God begins to build a whole string of great memories in us. We often sit and talk about where we were thirty years ago and how the Lord has taken us through this incredible journey of revival. We remember what God did, how He touched our family, and how we saw Him touch the lives of the people He had us minister to. Those are incredible memories.
When you begin building those kinds of memories
in your life, the failures and negative experiences
of the past begin to seem more and more distant.
Sometimes you can look back at your old life and it almost seems as though those things happened to somebody else. The Bible says that when you receive Christ, the failures of the past fade away and your new life in Christ begins. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17
God helps us forgive and forget. Those old memories become almost like something that has been stacked away in the archives. They may be part of your history, but they do not have to control who you are today.
In place of them ...
- God begins filling your life with the good things
- That have happened since you became a believer.
- You remember the great times together in the Lord.
- You remember being in the presence of God.
- You remember the things He has done and
- The victories He has brought you through.
We also need to understand that not every negative thing that happens in our lives means we have to spend hours rebuking, binding, and loosing.
I am speaking from experience because I did that for years. I spent a lot of time rebuking and binding, and many times nothing changed. My life was the same. Our marriage still had the same problems.
Then the Lord touched us in those early days of revival. God began to touch us as a family and change each one of us. We began to live in a different realm with the joy of the Lord, the peace of God, and the love of God. Those things began changing many of the hindrances in our lives.
Today, we do not spend our days rebuking the devil and binding every negative thing that comes our way. We have learned to trust God and His Word. If and when the Holy Spirit leads us to take authority over something, absolutely, we do it with the unction and authority God has placed within us. But we do not have to spend every day doing warfare. God has provided the Holy Spirit, and He lives in me. "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4.
I look to the Holy Spirit who lives within me to bring change.
- I look to Him for
- strength,
- healing,
- hope,
- joy,
- peace,
- love,
We also have to understand that this freedom is a process. It is something we step into and continue to walk in it daily. It is not something we do once and then never have to do again.
Think about your natural body. You do not eat one meal and say, “Well, that is it. I ate today, so I will not need anything else for the rest of the week.” We continually eat because our bodies need nourishment, and it is the same way spiritually. We continually apply these things to our lives.
Maybe something happens today and suddenly triggers an old memory. Maybe somebody says something that reminds you of what somebody else said or did years ago, and suddenly the anger or hurt wants to come back. That is when you apply these truths again.
There are people who have been hurt in church situations and carry that hurt around with them. But you are never going to find a perfect church where nobody will ever say or do something that offends you. Why? Because churches are filled with people. They are human beings, and none of them are perfect. Yet God puts His precious treasure on the inside of imperfect vessels and anoints them. Hopefully, they yield to the Spirit of God, who corrects them, changes them, heals them, and sets them free. God is calling us to walk in the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
If God says it is possible, then it is possible.
I do not have the same issues today that I had when I was a young believer. I had memories from my childhood, my teenage years, and my early Christian life that God had to root out of me. Slowly but surely, my mindset changed. That is what God wants to do for every believer. He wants to put new ideas in our thoughts. He wants to give us fresh vision. He wants to build attitudes within us that are positive and based upon the Word of God.
“Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11
I read the Word of God and trust the Holy Spirit, The Teacher inside, to make it part of my life, and it builds me up. My spirit becomes strong in the Lord. Then, when I need it, the Holy Spirit brings that Word back to my remembrance. I immediately yield to that Word and allow the Word to work in me. That is what begins changing us. That is what gives us new ideas and new attitudes.
Over time, positive memories and emotions associated with love, peace, joy, and goodness begin replacing those negative things. Then you can look back over your life and say, “Wow, look what the Lord has done. Look where He has brought me from.”
Maybe there was a time when every little thing that happened affected you emotionally. Something happened and you fell apart. Something went wrong and you wanted to give up. But now you can look at yourself and say, “I’m not that person anymore. I have changed. I react differently.” The things that used to overcome you do not have to overcome you anymore because God has built an inner strength within you.
God also builds within you the memory of how He caused you to triumph. Then, when another negative situation arises, the Holy Spirit can remind you, “Remember what happened the last time? Remember how God brought you triumphantly through that situation?” God is building positive things and good things within you. So how do we overcome? How do we live free from the things that used to assail us? The Word of God gives us the answer.
Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of God rule in your heart.” I love the way the Amplified describes it: let the peace of God be the umpire of your heart. Let His peace become the deciding factor. That means I have to walk in the peace of God every day.
If I do not have peace, then I need to do the things that bring me back into that place of peace. Sometimes I just need to get alone with God. I need to find somewhere I can shut everything else out. I may put on some anointed worship and simply focus on the Lord. It might take ten minutes. It might take fifteen or twenty minutes. But I focus on Him until the peace of God begins to rule in my heart and absolutely floods my heart.
The Bible talks about the peace of God that passes understanding. Your understanding may be telling you one thing. Your thoughts may want to go in one direction. An old memory or emotion may be trying to pull you somewhere else.
But when you allow the peace of God to rule, His peace rises up and overshadows the thought, the memory, and the emotion that was trying to lead you astray. I cannot allow turmoil to usurp authority over my life. I cannot allow anxiety, fear, and all those things to run rampant in my life. I have to rein those things in and bring them to a stop with the help of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, and by the peace of God that passes understanding.
That is part of walking in Freedom in Christ. Let God renew your mind. Let Him give you new ideas and new attitudes. Hide His Word in your heart. Remember the victories He has already brought you through. Walk in the Spirit, and when turmoil tries to take over, let the peace of God become the umpire of your heart. Let His peace rule.
God bless you richly
Gil Howard-Browne
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