Here is an excerpt of his Jan. 5 entry entitled FORGETTING THE PAST:
I awakened this morning thinking about some advice that Paul gave long ago–good advice as we ponder a new year. He wrote to the Philippians, “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” (Philippians 3:13-14). A paraphrase puts it, “I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing…” Then Paul mentions three important guidelines: #1: A wise forgetfulness of the past—“forgetting what is behind.” #2: Priorities for the present. That idea is found in these words, “straining toward what is ahead,” and #3: An alignment of his goals and ambitions with the will of God—“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Friend, you can identify with His words, “I am still not all that I should be…”? Chances are that this past year ended with more than a few loose ends hanging—things you wanted to get done but didn’t, projects that are unfinished which have to be transferred to the inventory of this year’s load. But then Paul gives us guidelines on how to accomplish what needs to be done.
In the two minutes that remain, ponder that phrase, “forgetting what is behind.” Why not dwell on the past? Because it’s a closed chapter. Like water poured out on sand, you can’t recall a single day. It’s gone, and you have to turn loose of it if you can grasp the future which is yet before you. You can no more change the past than you can unscramble scrambled eggs. Let it go. If you failed, it’s best to forget it. If you succeeded, you did so because someone reached out to give you the toe-hold you needed to get up the ladder. But in the final analysis, if you succeeded yesterday, it was because God blessed you. You need to forget yesterday because it doesn’t guarantee success tomorrow, or even today.
Forget the heartaches of yesterday, the losses which came your way, the defeats which ensnared you and the sorrows that broke your heart. Forget your good intentions and unfulfilled ambitions, but don’t forget them so soon that you fail to profit from their mistakes. But having taken this step, you must go on. That’s why Paul quickly adds, “…straining toward what is ahead.” His concern here isn’t the future, it is prioritizing the need at hand in the light of God’s direction.
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. It is also the only part of eternity which you can claim because it is the only day which you can do something about. It’s yours to use or abuse, but it can never be recaptured once it’s gone.
Resource reading: Philippians 3.
NEVERTHELESS, HOLD THE REINS
THE VALUE PF PATIENCE IN DEPRESSION
What’s good about depression? Not much, if you are the one who feels like you are under the giant treadmill that is grinding the juice out of the grapes. Yet when you are walking through the valley, if you can only see light at the other end, you can keep plodding on, knowing that nothing is forever.
The fact is that God often teaches his children some of the most valuable lessons we ever learn through difficulty and affliction (and that includes discouragement and depression). Roses never smell better than when their fragrance is released through crushing. And there is no perfume without the crushing. There can be no bread without the crushing of the grain. It’s always been that way. Isaiah observed, “Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it” (Isaiah 28:28).
He uses a picture—horses pulling a threshing cart, but it is the wheels of the cart which grind the grain. Frankly, it helps me to know that God knows how much I can handle, and though we may differ on that, at times, I know He is always right. He knows. He cares. And He will eventually say, “Enough!”
When you feel you are still in the fire, say,
1. God knows better than I do when enough is enough.
2. The fact that I am undergoing a trial, a dark period in my life, doesn’t mean for a moment that God has forsaken me. He not only brought me to this point, but He will walk with me through the valley and take me up on the other side.
3. I will tell my doubts and fears where to get off and refuse to believe what I know to be untrue.With Paul I will affirm that even if everyone (my thoughts included) are liars, God is true!
4. I will search the Scriptures and hold on to the promises of God, knowing that He is a gentleman and will keep His word.
5. I will strive not to be impatient, believing that God will give me deliverance in His time. I’ll also look for parallels between what I’m going through and Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in the hostile environment of Babylon.
6. I will not throw away my confidence in God.
7. And though He slay me, with Job I will trust Him.
If you could only see the whole which God sees, your valleys would never be so dark nor your days so long. That’s where the element of faith comes into the picture. Trust Him, friend. Nothing is forever.
Resource reading: Lamentations 3.
BE STILL AND KNOW
Tragic, yet true, is the fact that so many of us who call ourselves Christians and name the name of Christ, know so little of the true nature and character of God, our Heavenly Father. We are living in a day of great religious popularity, yet few people know much of the true nature and character of God. Why? How do we account for the fact that many have a rather distorted picture of God? Why do some think of Him as a kind of Cosmic policeman‑‑a Great Watchman‑‑who is ready to get you when you are bad, while others think of Him as an ancient kind of Father Time who has withdrawn from the stage of life?
