Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 12 Mar 2008

Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 12 Mar 2008

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; THE OLD HAS GONE, the new has come! Today’s word of encouragement is claiming over our lives this fact, THE OLD HAS GONE. The only way to be completely made new is to completely die to the old self. The emphasis is on completely. It is hard to fully die to our old self, because we have been living comfortably with our old ways for a long time. It is as though our old self is our “second nature”. Have we ever tried stopping a bad habit? It is hard for smokers to quit because it is ingrained in their lifestyle to the point of addiction. How do we know when the old has gone and the new has come? To answer this question is simple. You know yourself if you are still holding on to the past. We bring up old wounds, past hurts that still affect us emotionally today, and our relationship with our Lord seems stagnant. Why does our relationship with our father seem stagnant? Because, we haven’t moved on. We may have sought forgiveness with God, but if we have been COMPLETELY made new, we would see the vision, see the future, see the purpose, see the destiny, see the reasons why God brought us through those trials in life and realize- I have a destiny to fulfill that God has given me. Matthew 9:17 says, “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." Does not the word of God say it so clearly? We cannot mix the old wine with the new, otherwise it will burst. To be made new in God, the old has to go and we cannot look back at the past. © Mar 2008 Shaun Lee archive: www.shauntzen.blogspot.com