I hope this message finds you having a great start to a new week! As promised, today I will be sharing Part 2 of this powerful message of "A Fresh New Start For 2013". If you missed Part 1, you will definitely want to take a couple minutes right now to go back and read it.

I shared a few insights into different mindsets that can hold us back and trip us up, and how you can leave those mindsets behind as we move into a brand new year.

To be honest, I don’t know where you stand or what your beliefs are. But here’s what I believe…

I believe that you are here for a very specific reason. And that reason is not to be mediocre and average. There are other people out there who will teach you to be mediocre and average, but that’s not what I’m here for, and it’s not what you are here for either. Do not give up or give in to what is ‘normal’. Believe and trust God for something beyond ‘normal’!

I believe God is breaking old mindsets in you this year. I want you to find what they are. I want you to search it out and discover those mindsets that you will agree with the Lord and say, "That one is going in the trash this year! I don’t want to hold onto this mindset any longer!"

Today I want to show you just a glimpse of what God is going to do in you this year.

John 13:34-35 says this: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

That is what He will do in you this year. But if you have the old mindsets of, "I can’t trust people," or "My husband is just an idiot," or "My wife is just a nag," you cannot get to this next level.

Jesus says right here in John 13, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another!" This isn’t a suggestion. It isn’t, "I hope you can pull it off." It is a commandment that He gave to us!

It says that all men will know that you are His disciples. He wants all men to know you are His disciples! How will they know? By how you love!

So what stands in the way of you loving one another and you walking into 2013 with new mindsets? The thoughts of, "I hate people," and "I can’t trust people," and "I can’t stand my boss!" Those are the old mindsets that will keep you stuck!

It is time to confront those mindsets. You must take off these old ways of thinking and come into Christ and allow Him to work in you. Remember 2 Corinthians 5:17? "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Look at this one: Isaiah 42:5-13:

"Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, ‘I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.’ Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and al that is in it. You islands, and those who dwell on them. Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, the settlements where Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud, let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare His praise in the coastlands. The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies."

That is what He will do for you! He will take you by the hand. This is His promise for you in 2013. He’s going to take you by the hand and guide you. He has called you in righteousness. When you are in Christ, when you believe in Him, you’ve got His truth coming forth out of your mouth. When you hear those condemning words from the enemy, you confess the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

When you are reminded of your mistakes – when you see that credit card bill – you say "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. I am a new creature. The old things have passed away and new things have come. I will never do that with credit cards again. The old person who kept charging stupid things on these credit cards is gone; behold, new things have come! I’m paying off my debt!"

He says He’s going to take you by the hand and watch over you. The Lord God who created the heavens and the earth, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gave breath and spirit to people, who created the mountains, oceans, and rivers, who created the wind and rain, who performs miracles and heals the blind and the sick and brings rest to the weary, who is the ever-present help in time of need, who is the All-Powerful God – He will hold you by the hand and watch over you!

There is no reason to be afraid of what 2013 will bring. There’s no reason to worry about anything. Why? Because He said He will watch over us!

That breaks me. Ya know, as a kid who grew up being violently abused and having so much evil spoken over me, being protected is something that is so important. And God’s promise is to hold you and me by the hand and watch over us, to appoint us as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

If you believe in Him and are walking with Him, this is what He will do for you!

I want us to look at one more passage. It’s Isaiah 43:18-21:

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field will glorify Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise."

So this is really simple. In order to embrace the new things, you must forget the old and forgive the old. You must not bring old mindsets into 2013. You must leave them behind and declare and shout from the mountaintops that you are a new creature, that the old things have passed away and the new things have come.

Each time the old rises up – the old person who got you into debt, the old person who made poor financial decisions, the old person who made poor choices concerning alcohol or drugs, the old person who made poor family decisions – you stand up and declare that you are a new creature in Christ!

God has already done a new thing inside of you, and you are to agree with Him. He is bringing to you, right this very minute, a fresh new spiritual start. You’ve got to leave behind the old idea that says, "Oh Lord, I’m not worthy! I’m not good enough!"

I remember thinking that years ago. I remember believing that I would never be pure enough or holy enough to be able to shout from the mountaintops how good my God was. My desire was to share Him with other people and to teach the Bible. But every time I would pick up my Bible, I felt like I would never be worthy because of my past.

I had to leave those mindsets behind. And what He did to renew my mind was He gave me truth to feed on. That’s what the Bible says, that we must renew our minds. We have been given the mind of Christ.

Anyone who is in Christ is a new creature. That new creature is one with Christ and has access to everything He is. His perfect love casts out all fear. He overcame all evil. He overcame all sickness and disease. He even overcame death!

And that resurrection power that’s in Christ is in you and me!

