From the desk of Steve Shultz:
Receive God's GRACE and be healed today! Enough said... now read this word by my friend Bobby Conner.
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Bobby Conner:
It's the Season of the Fresh Start!
What season are we in? The Body of Christ is in a season of restoration and refreshing (see Joel 2:25). God is giving every Believer a fresh start.
A Fresh Start...Through Obeying the Word
Without exception, God always makes a way to free us from our past. How does this happen? What makes us free? Not our good works or our stern resolve, only the Truth of God! "You shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free" (John 8:32). To the extent that we obey the Truth, we become free from past failures.
It is not enough to simply know the Bible as we know a good recipe or route to a friend's house. The Word of God is not a formula nor doctrine, but a Person, Jesus Himself, and we are called to abide in Him, in the Truth, to find freedom from our past. Only the Truth acted upon from our heart brings freedom. We do not mature simply by the knowledge stored in our head. We must be doers of the Word and not just hearers (see James 1:22).
A Fresh Start...Through Repentance and Forgiveness
One vital truth to act upon, for example, is repentance. In 1 John 1:7-9, we are encouraged to be honest and upright with God concerning our lifestyle:
"...if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
When we act on the Word and come to God with true heart repentance, we experience a new day. Old things truly will pass away.
One of the sweetest words in any language is the word forgiven. God promises that even if your sins are red like crimson, they shall be as white as snow (see Isaiah 1:18). The Hebrew term laban, here translated white, has two very different meanings. The word can be translated to make bricks, as when the Hebrew people were making bricks for Pharaoh in Egypt. This same term is also translated white. The term never simply describes the color of an object, however, but only occurs in the context of cleansing:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
...To try them, and to purge, and to make [them] white. Daniel 11:35
Many shall be purified, and made white... Daniel 12:10
For our sins to be "as white as snow" is to be forgiven; that means that we are cleansed to such a degree that absolutely no smudge of sin remains to mar the pure and holy righteousness imparted to us by Christ. From our Father's perspective, we are as pure as Christ! As pure as snow!
This is the foundation we must build within our lives, brick by brick: The infinite forgiveness offered to us at the Cross by Christ purges us from all sin, no matter how wicked or long-standing. The Lord has removed our sins "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). Let this glorious truth resonate deep within your spirit: You are forgiven!
A Fresh Start...Through Redeeming Love
Not only have we been offered forgiveness, but the Lord also offers each of us great grace to overcome and transform our past failures once and for all. How? He redeems our sin for His purposes. It makes absolutely no difference to God how twisted or tangled, sinful or sorry your life has been or is now: God is more than able – and exceedingly willing – to turn every one of your humiliations and defeats into tools to foil the plans of the enemy and to draw you closer to Himself.
Indeed, the devil is relentless in seeking to devastate you, plotting death and destruction (see John 10:10) to draw you away from communing with God. The Lord, however, is much, much greater than the enemy of our souls. Whatever the devil intends, the Spirit of God can completely turn around for your good and for His glory.
Hear this, dear Believer: God has the power to redeem every single day, month and year of your history. Don't let your past failures hold you back from your future victories and from true intimacy with God.
Remember beloved Joseph, persecuted and imprisoned beyond what any of us could imagine or endure. He testified boldly to God's redeeming love and kindness (Genesis 50:20): "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..."
During this season of restoration and refreshing, even the wounds that you have suffered will become great avenues of healing. When we ourselves suffer and then receive healing for our wounds – be they physical or emotional – we receive God's grace in return, in the very places where we have been wounded, to bring healing and deliverance to others.
At this time God is releasing divine favor to us, redeeming every past failure and wound, so that we can accomplish great exploits for His glory.
A Fresh Start...Through Thanksgiving and Hunger
Psalm 117:2 reminds us that we should be grateful for the loving-kindness that God lavishes upon each of us daily. Let us thank God that His mercies are new each morning. Let us praise Him continually for His unwavering faithfulness (see Lamentations 3:21-23).
And with our thanksgiving, let us seek the Lord like never before! The advice given in Isaiah 55:6-7 is essential if we are to walk in freedom and victory:
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
A grateful heart, filled with thanksgiving and worship, is the first step in seeking the Lord. First you must recognize and acknowledge all that He is and has already done for you – and only then seek more of Him, more intimacy with His Presence, and more surrender and submission to His Spirit and His Word.
A Fresh Start...In Hope!
God is saying, "Try again! Trust in Me to accomplish all that concerns you! Never give up! Never give in to regret and shame!" God created you for success and has utmost confidence in you. You are His chosen possession, fully forgiven, fully redeemed and fully anointed for all that awaits you in the future.
Even if you did not succeed in the previous attempts, don't lose heart! Now is the time to take new steps of faith, trusting that failure is never God's plan. You are going to see doors open that were closed to you previously. This is the season when God is granting breakthrough.
It's the season of the fresh start!
Bobby Conner
Eagles View Ministries
Email: manager@bobbyconner.org
