I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom. 7:21-25 KJV
Prayerfully you are fresh off your word fast, and you’ve taken inventory of some of the things you have been speaking in and over your life. We are entering a very interesting phase. If you are not careful, you can become easily distracted at this time, and become increasingly dissatisfied with yourself or life in general. You can feel it. Something is in the air. There is an uncomfortableness. At this time, you may not even feel comfortable in your own skin. There is a bit of restlessness. When transformation comes, there is a choice to be made. As humans, we have an ingrained fight or flight response. In a traumatic instance, our brains are hard wired to either buckle up for the fight or run and flee. This can be said of the beginning of the cocoon stage. In the cocoon you will find the fight of your life. The fight is not with outside forces, but with yourself.
This reminds me of when Jacob wrestled at Peniel. Jacob in that instance knew he was tired of the life that he had lived and was living. He needed a change. He wanted a change. You cannot go into the cocoon unless you want to. The cocoon is a prison of sorts. You cannot decide to go in one day and leave the next. Once you go in, you cannot come out until you have been processed. As Jacob wrestled he refused to let go. He refused to be denied. He refused to go back the same old same old.
The cocoon may seem confusing. It will be uncomfortable. It will seem like you are suffocating, but you are really transforming. While transforming you will be broken down and reshaped. DO. NOT. RESIST. Do not fear what is happening. Do not ask a hundred people for advice.
Allow yourself to be reshaped. This process will refine you. People who think they know you, will realize that maybe they never really did. This is not the time to be shaped in the image of what people believe you to be. This is the time to be shaped into who God has created you to be. You may find a part of you wants to turn back or go back to what you are used to. Don’t. Instead PRESS. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:13-14 (KJV)
Webster defines forget as, to disregard intentionally. In this case, I am intentionally disregarding what I have been through in the past, so that I can move forward to the future. Disregard means that I treat something as unworthy of my regard or notice. When I forget, I intentionally take my attention off those things that are trying to hold me to my past and prevent me from moving toward my future. I need to be completely honest, this has been my biggest struggle. Everything that has happened in the past seems so vivid. It plays in my mind at unwanted times, threatening to pull me back. NOT TODAY SATAN!!! No longer will I allow that past video drive me to a place of duress. I will let that past video drive me to a place of deliverance. A place of perseverance. The place of FREEDOM. From now own see the past for what is really is… THE PAST. What happened the other day or year, not what is happening right now! We are in the season of NOW. Not yesterday, not tomorrow but now. We are transitioning from the past. From who people said we were, to who we believed that we were, but to who God has designed us to be. He has designed us to fly. To soar. Allow your wings to form out of the things of your past. Allow what the Holy Ghost has put on the inside to shape itself and manifest on the exterior.
One of the things that I have always noticed about Joseph is there have been many references to his clothes. When we first meet him, he has on a coat of many colors that represents the favor of his father. When he was enslaved in Potiphar’s house his coat is used as evidence against him. He is stripped not only of his coat but of his position. While in prison, he is clothed by the guards with whom he has favor. Once he makes it to the palace, he is given the evidence of his position with a signet ring, gold chain and linen clothes. This time he must strip himself of his past persona and step in the role he was made for.
As you go through this transformation, take note of what you are wearing, spiritually and naturally. What spirit of the past is trying to oppress you? What mood is trying to consume you? Now is the time to put on the garment of praise. You may not be able to see your way, but in your praise your transformation will be made.
Next week is the awesome conclusion. Come back and lets break out of the cocoon together.