Quit using the resurrection power that is in you to resurrect the old things! Resurrection power is in you, don’t you realize that?! The same power that raised Christ from the dead is in you and in me, but what 98% of the population uses the resurrection power for is to resurrect their bad past and reliving their bad past.

They resurrect the anger, the frustration, the financial failures, business failures, career failures, the addictions, the bad habits, the things of the past. This is PROOF that resurrection power is in you! But what this passage is saying is that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature! The old things are gone and the new things have come!

But these old spiritual mindsets that say, "Well, you’re the wrong gender, you’re not the right age, you have a really bad past, you have a bad reputation, so you are unqualified." or "God doesn’t really care about your business, so you really shouldn’t pray about that, or God doesn’t care about you getting the right parking spot, so how dare you even bug Him about a dumb parking spot!" or "Don’t bother God, He’s busy running the universe."

That is such an old, stale lie and spiritual mindset.

Right now I want you to think about the spiritual mindsets you have carried through the years. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you every single mindset that does not line up with the Word of God in order to set you free and allow you to walk in the new things He has for you.

He is bringing you a fresh new spiritual start, right now as you read this.

He is bringing you a fresh new mental start. What happens in your mind determines what happens in your life. What happens in your life happens first in your mind. He is bringing you new mindsets about work, about money, about relationships, and about yourself.

All of those mind games that used to trip you up will no longer trip you. He is doing a new thing. You must perceive it!

He is bringing you a fresh new emotional start. Those things that used to cause you anxiety, frustration, and anger will not have that effect on you anymore. He is maturing and strengthening you emotionally. He is bringing stability and peace. He will take you by the hand and watch over you!

God is bringing you a fresh new physical start. I told you Renae’s story in my last message to you. Renae had a physical mindset. She said "My back is messed up because God is making me pay for my sin." That is a physical mindset that says, "Take THAT!" But remember, as Renae began to confess the truth that she was a new creature in Christ, the old things have passed away and the new things have come, and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, her physical body obeyed.

So what are your physical mindsets? What is the physical programming you have inside of your body? Is it "Well I’m getting old so I have aches and pains, it’s just part of life" or "My mother was heavy, so I’m always going to be heavy." or "It’s too hard to lose weight" or "It’s too hard to eat healthy"?

He is replacing those old physical mindsets with His new mindsets. New things are coming for you physically!

God is bringing you a fresh new relational start. What has to leave right now is the mindset that says, "All men are the same" or "All women are the same" or "I’m not good at relationships" or "Why do I always attract the wrong people" or "I’m afraid of getting hurt" or "My parents got a divorce, so I’m afraid I will end up in a divorce." This is a relational mindset that you must leave behind!

I have had a brand new relational start. There were times in my marriage when I hated everything about my husband. I hated working with him, looking at him, listening to his voice. I couldn’t stand the way he talked or smelled or looked. He drove me crazy! But then I’ve also seen the Word of God in action, which says, "Love your neighbor as yourself", or in John 13:34 which says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

Love is a choice, so I prayed, "God, help me to love my husband." And what I have watched is that God has created that inside of my heart. I went from hating my husband with a passion to loving him with the same kind of passion. He has given me a new relational start!

You are a new creature, therefore the old things have passed away and the new things have come!

He is bringing a fresh new social start. Do you have a bad reputation? Do you have a reputation as a whore, as an idiot, as someone who is stupid? A reputation of someone who is lazy, can’t be depended on, doesn’t keep their word, doesn’t work hard, lesser of society, cannot be counted on, someone who cannot be trusted? Someone who talks to much and never listens? God is bringing you a fresh new social start.

I’ve experienced a fresh new social start. Everything I just said is who I was. That was my reputation. But it is no longer! My reputation is dynamically different than what it was in the past. God can take you from being the worst in your town, the ugliest, the most hated. And the new thing He brings forth when you believe in Him and walk with Him is a brand new social start.

And last, He is bringing you a fresh new financial start. Therefore, you cannot bring the old mindsets about money into this year. He is giving you the grace to live in financial wisdom and responsibility.

My friend, it’s time to break the old mindsets that have kept you stuck in a rut, and receive the new mindsets that will set you free and position you for success this year and in years to come.

Challenges will arise as you go through this year of new things, so seek God for new ways of solving problems in 2013. Position yourself in Christ as a new creature and deal with the challenges in a new way. Deal with disappointments and frustrations in a new way.

He is bringing you a fresh new start right now. So forget the former things and praise Him for the new things. Walk, speak, and live as a new creature in Christ!

I am so excited for you, because I know you will embrace the new things that are in store for you this year!

Please let me know what you got out of this message and what it meant for you. What mindsets are you leaving behind this year? I can’t wait to read your response!

Also, please pass this message along to your family and friends. You could help to change someone’s life in 2013, by simply passing this link on to a few people.

I look forward to hearing about your success! And until next time, God bless!

 

In great faith,