Forgetting the Past

It's natural to think back on  the past and either take pleasure in it or regret it. I want to encourage you to forget the past, regardless of whether it is something good or bad. The Lord says,

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Is 43:18b-19a, NIV)

As Smith Wigglesworth once said, “God’s plan for you is to forget the past in every way, because the future is so amazingly wonderful."

The apostle Paul was an excellent example of someone who put this into practice. He had achieved a faultless level of legalistic righteousness, and had superior religious credentials. Yet he said, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” (Phil 3:7-8, NIV)

He could have carried those things over into his walk with Christ and boasted about them, but instead he considered them as garbage compared to knowing Christ. He considered them loss for the sake of Christ. He wasn't neutral at all about them, but radically threw out anything that could cause any pride. As Wigglesworth once said, “Whatever has happened in my life up to this moment is of no importance. What matters is what God is to me now.”

Paul put it this way: “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.” (Php 3:13b-14, NIV). He practiced forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

You cannot rely upon your past achievements for God or your past relationship with the Lord or how He has used you in the past. The important thing is how your relationship is with Him today.

God is doing a new thing. If you stay focused on the past, you will miss the new thing He is doing. It keeps getting better and better. He always saves the best for last, just as when He turned the water into wine. The master of the banquet said, "You have saved the best till now." (Joh 2:10b, NIV). The same is true in our lives that the Lord saves the best for last. No matter who you are, you can always say, "The best is yet to come," because if you are still on earth, heaven is yet future. The Lord has set before us the joy of being in His glorious presence for eternity. We know there is great joy set before us that lies just ahead. Indeed, the future is amazingly wonderful.

The apostle exhorted us to practice, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2, NIV). Notice that even Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him.

Paul said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:!8, NIV). There is no comparison between our sufferings and the glory to be revealed in us. In fact, in his epistle to the Corinthians, he took it a step further to say, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor 4:17, NIV). That means that our troubles are actually helping to bring about the glory we look forward to. It also means that if you had a balance used for weighing things and on the one side you put all your troubles, while on the other side you put the glory of God to be revealed in us one day, then no matter how many troubles you pile onto the scale and no matter how big they are, they will never come close to tipping the scales. Nothing could ever outweigh the glory to be revealed. It far outweighs anything we could ever experience here on earth, whether good or bad. If we keep that in mind, it will help us put our trials into proper perspective, as well as our greatest joys and achievements. Nothing compares with the promised eternal inheritance we have in Christ.

One thing we must not forget are the sins we have committed, which we have not yet repented of or asked God to forgive us for. We must repent of these and seek forgiveness from God, as well as anyone we have offended, and make restitution as necessary. Once we have taken care of these things, then we should forget about them. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1Jn 1:9). Once you have taken your trash to the dump, leave it there. Don't go digging it up again and again.

Another thing in the past we must never forget are the Lord's mighty deeds and the wonders He has performed. These we must remember and ponder -- deeds such as His work of atonement on the cross, his death, burial, and resurrection, and the mighty acts of power He has displayed throughout history. We should remember what He did for Israel as a nation, such as His parting of the Red Sea, bringing them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. We should remember what He has done for people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Elijah, Daniel, Shadrach, Mischach, and Abednego. We should remember what He did on the day of Pentecost, and what He did for the apostles like Peter and John in the first century. We should remember what He has done for the saints down through the ages like Martin Luther, John Huss, William Carey,  John Wesley, Adoniram Judson, Ida Scudder, Mary Slessor, Smith Wigglesworth, and Hudson Taylor. We should remember what he has done during the Welsh revival, the Asuza Street revival, the Great Awakening, and the Second Great Awakening. We should remember His might deeds that He has done for us and those we love. We should not forget that we have been cleansed of our past sins (2 Pet 1:9). Let us forget the past, but always remember the Lord's great and marvelous deeds.

Attribution notice: Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like For the Glory of God Alone, The Light and the Glory, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Pleasing the Lord, Success in God's Eyes, Having a Servant's Heart, Holy Living in a Perverted World, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, Seeing Jesus, Loving Him, Character and Glory, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, One Thing, Our Senior Pastor, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Aim for Perfection, and The Wardrobe of the Saints. I highly recommend reading Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies and Holy Fire Baptism. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

One thing

Have you ever felt like life is too complicated?  If so, that’s not unusual.  There are probably millions of other who feel the same way.

But actually life is not complicated. We make it that way.   When you are in Christ, life is actually simple.  But it requires faith.  That means trusting the Lord.

