6 September 2014
Forgetting The Mistakes of Yesterday
Matthew 26:75
"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly." (NKJV)
In this verse we see Peter in great agony and regret. He had denied The Lord Jesus his Master three times. Jesus had warned him and even prayed for him. Peter had walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He loved Jesus with all his heart, to the extent that he could not foresee himself denying Him, even though Jesus had told him. He said "even if all are meant to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble."
Sometimes in life as we walk with Jesus, we feel so close to Him and our love for Him is so strong that we will never think that we could sin against Him or deny Him. We begin to put faith in our love for Him instead of depending on His Love for us. Denying Jesus is not only like what Peter did refusing the knowledge of, and association with Him publicly; or being embarrassed of being a Christian. It goes deeper than that. Sometimes we deny Jesus not verbally but by our choices and decisions we make in life. And those decisions eventually bring pain, rejection and embarrassment, etc... Choosing to sin is actually denying The Lord Jesus. So one could condemn Peter for denying Jesus publicly, yet as God's children we also deny Him every time we sin or disobey Him.
But God, Who is full of Grace and Love restored Peter. John 21:15-17 says, "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, [a] do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[b] do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[c] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep." (NKJV)
In these verses we see Jesus asking Peter three times if he Loved him. And Peter confessed three times that he loved Jesus. Jesus was actually taking Peter through restoration because he had denied him three times. For every denial that Peter made, he had to confess three times that he loved Him. God is a God of restoration. No matter what you have done, if you repent genuinely and confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am not giving people a free ticket to sin so that God can forgive them. Titus 2:11-12 says "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age," (NKJV). The Grace of God teaches us and enables us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Grace is not given that we should sin, but Grace strengthens us against sin. But if you fall, there is still Grace for restoration.
Many times when we have sinned against God, the hardest thing to do is to forgive ourselves of the mistakes or the sin we would have committed. But God does not hold us as prisoners to our past when we have repented. People may hold you against your past. Even Christians may hold you against your past. But the Bible says in Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."
So, Child of God, don't let anyone make you feel guilty of the mistakes that you made, that God forgave you of. Don't let the past hold you back. You can't control all the events in your life but you can surely control your reaction to the events in your life. Each day the devil will always look for an opportunity in your pain or mistake to try and accuse you, hold you prisoner in the guilt of the wrong-doing when God would have forgiven you and cast your sin into the depths of the sea: Micah 7:19. God does not consult your past to create your future. Neither will your past mistakes define your destiny. You can change your destiny by making right choices, in Jesus' Name. God uses our choices and decisions for His Purposes. We become our choices. It takes a minute to make a decision but once that decision is made, the decision begins to make you and mould you. We are where we are today because of the decisions we made yesterday. Don't let your past control you or dictate your future. Remember yesterday is in the tomb: buried and gone. Tomorrow is in the womb, ready to be birthed. Don't miss it.
Sometimes as people, we can't let go of memories of yesterday, good or bad; pain of yesterday, mistakes, failure, and loss. God wants you to move on. Don't let life pass you by: Isaiah 43:18 says “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Child of God, do not remember the former things. God wants to do a new thing in your life. He will make a road in the wilderness for you if you can only put your trust in Him. No dream is too high if you can put your heart and mind to it you can achieve it in Jesus' Name, despite of your past. I say this kindly, don't just sit there and feel sorry for yourself because of the mistakes you made. Allow God to direct you into your destiny. Most Servants of God in the Bible made mistakes, e.g. Moses murdered, Father Abraham lied about his wife and had a child with his maid, king David murdered and committed adultery, Peter denied Jesus three times and we see him mightily used of God on the day of Pentecost, Paul murdered and persecuted the Church but we see God using him to write the thirteen epistles of the Bible. So, don't define your future from your predicament. Don't say I am finished because God is not done with you yet.
