“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18–19 KJV
God is all about doing new things. Yet we as people, and most especially the Church, easily fall into the trap of doing things as we’ve always done them.
This is a season to embrace the new thing God is about to do in the earth. But to do that, you must position yourself to move in tandem with His Spirit.
As long as you are bound by the commonplace—cultural traditions, the opinions of others, or even your own comfortable patterns and routines, you will miss the new thing God is doing.
If we are to fully embrace the new, it is imperative that we first walk out of the old.
I believe we are in a time of great transition that is bringing incredible shifts and changes—both in the Church as well as in the world at large.
Of course you don’t have to be prophetic to discern the disruptive, climactic changes taking place across the earth both geopolitically and meteorologically.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Romans 8:22
Yet as I travel the globe as an ambassador of God’s Kingdom, there is a deeply felt sense that the entire cosmos is in a state of transition.
“Transition” is a word used to describe the most difficult phase of childbirth: the phase of labor just before the pushing stage when contractions become very strong and erratic.
What is particularly notable about this stage are the overwhelming feelings of confusion, uncertainty, and of being unable to cope.
Have you ever felt this way?
The good news is that if you have, you could be about to give birth to greater potential—to the promise of God you’ve been carrying.
How expectant are you?
If you are great with expectation, you know some things will have to change.
You will have to give up some things—old habits, behaviors, and ways of doing things. You may need to act, eat, and dress differently; and you will have to make way for some new things in your environment and schedule.
The trouble I see with many people looking to grow is that they fear change—they lack the confidence to let go of the familiar.
Embracing change takes courage—it takes faith and trust in God, as well as in yourself.
Sometimes in our personal and professional lives, as well as in our ministries, we have to be willing to do some pruning.
Any master gardener will tell you that for a garden to thrive, you must spend as much time—if not more—eradicating pests, eliminating weeds, and cutting away overgrowth as you do watering and fertilizing the soil.
You must also have clear boundaries in place and the means to enforce them.
Get clear on what belongs in your garden and what doesn’t.
Likewise, if you are to advance your ministry or business, you must have the courage to cut ties with certain influences and individuals.
You must act with boldness in getting rid of old techniques, programs, or protocols without being afraid of offending some person or group of people.
If you are to grow in any endeavor, there will be people and activities you must be willing to leave behind.
Losing a few people along the way is part of the process of growth.
God may prune people and old methods in order to multiply your influence in the place that He is taking you.
He may require you to put away—as in leave behind—former disappointments, failures, resentments, and hurts once and for all.
This is not a simple process. If it were easy to break free from associations or activities that hold us back—or our past mistakes, traumas, or heartaches that hang us up, everyone would do it.
We must overcome the past if we are ever to move forward.
Overcoming the past requires intentional effort. It not only requires key strategies and techniques, but also the diligence to persevere through the emotional discomfort change brings.
That is why I have written The Rules of Engagement for Overcoming Your Past—to give you tools that will help you break free from old ways of thinking, believing, and acting that are keeping you from walking in the fullness of your potential.
And it is why I have established Kingdom School of Ministry—to equip you with the divine downloads you need to not only break free from limiting paradigms and circumstances, but to break through to the next level of your calling.
“Do not remember the things that have happened before. Do not think about the things of the past.”
Isaiah 43:18
It all begins with leaving the past in the past.
And in regards to certain activities and people currently limiting your present, it means leaving them in the past as well.
Be forward thinking. Be willing to take a candid look at what you know is keeping you from moving forward.
And yet, to forget the old and move confidently into the new, we must address strongholds.
Strongholds are influences that diametrically oppose the Kingdom of God.
Strongholds can be demonic spirits that seek to keep you blind and powerless—or deeply rooted soul ties or emotional attachments that keep you bound in negative thought patterns and limiting beliefs (read Reclaim Your Soul for more on this topic).
You always have the power to expose and expel anything you don’t want working in your life. You alone have the power to command how you experience the present (read Commanding Your Morning for more on this topic).
Michael Miles, author of Thirty Days to Change Your Life, once wrote, “The present is always fresh. There is always a new choice to make, and you are always creating your life again. No matter what has happened in the past—whatever habits you have developed, however deeply ingrained are your patterns of behavior—there is always scope for you to choose a new response.”
You are given the opportunity to change and make changes every single day.
Don’t miss the ever-present opportunity to course correct by redirecting your thinking.
For those who are courageous enough to let go of the people, programs, or paradigms holding them back—or who are willing to release the pain of past rejection, disappointment, or failure—transformation awaits.
God wants to do a new thing in your life—and that begins with dismantling the forces working to suppress your potential in both your present and your past.
I encourage you today to reach for the prize of all God has for you!
“One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12