(2 Pet 3:14) Therefore, beloved, looking forward . . .
Ahhh . . . what do you think about at the end of the year? Do you look back in retrospect? Or do you look forward to great expectations? I think for most of us we’re ready to advance into all the Lord has for us. We’re peering into a new year and fresh opportunities lie ahead. It’s time for forward thinking!
Forward thinking. So many of us live in the past. We navigate through life gazing at the rear-view mirror and wonder why we’re not getting anywhere. We have regrets and end up waltzing to the “Coulda-Shoulda” theme song. We’re frightened of the future. We’re so fearful to mobilize that we fossilize. We become a personal exhibit in the Museum of No Tomorrow. It’s time to step forward.
But you might say that all your dreams have withered and died, and you can’t step forward. But do you remember the man in the synagogue that had the withered hand? The Lord told him to step forward and stretch out his hand. The man by faith stretched out his withered hand and it was restored as whole as the other (Mark 3:1-5). Are you ready to step forward?
It’s time to reach forward into all that the Lord has for you! (Phil 3:13-14) . . . but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Are you ready to reach forward?
The children of Israel were led out of Egypt and were at the Red Sea. But Pharaoh sent out his armies to bring them back to Egypt. But God spoke a word to them. And the LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward (Exo 14:15). Is your past trying to pull you back in? It’s time to go forward. If God has to He will part the Red Sea for you and you’ll be well on your way to the Promised Land. Are you ready to go forward?
Step forward. Reach forward. Go forward. It all begins by adopting a new mindset of forward thinking. And once you’re in the forward-thinking mode you’ll be turbo-charged for the future. It’s like the feeling of being strapped in for that roller-coaster ride. But look who’s sitting next to you! It’s the Lord and you have two tickets to paradise. Isn’t it nice? So, forget the past and have a blast. There’s nothing that you and the Lord won’t be able to face together.
So, with that I can truly wish you a . . . Happy New Year!
Louie