Don’t Live on Yesterday’s Anointing
Your past victories are trophies—not finish lines.
I talk to many people who, when they have nothing new to share, fall back on the same old stories. Every time we meet, I hear the same victory again: “Did I tell you about this?” Yes, you did. And yes, it was powerful. You were anointed ten years ago. You experienced a great victory ten years ago. But where is your anointing today? Where is your victory today?
Where is the glory God has for you today? Where is today’s race? Sometimes we stop running because our old stories still get a reaction. When someone hears one for the first time and gets excited, it can feel as though a fresh anointing has come upon us. But it is not fresh—it is familiar. God is not calling us to live on yesterday’s encounter. He is calling us forward.
Deliverance Moves You Forward
Deliverance is not only about casting demons out. It is also about healing from past imprisonment. God brings you out of bondage and teaches you a new way to live so that imprisonment no longer defines you. Think of Moses leading the people out of Egypt: they left slavery and began a journey toward freedom. In the same way, Jesus leads us out of slavery and into freedom. That is what deliverance does.
One of the greatest lessons I am learning—and teaching wherever I go—is this: you cannot teach out of your hurt, and you cannot love out of your hurt. You must learn to set your hurt aside so that you can represent Jesus properly. That does not mean you will never have trouble. It means your mind doesn't have to overrule your spirit; you can let your spirit lead your mind.
Fight the Good Fight
Can you say, “I fought a good fight”? I believe I can. If Paul was brave enough to say it, we can be brave enough to say it too. It is not prideful to recognize that God has carried you through. You would not still be standing if you had not fought. But do not measure your fight only by your troubles; measure it by the victories God has given you. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” The greatest testimony is that you kept your faith.
My wife, my family, and I have been through a lot in life. You have been through a lot too. Every family has faced something. Yet you kept your faith—that is what counts. You did not allow a painful event to move you away from God. If you want to see the glory of God, remain in faith.
Don’t Run a Race You Already Won
Are you ready? I am. I want us to look at this differently. There are battles I have fought and races I have finished. I have seen the victory. Yet sometimes I return to an old victory and try to fight that fight again because winning it felt so good. But I do not want to go back to something God has already brought me through.
Today is a new day. Let it be a new day for you. Do not go back. If your race is not finished, come alongside us and we will help you finish it. But once God has completed something, do not make it your race again. Do not let an old victory become your only moment of celebration.
Do not stay stuck admiring the trophies of your past. Let them remind you that, by God’s grace, you can win another race. From 2009 to 2012, I experienced a powerful work of the Holy Spirit. That season is a trophy in my life, but it is not what is happening today. I cannot go back to it. I can remember it and say, “Lord, if You did it there, You can do something even greater here.” Your past trophies should strengthen your faith, not hold you back.
Go from Faith to Faith
Finishing one assignment does not mean you have finished your life’s work. Completing one race simply prepares you for the next. Celebrate what God has done, but do not camp there. Keep moving from faith to faith, victory to victory, and glory to glory. Yesterday’s anointing is a testimony. Today’s anointing is your calling.
