THE NEW YOU

When I was a young boy there was a family of trash collectors who would come down our alley every week to collect trash from the neighborhood and the local grocery.

I always felt good when they came by because they called me by name, and because of that I felt important. I also noticed a very marked difference about them: they always exuded joy. And after many years I discovered why: they knew Jesus!

No one in the community – wealthy, poor, business owners, educators – had the joy they had. They were prosperous in their hearts. As they folded boxes and collected trash, they manifested the presence of the Lord.

My family knew many people: political, religious, business, educational, and union leaders. However, NO family left their mark on a little boy like the Turner family: the trash collectors. The seed of God's JOY in them made an indelible imprint on my mind and heart.

Through the years I have come to realize that one of the marks of the Christian – even in sorrow and trials – is JOY.

     "For the JOY of the Lord is your strength." [Nehemiah 8:10]

     "You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of JOY; and at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." [Psalm 16:11]

     "And the disciples were filled with JOY, and with the Holy Ghost." [Acts 13:52]

I know that I will see the Turner family in Heaven, and have the privilege to live with them forever. I would rather collect trash and be filled with God's JOY than have all the riches of this world.

There are three (3) instructions the Lord has given me to communicate with you in this teaching. The reason I shared with you about the Turner family is because JOY will be the resultant of these three instructions from the Lord ... JOY will be imparted to you as a permanent commodity as you learn to draw near the Spirit and fulfill your objectives on Planet Earth. Below are the three instructions from the Lord.

INSTRUCTION 1

You're about to lose your vision. Don't do it. Don't give up!

If you don't quit, you'll win. But, if you quit, you can't win!

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." [Proverb 29:18a]

Because your vision is LARGER ... and WORLD ENCOMPASSING, it has taken longer to develop. It has taken longer to prepare the natural infrastructure and logistics. These have been in a stage of preparation behind the scenes by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Watchers (the Holy Angels).

Also, the enemy has lied to you, telling you that your vision objectives are not going to be fulfilled. You can prove the devil wrong! Here's how: the Lord told me to tell you to look at the bits and pieces that have been, and are already, coming in place. These are the tips of the iceberg.

The system is in place in God's mind and economy because of your prayers, fasts, sacrifices, and faith. But now the enemy is trying to discourage you so that you will drop your vision ... and in doing so it would be aborted. But the Spirit of God is NOT going to let you do that, and He is sending me to VALIDATE your victory.

You will SUCCEED. As a matter of fact, God wants you to ask Him for MORE than you have been asking. Here's a secret: share your NEW JOY that will be imparted to you with the Lord. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." [Psalm 37:4] The Hebrew word used here for delight means to have pleasurable emotion. You're going to go through!

Listen to the radio program titled "Go Through Closed Doors" on the RealMiracles website (instructions are at the bottom of the end of this newsletter).

INSTRUCTION 2

God isn't finished with you yet, my friend. Many of you reading this newsletter are about to experience a MAJOR CHANGE in your ministry and life. For some of you this word is a confirmation of what God has already been speaking to you. For others, you will receive the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning the same.

You will begin to see how things in the past have been used by God to fashion the NEW YOU!

Some of these things in the past were brought about by the faults and sins of other people ... some were brought about as a result of your own disobedience ... and some through obedience. BUT GOD ...!

     "BUT GOD ... even when we were dead in sins ... has quickened us together with Christ ..." [Ephesians 2:4-7]

     "BUT GOD raised Him from the dead." [Acts 13:30]

     "BUT GOD commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." [Romans 5:8]

BUT GOD can turn around the plans and devices of the enemy and make them serve God's purpose. God loves you, my friend! If God can use a murderer like Moses, if God can use a fornicator like Samson, if God can use a murderer and adulterer like King David ... all of whom repented and were cleansed ... then God can use you! Nobody loves you like Jesus!

You will SEE how things in the past have brought you to be the NEW YOU: one who has a close, intimate walk with the Holy Spirit. Trials and hard times have made you a new sharp threshing instrument. But don't live in the past ... and don't be the old you any longer.

That's why God is bringing changes in your life and ministry: geographical changes, ministry changes, relational changes. And, in the future you will look back again and SEE how you were like Ruth in the Tanakh (the Old Testament). Read the Book of Ruth; it contains only four chapters but the Spirit will speak many great things to you concerning your future.

The NEW YOU is being marked with the JOY of the Lord! This will be your sign and the enemy cannot hinder it. The joy will be your sustaining strength, and because of this strength you will have peace in all matters and concerns of life: large and small; familial and interpersonal; secular and spiritual; business and recreational. As a result, you will REST more: physically and mentally. Your life – your days on earth – will be extended.

Also, concomitant with this MARK – the joy of the Lord – will be extra elements of angelic protection.

Your life and ministry will be in retrospect like Ruth's.

     Ruth was shut out: by society and by the Law.

     Ruth experienced great loss and sadness.

     Ruth left her comfort zone.

     Ruth experienced great cultural change.

     Ruth was not ashamed to do menial work.

     Ruth pledged allegiance to Israel's God.

     Ruth found favor with God and man.

     Ruth was blessed with a new family and mate.

     Ruth was liberated permanently.

     Ruth was blessed with wealth.

     Ruth became the progenitor of Messiah and his seed line. (You will extend the seed line of Messiah by the people you bring to Him.)

Listen to the radio program titled "Release God's Will" on the RealMiracles website (instructions are at the bottom of the end of this newsletter).

INSTRUCTION 3

Never be afraid to leave your comfort zone.

If Ruth had not left her comfort zone, none of the blessings would have overtaken her.

I know of a case concerning a businessman who was called to preach several years ago. He put off the call for several years until he felt he could financially make the move. When he was financially secure, he decided to quit his business and obey the Lord's leading.

He told his pastor in Michigan (USA) that he wanted to go into the ministry. The pastor told him that he would like him to preach in 30 days at the Sunday evening service. The man prepared a message and when that Sunday evening arrived he went to the pulpit to preach. When he opened his mouth to preach ... nothing came out! He could NOT speak. As far as I know, he never regained the ability to speak.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, was martyred by the Nazis at the age of 39 in 1945. He was involved with the German underground and hanged as a result. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, he wrote:

"The new situation must be created – the impossible situation in which everything is staked solely on the word of Jesus. The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus. Unless a definite step is demanded, the call vanishes into thin air, and if people imagine that they can follow Jesus without taking this step, they are deluding themselves." [1]

Don't put off what God is calling you to do. You may have been serving God for years in ministry but you must realize there is NO seniority in God's vineyard. If you don't do the job, God will find someone else. Don't be afraid to leave your comfort zone IF God is leading you to another field of ministry.

God is LARGE and IN CHARGE! Your identity is in Him!

Listen to the radio program titled "Know God's Direction" on the RealMiracles website (instructions are at the bottom of the end of this newsletter).

SUMMARY

     The NEW YOU is being marked with the JOY of the Lord.

     Don't lose your VISION ... don't give up.

     Many are about to experience a MAJOR CHANGE.

     You will REST more: physically and mentally.

     You will have extra elements of ANGELIC PROTECTION.

     Never be afraid to leave your COMFORT ZONE.

     You will SUCCEED ... your vision will come to pass.

     Ask for GREATER things!

To listen to the Radio Programs listed above, go to http://www.realmiracles.com/media1_a.htm On the Radio Page, where it says "Please Select Programs", select "RADIO PROGRAMS" and then choose from any of the 40 programs listed in the drop down menu on the right. The three programs mentioned in the newsletter above are:

     Radio Program: Go Through Closed Doors

     Radio Program: Release God's Will

     Radio Program: Know God's Direction

Note: If you don't have Windows Media Player you may download it FREE on the Radio Page.

[1] Quote is from The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoefer, Copyright 1948 by The Macmillan Company.