Daily Devotional – 11/11/11 “What are you wishing for?”

Everyone is so excited about the date on today because it only comes once every 400 years or so but what happens on tomorrow?  Folk are so busy watching the clock to make a wish at a certain time but didn’t you have that same wish on yesterday so why is today any different?  Why are we so quick to trust in what folk say but question God’s word?  Most folk are running to the casino, buying lottery tickets, going to the dog track and making wishes for stuff all because of the date.  But don’t you think that your luck is just as good today as it is tomorrow?  Or are we honestly thinking that today will be different because that’s what all the newscasters say and they are never wrong, right?

A wish is defined as something desired or wished but I define wish as Wondering If Something Happens.  But why wish when Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  If you are wishing for a spouse, car, house, new job or better finances you are wondering if it’ll ever happen but if you pray and fast for those same things and do it in faith, then it should be considered done.  If we prayed as much as we wished on today, a lot of our situations might just change.  We woke up wishing but not thankful for rising.  When the clock showed 11:11, we were wishing but not praying.  We are so blinded by worldly stuff that we don’t take the time to read God’s message. 

Luke 11:9 says “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  So, what are you wishing for when all you have to do is open your mouth to ask?  God promised you all that you need.  Don’t believe me, read Philippians 4:19 which states “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”  Still wishing? Try Psalm 23:1 which says “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  All these things were promised before you were even conceived but you still wish.  Do you not trust in God’s word and the promises that he made?  Weren’t the sacrifices Jesus made worth believing? 

Now, I know there will days when you feel like your faith is wavering and that God is not hearing you but he is.  For Psalm 145:19 says, “He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.”  So when you need, pray! When you’re stressed pray! When you’re in doubt, pray!  When you feel like wishing pray instead.  I’ve been told the prayers of the righteous are both powerful and effective.  So instead of looking up to wish upon a star, go down on your knees and look up to the one that created it instead.  Instead of wishing for folk or situations to change, pray for a change.  Instead of wishing for better health, speak it into existence because you do have the power to do it.  Instead of wishing for better days and peaceful for nights, ask God for them.  Instead of wishing for sun, enjoy the rain because the rain may be washing away the dirt being thrown on you by others who have dug a grave for you.  If you give God complete praise, he’ll show up in your situation and if it seems like prayer isn’t working, praise will get it done every time.

Daily Devotional – 11/10/11 “Do you have favor or flavor”

At revival on last night, Rev. Jamison of Greater Mt. Moriah preached on the subject of “Can I buy you a drink,” from John 4:3-11.  For some reason I could not get this text out of my head and even when I prayed this morning for a subject, still this came to mind.  So I am being obedient to my Father. 

This particular scripture of passage is talking about Jesus stopping at a well on his way through Samaria.  While passing through this town, Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well to rest.  While there a Samaritan woman comes to get water from the well and in those times Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with one another and wouldn’t be caught talking.  But while at the well, this Samaritan woman came and Jesus asked her for a drink of water.  Now, I would assume that she was shocked because she asked in verse 9 “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” But this didn’t stop Jesus (again, assuming) because he doesn’t have a respect of person because his mission is to save.  Isn’t that great news?  But Jesus answered and said “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 

Now, the living water in which this passage speaks is the Holy Spirit.  This living water is not like regular water because as God explained in verses 13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (This verse should make you feel good even if you don’t read on.)  So she asked Jesus in verse 15 “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” So God told her to go and call her husband.  You do know this Samaritan woman had a husband at home in her bed, but it wasn’t her husband, right (John 4:17-18)?  But she was honest with Jesus and he told her so and because of this, she received his favor and her testimony brought others to him as believers. 

