Yesterday

I thank God that I am not what I used to be.  I hear people say this all the time. I wonder do they really know the difference God has made in their lives.  If they can see the things He has done to make their lives better.   I am about to accomplish something in my life that I know that it has only been possible with God.  Just as I am about to cross the finish line, what should sneak up in my mind but doubt.  The voice in my head that said, "Why don't you quit? That's you M.O."  Now in the past when that voice of doubt began to creep up in my head, I would listen to it.  I would sit there and talk myself into quitting but not this time.  I spoke loud and clear to the voice in my head and said, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)  That was yesterday. 

This spiritual walk is about growth.  As we spend more time with God, talking with Him and reading His Word, we can't help but be made the better because of it. Life's experience has taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to with the help of the Lord.  Yes, I have made some mistakes in the past.  Some seeds that were sown, I have had to reap the consequences.  But thank God for His grace and His mercy and more importantly the blood that covers it all.  It doesn't matter what other people may remember.  Those out there that try to remove what the blood has done for me by always bringing up my past.  What matters is not what they remember but what God forgets. Hebrews 4:12 says, "And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more'.  That's what counts.   Keep pressing toward the mark.  Don't stop until you reach your goal.  If you have been afraid to do something, remind yourself that God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  (II Timothy 1:7)  You have the power,..because 'greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world'.  I John 4:4  And furthermore, don't let your own  memories of what happened in the past keep you from the future that God has promised you. Yesterday is just what it is...yesterday. 

Most gracious heavenly Father,

Thank you for your power.  Thank you for your love.  Thank you for giving me a sound mind.  Thank you most of all for saving me.  Thank you for forgiveness.  Thank you that You let me start anew.  Help me not to be hindered by my past.  Help me to walk into my destiny, knowing that I will accomplish everything that You have planned for me.  Thank you for removing all the stumbling blocks out of my way.  Today I am going to leave the past exactly where it belongs in the past and keep on pressing til I reach my goal.  And whenever I start to get discouraged help me to remember that I can do all things through You, who gives me strength.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen.