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There are many times that we get down on ourselves for the mistakes that
we've made in our past and instead of learning the lesson and becoming
better because of it, we become depressed, discouraged and think our
future is without hope. What we must realize and recognize is that a new
beginning is always available with the Lord. We may fall short a thousand
times, but His mercy and grace will be there to lift us up each and every
time and that still small voice will encourage us to try better next
time. We should never think our best days are behind us. As long as we
have breath in our lungs, then our story isn't finished yet. We still
have opportunities to do better, reach higher and accomplish the goals
that we had given up on. No matter our past, we can begin again. The
problem lies in forgetting and forgiving ourselves for the many times that
we failed. It is in getting past our past that we can begin to look
towards our future. We can't walk forward looking backwards. Our past
mistakes must stay there and we must strive to look forward, to do better
and to reach higher than we've ever believed we could before.
If you have been stuck in a rut of unforgiveness and stagnation thinking
that nothing good will ever come your way again, I want you to know that a
new beginning is possible. You simply must stand up, dust yourself off
and ask the Lord to give you the strength and ability to do better than
you've ever done before. It is in our hands how our days go. We can
murmur and complain about all the difficulties we've faced or we can be
thankful that the difficulties helped to teach us lessons that we could
not have learned otherwise. The problems, trials, heartaches all serve a
purpose to make us wiser, stronger and better than we were before. We
simply must accept each difficulty as a lesson learned and use it to our
benefit now in our present and in our future to come. Be encouraged to
let your past stay there. Don't look back on it, don't think about it and
don't give it any attention. Use that energy to focus ahead. We can't
drive forward with our eyes on the rearview mirror because inevitably we
will crash. Keeping our eyes focused on our future, praying for strength
and being determined that we will do better this time is what will cause
us to have success in every area of our life. Believe it for yourself and
strive to achieve it each day that you have.
I hope this message encourages and challenges your heart to forget all that
you have done wrong and start thinking about all that you can do right.
Your future is only as bright as you allow it to be.
PUT YOUR BEHIND IN YOUR PAST
I like what Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote said, “Love not
what you are, but what you may become.” There is hope that I can always
change for the better. I can become more self confident, more in charge of
my life, healthier, happier -- you get the idea. And there is hope that I
can change a situation -- like finding a new career or going after a new
life-style.
If you're like me, making any big changes can be scary. We will have to
Commit. And we may have to take a risk.
Let me illustrate what I mean:
Consider a performer on a trapeze. She swings back and forth. And then she
encounters another trapeze bar. It is swinging toward her and it is empty.
Now she has a decision to make. She may continue to hang onto her present
bar, or let go and grasp the new one. But she can't do both! She can't
hang onto the old and grasp the new with her other hand. She has to decide
which she wants.
If she chooses to let go of the past and grasp the future, she finds
herself suspended for a moment in mid-air. Scary! It's too late to go back
and she has not yet latched onto the other bar. She is vulnerable and at
risk. But she has decided to take that risk in order to move forward.
Life is like that. Sometimes you have let go of something if you want to
latch onto something else. Maybe you will need to let go of an old job in
order to take a new one. Or you may have to let go of an old relationship
before fitting a new one into your life. You have to let go of other
priorities on your time or money before grasping that new opportunity.
And for a while you may feel suspended in mid-air. You've committed to
something new and let go of the past, but you have not yet grasped what is
ahead. You feel vulnerable and you may be frightened. But you know that
the only way you can reach the new “bar” is to let go of the old one.
But like Pumba (from “The Lion King”) says, “Ya gotta put your behind in
your past.” Then you're ready for whatever comes next.
By Steve Goodier
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a Great High Priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Psalm 28:6-8 “Blessed be the LORD, because He hath heard the voice of my
supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in
Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my
song will I praise Him. The LORD is their strength, and He is the saving
strength of His anointed.”
Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless
His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who
redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
Psalm 118:5-9 “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me,
and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear:
what can man do unto me? The LORD taketh my part with them that help me:
therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to
trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: EVEN IF
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem108.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: TAKING A GOOD LOOK
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony189.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
