Positioned For Transition

Isaiah 43:18-19

[18] Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. [19] Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. …

Remember...

*To call to mind.

*To be thought of.

*To hold in the mind.

But here’s the one I think the Holy Spirit is warning against.

*It is, to make a memorial.

In other words; to enshrine something as so important or so big and so grand that you can’t move past it, because you worship what you have enshrined.

The Holy Spirit asks the question, shall ye not know it?

In other words, it is very possible that I would do something new, better, greater, grander, more magnificent than you have ever seen or experienced before, but you can miss it because you’re still worshipping at the enshrined memory of the past.

When he says, "Remember not” He is saying, don’t let enshrined memories of the past keep you from moving forward.

Be thankful for the wonderful memories, but do not be a prisoner of the past, good or bad.

It’s time for a new thing. God said: Behold I will do a new thing!

As I was waiting on the Lord, meditating on where we are at-in our process, I heard the Lord speak 3 words to me. He often speaks to me Like that-Two or Three words.

At the time of this message weare quickly coming to the end of 2018, very soon we will be starting a brand new year. And I began to feel a stirring in my spirit about this new year; that's when I heard the spirit of the Lord say: positioned for transition.

I don't pretend that I know everything God has in store for us, as a body or as individuals. But I do understand that the word "transition"implies movement.

Let me be even more specific: "Transition speaks of movement, progress, of forward motion."

Transition is always about leaving one place to go to another.Elisha couldn't get to Bethel without leaving Gilgal.

The same is true about Jericho, He Couldn't get to Jericho without leaving Bethel.

*Transition means, leaving some things behind.

*Transition is something that requires participation.

*Transition can not happen by accident.

*Transition is a choice to co-operate and move with the Holy spirit.

Transition has 3 main components.

*Letting go of the old.

*Trusting.

*Taking hold of the new.

Why is transition so hard most of the time? Because most of the time the Holy Spirit doesn't tell us exactly where we are going. He just witnesses to our spirit that our time in a certain place or in certain conditions or an environment is getting ready to change. Then we must decide if we really want everything God has prepared for us or are we going to settle for the comfortable and the familiar.

That was Elijah's role in Elisha's transition: Elijah was playing the devil's advocate. In other words-Elijah was speaking as the devil would, to try and discourage someone from receiving Gods best.

Of course Elijah wanted Elisha to receive the mantle. He had poured into his life for over 10 years. But He knew Elisha had to want it enough to transition. in other words; He had to want it enough to let go of and leave the comfortable and the familiar to go after the unseen, and the unknown.

Transition is a difficult place many times because It is an in between place.

It is the squeezing place.

It's the place where you have left where you were, where you were adjusted, where you knew what to expect, where you had a pretty good handle on everything, and now you don't have a handle on anything.

*It is the place where faith is tested.

*it is the place where you are tempted to grumble and complain and start looking back to the old familiar comfort zone.

*It's the place where you either breakthrough or you break down.

*It is a necessary place because it is the proving ground, it is where you prove to God by your actions and your attitude that you are more interested in following him than being comfortable.

I think one of the most exciting and inspiring things that I learned from the story of Elijah and Elisha was this: Elisha went beyond his mentor...

*Elisha pushed for more.

*Elisha had developed his own appetite.

*Elisha didn't just want what he saw in and on Elijah, he wanted double.

Which means, he not only wanted what be had seen and experienced with Elijah, He wanted more, he wanted what he had never seen and never experienced

I believe Elijah as Elishas mentor, knew something about what God had in store for Elisha. He perceived it, he was preparing him for it...