Don't Allow your Past / Ishmael to Keep you from your Promise!

We are in such an explosive season, might I say an explosive year. I truly believe that the breakthrough that is going to occur / is occurring this year, is the breaking out of situations, mindsets and anything else that has hindered us, either because of our own doing or the doing of someone / something else, from moving forward in that which we were destined to be and do from the foundation of the world.

As I have been praying, sowing and consecrating in this area I have felt such an expectation in my Spirit. While 2011 is the year we breakthrough / out I sense that 2012 is going to be the year of the FULFILLMENT of the Promise. Yes, I am excited, and I don’t want anything or anyone, including myself, to mess this up. I want to enjoy the Promises that have been laid out for me wholeheartedly, in excellence and with liberty.

In desiring this I started to think about what could keep myself, or any individual from experiencing that which is on our horizon and the (2) areas that seemed to jump out, though I am sure there are more, are (1.) One’s Past and (2.) One’s Ishmael(s).

The residue of one’s past can be such a hindrance in moving forward, as I have mentioned before. None of us are perfect. We have all missed it now and again. But since we can’t go back to the past and change it (unless we have a time machine) let’s allow God to use our past to bring forth wisdom for our future. Let’s allow ourselves to be healed of our past, forgiven of our past, and delivered from our past so we can move forward into our promise without excess baggage weighing us down or anything else that may hinder us from fully enjoying our promise. The past is over, it’s done, get bored with it and release yourself from it. From the successes and the failures. If you have truly repented for the failures of your past then God has forgotten about them and is no longer talking about them to you or anyone else…so why are you?

The other area that seemed to jump out was that of one’s Ishmael(s). To me, Ishmael represents that which one creates during the “in between” of the beginning and the end of their faith, the time between expectation and experience. Maybe because they got impatient, were in disobedience or doubt, were pressured by others or even one’s own anxiety to move. Possibly making a permanent decision in a very temporary situation. Because it is something we create it can be seen as a prop, a copy, or counterfeit. And Ishmael(s) can be created in so many areas of our life, from business to ministry to finances and even relationships. They can also get tricky because sometimes the Ishmael(s) we create can look exactly like the promise we've seen and might even be believed to be the promise we've seen. That is until the promise makes its appearance. Once the promise makes its tangible appearance it will become clear which is which. The best way to explain an Ishmael is to compare it to the like of counterfeit money. Counterfeit money, if it is created good, will look, feel and possibly, for a moment, even spend like real money. However, when placed next to the real thing the difference will be made known. Now, with us, those of faith, we believe that all things work together for good so the Ishmael(s) we may create God can still use them and give them purpose. But, when the promise makes its tangible appearance don't allow the your Ishmael to keep you from experiencing the real thing, from experiencing the promise, from experiencing that which you knew could exist but never thought it could exist for you because the truth is…IT DOES EXIST…IT DOES EXIST FOR YOU...and YOU ARE TO BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE IT THIS YEAR!