The new year always brings with it an opportunity for a fresh start.
What about 2024?
2024 is going to be a powerful year. There are going to be some marvelous things happen. It’s like the old saying, ‘It’ll be the best of times and the worst of times.’ And there are some things that will settle down during 2024, and there are some things that will speed up. But this outpouring of My Spirit that has happened, and is happening all over the world, will get more intensified. And it will be stronger and stronger and stronger, and the devil will get upset. But who does he think he is?
I picked Abraham. I picked him out of all the people on the planet. I picked him. You are his seed, and I will bless you because you are his seed. I will take care of you because you are taking care of My people. I will watch over your house, and I will watch over your door. I will see to it that the thief stays away from your house! I will see to it that the Blood of the Lamb will be the victory in your life!
“2024 will be a year of more and more and more and more. More finances. More healings. More miracles. More outpourings. More people coming to Jesus. More things happening.
“I am the God of increase,” saith The LORD. “I’m not the God of death, but I am the God of war. So rejoice and be glad, for I have things well under control. For those who will obey Me, and will listen to My voice, I will keep you and protect you throughout 2024. Pray, obey and vote.
—word of The LORD through Kenneth Copeland Oct. 27, 2023 | St. Louis VICTORY Campaign
“In 2024, we’re standing on VICTORY shore. We launch out into the deep, and a great harvest we will reap. We’re standing on VICTORY shore, in 2024.”
—word of The LORD through Kenneth Copeland Dec. 5, 2023 | Staff Chapel
2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV
…Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.
The key word is “believe”.
Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.
Today I want to remind you of who you are in Christ, what you have and what you can do.
- You Are A New Person
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
If you are in Christ, then you are a new creation, a new species of being that never existed before. Old things have passed away.
Your past sins, failures and mistakes are passed away. Everything in your spirit has become new. The sin nature moved out and God’s new righteous nature moved in.
The first thing that attracts us to babies is their innocence. No one thinks of a baby as having a past. Why? Because it doesn’t have one.
Well, if you are a newborn baby in Christ then you don’t have a past either. God sees you as an innocent baby in Christ. Brand new.
Now this is very important. This characteristic of innocence, we should never outgrow as believers. You should always see yourself as innocent, as a new creation, and maintain it.
Why? Because if you don’t, you will fall under the condemnation of the devil and be defeated in your spiritual life.
Romans 8:1 NKJV
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 MSG
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.
Condemnation can rob you of God’s best blessings. Don’t allow it. Resist it.
Word of Prophecy at Bible school the day I proposed. Not related (Lol)
Prayer for a businessman. Under condemnation. God turned it around within 24 hours.
And tell people that you are new. Tell them that you are a new person in Christ. Say, “my past is past and I am now a new species of being that never existed before.”
Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending. (Carl Bard)
You have a fresh start today and this year.
Start again, this time with God.
Don’t repeat the same mistakes. Learn from it and do it differently this time.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Say, “I am a new creation”.
- You are Forgiven
1 John 2:1 NKJV
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Jesus has already made provision for our past, present and future sins and mistakes.
He’s our advocate that pleads our case before the Father, our Righteous Judge.
1 John 1:9 NKJV
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When you sin and miss it, confess it immediately. Repent right there and then. Don’t wait until you feel better. Your feelings have nothing to do with it.
When you confess your sin, that’s not when God finds out about it, that’s when you get rid of it.
Once you confess and get rid of your sin, God does not remember it anymore.
Hebrews 10:17 NKJV
…Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
If God no longer remembers it, then why should you.
Forgive yourself and forget what God has forgotten.
Stop remembering them. If you keep remembering it, then the devil will use it to bring overall guilt and condemnation and rob you of God’s best blessings. It will also hinder your spiritual growth and faith in Him.
Psalm 103:12 NKJV
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Micah 7:18-19 NKJV
Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.
He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
What sea? The sea of forgetfulness.
DEALING WITH PAST MEMORIES
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. And he was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target. And getting a little discouraged, he headed back to dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile….only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn’t you Johnny?” And then she whispered to him, “Remember, the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” But Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.” And she whispered again, “Remember, the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed.
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. But I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”
Author: Robert Heffler
I don’t know what’s in your past. I don’t know what one sin the enemy keeps throwing up in your face. But whatever it is, I want you to know something.
Jesus Christ was standing at the window. And He saw the whole thing. But because He loves you, He has forgiven you. Perhaps He’s wondering how long you’ll let the enemy make a slave out of you.
Now, with the same forgiveness and mercy that you’ve received, forgive others quickly.
Why? Unforgiveness is a blessing blocker. Unforgiveness hinders your spiritual growth and stops your faith from working.
Mark 11:25 NKJV
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
You can’t get ahead if you keep trying to get even.
Now that you are forgiven, it’s time to forgive yourself, forget the past and reach forward to the things God has ahead for you.
Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. She stayed on the same place.
People who keep looking back stay in the same place.
Luke 9:62 NKJV
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
God can’t use people who keep looking back. They are not fit for the kingdom of God.
But He can use you if you press forward.
God has some good new days ahead for you.
Genesis 41:51-52 NKJV
Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” 52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Before you can give birth to Ephraim (fruitfulness) in your life, you first need to give birth to Manasseh (forgetfulness) in your life.
If want to enjoy fruitfulness and greater blessing in your life this year, then forget the past and reach forward to the glorious living God has designed for you.
Say, “I am forgiven.”