Morning thoughts from Pastor Tim

…forgetting those things which are behind… Phil 3:13
I came upon this verse and had to stop.
I think I’m forgetting to forget the things which are behind.
If I hold on to “behind things” then I am binding myself to the past and cannot press on toward the future.
I cannot be effective in the present because the ineffectiveness of the past won’t let go of me.
So what if yesterday wasn’t a good day. There is always today.
And tomorrow has no mistakes in it whatsoever.
Holding the past in your belly will eat you up like a cancer.
Dwelling on yesterdays problems will never solve yesterdays problems.
Yesterday is gone, never to happen again.
What happened on November 17, 2008 is in the past, as is the day before and the day before that.
I, too, get caught in the trap of those things which are behind.
I can be gripped by them.
They become a stronghold on my life.
The apostle also struggled with the past saying, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” 1 Cor 15:9
But he took the past and did not let it trap him.
He used it as a reminder of what Jesus had done for him.
But by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Cor 15:10
And 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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:13-14
I am now reminded that Jesus got me through the troubles of yesterday and the day before and the day before that.
I can face today with a smile on my face knowing He will also get me through today.