Happy New Year!
We bless God for the blessings He has in store for us in 2018. I’m looking for great things from the Lord in 2018 and you should too!
Be Blessed, Dr. Sherman S. Watkins
“THE BATTLE IS WON…… BUT THE RESIDUE IS STILL THERE!”
This is a brand New Year!!!! 2018 is a place that we’ve never visited before. It’s a time of new beginnings for some, yet for others we’ve pulled in the drama of 2017…..knowingly and unknowingly. Instead of leaving the old battles of last year in the past, we’ve pulled them right over into our future. It’s called RESIDUE – THAT’S THE THING THAT TRIES TO HINDER US FROM MOVING FORWARD IN LIFE. “Residue” comes in many flavors……it can be the mental warfare of imagination; it can be the power of remembrance; it can even be the inability to press forward, or the comfortability of reverting to the old because it’s familiar! WHATEVER IT IS…..it’s simply “RESIDUE,” but in order to move into our new place we have to be willing to release the old. We have to accept the fact that THE BATTLE IS WON…..but the reason we can’t move forward is because THE RESIDUE IS STILL THERE. We have to ask God to RELEASE US FROM THE RESIDUE so we can be free to walk in the things that God has ordained for our future. It’s refreshing to know that the God of all creation has a set-time for all things in our life. Nothing is forever except eternal life with God! Whatever we’re dealing with here on earth has a “set-time.” We can’t get caught up in these things because they’re just temporary. Be it person, place or things…..it’s all just momentary enjoyment. Even if it’s painful, that too is only temporary – it also has a set-time.
The power of this incredible component called the HUMAN BRAIN, created by God has enormous capabilities that we haven’t even tapped into yet. Medical Science says we only use a very small portion of it’s capabilities……there’s so much more that is left unused. We have to understand whenever we’re in the challenge of life, we’re dealing with a number of issues….. THE MIND (sometimes referred to as the human brain); IMAGINATIONS (thoughts, conceived notions), STRONGHOLDS (predicaments that keep resurfacing); DESIRES (wants and needs of the flesh); SPIRITUAL WARFARE (spiritual combat; flesh against the spirit), and much, much more. When we think about all of the components of spiritual warfare we could get tired of the fight and just give up – but there is a spiritual drive inside of the Believer that won’t allow us to cave in under the pressure. It’s called FAITH. That’s the belief that things are going to get better. We can’t say when it will happen because only God regulates TIME, but because we operate by faith, we know that better is coming. THE BATTLE IS ALREADY WON, but the Residue is simply a reminder of what we’ve been through (past tense). The key is that we’ve ALREADY gone through it and since we operate by faith we know it will only get better! Victory belongs to the people of God. We walk by faith and not by sight! The residue doesn’t matter……that just lets me know that I’m growing in God. I already know that in this life we will suffer; we will go through both tests and trials. The Bible has already told us that so we can tell the devil that’s nothing new. What I’m excited about is the fact that THE BATTLE IS ALREADY WON!! It doesn’t matter that I’m just going through the motions right now – the end result is always, “I WIN!” That’s it. It doesn’t matter what the devil thinks he’s doing by coming against me è Shoot your best shot but when it’s all said and done I’m coming out victorious!” I’m excited about my future because it’s a guarantee….. God will do just what He says!