Don't Look Back

One of the things I am noticing among many Christian friends
is the self condemnation they heap upon themselves for their past,
or situations they did not handle well. They cannot seem to move
past it, forgive themselves and live a life free from the past because
of the precious mercies and forgiveness we receive through Jesus.

I also see many of you clinging to the hurts you have received
from others. You are unable to disentangle yourself and cling
to these hurts as if they were important possessions. My dear
friend, they are not important, they are spiritual bondage! You
are being tied to the past with a spiritual umbilical cord that has
kept you in slavery to your past. You are not free to move on,
or savor fully the life you have today.

Yet, if you see someone else doing this it is so easy for you
to point at them and say what are you holding on to that for?

There are several places in the Bible that truly instruct us
on this mindset.

So you shall do all the Lord your God has commanded you,
you shall not turn to the right or the left.

Deuteronomy 5:32

Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 4:27

To me these verses signify staying focused on God and avoiding
evil. Slavery to the sins and hurts of the past is evil. It is robbing
you of joy and peace in Christ and productivity in your current day.

I am reminded of the story in Genesis 19, I urge you to get
out your Bible and read it today. Lot was in the
city of Sodom, and God was about to pronounce great
judgment upon this city. Angels arrived to tell Lot that
they had come to destroy the city because of the great outcry
against this city before the face of God. He was told to get
out of the city and to warn his family to leave quickly, for the
city would soon be destroyed. In Genesis 19:17 they were told:
"So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside,
that he said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you
or stay anywhere in the plain, escape to the mountains,
lest you be destroyed."

You see this required absolute surrender and complete obedience
and trust in God, not only for safety from harm, but for God's
provision. For this to happen, Lot had to listen to God, and
he couldn't be focusing on many things that distracted him
for the purpose and journey ahead, he had to stay focused.

His wife did not obey God, she looked back and was turned into
a pillar of salt, a judgment for her utter disobedience to God in
a situation he was trying to lead her out of.

You see there are consequences in life for our disobedience.
If we look to the right or left and get distracted by the troubles
or cares of this world, we are not living fully, and successfully
in today. We are limiting ourselves, we are unable to surrender
and work for God fully, because we are not focused, and we
have withheld areas of our mind that should be free of the past
and of distractions. It is leading us down a road we should
never have walked on, into a life that is less than it should be,
and all by a mental choice on our part.

Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to Him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Are you fit for the kingdom of God today? Are you holding
onto grudges, blaming people from your past, and in bondage
to these things? Are you so busy you never have time for God?
Are you condemning yourself for your mistakes?

My friend, God said we can be forgiven, and we should forgive others.
Once we REALLY do this, we move on, to a new purpose, to a new
life.

You MUST be in the word of God, and fill up on it and live by it.
You MUST be free of the past. You MUST let go of anything holding
you down and keeping you in slavery to something that is not worthy
of your time and is displeasing to God.

When a thought from the past comes up, say I am not looking back.
Give it to God. Let it go. Read his word, pray, and be faithful and
diligent to God. He needs workers and laborers for his kingdom,
and you cannot do it if you are wandering around lost, hurt,
and enslaved. Be Free, today in Jesus name. Give it all to him,
and let it go. He is waiting, even now.

Remember none of us are perfect, that is why Jesus came.
He just wants us to turn to him and be new in him and live
life to the fullest. He will equip us, but we must do our part
and not cling to the past in any way. Look not to the right or left.
Focus on God.

love always
millie