Who among you is
wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the
gentleness of wisdom. James 3:13
This week we are talking about good ways to start the new
year; in particular what not to bring into the new year. These are things that might keep you from
reaching your full potential or keep you from fulfilling the plan God has for
your life.
Leave Behind the Bad
Circumstances of Life
Sometimes we have made no mistake,
but some visit from tragedy's storehouse has left us sad and angry and bitter. We can't explain some of the diseases, but we
know what they have done to us. Death
has come and we are left without the ones we love and with a gaping hole in our
lives. A job was lost and a new career
has to be started. Discouragement leads
to Defeat.
Satan has a way of bringing up our
past weaknesses, illnesses, problems, mistakes and sins. He not only tries to
condemn us but to create fear from the past. Paul would not allow his past to prevent him
from fulfilling his purpose nor should we allow our past to keep us from our
future. Paul’s attitude seemed to be to acknowledge it happened. Mistakes were
made, and I am sorry. I have repented and forsaken my sin. It is over. I am
covered by the blood of Jesus. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. I am
forgiven and new.
A part of your strategy in going
forward must include pulling the curtains on your past. Your mistakes, sins,
shortcomings and other skeletons, are behind you, so forget them all! They are called "skeletons in your
closet" because they are dead and need to be buried. Eulogize those bones, and lay them to rest. Jesus came, suffered, bled and died as penalty
for the sins of the world. You have been forgiven. You are free to go! Go into
your future! Go fulfill your purpose in Jesus name! You are free!
Lifestyle
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie
Wiesel was only 15 when German troops deported him and his family from their
home in Romania to the concentration camp, Auschwitz. His father, mother, and
younger sister all died at the hands of the Nazis.
The young boy survived forced
labor, forced marches, starvation, disease, beatings and torture to become a
world-renowned writer, teacher and spokesmen for the oppressed peoples of the
earth. He is best known as the most eloquent witness to the great catastrophe
to which he was the first to give the name "Holocaust." After the war, Elie Wiesel determined to
relate his story to the world. His book titled Night is one of the classic accounts of the Holocaust. Throughout
his career, he has continued to speak out for victims of oppression all the
world over.
Each book has been formed and
shaped by his experience as a Holocaust survivor. Wiesel's only crime was being
born a Jew, but that alone forced him to watch family members and friends be
tortured and killed.
Yet, there is good news, even in
those cases where we are not responsible for the pain in our past. We may never get over some things, but we can
learn to live with them. God will be present as we begin to heal bit by bit.
God will be the fellow traveler as we rise and continue the journey.
Scripture to Claim:
For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come
knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6