The way you respond to situations or circumstances of life determines your success or failure. Losers look at their circumstances, but champions look at where they are going. If you focus on the immediate you will lose the ultimate picture, which is your destiny. You may have missed your junction, taken so many wrong turns in your life, but that does not mean God will not take you to your destiny. Just let Him take you by the hand and lead you. Let your issues drive you to victory. Remember, the pain of yesterday and tears cannot bring you joy... but the Joy of The Lord can bring you tears. You may be asking yourself, how do I get from my condition to my position of restoration? Well, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity." Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV)
Child of God, put your faith in God and draw your strength from Him. Faith is your positive response to what God has already done or is doing in your life. Life is a journey. The only blueprint and map to navigate our way is through The Word of God. Let God order your steps. He will never mislead you. He will raise you up and put you on the path to your destiny. Many people are living in regret, wishing if they could only turn back the hands of time maybe their lives could have been better. They go into depression and even become of ill-health because they just cannot let go or forgive themselves. Most of the pressure comes from the worry of what people may say or think of you. Look unto Jesus, The Author and Finisher of your faith. See your future and destiny. What you see with your heart is more real than what you see with your eyes.
I will tell you a story: two men were in jail. It was filthy and dirty. One looked to the floor and saw the dirt and was disgusted. The second man looked out through the bars of the window of the jail cell and saw the stars and the moon and he was overjoyed. What are you looking at? Are you looking at your mistakes or your pain or the wrong that was done to you? Or are you looking unto Jesus? Create your world through Faith. Be positive to believe that you can make a change, and have enough faith to do it. People may say because of what you have done you don't deserve mercy. But Mercy is not deserved; that is why it is Mercy. If it was deserved it would not be mercy, anyway.
Pastor's Final Word
Philippians 3:13 says "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,".
If you fall into a ditch, would you not climb out? So why would you stay in the pit of misery, pain, anger, unforgiveness, etc because of what happened yesterday? Come out of it. Forget those things that are behind you. Reach out to those things which are ahead. As people we have the ability to spend things, e.g. if we spend money we may get it tomorrow. If we spend time we may get it the following day; but if we spend life, it's gone. Spend it wisely, Don't waste it in pain, mourning over things you cannot change. Look at the bright side of life and move on. Don't try to fix people or make people love you who don't love you. Spend your life loving people who love you. Anyone who does not respect you they will never respect what God is doing in your life. Remember, there are three types of people in this world: people who see things happen and they do nothing about it. Then there are people who make things happen; then there are people who wake up and say, "what happened?" The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
God bless you,
Pastor Phil
Forgetting The Mistakes of Yesterday
Matthew 26:75
"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly." (NKJV)
In this verse we see Peter in great agony and regret. He had denied The Lord Jesus his Master three times. Jesus had warned him and even prayed for him. Peter had walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He loved Jesus with all his heart, to the extent that he could not foresee himself denying Him, even though Jesus had told him. He said "even if all are meant to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble."
Sometimes in life as we walk with Jesus, we feel so close to Him and our love for Him is so strong that we will never think that we could sin against Him or deny Him. We begin to put faith in our love for Him instead of depending on His Love for us. Denying Jesus is not only like what Peter did refusing the knowledge of, and association with Him publicly; or being embarrassed of being a Christian. It goes deeper than that. Sometimes we deny Jesus not verbally but by our choices and decisions we make in life. And those decisions eventually bring pain, rejection and embarrassment, etc... Choosing to sin is actually denying The Lord Jesus. So one could condemn Peter for denying Jesus publicly, yet as God's children we also deny Him every time we sin or disobey Him.
But God, Who is full of Grace and Love restored Peter. John 21:15-17 says, "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, [a] do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[b] do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,[c] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep." (NKJV)
In these verses we see Jesus asking Peter three times if he Loved him. And Peter confessed three times that he loved Jesus. Jesus was actually taking Peter through restoration because he had denied him three times. For every denial that Peter made, he had to confess three times that he loved Him. God is a God of restoration. No matter what you have done, if you repent genuinely and confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am not giving people a free ticket to sin so that God can forgive them. Titus 2:11-12 says "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age," (NKJV). The Grace of God teaches us and enables us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Grace is not given that we should sin, but Grace strengthens us against sin. But if you fall, there is still Grace for restoration.
Many times when we have sinned against God, the hardest thing to do is to forgive ourselves of the mistakes or the sin we would have committed. But God does not hold us as prisoners to our past when we have repented. People may hold you against your past. Even Christians may hold you against your past. But the Bible says in Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."
