into the New Testament with this statement, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
And nothing is clearer than Romans 6:4, "therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." -- did you catch that last part? "walk in newness..."!
Walk implies activity. As overcomers, we are to walk in new victories every day! Daily waving a flag of victory in the devil’s face! If "newness" is supposed to be so evident in the life of a believer, why are we so crazy-glued to the “old?"
Overcomers are daily in high pursuit of some new challenges to overcome! God did not create us, or redeem us, to live a purposeless existence!
Overcomers don’t exist—they live and they live not just abundantly—but more abundantly! The Bible says, "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!
In a nutshell: it’s time to break-out of the old, and make way for the new normal!
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!
Listen: 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!
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!
The Apostle Paul 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,
17 So I am no longer the one who is doing the things I hate, but sin that lives in me is doing them.
18 I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don't do it.
19 I don't do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don't want to do.
20 Now, when I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it. (Romans 7:17-20 (GW)
Thanks Paul, from the rest of us who mistakenly thought that once we became Believers there’d 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.
Life’s evidence serves notice on us: The struggles are not over! They continue!
That’s why we were told to “FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH…” (1 Timothy 6:12).
A current and continual battle -- that doesn’t have to defeat us.
Listen, Paul continues to advise us. He says, “consider yourselves to be dead to sin.” (Romans 6:11). In other words, stop pursuing dead issues; admit them, quit them and forget them!
Instead of struggling to change what can’t be changed, let God’s transforming power sweep through your life and sever the ties between you and all those tormenting thoughts from your past.
Because your past is not just what happened 20 years ago, 15 years ago or even 1 year ago or 4 months ago. What happened 60 seconds ago is still considered the past!
Many of us aren’t just wrestling with decade old stuff, but we’ve got stuff that happened this morning, and our day hasn’t been right since! Let that thing go! You can’t go back and change it or rearrange it, so let it be. Cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it!
Think about it: if you keep looking in the rearview 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, seeking for what yet lies ahead!
Be alert, be present. 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!
Truth is: funerals are for the living; they give people an opportunity to accept that their loved one has gone on and the relationship as they knew it is now over. So, as you embark on a new day with a new perspective and new determination, isn’t it time you stopped carrying the past (your yesterdays) around on your back?
We can all see what you’re carrying is dead, so why can’t you see it?! Do us all a favor and take that thing to a burial site and bury it!
Refuse to let old memories negotiate a deal with the new you! Bury them, and do it today! You can’t afford a secret love affair with a corpse!
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!
Get to moving out of the old and into the new normal…today!
Let's just get on with becoming the new and wonderful person God has already crafted us to be. Let's move from who we were to who we are meant to be!
Trust Him, He’ll help us navigate this “new normal”
Reflections Ministries / Calvin Wyatt / e-mail:cixmo@aol.com / Follow us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn
Let’s reflect on “The New Normal”
Far too many of us, are stuck in the same old routines, forgetting that Isaiah said, "do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing..." then Paul takes us into the New Testament with this statement, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
And nothing is clearer than Romans 6:4, "therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." -- did you catch that last part? "walk in newness..."!
Walk implies activity. As overcomers, we are to walk in new victories every day! Daily waving a flag of victory in the devil’s face! If "newness" is supposed to be so evident in the life of a believer, why are we so crazy-glued to the “old?"
Overcomers are daily in high pursuit of some new challenges to overcome! God did not create us, or redeem us, to live a purposeless existence!
Overcomers don’t exist—they live and they live not just abundantly—but more abundantly! The Bible says, "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!
In a nutshell: it’s time to break-out of the old, and make way for the new normal!
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!
Listen: 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!
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!
The Apostle Paul 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,
17 So I am no longer the one who is doing the things I hate, but sin that lives in me is doing them.
18 I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don't do it.
19 I don't do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don't want to do.
20 Now, when I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it. (Romans 7:17-20 (GW)
Thanks Paul, from the rest of us who mistakenly thought that once we became Believers there’d 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.
Life’s evidence serves notice on us: The struggles are not over! They continue!
That’s why we were told to “FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH…” (1 Timothy 6:12).
A current and continual battle -- that doesn’t have to defeat us.
Listen, Paul continues to advise us. He says, “consider yourselves to be dead to sin.” (Romans 6:11). In other words, stop pursuing dead issues; admit them, quit them and forget them!
Instead of struggling to change what can’t be changed, let God’s transforming power sweep through your life and sever the ties between you and all those tormenting thoughts from your past.
Because your past is not just what happened 20 years ago, 15 years ago or even 1 year ago or 4 months ago. What happened 60 seconds ago is still considered the past!
Many of us aren’t just wrestling with decade old stuff, but we’ve got stuff that happened this morning, and our day hasn’t been right since! Let that thing go! You can’t go back and change it or rearrange it, so let it be. Cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it!
Think about it: if you keep looking in the rearview 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, seeking for what yet lies ahead!
Be alert, be present. 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!
Truth is: funerals are for the living; they give people an opportunity to accept that their loved one has gone on and the relationship as they knew it is now over. So, as you embark on a new day with a new perspective and new determination, isn’t it time you stopped carrying the past (your yesterdays) around on your back?
We can all see what you’re carrying is dead, so why can’t you see it?! Do us all a favor and take that thing to a burial site and bury it!
Refuse to let old memories negotiate a deal with the new you! Bury them, and do it today! You can’t afford a secret love affair with a corpse!
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!
Get to moving out of the old and into the new normal…today!
Let's just get on with becoming the new and wonderful person God has already crafted us to be. Let's move from who we were to who we are meant to be!
Trust Him, He’ll help us navigate this “new normal”
Reflections Ministries / Calvin Wyatt / e-mail:cixmo@aol.com / Follow us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn