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No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13-14
“What was I thinking?”
Has that thought ever gone through your head? Maybe you’ve even said it out loud to yourself or others listening. We all have those days, those times when we look at ourselves from the outside and, frankly, can’t believe the action we’ve taken, the words we’ve spoken or the thought/attitude that has crossed our mind.
Let’s face it. Our humanity fails us. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Romans 7, where Paul expresses his own personal frustration with himself. ‘The things I hate I find myself doing, the things I desperately want to do or be known for I fail to do…daily!” (My paraphrase)
So, how do we move on? What steps can we take to remedy the situation? After all, we know there will be some who will take our failings as an opportunity to judge us and to constantly hold our failure against us.
I love what Paul says in Philippians regarding failure. Basically, (again my paraphrase) he is telling us, ‘Stuff happens, we fail, sometimes miserably. People will judge us, condemn us and criticize us, but move on.’
It amazes me how many Bible people failed. They were dishonest. They lied to cover up their own mistakes. They were cowards. They ignored specific commands of God to try to further their own agenda, oftentimes at the expense of others.
Paul isn’t saying we don’t try to make things right. When we’ve wronged others, we need to try to make amends. When we’ve failed we need to put boundaries in place to keep us accountable and protect us from making the same mistakes. But then we need to move on.
The new year is a great time to look back over the previous year and evaluate the path you have taken. What things can you do better?
What things need to be corrected?
What relationships need to be mended?
What relationships need to be ended or at least put on hold?
Are you closer to Christ now than you were a year ago?
When Paul says, ‘forgetting the past and looking forward’ I don’t think he said that flippantly. I think he looked back at the past, made up a plan to make corrections and then he moved on. He didn’t dwell on his failures, he used them as stepping stones to a better tomorrow.
As the calendar flips to a new year, what things do you need to learn from? What things do you need to let go? How can the Holy Spirit help you? Who can you seek out as an accountability partner to walk through life with you?
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
What’s robbing you of your joy? I love the story of Christmas and all it’s plots that we may miss. Take Mary for instance. She was a young teenager in an obscure town. Her only hope for claim to fame would be marrying the man of her dreams.
Then the angel showed up and everything changed. She found out she was pregnant, but not by Joseph, by the Holy Spirit. From that point forward her life would never be the same. Yet what amazes me is her attitude. She doesn’t scoff in unbelief. She doesn’t argue with God about His decision. She sings a new song of praise and joy!
Too often we allow things in our lives to rob us of joy. Unmet expectations, criticism, negative self-talk, failure and more can take away the joy God wants us to have.
In Paul’s letter to the Roman believers he prays that they (and us) would experience joy and peace. Simply stated, peace is that attitude we have about what’s going on around us. We can be full of fear or faith, we can act in courage or hide in despair, we can move forward or slip back to where we were.
Joy on the other hand is an attitude of the heart. Peace relates to the external, joy empowers the internal. So, where to we get joy? When life goes south, when those you trusted abandon you, when life deals you a critical blow it’s hard to have joy in your own strength.
You can’t just decide to be joyful. But that’s where God comes in through the power of Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is control of our minds our focus changes from despair to joy.
Our enemy Satan works overtime to find ways to kill our joy. He knows we are forgiven. He knows we will be in heaven someday if we have accepted Jesus. He can’t change our destiny, but he can change our outlook if we let him.
Don’t allow life circumstances to kill your joy. God’s Holy Spirit is ready to fill you with joy, but not just any joy, joy overflowing. Imagine that. By relying on the Holy Spirit you overflow with joy and when you do some of that joy will touch those around you.
Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Isaiah 26:12
Of all the ‘peace-robbers’ we face, fear is perhaps the strongest and most crippling. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of abandonment. Fear of dying. Fear is a driving force that has kept great books from being written, relationships that never happened, songs that have never been sung, careers that were never pursued.
Pastor Rick Warren writes, “Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.”
When the prophet Isaiah wrote concerning the coming Messiah he writes, “Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” (Isaiah 26:12) The crippling effects of fear can be lessened (at the least) or even destroyed when we focus on the Prince of Peace, the one empowered by God himself to keep fear in check so that we can move forward to be all He wants us to be.
The absence of fear is peace and living in peace allows us to see the situation more clearly. Fear blinds us to opportunities, peace allows us to see opportunities. Fear imprisons, peace frees. Fear deceives, peace tells us the truth. Fear is debilitating, peace is energizing.
So, how do we get this peace when fear seems to have a stranglehold on our mind? We rely on the source of peace. The source of our peace isn’t trusting your heart. The source of peace isn’t education or money. The source of peace isn’t trying harder or making lifestyle changes. The source of our peace comes directly from the Prince of Peace.
He creates in us peace of mind and peace of mind builds confidence, helps us to think through a problem, keeps us stable on unstable ground and brings a healing oil to a troubled soul.
Billy Graham states that ‘fear flees in the light of God’s love’ through our Prince of Peace. God doesn’t want us to be prisoners of our fears. He wants us to thrive. He wants us to use the gifts and resources He’s given us. He wants us to feel the peace that passes all understanding.
This Christmas season focus on the Prince of your Peace instead of your fear. The shepherds heard this message loud and clear, ‘Fear not! For today, in the city of Bethlehem is born the Prince of Peace!”
O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! Psalms 61:1
Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying to explain something to someone and you can tell by body language and other clues that they aren’t listening to you? Oh, they hear your words and see your lips moving, but the information is failing to make any inroads at all.
Or, perhaps you are like me. While I hate to admit it, there are times when I’m being talked to and my attention is elsewhere and I miss part, if not all of the message. You may even try to call the person out or even touch their shoulder and say something like “Are you hearing what I’m trying to tell you?”
Some people are hard of hearing. While they try to hear information, they simply can’t because of a physical disability. Must most of us, at least at some point in our lives, have a listening problem, not a hearing problem.
Do you ever feel like God is like that in your prayers? Do you ever want to say, as the Psalmist, “O God, listen to my cry! Here my prayer!” Notice the emotion in David’s words. In our 21st century vernacular it may come across as “ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? HELLO!”
Theologically speaking, we know God hears our prayers, but theology and practicality don’t always mix. I like this verse because it reminds me that I can be honest with God,
It reminds me that when my prayers don’t seem to get past the ceiling, I know they have been heard even though emotions tell me differently.
It encourages me to know that others struggle as I do, even King David, the ‘man after God’s own heart’!
Is your heart heavy in prayer today for a son or daughter, a struggling marriage, a past that seems to haunt you, fear of the future. Let your Father know how you REALLY feel. He can handle it and he may reward you for your honesty!
We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. 1 Thessalonians 1:4
There are few things we can know for sure. We watch the weather forecast in hopes of ‘knowing’ what the weather will be like, and sometimes the meteorologists are actually right!
You may read the business section to see how your IRA or retirement account is doing. You may study prophecy to see what is going to happen in the future. The reality is, there just aren’t many guarantees in life!
Some of us lament over the past. Some are dissatisfied with today. Some are full of anxiety over tomorrow. Sometimes it’s refreshing to focus on the things we know. Especially since the things we know will carry us through the unknown.
Sometimes the things we know get lost in the distractions of the things we aren’t sure about or are fearful. So here is your reminder for today. It’s set in stone. It’s as secure as a mountain. It’s withstood the storms of time. It’s weathered every attack throughout history. Ready?
God chose you. He didn’t choose you for your looks, your spotless past, your strength, your financial stability or your ability to be of any value to him at all! He chose you because he loves you with a love you can never return, never be worthy of and never run from. You are loved. Live in the strength of that truth!
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 