lookin AHEAD

I have met and know quite a number of miserable people!  Why are they so unhappy?  They all have one thing in common, they are clinging to the pains of the past.  One guy cannot stop talking about his divorce, one gal can’t stop complaining about losing her job and it goes on and on.  There is one thing about our past that remains constant, we can’t go back and change it, it is what it is.  So, how do we deal with our past failures?  How do we remove the shackles that bind us to our pain and misery?
 
Philippians 3:13 This one thing I do, forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are before.
 
I am no different than anyone else, I have made some very poor decisions in my life and became miserable.  After I was born again I began to read “My Bible”, and I came across a Scripture that had a profound affect on my life.
 
2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away.
 
I am no longer accountable for what I did before Christ, it’s all under the blood, forgiven and forgotten.  And if I foolishly make some of the same mistakes, Jesus has saved me some more blood to separate me from my errors.  So, what are we instructed to do?  Forget the past and begin to look to your future with Jesus and His plan for your life.
 
Acts 2:36 God has made Jesus who you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

When a person accepts Jesus and His work on the cross, they have done something good and they will be eternally happy.  But it’s not enough to just invite Jesus into your life, you must have the humility and courage to make Him Lord of your life.  Most folks are afraid God will begin to make them do things that make them uncomfortable.  They are right, He will!  He may tell you to love someone that is unlovable or He may tell you to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.  Why is God so hard on His children?  It’s always hard to be delivered from the work of the devil because we have been associated with him all of our lives. 
 
John 10:10 I came so you can have real and eternal life, more and better life than you ever dreamed of.
 
We cannot fathom in our mind the kind of life Jesus has prepared for us and we will not know it until He becomes our Lord.  Some folks believe they have done a pretty good job of raising themselves but Jesus says it can be better, much better.  If you have done such a good job of raising yourself why do you need a Savior?  The only way we could make perfect decisions is to know the future.  We don’t know what the day has before us but the Lord does.  He knows where the devil is, what he is plotting and He knows the thoughts He thinks towards us, thoughts of peace.  God is so good at what He does He doesn’t need our help, only our cooperation.
 
John 16:33 In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have over come the world (for you).

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