Happy New Year! It’s a great time for new beginnings, setting new goals, making new plans and getting a fresh start! If you are anything like me, you will probably take a few moments to look back on the past year and reflect on the miracles that happened, the things you want to repeat this year and some experiences you hope you grew from, and don’t ever have to go through again. Now we turn and face the future, another new beginning. God is so merciful, faithful and full of grace. And he loves you so much.
God’s plans are to prosper you and see you reach your potential, but hanging on to the past can get in the way of your future. You may feel you’ve let so many people down – your friends, family, yourself, and most of all, God. It is so hard to forget those that have hurt us and the ways we have hurt others. Yet the Bible teaches us that forgetting can change our lives!
Take a look at the life of the Apostle Paul. Do you realize everything Paul had to forget? He persecuted and killed Christians. Paul even watched approvingly as heavy rocks crushed the body of one of the most beloved leaders of the early church. He heard Stephen cry out with his last breath “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. Can you imagine the thoughts and memories that could have haunted Paul after he was saved? Can you imagine how the devil must have worked to make him feel unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness through Christ and unusable as a minister of the Gospel? Yet somehow Paul defeated those memories.
What was Paul’s secret? Was Paul just some super spiritual saint? Paul told us clearly that was not the case.
“Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” Eph 3:8
Then what was the key to his victory in life? He answered the question in his letter to the Philippians, when he wrote,
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13-14
Paul was one of the most powerful believers this earth has ever seen. He faced more challenges and hardships than most of us can even imagine. His writing gives us a glimpse into how Christ helped him deal with his past…
“in all things we are more than conquerors, through him who loved us.” Rom 8:37
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” 2 Cor 2:14
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13 NKJV
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” 2 Cor 10:3-4 NKJV
What is your strong hold? What can’t you forget and let go of? What is holding you back? It’s time to set it loose, make a fresh start, forgetting that which is behind you and press in, press on. Ask God to help you let go of your past and move from “failure” thinking to “conqueror” thinking.
So now, move on into 2008 with God’s promises! My husband will sometimes encourage me to forget the past by simply saying, “It’s time to cut it loose.” Now is your time to “cut it loose” and this is your year! Get ready to walk in the goodness and blessing of God and watch Him turn “broken” into “beautiful.”
Looking to the future,
Carolyn
