Are There Any High-Jumpers In The House?

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Bishop Wiley Jackson

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. - Joshua 1:9

A lot of times we wait for an event or special day, such as a new year, to start working on ourselves or to try to work something out of our systems. We do ourselves a disservice though, because we really should not wait for a special day or a new year to fix what is not working for us. There are areas in each of our lives that we need to retool.

For those not familiar with retooling, the automobile industry and some others shut down annually for a certain period and retool. They are not changing what they are producing - they are still making cars. They are transitioning and getting re-equipped for new models and greater productivity. It's the same way with life. What was working for you last year might not necessarily work for you this year. What was good last week might be obsolete this week. We are living in a time where the future is changing quickly and it is important for us to retool ourselves so we will be up to date with all that God is doing in the earth.

Imagine what Joshua must have faced in his retooling. He had been under Moses' leadership and he was walking around with a whole lot of people that were used to doing things the old way. You know how it is - whenever people are trained under one leader and somebody new comes along, the first thing they say is "Well, the other person did not do it this way.

Joshua had a problem. Everybody had an opinion about the way things should go. Nobody wanted change. The thing about retooling is it's really not about change. It's about transition. If you change something you can always go back to the old way. When you make the transition, you understand there is no going back. One of the first things God told Joshua was that Moses was dead. Before Joshua could move on to anything new, he would have to bury the past.

It's a new year, but some people are still moaning over past mistakes, thinking about how they messed up in 2009, wondering why they got hurt so bad last January, asking why they did not come thru for you in October. You need to bury it. You made it through anyhow, and God has got something new and better for you. Stop crying over spilled milk - just clean up the mess and go pour yourself another glass.

God has something special for you, but he can not bless you with you dragging your past behind you. Retool. Loose your past and let it go free. Ask God to forgive you, then repent. Repent means to go in the opposite direction. It is hard to go in the opposite direction looking back. You have to look ahead and focus on where you are going, because if you keep looking backwards you will find yourself in a wreck.

In 2010 there is no middle ground. You need to make up your mind to be on one side or the other. It's time to quit trying to play it safe. Step out and see what God has in store for you. There is an abundance of untapped possibilities that wait in front of each of us - we just have to move toward them.

Retool your vision. Retool your associations. Stop living in a place of depression caused by negative vision.
Stop running with people that feed your negative vision. Stop setting the bar so low that you can step over it. It's time to retool, be courageous, and raise the bar.

Are there any high-jumpers in the house?