Whenever we bring up past hurts, continually rehearse our failures and agonize over things we should have done but didn’t, we’re tying ourselves to our past. We’re also assuring that our present and future won’t be much different. So, in reality, our past isn’t the past.

Your own worst enemy

We spend so much energy trying to get people to sympathize with us and understand why we are where we are today. Our past excuses why we can’t possibly do better. We spend countless hours telling the story of our past, trying to convince ourselves and others that life could have been different if certain things never happened.

Speaking and thinking this way makes us our own worst enemy by binding us to the past. That, in turn, hinders our present and future. Fortunately, you can get released from the curse of the past.

During my 36 years as a Christian counselor, I have seen the following steps successfully unlock the prison gate for a person stuck in the past, freeing them to enter into God’s great destiny for their life. It’s not too late to get free from the torment of the past.

Let go of yesterday

Step 1: Forgive yourself for your role in your past: wrong decisions and even thoughts and desires. We often deflect the full responsibility of our pain onto others. We can’t deal with the self-rejection and guilt that comes from admitting our part. Remember, “The truth will set you free. (John 8:32)“. Although this first step is difficult, the alternative is this: Your history will become your destiny.

Step 2: Forgive everyone who caused you pain and bad memories. It’s not enough just to forget them or not mention them again. They still hold a place in your heart, allowing Satan to keep you tied to the bad memories. You know you’ve forgiven them if hearing their name no longer triggers that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. Release the forgiveness God placed in you to them. Chords to the past will be broken and Satan’s assignment of tormenting you with past memories will disappear. It’s worth the effort!

Step 3: Make a conscious effort to stop bringing up your past. Scripture says that words have the power of life and death. Bringing up the past in some fashion releases a curse over your present and future. You may even be unaware that you do this. To stop it, consider asking someone close to you to point out when you bring up the past.

Step 4: Get free of shame and guilt. From time to time, we all feel guilt for things that happened in the past. Until you deal with this deep level of hurt it will undermine your faith to get free. Find someone who can pray for this deep healing. Left un-dealt with, shame and guilt will sabotage the first three steps.

I highly recommend the Stop Hurting Start Healing ministry to deal with deep inner hurt and shame. Go to BreakingFreeCC.com and start to take back your life from the enemy.

If you let it, history will repeat itself in your life. But with you and God…NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!…

In my last blog, I exposed the roots of racism and placed the greatest responsibility on the church. Addressing racism and eradicating it in our nation and the world is our responsibility. I would like to offer some biblical solutions that we can take—not tomorrow—right now! 

Hate what God hates

I believe God has allowed us to live in this season of time when racism is running rampant and unchecked so we can make a difference. It’s time for believers to get their heads out of the sand and speak up on behalf of God concerning racism. We exist as the body of Christ to represent Him here on earth, true? 

Simply expressed: God hates racism just like he hates lying, divorce, murder, abortion and any other sin. There needs to be a unified church voice that says we hate what God hates, and that is racism. We won’t tolerate it in our lives or our churches. 

Making that statement should bring many believers to the altars of repentance because, unfortunately, racism does exist in the heart of some believers.

Suggested steps to take

Let me suggest some steps we, as the body of Christ, should take:

1. Each local church should have a service for the specific purpose of repenting for the past sin of racism; sin that the Christian church embraced before and during the years of slavery. Whether we like it or not, the church has a faulty foundation of racism that has been overlooked for years. 
   
2. I believe we need to commit ourselves to root out any racism that exists in our churches today by speaking against it from the pulpits. We as believers and church leaders have been quiet too long and now is the time to make our voices heard. We need to remind our flock that racism is a sin and that it will not be tolerated in our churches. We should make our altars available for repentance for those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit. 
   
3. As a corporate body, we need to set time during our services to pray against the demonic activity that’s behind racism in our church and nation. Scripture says our battle isn’t fought against flesh and blood, but against demon spirits that work through people who have open doors to racism.
   
4. Pastors need to teach and remind their congregants of the history of racism in this nation, and ask the Holy Spirit to impart empathy in our hearts so we would have a greater love for all people—especially for people of color. 
   
5. We need to make our congregants aware of open doors in their own lives passed down in their family lineage. We may have unconsciously embraced a belief system of racism. Maybe some of us are unaware of the roots of racism in our lives.
   
   A good example would be: A father who raises his children with a lifestyle degrading people of color. He passes on the belief that people of color aren’t equal to white people and don’t deserve the same form of justice. As adults, when they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, the children carry those same demonic beliefs into their Christian life. They never denounced their generational sin of racism, nor were they even challenged to do so from the pulpit. Too often it isn’t addressed as sinful and against the heart of God. 
   
