Jan 11
Letting God Start All Over with You
One cannot make “right choices” from “wrong places.” When we step into a job, church, town, state or even a nation where God has not sent us we lose something. Perhaps it is just a little loss of God’s hedge of protection. One might say God’s greatest blessings can be found where He want us to be. Perhaps we lose a little of our decision making ability, because we do not have the fullness of His insight with us. Perhaps we simply fail to recognize forces that might come against us, because we are a little less spiritually intuitive.
The answer? Godly sorrow and repentance. God will take you where He wants, you just have to say yes and go - when He says and not overreact. What if one has a history of wrong choices? Then there are two things to remember: First, Godly sorrow and repentance erases the past. Second, do not take the past with you into the future! Leave it there. God wants to be able to start all over with you. Let Him.
2008 will be the year of the “best of times and the worst of times.” For those who do not take the past with them it will become the best of times. For those who live in the past, and take it with them it could be the worst of times. Give the Lord your future, you could be a Gideon.
Join me the best of times with the Lord.
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Thank you so much for this blog. It is such a blessing to me.
Revelation 11
Zechariah 4
John Paul, It’s quite interesting you spoke on how one can deal with the past. Yesterday I happened upon an old email that I had sent someone with whom I had been engaged. As I read the note, I began to reexperience the pain that I had leading up to and during the breakup. Before getting to the end of the letter, I closed it. Then I made a conscious decision that I would not let hurtful past experience cloud or hinder my vision for the present and future, but that I would use it to catapult me toward the inheritance that God has for me.
Today I checked my email and I was surprised that I had received an ecard from my former fiancee. I hadn’t heard from her in a long time. Significant is the fact that the Lord had prepared me the day before for the encounter. So, I was able to receive her email with a smile. Ironically, the ecard refused to be opened even though I made several attempts to open it. However, I was healed enough to send this person a friendly response. Sometimes God gives us assignments that take us out of our comfort zone, but he will always prepare us, his children, and uplift us even when it may seem we’re going through the worst of times.
Cheers to the great “I AM” for good outcomes in tough times. For he WAS, IS and Will BE and there is nothing too hard for Him. I’m happy to join you in celebrating Jesus.
Wow, “a fresh new start” and “the best of times” sounds like a great deal, sign me up!
Forgetting the former things… Isaiah 43:18
Fixing our eyes on Jesus… Hebrews 12:2
Fighting the good fight, finishing the race, keeping the faith… 2 Timothy 4:7
I’m all in!!
Z
“Great is 08″ Let me be the first to give ya a Big Amen on this JP. Over 30 years as an alcoholic with a drug problem, the spiritual realm still seems so full of strings after over 8 years. Recently one told me that I was totally wrong about fighting to overcome my past, said I was a totally new creation!!! Yeah I am, but I know that I know: it is from glory to glory. And even Christians shall tell you, “No you don’t really need to lay that down”. If the Holy Spirit lays it gently on your heart, know that it is a good thing!!! Let it go or (if need be) go for it,
Holy knows!!!
Great is 08 and 09 is gonna’ be fine,
Love what ya do for our King,
All the way to Heaven, Robert
Thanks for the sign posts, great wisdom and advice for the road ahead.
It is so true that we need to be where God would have us to be. I know that for me when I make a wrong decision, I always know. The way that I know is that I do not feel his presence with me. When I make right decisions his presence is always there with me. For those of us who love to be in the presence of God, it seems that you have to keep your heart right with God, overcome the flesh, or lose what you love. I am very excited about what God is going to do in 2008. I join with you for the best times of the Lord.
Blessings, blessings, blessings!!!
Re: The Best of Times. Where do we sign up?
The Two Roads:
Whenever, the Lord wants to do a new thing in my life, He gives me a vision of the current road that I am on some times its a winding road, other times it is straight and narrow and points upward to heaven. Whenever this happens I am often times wondering if I can handle the steepness because it is pointing straight up. I start wondering if the law of gravity will permit me to walk on that highway right straight into the heavenlies. Whenever I get this vision I feel in my gut that if I looked back, I will fall into the abyss behind me and I will miss whatever God is calling me to in the present moment and it could be detrimental depending on the subject.
On the other hand when there is a change that He is about to do, He shows me in the sky a cloud formation in the shape of a big X or He will show me in my dream two roads crossing over each other in the near distance. I have often asked what this is and He would use that opportunity to tell me that a change is coming and to look to Him and trust Him for the outcome. Usually when this happens, things, relationships, and situations that I once trusted will automatically change beyond my control. People that were once confidants would turn on me, places of employment all of sudden don’t have enough work, and the list goes on…Back to decision making. When the dust settles and after a time of waiting on Him as I worship Him in His presence that is usally when I can see the hand of God for the next thing that He has regarding these crossroads. It is at these times that I have come to appreciate the cross roads because its God’s way of saying, I AM working in your life step aside and watch what I will do for you….2008 is going to be a very good year for those who will wait for His directives.