But, as Christians, we treat God as if he is a one night stand.  We meet him and then we use him for what we want and then we sneak out, never wanting a real relationship.  We go to his bed when we need guidance and help (church, bible study, Sunday school, and the bible), get satisfied and then we get up, get dressed, leave only to come back when our need and want needs to be satisfied again.  We don’t get satisfied to go out to be a testimony and to bring others to him but only for our own selfish needs.  Take for an example; you get your light bill in the mail that is due Monday, you don’t get paid until the following Friday and you’ve used up all the extensions they will give.  You go to church on Sunday and everybody can tell that you’re going through because you are the loudest one shouting and you’re out dancing Shouting Shirley when normally you hardly say amen.  Then Monday comes and you get a special blessing just in the nick of time to make the 3pm deadline to pay your bill.  You’re so grateful and thankful to God for seeing you through just one more time.  But oh, the next Sunday comes and because you don’t need God at the moment, since you don’t have any pressing issues that need his immediate attention, you don’t even bother to get up and go to church.  You press ignore on him just like you do your phone when it’s that one night stand calling because you’re need has been met and you’re no longer thirsty for his guidance.  But Jesus says in John 4:23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

God doesn’t need or want sometime Christians.  You know the kind that only comes to him when they need to satisfy a want, but God is looking for true worshippers. John 4:24 says “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  See many of us have favor from God while others only have flavor.  With favor you’ll praise God in and out of your storm but with flavor you only praise him with the storm is raging.  With favor you’ll praise God when you’re sick and when you’re well but with flavor you’ll only praise him when the doctor gives you bad news.  With favor you’ll praise God with or without money but with flavor you’ll praise him until the income tax check comes. With favor your praise is the same no matter what your circumstance but when you have flavor your season is only good when your situation is hard.  It’s like cooking spaghetti; everybody knows that spaghetti’s flavor is at its best the next day after it has had time to marinate through but after 2-3 days, it’s just plain old leftovers that nobody will eat.  Well, Christians with flavor, they are the same way.  They are only good when they are going through something but after a few days, their fire dies down and they are no longer worth the shoes they walk in.  They come dragging into church, complaining about how long service is, gossiping about what folk are wearing, who is sleeping with who and usually texting throughout the entire sermon.  But oh, when the friends walk away, boyfriend/girlfriend is gone, momma/daddy sick, bills are due & money is few, kids acting crazy and the car won’t start they come to church ready to show out.  Baby, God is not falling for your mess. Proverbs 12:22 says “A good man obtains favor of the LORD: but a man of wicked intentions will he condemn.”

Aren’t your intentions wicked and evil when you use God for your own personal gain?  Evil is defined as the quality or an instance of being morally wrong; wickedness.  When you have favor you never lose the taste for God’s word, you’ll be willing to go even when you don’t feel like it, you’ll tell folk of God’s goodness no matter where you are and you’ll offer a helping hand even when you can hardly make it yourself. But when you have flavor you’ll only use God until it is no longer beneficial to you.  You know when you help because you want to get the Pastor’s attention, you sing loud so folk can hear you, you talk loud so folk notice, you show up to show off your short dress or you do so you can get the credit. 

Favor is mercy; Flavor is messy

Favor is grace; Flavor is greedy

Favor is praise; Flavor is pity

Favor is gratitude; Flavor is gossip

Favor is worthy; Flavor is worthlessness

Favor is helping; Flavor is hindering

Just know that flavor don’t last long.  If you don’t believe me try using some seasoning you’ve had in the cabinet for a while because even salt loses flavor if it is diluted in water. If you, Christian folk, are being diluted in water (filth of the world) you will also lose your favor.  We all know that is it not possible to serve God and the world because one will eventually win.  It’s like holding something in both hands.  You will soon let something go because your nose, head, arm or leg will begin to itch that you have to scratch.  If you don’t trust my thinking read Matthew 5:13 that says “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.”  I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want is to be thrown from God’s presence.  So I choose to have God’s favor because it’ll last long after the flavor is gone.    

Daily Devotional – 11/9/11 “Stop living like you’re dead!”

