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Wednesday,
January 2, 2008
Leaving the Past Behind Us
Philippians 3:12-15 Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that
I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be
thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal
even this unto you. (KJV)
Paul didn’t claim to be perfect but he
was mature in Christ and was able to grow up into Him in all things. Paul
had quite a past, one that included his involvement in persecuting the
Church and wasting it. We all have our own past and for every different
believer there is a different one. But as we clearly see, Paul found that
his answer was before him, the path in front of him this day, right now.
How much easier would your path be if you only dealt with the things God
has for you this day, at this moment; not thinking on things behind,
neither getting caught up with things too far down the road ahead of you.
Are you open to change and willing to walk a new path of life the Lord has
for you, or are still trying to get results by doing things the same old
way? Does your life seem stagnant at times; like on a treadmill, you keep
exerting energy but don’t get anywhere and always end up at the same place
you started from? If you keep doing the same thing trying to get to your
spiritual destination by old watered down doctrines you will find yourself
coming up short and missing the mark. If you desire new results it will
require a new mindset and a willingness to walk in it as well.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto
us the word of reconciliation. (KJV)
The reason Paul was able to forget the
past is because the old things were passed away and he wasn’t reliving them
over and over again. The reason many Christians have a hard time forgetting
their past and moving forward is because they are not willing to let go of
the old so that they too can walk a new path in Christ. Similar to a movie
that came out years ago called Groundhog Day; the character in the movie
kept living the same day over and over again and getting the same results.
When something is passed away it should be buried and left there. So if
there is someone or something reminding you of your past get out of the
cemetery and move on to a new life the Lord has for you. Is every day a new
experience for you? One of joy and peace with a confidence and trust in the
Lord that builds you up more and more on a daily basis, or are you being
let down again because you expected to get new results from your old ways?
A new life means you will need to walk a new path, one that draws you
closer to the Lord not further away.
Romans 7:4-6 Wherefore, my brethren, ye
also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of
sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein
we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the
oldness of the letter. (KJV)
Paul was well versed in the Old Testament
and the things of the old law. It was his zeal in holding to the law that
caused him to be at odds with the early Church. It was his willingness to
let go of the old ways that set him free to walk in the newness of the
Spirit and in the end he went from being one of the Church’s worst enemies
to one of its best assets. Is there something you are hanging onto from the
past that keeps you from walking in the new instead of being a new creation
in Christ, walking in the victory afforded you? Are you hanging onto
something from your past and because of this you can’t get past the
hindrance in your walk that keeps you buried in defeat?
2 Kings 5:9-12 So Naaman came with his
horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven
times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But
Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will
surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God,
and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana
and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may
I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
(KJV)
Naaman was a great captain of Syria and
had leprosy. He was instructed to go to Elisha a man of God to find a cure.
Naaman was angry at the answer he received because he had his own
preconceived ideas and notions on how God should provide the answer. Sound
familiar? Ever wonder how in reading the Old Testament our own lives
correlate with these situations and how similar our old way of thinking is
at times? How we at times have been trapped in our own spiritual leprosy
and are unable to be set free because we were not willing to follow through
with the spiritual prescription God had for us. If you desire something
new, then you have to let go of the old; otherwise, instead of leaving the
past behind we end up left behind and falling short of the mark of the
prize.
2 Kings 5:13-14 And his servants came
near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee
do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then,
when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped
himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:
and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was
clean. (KJV)
If the Lord sends someone to give you
sound advice, will you give heed to it or throw a hissy fit and keep trying
your old stagnant ways? Will you walk in a newness of life today, walking
by faith and not by sight, a faith in that which the Lord has promised? He
is more than able to deliver, but only on His terms and conditions which
are at times so much different than our way of thinking. You have a Bible,
the word of God full of first-hand accounts of what the Lord is ready,
willing and able to provide for any that are willing to leave the past
behind and partake of the river of life that will make them clean and
renewed.
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