“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethern, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,”
(Philippians 3:12-13, NASB).
The world and Satan will tell you that what influences your future and present life is your past……If you came from a difficult home environment, that is going to determine the direction of your life; If you were abused as a child, that history will strangle you and cause you to struggle with your past for the rest of your life; If you experience racism or discrimination, that will dictate the condition of your life today…It does not have to be this way!!!
What Paul is trying to say here in the book of Philippians is that as a Christian he is to strive to be like Christ and that he has not obtained that fully yet, but the one thing he is doing right is that he has learned to forget his past and look to the wonderful future God has in store for him! Christians are to live in freedom because Christ has overcome our past!……“the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17b).
GOD HAS TOTALLY FORGIVEN THE CHRISTIAN’S SIN AND HE CHOOSES NOT TO REMEMBER IT! (Isa. 43:25)……
We as Christians do not forget the past, but we are not to be controlled or motivated by it……God gives us HOPE to look to the future with; hope through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ!……We have the Holy Spirit helping us to conform into the image of Christ……While the world is concerned with what they are overcoming, the Christian is dealing with the process of what they are becoming……Christians need not be concerned with their past or their future, because once we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, our past is forgiven and forgotten by God and our future is anchored in the blood of Jesus and full of wonderful, exciting, and glorious things that we cannot imagine!!!!
I want to state this as clear as I possibly can and encourage you to let go of your past…Number One; if you are a Christian and you are continuing to be preoccupied with your past, pray and ask God to help you do what Paul did - put Satan behind you, open your eyes to the incredible future that is awaiting you, and press on to what lies ahead…Number Two; if you have never asked and accepted Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior and Lord, pray to receive Him and allow Him to erase your past sins and give you a new present and future to live for Him and Him alone!!!!
As Christ Followers we are to strive to be perfect as Jesus was and is, but we need to remember that it is a slow process and we will never reach perfection in this earthly life; that will be a part of the wonderful and incredible future God has in store for each one of us…
Instead of holding onto your past and letting Satan hold onto your future, just
“Let Go and Let God”!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment