read this from this magazine World of Faith.. it minister to me.. hope u did to u too :)
Have u ever seen a person walking down the street who turns around to look back at something, when -bam!- he runs into something else? Because that person was looking in the wrong direction, he probably suffered pain or embarrassment or both!
The same could be said about a person's walk with God. After you've been born again, looking back at ur past can cause u unnecessary guilt, pain, and feelings of embarrassment. You have to live beyond ur past and look to your future, because ur future is as bright as the promises of God!
I want to let you know that even though you have a past, you also have a future. Maybe ur yesterdays weren't all that pretty, but if you'll let God help you, your todays and tomorrows will be beautiful.
Someone once said, " Dun waste a day regretting yesterday. Instead, making memories for tomolo." And one of my fav is, "There's no use looking back unless that's the direction you're planning to go."
Everyone has a past to deal with, but God wants you to realise that there is a life beyond ur past. The prisons of the past will try to keep u from living today!
Looking back can be very dangerous. When Lot was told to leave Sodom with his family, the angel told them not to look back. But Lot's wife looked back and she turns into a pillar of salt(Gen 19:15-26). I think one purpose of this biblical account is to remind us that once we've been born again, once we've started walking with God, we are not to turn around and look back at our past.
With God, your past no longer exists. So don't turn around and look at the past. Doing so will hinder ur progress towards the future God has planned for you. After we accept Christ as Savior, we have a future bright with the promises of God. But we must choose to walk in it!
The enemy realises that if he can get us to live in our past, the only thing we will produce are excuses. He understands that if he can keep us from looking at tomolo in the light of God's Word, he can keep us from being the success that God has called us to be.
God is not looking for perfect ppl, bcos there are no perfect ppl. God does not use people who have a perfect past. He uses people who rise above and beyond their past to follow Him.
To get beyond ur past, you must understand that God has changed ur identity ( see 2 Cor 5:17)! You are no longer the person of the past. You are a new person in Christ, and now you should only identify with the things of God.
You must realise that your past mistakes have been forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. God is not keeping track of sin. He has wiped ur slate clean. God forgave you, but u may be having trouble forgiving urself. When u asked God to come into ur life, He forgave all of ur sins. he wiped them all away. Now you must forgive urself.
After you've forgiven urself, you must go a step further and forget the past. Philippians 3:13 says, "...but one thing i do: Forgetting wat is behind and straining towards what is ahead"(NIV). The word "forgetting" in this verse means choosing to neglect.
You have to make a decision that you're going to neglect your past! You're not going to think about it anymore. Instead, stay focused on the fact that God has a bright future for you. The next time your past starts to bother you, I want you to point at urself and say, "I am a new person in Christ. Any mistakes I've made are under the blood, and i'm not going to think about them anymore. God has called me to a success. My future is as bright as the promises of God!"
Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr.
G.L.O.W 7:00 PM
