Get Rid of the Old-Make Room for the New

Recently I have been going through closets, storage cabinets, nooks and crannies, getting rid of things I no longer need. I have especially been getting rid of things from the past, things I have held onto for no reason and that no longer serve a purpose. I tend to hold onto things thinking that "someday" I may use that. But "someday" never comes and what happens is my house ends up cluttered with "someday" things and I can't enjoy the "today" things. I have also been taking my old photographs and scanning them onto my computer to put onto CD's for posterity. I have actually cleaned out an entire storage cabinet filled with photo albums.When I was younger I used to take pictures all the time of my niece and nephews and the rest of the family. I found out many years later that they called me "the camera woman". I had so many photographs in albums that I bought a storage cabinet just for those.

One day as I was coming back into my office and looked at one of the photo albums that was being emptied I sensed the Lord say: "Get rid of those pictures, because I am going to fill that album up with new ones." Of course He was speaking spiritually and then I realized what this compulsion of getting rid of things was all about. It was something spiritual that was going on. It pays to pay attention to what we are doing because many times it is a mirror to our spirit. God is trying to show us something in the spirit world that mirrors what we are doing in the natural world. What He was saying and doing in me was cleaning out my spiritual closets, cupboards and photo albums.

God is desiring for us, His people, to begin removing the "old" things and making room for the "new". The word "new" (Isaiah 43:16-18; Ezekiel 36:22-28; and the gospels where it speaks about putting old wine into new wines skins) means "fresh". Webster defines the word as "having its original qualities unimpaired" I like to think of it as a return back to the original. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creature. We are new species. Not so much something that never existed, but something that has returned back to the original purpose it was intended. And that is what God is trying to do to the Church in these days- get us back to the original purpose that we were intended.

How do we do this?  I believe the key is John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease." These were John the Baptist's words regarding Christ. He was saying that Christ must increase and he must decrease.  I used to think this verse seemed backwards. It seemed to make more sense for me to decrease first so that Christ could increase. But actually it takes both. As Christ increases in us we automatically decrease. But we also must make an effort to decrease so He can increase. It is like the two sides of a coin. It takes both sides to make the coin. To get rid of the old we must press into the new. As we press into,  prepare and make room for the new,  we are automatically getting rid of the old.

What is it that we should be getting rid of? How do we make room for the new? How do we prepare to be changed back into the original?  The first thing that comes to my mind is my attitudes and behaviors. I must change them into more godly behaviors. And I do this by spending time with the One who changes me. As I spend time in His presence, in the Word, in prayers and intercessions, He does the changing. But I must have an attitude that I want to change and do what I have to do to prepare to change. Like my closets and storage cabinets, I have to make room for the new by getting rid of things I no longer need- things that hinder me from receiving the new: unforgiveness, anger, unkindness, depression, bad attitudes and ungodly thoughts. The list could be anything that is not godly. I must make an active decision that I want to change and do what I can to change and then spend time with Him as He changes me! It takes both sides.  He is more than willing to bring the change about, to bring the "new" to us, but we must be willing to allow Him to do this and make a concentrated effort to displace the old with the new.

What is God speaking to your heart today? What is He telling you to get rid of? What attitudes and behaviors and speech is He saying has to go? Search your heart if you don't already know. God is wanting to return the Church back to its original form, back to the purposes and intent that He had planned from eternity. We must be willing to cooperate with Him  in this so His Spirit can freely flow through us to those who are in desperate need, those who are held captive by the enemy. They will never be set free if we as the Church are not allowing His Spirit to work through us.

Dear Lord,

Search me and know my heart today. Help me to see those things You want me to get rid of and then as I spend time with You and Your Word, You will bring about the change. I realize that You must increase and I must decrease. You must take over my life and return me back to the original purpose. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

~ ~ Donna