{Wednesday, January 04, 2006
. Four Things We Should Not Look Back On}
With the coming of the new year and a new step in our life to look forward to, its sometimes hard to forget all the things that have happened in 2005. However, it is for the better if we do not look back in 4 areas of our life.
Pastor Kong Hee
31 December 2005
Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife." The second shortest verse in the Bible talks about Lot's wife. To know what happened to her, look at Genesis 19:12, 15-17, 24-26. To cut the story short, Lot and his family were warned by two angels that Sodom would be destroyed and they were given a warning v.17 "So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed." However Lot's wife looked behind and ended up being a pillar of salt.
Thus, you see a story of how looking back is negative. Businessmen, entrepreneurs and people who take risks all know about not looking back after failures. They continue on even with the knowledge that they have failed before, thus, they do not look back but forward. There's even a quote "If you have not failed anything before, you have done nothing." How true, as I'm sure most of us have failed somewhere in our lives. But a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins. So if we progress on, we will always be winners, so long as we do not quit.
So here are 4 areas in our life we should not look back on
1. Don't look back at the old sins that have been forgiven
1 John 1:7, 9 "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." v.9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It says all sin and unrighteousness. Not some, not most, but ALL. Even the most wicked sin you have done will be forgiven. Can anyone forgive every sin? I doubt so. But Jesus does so through His death on the cross, He takes all your sin and puts it in Himself and you are cleansed from your sin. He will forgive it and not remember your sin you committed.
Isaiah 43:25: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins."
Psalm 103:10 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Not punished us according to our iniquities."
These two verses show that God has indeed forgiven our sins and does not want us to be punished for what we have done. He Himself was punished for our sins.
2. Don't look back at the old defeats that get you down
Psalm 37:23-24 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And He delights in his way." v.24 "Though He fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand."
Yes, indeed we will fall and have defeats sometime in our lives, but do not let them upset you for too long, life goes on and we must pick up ourselves on go on with life. Think it is hard? Surely, as your ego is hurt and it damages you. But God is faithful and will hold you and be there with you if you will seek Him and trust Him even with your failures.
3. Don't look back at the old conflicts that make you bitter
Proverbs 17:9 "He who hides a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates the best of friends."
Indeed, if someone who keeps bringing up a matter will lose friends easily. Surely many people will not stick around a person who keeps mentioning the matters of the past. It is over, so why dwell on it? The ability to forgive a person for what he has done is admiralble, but the simple act of having bitterness against someone is easy to identify with, but there is nothing good that comes out of it.
Genesis 41:51 "Joseph called the name of his first born Manasseh : For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
Manasseh literally means "Making forgetful". Joseph had led a pretty tough life. He was sold as a slave by his own brothers, accused of attempted adultery, put into prison and he did nothing wrong the entire time. Yet when his brothers found him and apologized, Joseph forgave them. Imagine that, your own siblings sell you off for money and lie to your father saying you were killed. Yet Joseph forgave, and as he named his first born son, he forgave and forgot about it. That is truly the love and mercy God shows to us.
4. Don't look back at the old victories and think that you have arrived
Ironically, do not look back at your old victories either. For they are also now of the past. The saying "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched" rings a smiliar tune as your life is far from over and you may not know what the future holds.
Phillipians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." v.14 "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul says he forgets the past and reaches forward to his goal, the prize of Jesus. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, should not we do the same? And is that not what all of us wants to achieve? Meanwhile making a difference to others and being a blessing to everyone.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 "The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit."
Just like how a farmer toils hard for a great reaping of the harvest, so it is for businessmen who spend big sums of money and risk it to earn the rewards. Just as it is for our lives as well. We will surely go through bumps in our lives, and definitely have feelings and upsets to them. But if you will trust in God all your life, you will have an eternal happy end as compared to your start. It takes time, patience, but be well aware, it is worth it.
† P§¥KØ †™ testifying at 5:48 PM
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With the coming of the new year and a new step in our life to look forward to, its sometimes hard to forget all the things that have happened in 2005. However, it is for the better if we do not look back in 4 areas of our life.
Pastor Kong Hee
31 December 2005
Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife." The second shortest verse in the Bible talks about Lot's wife. To know what happened to her, look at Genesis 19:12, 15-17, 24-26. To cut the story short, Lot and his family were warned by two angels that Sodom would be destroyed and they were given a warning v.17 "So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed." However Lot's wife looked behind and ended up being a pillar of salt.
Thus, you see a story of how looking back is negative. Businessmen, entrepreneurs and people who take risks all know about not looking back after failures. They continue on even with the knowledge that they have failed before, thus, they do not look back but forward. There's even a quote "If you have not failed anything before, you have done nothing." How true, as I'm sure most of us have failed somewhere in our lives. But a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins. So if we progress on, we will always be winners, so long as we do not quit.
So here are 4 areas in our life we should not look back on
1. Don't look back at the old sins that have been forgiven
1 John 1:7, 9 "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." v.9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It says all sin and unrighteousness. Not some, not most, but ALL. Even the most wicked sin you have done will be forgiven. Can anyone forgive every sin? I doubt so. But Jesus does so through His death on the cross, He takes all your sin and puts it in Himself and you are cleansed from your sin. He will forgive it and not remember your sin you committed.
Isaiah 43:25: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins."
Psalm 103:10 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Not punished us according to our iniquities."
These two verses show that God has indeed forgiven our sins and does not want us to be punished for what we have done. He Himself was punished for our sins.
2. Don't look back at the old defeats that get you down
Psalm 37:23-24 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And He delights in his way." v.24 "Though He fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand."
Yes, indeed we will fall and have defeats sometime in our lives, but do not let them upset you for too long, life goes on and we must pick up ourselves on go on with life. Think it is hard? Surely, as your ego is hurt and it damages you. But God is faithful and will hold you and be there with you if you will seek Him and trust Him even with your failures.
3. Don't look back at the old conflicts that make you bitter
Proverbs 17:9 "He who hides a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates the best of friends."
Indeed, if someone who keeps bringing up a matter will lose friends easily. Surely many people will not stick around a person who keeps mentioning the matters of the past. It is over, so why dwell on it? The ability to forgive a person for what he has done is admiralble, but the simple act of having bitterness against someone is easy to identify with, but there is nothing good that comes out of it.
Genesis 41:51 "Joseph called the name of his first born Manasseh : For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
Manasseh literally means "Making forgetful". Joseph had led a pretty tough life. He was sold as a slave by his own brothers, accused of attempted adultery, put into prison and he did nothing wrong the entire time. Yet when his brothers found him and apologized, Joseph forgave them. Imagine that, your own siblings sell you off for money and lie to your father saying you were killed. Yet Joseph forgave, and as he named his first born son, he forgave and forgot about it. That is truly the love and mercy God shows to us.
4. Don't look back at the old victories and think that you have arrived
Ironically, do not look back at your old victories either. For they are also now of the past. The saying "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched" rings a smiliar tune as your life is far from over and you may not know what the future holds.
Phillipians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." v.14 "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul says he forgets the past and reaches forward to his goal, the prize of Jesus. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, should not we do the same? And is that not what all of us wants to achieve? Meanwhile making a difference to others and being a blessing to everyone.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 "The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit."
Just like how a farmer toils hard for a great reaping of the harvest, so it is for businessmen who spend big sums of money and risk it to earn the rewards. Just as it is for our lives as well. We will surely go through bumps in our lives, and definitely have feelings and upsets to them. But if you will trust in God all your life, you will have an eternal happy end as compared to your start. It takes time, patience, but be well aware, it is worth it.
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