In some cases we do not have a very clear picture of God because the God talked about in some churches and pulpits is not the God of the Bible. But I think the real answer is that in so many cases our relationship to God is need‑centered, rather than God‑centered. Overwhelmed by our physical needs, all we think of is, "God, I want you to do this. Make this happen, Lord. I want this and I want that, and I want it now." Our thoughts are centered on our selfish needs rather than upon the true nature and character of God. We come grasping and grabbing as though grace is going out of style, and we had better get it fast before the supply runs out or the price goes up.
"Be still and know that I am God." Have we been so consumed with our lives, our wants, our needs, our little world, that we have never begun to explore the depths of God's Word to discover what He is like? Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). When you begin to grasp something of His true greatness, you will be amazed at how small your problems are. "Be still and know that I am God," our Father still instructs.
Resource reading: Psalm 42.
THE CROSS POINTS HOME
Christianity is unique in many ways, but one of them is its narrowness. Luke, the man who wrote more of the New Testament than even the Apostle Paul, said, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
If Christ is the way to God‑‑the way, the truth and the life‑‑as He said, how do we make Him our Savior? Paul explained, "God made Him to be sin for us...that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"(2 Corinthians 5:21). John also said, "As many as received Him, to them God gave the authority to become His sons, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).
Christianity is not a legalistic system, not a matter of joining a church‑‑it is not a bag of do's and don'ts. It is a relationship with the one who was born at Bethlehem. To receive Him as Lord and Savior and to walk in His footsteps is precisely what is necessary to make Heaven your home. As Admiral Byrd was guided to the safety and warmth of his hut, so you can let the cross guide you across the barren waste of life to heaven's home. The cross yet leads home!
Resource reading: Galatians 2.
A BROKEN HEART
There is a very close relationship between the heart and the soul. The heart controls physical life while the soul controls emotional and spiritual life. The Bible says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Jesus Christ identified the heart as the seat of action. He said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19).
Almost everything you do begins as a thought. As I have done, talk to the men who fill the prisons and ask them how they happened to commit the crime for which they are jailed. They will usually tell you, "I don't know...." As you begin to probe deeper into their thinking, you will discover that in most cases the thought was in their minds, and then eventually came to the surface. At the moment, they may have been surprised at their actions, but the thought had been there for a long, long time.
At times, it seems that it is more than we can do to control our hearts and thoughts. Why would any person allow his emotions and thoughts to put him flat on his back in the hospital, or in the penitentiary, if he could control his heart? God diagnosed the subtleties of the heart when He said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV). You may think, "I can control myself." Maybe so, but there are two facts that cannot be ignored. First, God is in the business of changing‑‑no, replacing–hearts. "I will give you a new heart" (Ezekiel 36:26) is God's promise to the man who realizes the need for God's help. David cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God" (Psalm 51:10 KJV). That He will do.
Second, with God's help you can control your thinking‑‑and thus control your heart. Paul said we are to bring every thought into captivity to Jesus Christ. When your emotions begin to get away from you‑‑stop dead in your tracks and say, "Lord, I need your help." Then, ask Him to take control of your emotions, and you will discover the battle is not to the strong or the swift, but to the man who has taken Christ as his Savior. Resource reading: Ezekiel 36.
PAUL'S THORN IN THE FLESH
But God chose not to give Paul his request; instead He chose to give him something greater, to teach him something more valuable‑‑that His grace can meet us at the point of our deepest need.
True, there are times when God spectacularly removes the thorn‑‑the cancer goes into remission and disappears, the tiny holes in the heart of the baby that should have died gradually mend, the lame walk and the blind see. Yet often God has something even greater for us‑‑the ongoing lesson that His grace is sufficient to help us learn to live with our "thorn in the flesh."
But God chose not to give Paul his request; instead He chose to give him something greater, to teach him something more valuable‑‑that His grace can meet us at the point of our deepest need.
True, there are times when God spectacularly removes the thorn‑‑the cancer goes into remission and disappears, the tiny holes in the heart of the baby that should have died gradually mend, the lame walk and the blind see. Yet often God has something even greater for us‑‑the ongoing lesson that His grace is sufficient to help us learn to live with our "thorn in the flesh."
Understand that it is not the strong person, the one who has need of nothing, or the self‑sufficient, independent person who needs no one's help, including God's, but it is the individual who understands how weak he is who is in a position to receive abundant help that God describes as His grace. Think about it.
Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 12.
Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 12.
ALL OF THE ABOVE POSTS WERE BY HAROLD SALA. (REPOSTING)
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