There was a man who worked hard and provided for his family because he believed God’s word to be true about men being the head of the household. He was rarely sick and hardly ever missed a day of work and when he did, he complained the entire time. One particular day he wasn’t feeling good and he hadn’t for a while, but he just thought he was catching a cold or something and shrugged it off. But after a week he decided to visit his doctor and after a physical and a few blood tests, his doctor said that he needed more test because he thought that maybe he had prostate cancer. He told him that he would run the tests and have him come back in 2 weeks for the results. The man went home in a state of shock because he just couldn’t believe that he had cancer. He told his wife, who told him to just wait for the results because he didn’t know for sure. But he told her he knew that he had it because he just had a feeling. Now, this once strong provider had sunk into a state of depression. He missed work the next few days, he hardly came out his room, he stopped going outside and interacting with his family and even allowed them to act like he wasn’t around. When his wife would try to make plans for future events, he talked like he wouldn’t be around to see them. He had already counted himself out; he had given himself a death sentence, he was living like he was dead. He didn’t trust God’s word that says “…by his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:4).” But when he returned to the doctor weeks later, he got the news he wasn’t expecting; there was no cancer just a cyst that could easily be removed. Just like that, God’s word had proven true, now the man can live but he can’t get back the time that he missed out on when he lived like he was dead.

Isn’t it something how we can speak things into existence when nothing is there? Man says cancer and all you see is a death sentence, when you should be saying “I will not die, but live, and tell of the works of the LORD (Psalm 118:17).” Man says there is a family history of breast cancer so you automatically tell yourself you’ll get it and because grandma died when she was young, you start believing this is your fate. You never stopped to think about the changes in medicine and the fact that you haven’t been diagnosed yet! But you start still living like you won’t live long anyway. When you start getting close to the age grandma died, you start planning your own funeral. You stop enjoying life and your family and you stop hanging out with friends and you start living like you’re dead. Chile, stop it! In Genesis 6:30 the word says “Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”” If God has promised us years beyond measure why are we so quick to give them up?

Man says you have 2 weeks to live and we go home and prepare to die. Man says 2 months and we give up on everything. We stop everything! We lay in our beds and wait for death to come and get us when God says; I’m not ready for you yet. Even if you do have 2 weeks or months to live, shouldn’t you be out enjoying them instead of being closed up in a room with no family and friends? I’ve always heard, live like there is no tomorrow. I’ve also read in Matthew 24:36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” But we are so busy planning for future events that we allow the present to slowly slip away. What sense is it for you to have money in a retirement plan and then work yourself sick and can’t enjoy it anyway? Man says put money aside for a rainy day but what happens to that money when you don’t make it to see that rainy day? You’re so busy planning for tomorrow but yet struggling today. Now, I am not saying don’t save because stuff happens and you need something to get you by but what I am saying is live!

Yea, you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes, lupus and etc.; there is a history of heart disease, stroke, kidney & liver problems in the family but YOU are still alive! Yea, you may have to take chemotherapy, dialysis and medicine everyday but YOU are alive today! Yea, momma may have died from a disease that took over her body, but you haven’t stopped to realize that it was already in stage 4 before she was diagnosed, so why are you claiming the same? You going off the fact that daddy died young because of liver disease so you start thinking the same problems will affect you. But did you stop to think that daddy was an alcoholic that made the matter worse? Stop walking around inviting death into your home. You’re constantly speaking stuff on your life and if you keep asking, God will surely provide. “Lord, I know I’m going to die just like momma did.” Yes, you will die, everybody will, but don’t rush it.

Stop stressing over stuff that you can’t change because stress will kill you and the stuff you’re worried about will still remain. You’re stressing because your son is in the streets but it’s not bothering him but you’re losing sleep. You’re stressing and losing your hair because your daughter won’t take care of her body and rarely goes to the doctor but she isn’t concerned. You are worrying yourself into an early grave and for what? When you’re dead and gone the same folk you were worried about will be spending your insurance money, still being in the streets and still not going to the doctor.

