Recently I read the foreword of this wonderful devotional called 'The Daily Prophecy' by Brenda Kunneman. I chanced upon this devotional on the internet sometime in Sep last year and I just discovered that it was around the same time that the book was published. I am greatly blessed and edified by the daily prophecies written by Brenda Kunneman as most times I felt as if God was speaking to me through her message.
When I read the foreword, I realised why I had 'chanced' upon this devotional. God wanted to speak to me through these prophecies. In 1 Corinthians 3:22-23, the scripture says that the future belongs to us. God intends for us to influence, shape the future and cooperate with what wants to emerge in our life based on His proceeding word over us. He wants us to cooperate with His Spirit to bring that word to manifestation.
For that reason, becoming 'present-future' oriented is part of the unfolding process of the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2) so that we can agree with God, calling those things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:27) and walking with God from the present to the future. Most of us fail to renew our minds in this aspect and get stuck in a 'past-present' mindset. Like Phil Connors, Bill Murray's famous character in 'Groundhog Day', we keep reliving the past and experience negative confirmations of self-fulfilling prophecies that anchor us to the past.
We continue to react as we did in the past, causing us to relive our yesterdays instead of influencing our tomorrows. As a result, we never live in the 'now' with God. No wonder God had to keep telling me to let go of my past for He is doing a new thing now. He spent so much effort trying to get me to change from being 'past-present' oriented to 'present-future' oriented. If I could not let go of the past, how could I move forward to the glorious future He prepared for me?
And so, God starts by bringing me through small incremental steps, one day at a time and making little shifts here and there: small but fundamental shifts that are part of the lifestyle of renewing our minds. It includes a fundamental shift in how we think, feel and speak. The process is called repentance or 'metanoia' in Greek. 'Metanoia' is an ongoing process, an educational process that reforms and renews us into the will of God, Who has created a compelling vision of a completed future of us in His word.
As He slowly shifted the way I think and the inner vision I have of myself, He is also working on my outward circumstances. He probably started this work of renewing my mind in 2008 and over time, through numerous shifts in my thinking, beliefs and even in my environment, He slowly brought me to my appointed place in His kingdom. The renewal of mind is still ongoing but I realised that the way I broke free from being stuck in a 'past-present' mindset and reframed into a 'present-future' mindset is by speaking and declaring God's Word for me one day at a time, allowing Him to work on one shift at a time.
This powerful book of inspiring prophetic declarations really helped to change the way I think and the way I speak. Over a few months, I saw that many of the prophetic declarations really came true in my life as I spoke them in faith. God desires to show us glimpses and visions of our future so that we can know His perfect plan for us. He wants us to speak forth these visions and cooperate with His Spirit to bring that vision to manifestation. When the revelations or visions come, we must record them down as a witness that God spoke things before they came to pass (Habakkuk 2:2-3). Then we can give God all the glory because He has spoken and He brought it to pass.
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