Old Things are Passed AWAY...

Well…here we are! The last couple of days of 2011 and I don’t know about you but I am ready for 2012! This has been a long year of transition, testing, and yes…there have been some pretty tough trials. But God brought us to and through 2011 for a greater purpose. It’s time to go higher! It’s time to leave the petty things of this world in 2011 and pick up the triumphant things of Christ. Before the clock strikes midnight on December 31^st, I am going to kill some things and bury them in 2011. How about you?

We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17 that says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” That is an awesome Word and one that we should all stand on as we go into 2012. But I am challenging you to read all of chapter 5 and apply it to your life as we leave this old year.

The first section is a familiar funeral scripture and assures us of the finished work of the Resurrection as we look forward to being absent from the body and present with the Lord.  It goes on to say that we have to make it our goal to be well pleasing to God so that we are ready when we go before the judgment seat of Christ.  But look at verses 13 – 21 in the NIV.

If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We have to be about God’s business in 2012. He wants everyone saved and reconciled to him! The Message Bible translates verses 20 & 21 like this, “We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

That’s pretty clear! He sacrificed His son – put our sin, sickness, hatefulness, etc. on Him- so that we could be right with Him. How awesome is that?!  I will tell you! It’s so awesome that we should not be satisfied going into this New Year the same way we were in the old one. If you were bitter, kill it! If you were mean, kill that spirit! If you were broke, break the backbone of every spirit of lack! If you carried unforgiveness in your heart, let it go! If you were sacrificing your holiness for someone that wasn’t worth it, take it back! We are about to walk into a new season and we can’t do that carrying the same old mess!

This isn’t a time for resolutions that won’t last past February. This is a time for serious covenant with God. Tell Him that you aren’t going back to the way you used to be. Tell Him that with His grace and mercy, you are going to press toward the mark of the high calling of Christ! WE ARE NOT GOING BACK! WE ARE MOVING FORWARD! And as you begin to move forward, bring people along with you! God said that we are to carry the message of reconciliation. You don’t have to be an evangelist to tell your testimony and how God has changed you. You don’t have to be a minister to tell how God has kept your mind. You don’t have to be a deacon or an elder to live a life that is holy and acceptable to God and an example to others that they can do it. If you are saved, you are a joint heir with Christ and seated in heavenly places with Him. You are the righteousness of God! Share it!

If you aren’t saved, God is willing and waiting! He didn’t promise it would always be easy. But He did promise that He would never leave or forsake you. His love is beyond what you could even imagine! Take God with you into the new year, you will not regret it!

I’m excited about 2012! I’m declaring wonderful things for my family and my spiritual life. Over the next couple of days I will finalize my covenant and ask God to close every evil spiritual gate that has been given access to my life. I encourage you to do the same!  

Thank you all for taking this new journey with me this year. Your prayers and encouragement have been awesome as I was led into this blog. My prayer is that through these words, God always gets the glory. For He is the one that keeps me and teaches me! 

May your life be blessed in 2012 and filled with love, light, favor and prosperity! God bless you and Happy NEW Year!