When the doctor gives you grim and devastating news, live! When there is a family history of disease and death, live because it doesn’t mean that history will repeat itself. When folk have counted you out, live on because no one knows the destiny that God has planned for your life. Yea, you may be addicted to prescription drugs, alcohol or cocaine, but you aren’t dead. Maybe, just maybe, God is taking you down this path to prepare you for what he has in store for you. When you overcame that addiction that had you bound then, it may just deliver someone who is thinking about doing it now. When you allow folk to take the life from you, they’ve won. When folk say you won’t live to be 20 and you live the lifestyle to prove that you won’t, they win. There have been many people the doctors have counted out but it wasn’t in God’s plan. If you don’t believe me, go and see my granddaddy who man said wouldn’t live 2 months, but it has been almost 3 years. Go visit my aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer but beat it when her mom didn’t. If you don’t believe me, go visit St. Jude and see all of the children the doctors counted out, who have grown up to be adults.

Just because it happened to somebody else, doesn’t mean it’ll happen to you. Stop living like you’re dead because if you have blood flowing through your veins and your heart is beating, you’re alive. If you put your hand in front of your face and blow and you can feel the breath on your hand, you’re alive. Even the folk in hospitals on ventilators are considered alive. If God gave you a life, live it! Ephesians 5:2 says “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

Daily Devotional – 11/8/11 “What can I say?”

When I started to write the devotional for this morning, my mind went blank.  I did my normal routine of praying for God’s guidance on what he would have me to say but I just couldn’t think.  No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t pick a topic and go.  Folk were constantly interrupting me and I started to get irritated because the words just wouldn’t flow. I had so many things running through my head, I just couldn’t write them down. To try to lift somebody’s spirit, to give a smile instead of a frown.  I thought about the mother that has been missing for days, wondering where she could be and praying that no harm has come her way.  I thought about the stress children are facing at their young age, when they should be children and not adults walking across life’s stage.  I thought about the bullying that is driving more children to suicide and taking them away from God who promises to always be their guide.  I thought about the situations that folk are facing with sick parents and spouses, the health issues, the bills; not having money to buy food & gas and the stress that’s making them ill.  I thought of the folk that are missing their sleep; and for those that are constantly praying to God for their mind to keep. 

What could I say today that I haven’t said times before?  Don’t you already know that God is standing knocking at the door? I’m just a woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece and to some a friend. But what words could I say to keep your life from coming to an end?  Can I share with you God’s word that promises relief; will that keep you from taking pills and never waking from your sleep?  But then God said, “You are more than just a person, because I’ve chosen you, my child, for this very purpose.”  So, I closed my eyes and I prayed again and again.  “Lord, what will you have me to say today to help folk through their sin?” Then I heard, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28),” for each of you know, surely, this is only a test.  Yes, I know somebody is yawning who couldn’t sleep last night, because they were worried about trying to find a place of their own with no job, no car and no money and they had no more energy to fight.  Somebody paced the floor all night long because their love one is sick, but they are not ready to let go but to God’s word they stick.  Somebody is drinking tears for water and God’s direction they seek, but Isaiah 40:29 says “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”  See, God hears your pleas and he’ll come to see about you if you give it over to him.   Stop praying the same prayer over and over because he has heard all of them.  He hasn’t answered yet because he is waiting on you to let it go.  It’s almost like planting a seed and then watching it grow.  Just because you watch, it won’t make it grow fast, but worrying about a problem, you can’t fix, only makes it last.  It’s like releasing a balloon and waiting to see it fly, but you can’t see it yet because it hasn’t reached the sky.  That’s because you’ve let it go but the string is still tied to your wrist.  Cut the string and let it fly, release your problems from your fist. 

God knows you need a job, a car and some extra cash, but if you pray with faith, you don’t have to constantly ask.  See, asking in faith means you know it’ll come to pass, so you can go on about your day and start a new task.  Then you can focus on things that you can handle, battles you can win because with faith you have your answer and know it’ll be alright in the end. 