There’s only one thing we need to focus on, and when you do so, it’ll greatly simplify your life.  I’d like to share with you what it is.

David desired one thing
The Lord called King David a man after His own heart.  And David desired only one thing.  He said:

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." (Psa 27:4)

David’s one desire was to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of his life, so that he could behold the Lord’s beauty.  The other reason he wanted to dwell there was so that he could inquire of the Lord. 

During David’s lifetime, the temple was not yet built.  They simply had a tent of meeting, called a tabernacle, where they met with the Lord.  This was the place where the Lord manifested his presence.  That’s where David wanted to remain.

In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ is the temple.  He plainly said so.  When the religious leaders asked him for a sign to prove His authority, “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” (Joh 2:19-22)

So for those under the New Covenant, our one desire should be to remain in Jesus Christ all the days of our life.  It should be to seek the Lord and behold His beauty. 

All who are led by the spirit are sons of God.  We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1Co 3:16). 

Christ’s body is the temple.  We are the Body of Christ and He is the Head of the Body.  It could not be any clearer that He and those of us who are His disciples are the temple.  So if we desire the one thing David desired, it’s to abide in Christ moment-by-moment and day-to-day.

Mary desired one thing
Another person who had this singular focus was Mary, the sister of Lazarus.  When Jesus came to visit the home, where she and her family lived, she was interested in just one thing.

“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’" (Luk 10:38-42)

Many people are like Martha.  They feel like life is complicated. Martha was stressed out.  In the presence of the Lord, she felt the pressure of all the tasks she thought she needed to do.  If that’s how you are, then you are probably distracted like Martha was.  She found it hard to settle down and focus on the Lord.

In fact, this kind of mindset led Martha to want to control people.  She needed to recruit her sister to help her fulfill all that she thought needed to be done for the Lord.  And when she could not control Mary, she tried to get Jesus to force her to help. 

I think this is all too common among believers.  It can happen in a household, as well as the church.  Many times a leader has his own, great “vision” of what needs to be done for the Lord.  And to fulfill his vision, he needs to recruit others into service.  When they do not volunteer to serve, and do not align with his vision, he uses other means to control them like manipulation and coercion.  I’ve seen leaders like this become so distracted by many things.  Yet they don’t seem interested in abiding in Christ.  They don’t seem to enjoy just abiding in Christ, worshipping Him and enjoying His presence.  Instead, they are always thinking about the next thing they are going to say or the next task that needs to be completed.

But look at what Jesus said to Martha.  The Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  (Lk 10:42) According to Jesus, only one thing is necessary, and Mary had chosen it.  She was sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to His Word.

That’s the one thing that is still needed today.  We need to sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to His Word.  In that place, we commune with Him and adore Him.  We put distractions aside, and focus on Jesus.  We meditate upon His Word.  We listen to His voice.  Our desire is simply to be with Him.  It’s all about Jesus.

Love the Lord your God
When Luke wrote about the story of Martha and Mary, it was in the context of a conversation Jesus had with someone about the one thing needed to inherit eternal life. 

“And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live.’" (Luk 10:25-28)

The message is the same.  Jesus taught this lawyer that one thing is necessary, and that is to love.  Our love for God must be with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.  We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  And Jesus illustrated this love with the story of the Good Samaritan to show what He meant.

Seek first His kingdom and righteousness
The temptation is to worry about what we will eat or drink or what we will wear.  There will never be a lack of things to worry about, which will vie for our attention.  But Jesus taught us to “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you." (Mt 6:33)

Focus on Jesus
The writer to the Hebrews also taught that we must have a singular focus.  He wrote: “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (Heb 3:1). 

Again he wrote, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2). 

When you fix your thoughts on someone, they are the center of your attention.  When you focus your eyes on someone, everything else fades out of focus.  Our focus should be on Jesus.

Putting it All Together
What’s your focus? Food, clothing, money, success, possessions, fame, popularity, making a place for yourself in history, numbers, buildings, man-made traditions, external appearances, titles, collecting people?

David desired one thing, and that was to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze upon His beauty and inquire in His temple.  Mary chose that one thing also. She sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to His Word. 

We need to love the Lord with our entire being. We should fix our thoughts on Jesus, focusing our eyes on Him.

Let me encourage you today to focus on Jesus, dwelling in His house all the days of your life.  There you can gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.  That’s the one thing that’s needed.

When you live like this, life will be simple. But it requires your complete trust in the Lord.  It requires faith, without which it is impossible to please God.  Will you commit yourself to do this?



Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar, especially "Inquiring of the Lord." You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.