So, Child of God, don't let anyone make you feel guilty of the mistakes that you made, that God forgave you of. Don't let the past hold you back. You can't control all the events in your life but you can surely control your reaction to the events in your life. Each day the devil will always look for an opportunity in your pain or mistake to try and accuse you, hold you prisoner in the guilt of the wrong-doing when God would have forgiven you and cast your sin into the depths of the sea: Micah 7:19. God does not consult your past to create your future. Neither will your past mistakes define your destiny. You can change your destiny by making right choices, in Jesus' Name. God uses our choices and decisions for His Purposes. We become our choices. It takes a minute to make a decision but once that decision is made, the decision begins to make you and mould you. We are where we are today because of the decisions we made yesterday. Don't let your past control you or dictate your future. Remember yesterday is in the tomb: buried and gone. Tomorrow is in the womb, ready to be birthed. Don't miss it.
Sometimes as people, we can't let go of memories of yesterday, good or bad; pain of yesterday, mistakes, failure, and loss. God wants you to move on. Don't let life pass you by: Isaiah 43:18 says “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Child of God, do not remember the former things. God wants to do a new thing in your life. He will make a road in the wilderness for you if you can only put your trust in Him. No dream is too high if you can put your heart and mind to it you can achieve it in Jesus' Name, despite of your past. I say this kindly, don't just sit there and feel sorry for yourself because of the mistakes you made. Allow God to direct you into your destiny. Most Servants of God in the Bible made mistakes, e.g. Moses murdered, Father Abraham lied about his wife and had a child with his maid, king David murdered and committed adultery, Peter denied Jesus three times and we see him mightily used of God on the day of Pentecost, Paul murdered and persecuted the Church but we see God using him to write the thirteen epistles of the Bible. So, don't define your future from your predicament. Don't say I am finished because God is not done with you yet.
The way you respond to situations or circumstances of life determines your success or failure. Losers look at their circumstances, but champions look at where they are going. If you focus on the immediate you will lose the ultimate picture, which is your destiny. You may have missed your junction, taken so many wrong turns in your life, but that does not mean God will not take you to your destiny. Just let Him take you by the hand and lead you. Let your issues drive you to victory. Remember, the pain of yesterday and tears cannot bring you joy... but the Joy of The Lord can bring you tears. You may be asking yourself, how do I get from my condition to my position of restoration? Well, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity." Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV)
Child of God, put your faith in God and draw your strength from Him. Faith is your positive response to what God has already done or is doing in your life. Life is a journey. The only blueprint and map to navigate our way is through The Word of God. Let God order your steps. He will never mislead you. He will raise you up and put you on the path to your destiny. Many people are living in regret, wishing if they could only turn back the hands of time maybe their lives could have been better. They go into depression and even become of ill-health because they just cannot let go or forgive themselves. Most of the pressure comes from the worry of what people may say or think of you. Look unto Jesus, The Author and Finisher of your faith. See your future and destiny. What you see with your heart is more real than what you see with your eyes.
I will tell you a story: two men were in jail. It was filthy and dirty. One looked to the floor and saw the dirt and was disgusted. The second man looked out through the bars of the window of the jail cell and saw the stars and the moon and he was overjoyed. What are you looking at? Are you looking at your mistakes or your pain or the wrong that was done to you? Or are you looking unto Jesus? Create your world through Faith. Be positive to believe that you can make a change, and have enough faith to do it. People may say because of what you have done you don't deserve mercy. But Mercy is not deserved; that is why it is Mercy. If it was deserved it would not be mercy, anyway.
Pastor's Final Word
Philippians 3:13 says "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,".
If you fall into a ditch, would you not climb out? So why would you stay in the pit of misery, pain, anger, unforgiveness, etc because of what happened yesterday? Come out of it. Forget those things that are behind you. Reach out to those things which are ahead. As people we have the ability to spend things, e.g. if we spend money we may get it tomorrow. If we spend time we may get it the following day; but if we spend life, it's gone. Spend it wisely, Don't waste it in pain, mourning over things you cannot change. Look at the bright side of life and move on. Don't try to fix people or make people love you who don't love you. Spend your life loving people who love you. Anyone who does not respect you they will never respect what God is doing in your life. Remember, there are three types of people in this world: people who see things happen and they do nothing about it. Then there are people who make things happen; then there are people who wake up and say, "what happened?" The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
God bless you,
Pastor Phil