James 1:6-8 say “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  So why not ask in faith instead of shortening your days?  When you worry and stress it only causes you pain and strife, and then you’ll cause heart attacks and strokes that’ll quickly end your life.  Trust in God and believe in the word and the promises that he made.  Because the scriptures are written for your understanding if you keep your mind stayed.  I know that it’s easy for me to say when I’m not walking in your shoes, because I don’t what storms you’re fighting or what’s causing you the blues.  It’s true; I don’t know what you’re facing or what is causing you to fall.  But I do know a man who has promised to help see you through it all.  I don’t begin to tell you that I know what you’re facing, but I can tell you to put on your battle gear, those boots start lacing.  Because God has equipped you with what you need to fight and to win, he will even give you strength when the world is wearing you thin.  So don’t be quick to think that God is punishing you because he is there every step of the way no matter what you go through.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” So don’t cry the times when you fall because Proverbs 24:16 says a just man falls seven.  Just pick yourself up, knock the dust off your back and clean the blood from the cuts, because there will be many more times; the world knocks you in your gut.  Ephesians 6:14 says “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,” so you’ll be ready when trouble comes to stare it in the face.  Ephesians 6:13 says “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Then you can fight the battle, win and do your victory dance!

So yes, times will be hard and storms will come, that’s a proven fact.  But stop being defeated every time, stand up and clean up your act.  Everybody has struggles so they can’t always offer help, you could see that if you weren’t gossiping every time you hit their steps.  People won’t be quick to join in on your pity party; they have their own problems to solve, but do as the bible says, turn them over and let God do his job.  When you do, you’ll find the peace you need, the sleep and that rest; if you hold on to God’s unchanging hand through this test.  It won’t always be dark on walk and your days filled with mourning, because Psalm 30:5 says “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”  So tie back your curtains, open up your blinds to let the sun shine through; believe in the power of God and his word because I’ve found them to be true.

Daily Devotional – 11/7/11 “I’ve been renewed!”

There was once this woman, this worldly woman, who lived her life as a prostitute and drug addict.  She had given birth to children but that didn’t make her a mother.  She had a mother and father who loved her and tried to do the very best for her, but it still didn’t make her a daughter.  She had siblings who loved her and would come to her rescue every time she called but that still didn’t make her a sister.  She had folk who prayed for her but it didn’t make her a Christian.  All she wanted was the streets and that’s all she had.  Whenever people saw her around town, they would gossip because they knew she was smart, well-educated and from a very strong family, so they couldn’t understand how she could do all these terrible things to her body and cause all of this hurt to her family.  They would pass her by, when she was begging on the streets because they wouldn’t dare help this sinner woman who had all the things she could ever want and then throw them away.  They thought that surely God had given up on her which is why she was on the streets.  They judged her life she was on display in a shelf.  They thought they had it all figured out. 

One day her old minister walked by her and she reached out her hand to him.  Because she was filthy and unchristian like, he jerked his hand back before she could touch it.  He hollered, “Don’t you dare touch me!” She said with tears streaming down her face, “Minister Jones, will you pray for me?”  He looked at her with a look of disgrace and said, “Child, we stopped praying for you a long time ago because surely God wouldn’t allow his child to be out in the world like you!”  He walked away with her pleas feeling the air, asking for his help and his prayers.  She couldn’t understand how a man of God could just walk away without a care for someone who had back slide into the world.  She didn’t think God was hearing her prayers so she didn’t pray for herself.  She could call her momma and daddy but she was so afraid to let them down once again.  So she sat in a dark alley and she cried herself to sleep.  While sleeping, she dreamed that she was standing face to face with Jesus.  Because she was dirty and hadn’t bathed in days, she tried to run from him because she didn’t want him to see her like that.  But he said “You are my sister so there is no need to hide.  My father in Heaven has sent me to you because he heard your cry.”  She replied “I can’t believe that God has heard my cry, for I am a sinner in the world and because my minister told me that he had given up on me.”  Jesus replied, “My father will never forsake his own.  In his word he says, it is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8). Do you believe?”  She said, “Yes, I believe.” Jesus replied “Then that is all you need.”

