Saturday, November 24, 2012

WARNING: Your Past Has Been Passed

Absently listening as my 3 year old daughter sings along to the Barney and Friends album playing loudly through the car speakers, I entered the highway enroute to yet another destination.

As always my mind was amuck with every thought. I was far from God, trying to take "it all" on my own shoulders once again. Hesitant to stop playing Holy Ghost Junior, I had to stop for a moment to ensure our safety and check my blind spot to merge into oncoming traffic.  As I looked in my rear view mirror I noticed a beautiful sunset disappearing behind us.



I did a double take. This thing of beauty God created for all of us, right there. Stunning. Lovely. Just like Him and His uber-creativity. It must be all that Omnipotent-ness in Him that can do that!

I felt God smile, and then He gently spoke reflections of grace, showing me that many people, including myself, are coming out of a season of Harvest, of blessing.  It looks to them, as if they are now driving forward into barren land, because the fields are being rested and prepared for their next planting. They see a beautiful sunset, a beautiful time behind them and they have trouble continuing forward. After all who really prefers harsh Winters over promising and budding Springs? What we need, myself included is to find peace and rest in Him, knowing He is almighty God, and that there are better sunsets and times ahead that await us.

This walk of life is just that, a walk. One step forward at a time, in faith. Try not to take those "two steps back". Forge forward in faith. Remember, if we always pray so defensively... "God, please heal me. God, please help me. God, please deliver me. God, help these people. God, bless these people. God, please....", we lose sight and innate knowing of how Mighty, Able and Faithful He is.

What we need to do is remember upon all that He is, and praise Him. Praise Him for everything He's helped you through and delivered you from in the past.  Know that if He's done it for you before, done it for Job, done it for Mary, Lazarus and Martha, done it for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and so many others in The Bible, He'll do it for you, again and again and again. Remember, Who's beloved child you are today.  Not your earthly, limited parents, or caretakers, but God Almighty's.

When we walk in peace, hope, faith, and gratefulness for all He is, in this present moment, no matter what the circumstances dictate, He will bring us forward into a new dawning, a new harvest to be blessed with...that ceiling will become the floor! For us, beloved, the greatest part of our journey is in drawing nearer to God in relationship as we live out this one short, gift of life. It's not about what we see as we pass through.

One of my favorite songs is Moving Forward by Free Chapel/Isreal Houghton and New Breed...may it, and it's lyric, bless you today.... (copy and paste the link below into your browser)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvngI_8fpCQ

God, we stand before you tonight. We declare that we surrender our lives to You, and You alone Father.   We acknowledge are past is passed, it's over. We declare we are moving forward with You, Lord. Jesus, please be with my friends reading this prayer. You know every wound, every joy, every fear, every dream. Heal old wounds. Heal new wounds. Rejoice alongside. Alleviate every haunting fear. Fulfill our God-sized dreams in Your timing (and help us be patient in the waiting). Help us all to see the power of Your resurrection this month and year to come. Give us eyes to see where new life springs in our hearts and our fertile soils. Rejuvenate us when we’re weak. We are not looking back.  We declare You are making all things new, and we are following You forward. Let our new sunrise greet us as we move in step with You, in faith in You, forward. We need You Jesus.

In Your Mighty, Able, Powerful, Precious Name We Pray....Amen.

Now Go....Follow Your Loving Daddy Forward into newer and better above all you can ask or think territory.  Don't look back. Just Go!




Isaiah 43:18-19 
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV)

Don’t be afraid to keep moving on,
For what was before, now has gone,
God wants to accomplish so much more,
But we need to move forward in the Lord.

© By M.S. Lowndes, Based on Isaiah 43:18-19



In His Love,

Amy O