Forgetting

Forgetting What Lies Behind

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13b-14 ESV

Yesterday we looked at remembering, but today’s verse talks about forgetting what lies behind and taking hold of what is ahead. When we were small children, life was simple. We didn’t decide where to live, what to eat or what to wear. But even those of us who had wonderful childhoods were not satisfied. We wanted to become teen-agers! For me, that meant giving away my baseball cards, Roy Rogers cap gun and army men. I wanted to be cool! Strangely enough, as a teen I discovered that I was not happy. My parents were still in charge and were concerned about boring things, like grades and keeping my room clean. I wanted to be treated like an adult! But after moving out on my own I found out that along with freedom came bills, college professors who demanded assignments on time and police officers who pulled me over for speeding. On top of the unexpected disappointments of young adulthood came a deep loneliness. I had forgotten my past completely, but in the wrong kind of way and found myself clinging onto the steering wheel of life with no idea of where I was going. And then Jesus came – though to be clear, Jesus had been there all along, I just didn’t know. Then I had a choice. I could keep holding on to my steering wheel, or I could let it go and take hold of Him. How glad I am that I let go and then He took hold of me. Is anything that you are clinging to that is keeping you from taking the hand of Jesus? Don’t be afraid. It will be so worth it all to forget and let go but only you can decide. What is your answer to Him?

He Knows Where You Are!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:16

Have you sometimes felt that God has forgotten where you are or doesn’t understand what you are going through? You are not alone! Lots of people in the Bible felt like that. For example, just what was Adam thinking when he tried to hide from God in the garden? Did he think maybe God didn’t know every nook and cranny of His own creation? Abraham was regularly reminding God not only where he was but of the promise that he would have a son. When Gideon was visited by an angel he had questions as well

,” And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? ‘ ” Judges 6:13

Does that question sound familiar in your own life. Does it seem you would like to say with Martha,

“If you had been here my brother would not have died!” John 11:21

But God has not forgotten us! He knows exactly where we are, what is happening and how we feel. If you are going through deep waters today as you read these words, don’t give up or become bitter. God’s promise to us is that he has engraved us on the palms of His hands. Then if we pause to think we will remember that that engraving was with the nails of the cross.

As they pierced through the soft flesh of the hands of Jesus and His blood spilled over the rough wood. Your name and mine were carved on His palms. He suffered in agony that afternoon till He cried out “My God My God, Why have you forsaken me?” In that moment on Mount Calvary Jesus felt alone and forgotten so that we would never be!