She jumped from her dream because she couldn’t believe it.  “God really does love me,” she said.  She sat alone in that alley for what seemed like days.  She knew that she needed to get herself together but she couldn’t go home just yet because her family wouldn’t believe her because she had broken their hearts so many times before.  She sat and she sat.  She finally gathered the courage to pray for herself.  She got on her knees and she locked her fingers before her face and she begin to pray, “Our father in Heaven thank you for loving me.  Thank you for keeping me even when I didn’t know who or where I was.  God, I thank you for keeping my mind even after all the drugs and alcohol.  God, I thank you for never taking your hands off of me when folk walked away.  God, I thank you for my family who loved me even when I couldn’t love them back.  God, I just need to thank you now.  I know that I have fallen so many times but yet you forgive me still.  God, I know that you love me and I am praying now for your forgiveness.  Please forgive me Father for all of my wrongdoings.  God, I don’t want the drugs and this worldly life anymore so I ask that you take the desire from my mouth.  God, I don’t know the plan you have for my life but I am ready for it if you would just give me one more chance.  I’m ready, now, to be a soldier for you.  Show me what you will have me to know.  Give me strength Father because I know that this road won’t be easy but I’m ready.”  She continued to stay on her knees even after there were no more words coming from her lips because she wanted God to know that she meant every word of her prayer.  She didn’t know where she would begin but she knew that this was a new beginning.  She eventually got up off her knees and she left that alley and never looked back.

See, I don’t have to tell you the end of the story because if you are a true Christian then you should already know.  Aren’t you glad that when God took you in, your past didn’t matter?  He doesn’t have to run background and credit checks to accept you into his company.  He doesn’t have to take a drug test to see if you’re clean before you start the job because it doesn’t matter.  Isaiah 43:18 says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”  So, why are you holding on to past mistakes, bad choices, bad marriages/relationships, anger and hurt?  It’s like holding on to a rope that is being pulled.  If you don’t eventually let go of it, it might just burn the inside of your hands.  Well holding on to the past is the same way.  If you continue to let it consume you, it is burning you on the inside.  Don’t you know that when you stepped onto God’s side, all of that old stuff didn’t matter anymore? Don’t believe me, read 2nd Corinthians 5:17 which say “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

God doesn’t work like man does.  You know how you argue with someone who always bring up stuff you did in the past or it seems like your past crimes are on your back for everyone to see.  Well honey, let it go.  Just because you were an alcoholic in the past, it doesn’t mean you got vodka in your cup because it could be just water.  Just because you use to have a drug habit in the past, it doesn’t mean you’re shooting up now when someone sees a syringe, you could be a diabetic.  Just because you use to be a prostitute in the past, it doesn’t mean you sleep with every man you talk too.  Stop allowing your past to dictate your future and stop trying to prove to folk that you’ve changed.  If they can’t go by your word then show them God’s that says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).”   

Yes, you use to be those things and yes, you use to do those things but you don’t anymore. Ephesians 4:22-24 says “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  God has given you your renewal notice.  Just like when you go to get your car tags renewed, they give you a sticker with the new year that is supposed to cover the old year.  When you place the new one over the old one, it is no longer seen.  God is the same way.  When he picks you up from that dirty, dusty grave that has been dug for you, he dusts you off and gives you a new mind and spirit.  The old one is covered up and no longer visible.  Just like the car tag sticker, the new one can’t be peeled off to see the old one because the old one is no longer needed.  So get up and stand tall! Display the new you, the one that is no longer covered in dirt and mud but the one that has been made new in God’s likeliness.  Leave all of that other stuff behind you and walk on.  There isn’t a need to look back because whatever is behind you were left for a reason.  Leave it there!  Romans 7:6 say “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”