Don't Look Back
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My Determined Purpose
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My Determined Purpose
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead"
The end of a year is a time of reflecting and remembering what God has done. But there comes a point where I say, that was then. this is now. And I put it behind me.
Paul says he is forgetting the things that are behind (see Philippians 3:13). The word forget does not mean to fail to remember. But rather what it means is that Paul will no longer be influenced or affected by what happened before. So to forget means that we break the power of the past by living for the future.
Now that's wonderful when we think of sin. Because when we sin and we come to God and repent of it and He forgives us, we can trust in God's promise, "For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). God is not suggesting that He is going to have a lapse in His memory concerning your sins. But what God is saying is that our sins will no longer affect our standing with Him or influence His attitude towards us. So if you have sinned, if you have failed this last year, you can put it behind you. You can forget the things that are behind.
And what about us? What have we done today? What will we do in the new year? How are we doing spiritually at this very moment? Remember, to be His disciple, Jesus said we must take up the cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Let's not be satisfied with what has happened in the past. Forget about it, and move forward.
P.S. For more of my writing, check out my weekly column at WorldNetDaily. Click here to read this week's article.
Paul says he is forgetting the things that are behind (see Philippians 3:13). The word forget does not mean to fail to remember. But rather what it means is that Paul will no longer be influenced or affected by what happened before. So to forget means that we break the power of the past by living for the future.
Now that's wonderful when we think of sin. Because when we sin and we come to God and repent of it and He forgives us, we can trust in God's promise, "For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). God is not suggesting that He is going to have a lapse in His memory concerning your sins. But what God is saying is that our sins will no longer affect our standing with Him or influence His attitude towards us. So if you have sinned, if you have failed this last year, you can put it behind you. You can forget the things that are behind.
And what about us? What have we done today? What will we do in the new year? How are we doing spiritually at this very moment? Remember, to be His disciple, Jesus said we must take up the cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Let's not be satisfied with what has happened in the past. Forget about it, and move forward.
P.S. For more of my writing, check out my weekly column at WorldNetDaily. Click here to read this week's article.
TODAY'S RADIO PROGRAM: "What the Devil Doesn't Want You to Know — I"
Copyright © 2007 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced
in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas
Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000
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