[...] 10Jan08 The newestCoffee Talk with John Paul Jackson has me thinking about how many Christians have pursued better jobs, nicer [...]
“right choices” from “wrong places” … first I thought you write about physical places, but then it seemed to me that it is the places in which we stand spiritually - in which we live in our mind, I struggle sometimes in the “how to” leave the places of the past behind - the practicality of it - yes, you say, “Godly sorrow and repentance”, and I do want to live in that attitude of repentance - that has been one of the words I have started the year with “shuva” (hebrew for repentance, turning back, turning around); but what about the places of pain that is debilitating, that saps all life out of me, maybe that place needs to be revisited with the Lord? I am asking, I still try to figure it out, maybe you could write some day about that, about hope deferred and how hope is recovered… well He is the hope of Glory, obviously , I feel wrecked relationally, I hope to start all over and I don’t know how… besides turning back to HIM, I don’t know on the human level… one day at the time I guess - sorry for a depressing comment
Can I share something personally? I don’t want my past to dictate my future. Although there are glorious moments in my past filled with such supernatural and divinly amazing experiences, unfortunately I allowed the enemy to come in and steal that time frame in my life. I often live with what if’s… What if I had stayed on track with God? What if I had used those precious moments with God as fuel to drive me to fulfill my purpose back then. What if I had only listened– Where would I be today?
But I can’t live like that anymore– feeling like my past has passed me up. I don’t want to live on the victories of the past– I want new ones. New stories– fresh experiences, fresh visitations, fresh and firm direction.
I woke up this morning from a dream. It was a message of conviction, oddly enough from John Paul. We sat and talked and that’s what brought me here. Our fresh start needs to be daily because every day we have opportunities. To consciously live in the future and be purposefully transparent in your past, even if the past is just a few days ago. Compromise is not in our bloodline and today I choose to set things straight and leave the rest up to God.
Thank you for this refreshing word. It is a profound truth.
Thanks for the good reminder that we have a choice..what we look for we will find..I choose to look for a good year! Thanks for your wisdom and years of experience you are so willing to share..I appreciate you and your ministry so very much! I am also thankful for His grace for when I “mess up” and miss the best..I get to start over right where I am at (even if I don’t particularly like it!) “Happy” “New” “Year” takes on a new perspective and meaning..love this blog~! Renee
The Lord has really been dealing with me about the past for the last couple of months. It’s good to know I’m not the only one and that by letting go I’ll be getting His best for me.
Your last post was also very timely. I read it to my mom over the phone and we both laughed because that’s exactly where we were all last year.
Thank you for taking the time to blog.
Gideon… That’s encouraging. I’ve been hesitant in some of my giftings because of past experience (through my own fault). However, I’m being drawn out of the background (that I prefer) and finding out that God does have a plan of which I am a part. Thank you for this timely word.
Amen. I choose to leave the past behind
I’m praying for the wisdom to make the right choice. I really don’t want this year to be full of wrong choices. I’m also praying for the grace needed to keep walking in obedience. I sense that this year for me will be the most challenging year ever! First, I leave behind the 20’s and turn 30! And second, I’ve been dealing with the hurt in my past and gratefuly God has done a lot of healing in my life but I still struggle to make right choices and I still deal with temptations of going back to where I used to be…in all the wrong places!…and so, there is an open door in reference to ministry. For whatever reason I am sensing that my 40th year will be my year! And so with this in mind I embrace the challenges that lay ahead and pray for the wisdom needed to continue walking in obedience. Amen!
With God, EVERY day is a new day! Praise the Lord! He has so much in store for us if we but sit still, listen, and obey.
I love coming back to the website and finding these nuggets of truth…..thank you, John Paul!
What a great list to aid me in examining my own heart. I realize that only in pursuing a “higher” level of accountabiity & response to the move of His Spirit will I see more of Him & less of me. I love the practical things you comment on that touch the parts of my heart that long to move deeper into Him.
I had a dream Last night that a man in a black suit and tie was after me I was in the place were I grew up, I seen his face and rebuke him in the name of Jesus,)I told my husband I would know this man If I seen him again, very powerful dream.)
Just as I did that my husband turn the light on and woke me up because he heard me, this morning I was compelled to go to your website and read this article, My husband decided to leave our church of 20 years and go to antoher one Just starting out and I feel I was going backwards not forward,they seem to be so far behind in the the things that I have been taught and I am somwhat afraid to share with them, there are 30 members and the Pator and his wife are gifted in Family and Marriage, I have taken a step back because I feel out of place, this article has given me hope
I feel so alone, I miss my church family from before, I have many dreams and I have had visions, but the one I had last night woke me up I have no one to talk to about this, because they do not understand, I beleive God was in control of this, the man was Evil.
