Terry Casales - February 6th, 2022
(Photo: canva.com)
The Lord brought to my remembrance the movie, “Groundhog Day” where the main character, Phil, a local TV station weatherman, went to cover a news story about the Groundhog Day celebrations in Punxsutawney, PA to report whether Phil the groundhog saw his shadow, indicating there would be six more weeks of winter.
Phil was a very narcissistic man, a diva, who treated people badly and would have fits when things would not go his way because of his own self-importance. He and his news crew attempted to leave town after the event but were forced to return to town because of an unexpected severe winter storm.
When the alarm clock woke Phil up the next morning at 6:00 AM, he quickly discovered that he was reliving the events of the previous day - Groundhog Day. He tried everything in his own strength and intelligence to get out of the seemingly endless cycle of the same day being played out over and over, using every coping mechanism to the point that he fell into a deep depression and attempted to commit suicide, only to find himself waking up in his hotel room the next morning reliving Groundhog Day all over again.
Phil desperately went as far as kidnapping Punxsutawney Phil to break the cycle. It was only when he came to the end of himself and began to see the people around him that he began to do random acts of kindness. His perspective on life was changing. He found himself doing things he never thought he would do. He learned how to play the piano and the art of ice sculpting and was intentional to help contribute to this community in positive ways. He was intentional to invest in the people around him, getting to know them on a personal level, forming new relationships. He found himself being able to receive love and to love others through the process. His heart changed to where he saw what was most important in life and lived it to the full. He discovered how precious the gift of life truly is and how valuable people are. He realized that a life of self and trying to control others for his own benefit was a very empty and lonely existence because no one can do life alone in a bubble. Beloved, we were all created for relationship to be part of God’s family.
Beloved, this is not the time to live every day as if it is Groundhog Day. It is time to take the focus off yourself and your circumstances. The enemy is trying to do everything in his power to keep you isolated from the body of Christ and focused on self, ignoring the body of believers around you. The enemy’s MO has always been to divide and conquer.
Beloved, it is time to come to the end of yourself and turn your gaze unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of your faith. The enemy of your soul would like nothing better than for you to keep your focus on yourself, licking your wounds with a victim mentality and inviting others to your pity party, while life is passing you by.
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2 - NKJV
You cannot afford to let the enemy keep you on the “hamster wheel”, “lather, rinse, repeat” life cycles that are keeping you stuck, where you are spending too much of your time and your energy looking at the “what ifs” and at what others did or did not do to you. You cannot move forward as long as you have one foot in the past, living in regret, self-condemnation and focusing on the things that you cannot change.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:34 - NKJV
Time is a precious gift from your Abba and He does not want you to spend one more minute on anything that is not of Him. There are so many blessings that He has prepared for you to receive and to enjoy with Him and you are not able to receive them because you are stuck in a cage the enemy built for you in your mind that is keeping you from seeing beyond your mess and being able to see yourself and others from God’s perspective.
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? - Matthew 6:27 - NKJV
Beloved, you can only see in part, so choose to see what God reveals to you in His Word and get with God’s program. As long as you continue to focus on yourself and on what’s in front of you in the natural, you will not be able to move forward with God’s plans for you.
Remember the enemy is the ultimate narcissist and he wants you to be like him because God kicked him out of Heaven. When you focus on yourself, you open the doors to pride, bitterness, unforgiveness and self-righteousness, criticizing and judging others and refusing to see what God wants to heal in your heart and soul. God wants to set you free from your “self.” He wants to help you get out of your own way and partner with Him in what He is doing. He wants you to be about your Abba’s business.
Beloved, do not fall into the trap of self-sufficiency and trust God that He shall provide for all your needs according to His riches in glory. Beloved, the longer you focus on your circumstances, the longer you will remain in the wilderness.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. - Psalm 121:1-2 - NKJV
Seek God first in all things and ask Him to reveal to you what needs to heal so you can open those chambers in your heart and allow the fire of Holy Spirit burn off those wounds and sever those soul ties that have kept you bound in the past once and for all. It is time for you to cut loose those people in your life who have kept you distracted and everything that is not working and keeping you from moving to the next level in your journey of discovery with God.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. - Psalm 33:11-12 - NKJV
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, - Hebrews 12:1 - NKJV
Beloved, do not fall into complacency because it will keep you from your destiny with God. Ask God to give you new eyes to see others as He sees them. Ask Him to expand your vision and to give you the strategies on how to proceed with His vision and dreams for you to fulfill with Him for the advancement of His Kingdom on earth.
It is time for you to get out of your head and get your heart connected to God’s heart. It is time to stop trying to find the solutions to your circumstances and trust God, the Answer, to guide your steps and be your ever present Help.
Do not let the trauma of your past and of the last two years get you to retreat into your cave of self-protection and isolation out of fear. Let go and let God. Rest in His love.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6 - NKJV
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7 - NKJV
Self-confident know-it-alls will prove to be fools. But when you lean on the wisdom from above, you will have a way to escape the troubles of your own making.- Proverbs 28:26 - TPT
For those living in constant goodness and doing what pleases him, seeking an unfading glory and honor and imperishable virtue, will experience eternal life. But those governed by selfishness and self-promotion, whose hearts are unresponsive to God’s truth and would rather embrace unrighteousness, will experience the fullness of wrath. - Romans 2:7-8 - TPT
There is a generation rising that is so filled with pride, they think they are superior and look down on others. There is a generation rising that uses their words like swords to cut and slash those who are different. They would devour the poor, the needy, and the afflicted from off the face of the earth! - Proverbs 30:13-14 - TPT
Abandon every display of selfishness. Possess a greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interests. And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation. - Philippians 2:4-5 - TPT
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. - Philippians 2:3 - NKJV
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ - Matthew 22:29 - NKJV
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35 - NKJV
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