Moving Forward ~ Looking Ahead

Todays Verses:

Philippians 3:12-16

12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13. 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,

14. I press on toward the GOAL to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15. All of us who are mature should take such a vew of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

16. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

I wanted to continue sharing from the Series of JOY from Philippians that we have been doing this summer in our morning worship on Sundays. It has been such a great series... and I always love reading from the life of Paul..what insights to our Lord he had.

What these particular verses talk about are how we need to put the sins of our past to rest. But how do we do that when we have those memories of horrid things that have happened to us? Well if we remember Paul, who calls himself the CHEIF of sinners...he had this same problem. You see, he persecuted those new Christian's thinking he was doing GOD's work. Until GOD brought him to his knees and changes his heart forever. He Lived with knowing that many of those Christians probably were killed or tortured because of him. Those would be horrible memories I think to have. Yet, he knew he was totally forgiven..as far as the East is from the West, his sins were forgive.

So, how do we NOT get caught up in past memories or hurts? DONT RELIVE THEM! Or simply we must forget them and give them to GOD, our healer. You may also need to be aware that in great moments of defeat or trials they may want to come back and haunt you...Do NOT let them come! Take those thought to GOD...when this happens to me I have tried to memorize verses in the Word.

One that particularly helps me when I am being tormented is:

2Corinthians 10:4-5...
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments (mental battles) and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST.

If we can grasp that the Strongholds are Satans way to get in and discourage or take us down *other* paths, then we are giving him victory over what GOD has done in our lives. It it only when we know we are in battle, that we go to our GOD and simply let him TAKE those thought Captive by his redeeming Grace! God is good to do this when we ask him to. It will be something many of us may have to do multiple times a day..until it becomes a habit...and our thoughts are totally in line with what God's wants them to be. Freedom from those chains and strongholds is what our walk is all about. In Beth Moore's study BREAKING FREE...she tells us that we can overcome these mental battles if we "re-Wallpaper" our minds. Taking out the old patterns and thoughts and replacing them with GOD's word. God's word is the POWER we have against Satan and his tactics. It is always there for us, but WE have to take hold of it and claim it before GOD.

That's what I love about serving a Living God...we always get Do-overs...each new day is that for us. Are you taking them all to Him? I sure hope so, because He LOVE you so and wants to begin a fresh new start today in your life.




Blessings...Lorena