6. The people of God need to stop addressing each other by color and ethnic background. This creates division and separation, rather than unity. God created only one human race and we are all children of the Most High God. Our Father knows and identifies us by our spirit—not our color. We need to see each other through spirit eyes, not carnal eyes that are influenced by Satan. 

Cleansing and outpouring

Just these few things implemented immediately and consistently will cause a cleansing and purification of the body of Christ. And there needs to be a cleansing in the church before there can be a great outpouring of His presence. 

I believe we are about to experience a “Psalm 133 Outpouring” that would touch this nation and every nation across the globe….

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing–Life forevermore.” —Psalm 133:1-3

We are called to be examples of what heaven’s culture looks like to unbelievers. But, before we can see a true breakthrough, racism has to be confronted and dealt with first by you and me—the church of the living God!

Let’s do our part

 If you’re a Pastor reading this, let’s join our hearts together and bring an end to racism by doing our part. If you’re a member of a church, please get this article into the hands of your Pastor and encourage him to confront racism.

Remember, you can be an asset by supporting Christians that take responsibility for ending racism in America. Better yet, join us in prayer for this miracle movement of God to take place in this season. I declare: We will see the end of racism in our lifetime!…

Once again, racism has overtaken the daily headlines in America. The senseless death of another young black man at the hands of a police officer raises the question: Will there ever be a solution to the racial problems in America?

The root of the problem

We have tried to resolve this problem of systemic racism since the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Though we have made some advancements in equality among the races and in dealing with some of its effects, we haven’t really done away with the core problem of racism which is sin. You can cut off the fruit of a tree and still find it growing back again every year. Unless you get to the root of the problem, you’ll never bring a lasting solution. 

Peaceful protests, new legislation, more black police officers, better education and job opportunities for the black community are great suggestions and are things we should institute. But it will never do away with racism until we are willing to face the root issue in our lives, and that is sin. Since it is a spiritual problem, it demands a spiritual solution which absolutely involves the church today.

Until we as the body of Christ are willing to join together and look into the mirror of God’s word, we will never see racism done away with. It needs to be eradicated first within us, as Christians, before we can affect the world in which we live.

Some of us were raised with the belief (prejudice) that one race is better than the other. Satan, the father of all lies is at work to deceive people’s hearts and minds, but unfortunately the church has not dealt with it. Racism is still found in the church, which is supposed to be the conscience and soul of this nation. And, there are even churches that are prejudiced against each other. I’ve heard it said that the most racist day of the week is Sunday! We have all-black churches, all-white churches and we have mixed churches; yet, even in mixed churches, there can be an undercurrent of prejudice. 

One race: human

There is only one human race, just one. And until we bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus, racism will always exist. Only the love of the Father through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit can help us walk in unconditional love toward one another; where we don’t see color—only God’s gift of life in each other. 

As long as we remain carnal Christians, we will never resolve the racial problem in this world. People are calling for justice, but true justice is something that originates from the heart of God; it’s His idea, not man’s. But, nothing from God is released on this earth unless we surrender all of our heart to Him and allow Him to live through us. 

Repentance in the church

The bottom line is that the church must address this issue with all sincerity and truthfulness by first repenting for its own long-standing racist attitudes. Most of the racism in the past—supporting slavery and killing innocent black people—was supported and even encouraged by the church! Search our history.

We have hidden it under the cover of religious piety, but it’s like filthy rags before the Lord. 

Denominations have black clergy and Hispanic clergy and then just clergy. Too few people of color are found in leadership. In some churches, minorities have a secondary role even if they are more qualified than others. 

We tolerate racist remarks and behavior in our churches, yet hesitate to bring godly correction for fear of losing our caucasian constituents. We don’t support those who are willing to address issues of racial equality and we vote for parties with racist agendas.

It’s time for us as Christian leaders to confront these issues with our own congregations and lead them into the truth about God’s justice. 

Denominations need to come together, putting away our swords and submitting to God’s mandate to “let our light shine before men that they may see our good works.” We should pray together for racial injustice to cease and for the roots of racism to be completely destroyed. 

One enemy: satan

Satan is our enemy, and sin is the vehicle he uses. We are God’s weapon against racism. Therefore, the church needs to teach its people the root causes of racial injustice and the history of racism in our nation. 

The church needs to address these issues with zeal and, once and for all, commit to show the fruits of righteousness in our cities. We need to rally together black, white, Hispanic—all men as one in the name of Jesus!…