So I will move forward and leave the past behind, I do not understand what GOD has for me, and I did feel that God was brnging me back starting over, thank you for the encourging word, and the one about the Law, It truly opened my eyes, Blessing N. Larkin
Yehoshafat,
Be encouraged. Your comment wasn’t received by myself as depressing at all. I thank God for your willingness to open your heart and share. A valuable lesson is found in the book of Job. Once Job prayed for his “closest friends” who tried to label him a “sinner”, the Lord gave him a release in blessings beyond his imagination- all was Peace.
I find that when I love my enemies and those who, otherwise, hurt me. When I Minister to them and ask the great “I AM” to take the pain away, He performs it.
God’s Peace and Blessings to you.
Re: Yehoshafat-”Right choices from wrong places”
Be encouraged. Your comment wasn’t received by myself as depressing at all. I thank God for your willingness to open your heart and share. A valuable lesson is found in the book of Job. Once Job prayed for his “closest friends” who tried to label him a “sinner”, the Lord gave him a release in blessings beyond his imagination- all was Peace.
I find that when I love my enemies and those who, otherwise, hurt me. When I Minister to them and ask the great “I AM” to take the pain away, He performs it.
God’s Peace and Blessings to you.
After 2 years, I resigned as a member of my church. I was a new christian and was so excited to be saved that I did not consult God on whether I should have become a member or not. However within two months as a member I felt that something was not right. But I put the thought out of my mind because I felt that it was the old woman rising up. How could this church not be right for me? However, during the past two years I have grown so much spiritually and have learned to consult God and trust my instincts that I could not stay in my former church. I have begun visiting the church which God recommended and I feel that I am in the right place. Thank you God.
John Paul,
Thank you for the hope in this post. Worldly sorrow leads to death, but godly sorrow leads to life.
Thank you also for all you’ve done for the body of Christ, for being a servant, for your character and transparency, for mentoring many into their callings…success is successors! Thank you also for carrying the banner that the Lord is a supernatural God, and that is not just an add-on to our faith. You’ve done much to encourage me and I know many others to have faith in God, that He is acting in our world and that we each have great destinies in Him!
May God richly bless you, protect you, provide for you and bring you into all that He has for you, in His mighty name.
Blessings,
Dennis
yehoshafat, Hope deferred does make the heart sick…we must submit our right or need to know why..or we will walk around like the walking dead…psalm 23..he restoreth my soul..mind will and emotions. Simply put..cry out to the Lord..exchange your pain for the healing balm..I mentally yake my most unexpressible pains to the foot of the cross..there I release all I don’t understand or seem to posses right there..at the place Jesus copleted all the work of the cross..I recount the truth of His word over my emtions.In the blood of the Christ..who suffered all that i would ever suffer and more…I stir up the gift inside me..the hop e of glory ,Christ Jesus…valley of pain and dispair take us to the healing places in Christ if we just admit to him.. it is too much to bear alone..Grace and more grace is coming ..be still and know that he is with you and is touched by your grief..being aquainted do much with it..Christ will send forth new hope..maybe a moment at a time at first..but it is there for you…faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move sickness of your heart , to the testimony of hope renewed..I testify of that..because I once had no hope and only heart sikness, mind sickness..and I allowed the Holy Spirit to minister to me..Sometimes our hurt makes us think, we deserve this time to feel the pain..Jesus says cast all our cares on him, for he cares for us..the God of the universe isn’t surprised by our pain.God only allows in our life the things that will cause us to grope for him..and when we view this in light of him working all things for our benifit and his glory..we can and will dust our selves off and go on in the grace for today that leads us into our future in Christ..Go on in God to find new hope it is already in you. Christ the hope of Glory..
I’m all for a fresh start and leaving baggage behind. It makes for a much lighter flight.
Dear Yehoshafat: I hope that you will not feel the need to apologize “for a depressing comment”. We are here in this place because of the Lord’s love for us, and that love flows from Him, through us and toward you as we read what you have written. The Lord inspires our hearts to compose a quiet prayer for you. We read your post with empathy and send out thoughts of encouragment. You are surrounded by love, which flows like a waterfall from heaven, through our hearts and toward you. Praise Him!
job my redeemer lives into your hands i commit my spirit we are surrounded by grace builders. We don’t have good days or bad days we have GRACE days grace to endure grace to enjoy always grace.
Hello Everyone,
How to reconcile the past and bring closure and peace only comes form God and I have found the answer to be simple and profound:
forgiveness!
Searching our hearts and asking God to reveal to us if there is any unforgiveness lurking, and poisoning our today and our tomorrow. Forgiveing ourselves as well. It is the gift he freely gave us with the shedding of HIS blood. Let us walk in HIM and His forgiveness. Setting us free. Amen.