Get
Ready for the New
TODAY’S
SCRIPTURE
And no one pours new wine
into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will
run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
Luke 5:37, NIV.
TODAY’S
WORD
Are you ready for a new
chapter in your life? Sometimes, in order to move forward into the blessing God
has for you, you have to be willing to let go of the old. The things that are
behind you are not nearly as important as what is out in front of you. It’s
time to get ready for the new!
You may have had some
unfair things happen, things that you don’t understand; but let me tell you,
you have come too far to stop now. Instead of allowing those things to hold you
back, why don’t you let go and take a step of faith into the new? It’s time to
get a new, bigger vision; it’s time to get a new, fresher outlook; it’s time to
rise up with a new attitude! Instead of settling where you are, pick up and
move forward. Have the attitude that says, “I may not understand it; it may not
have been fair, but I am not getting stuck on this page. I know God has a new
chapter for me—a chapter filled with blessings, favor and victory!
PRAYER
FOR TODAY
Father, thank You for Your
faithfulness in my life. Today, I choose to trust You with my past, present and
future. Give me wisdom to discern the seasons of my life and teach me to
embrace the new things You have in store for me in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
***
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16a NIV)
We all respond to hidden wounds in different ways. Some people act out. Other people get angry all the time. Others self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Still others try to escape the pain by moving from relationship to relationship.
Yet the worst possible response to hidden wounds in your life is to just clam up. It’s like taking a soda bottle and shaking it up. One day, you’ll just pop!
You’ll never get over your hidden wounds until you face your feelings straight on by talking to God about them.
Bottling up your hidden wounds will wear you out. The Bible says this in Psalm 32:3: “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long” (NCV). If you use up all of your emotional energy on the past, you’ll have little left for today. You then spend so much of your time on your regret and resentment — thinking about how you’ll get even with the person who has hurt you — that you’re out of energy for what matters in the here and now.
God has an answer for your pain. It starts with confession. You’ve got to admit your pain. Everything else is, in one way or another, a fruitless attempt to forget what ails you. You need to admit your pain to:
- - God
- - Yourself
- - One other person you trust.
Many people want to move past their pain by admitting it to God and themselves and skipping the third part of the equation. Good luck! It’ll never work. Admitting your pain to others is absolutely essential. You won’t get well on your own. James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16a NIV).
You don’t need to confess to a pastor, a priest, or a therapist to obey James 5:16 (though you can). You need a friend.
Open up about your hidden pain to someone. Tell him or her what hurts. As you do that and confess to God and yourselves, you just might find that long-lost energy you’ve been dreaming about.
Because revealing is the beginning of healing.
Talk It Over
- - What secret from your past are you having trouble letting go?
- - Why is it so scary to be open with God about a painful memory? Why is it so difficult to be open with ourselves about a painful memory? Why is it so hard to be open with others about a painful memory?
- - Who can you open up with about pain in your past?
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