[Faith-talk] FW: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] URCTC Prayer Group 2 Devotional: Don ’ t Let Your Past Rob You by Pastor Prince

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "BeeJay" <beejayokla at cox.net>
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] URCTC Prayer Group 2 Devotional: Don't Let
Your Past Rob You by Pastor Prince
Date: 
Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:34:00 -0500

            Don't Let Your Past Rob You 
              Philippians 3:13-14
              13Brethren, 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, 14I press toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 
           
            Are you living a life of regrets thinking, "If only."? "If
only I had that college education. If only I had married the right girl. If
only I had taken up the other job. If only I had not made that stupid
mistake." 

            Is your past robbing you of the joy of today? Then forget
your past! 

            You might say, "But Pastor Prince, you do not know what I
have done in the past!"

            Consider Paul. If the devil had anything to bring against
Paul, it would be reminders of how he had persecuted the early church and
caused the deaths of many, including Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

            Paul had done horrendous things that were hard for him to
forget. But he had such a revelation of God's awesome forgiveness that he
could say, "forgetting those things which are behind. I press toward the
goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".

            Beloved, God has forgiven you of all your sins. He has
completely forgiven you and declared, "Your sins and lawless deeds, I will
remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)

            Like Paul, you can forget your past, the wrongs you have done
and the hurts you have caused others or been through yourself. God can take
the tears of yesterday and transform them into the miracles of tomorrow. He
can restore to you in all abundance what you have lost. He can cause all
things, even the painful events of your past, to work together for your
good. (Romans 8:28)

            God's Word says, "The glory of the Lord shall be your rear
guard." (Isaiah 58:8) His glory will cover your past. Wherever you go, His
glory covers your past. It is no longer the same past that you know of
because His glory has descended on it. Your past is past. It has been wiped
out. It is gone! So don't let your past rob you of today's joy any longer!