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My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
April, 2012
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Past Articles |
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Forgetting can get you into
a lot of trouble. Like forgetting someone's name, or maybe forgetting an
appointment, or maybe you forgot your homework. Or, "The dog ate it."
Yeah, uh-huh, or you wouldn't want to forget your wedding anniversary. Oh,
no... No, that can cause trouble. But forgetting is a basic skill for
people who want to be emotionally free and spiritually alive. Oh, some
kinds of forgetting really help. No, not the accidental kind. We're
talking about the deliberate kind.
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is about deliberate
forgetting and it's in Philippians 3:13. Paul is actually using an Olympic
runners' example when he says, "Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Did you notice that
word forget? He says, “Like a good runner, I'm not looking back. I know
when you look back you lose the race. So you keep your eyes on the track;
you keep your eyes on the tape; you keep your eyes on the goal. Don't
waste any energy looking at the ground you've already covered. Forget what
is behind..."
See, that is actually a fundamental characteristic of a Christian who's
going to make daily progress in his relationship with Christ - the ability
to forget. Forget what? Well, three things about the past that we tend to
keep remembering. First of all, if you're going to grow spiritually you
have to forget your past achievements. Earlier in Philippians 3, Paul
listed all of his great spiritual achievements, which are greater than
anything I think you or I could list. And he said, "None of them really
matter. They're like garbage."
There was an airline that said, "We've got to earn our wings every day."
Well, that's kind of how it is spiritually. You can't run on spiritual
memories. You know, "I'm okay today because of some great yesterdays I had
spiritually." You've got to be restless for more progress, so you forget
the past achievements.
Secondly, you've got to forget the past failures. You might have said,
"Well, I really, really was going real well out there. I was humming for
the Lord, and all of a sudden things caved in and I goofed. And I don't
know if I can ever get back on track. I think I can't." It's like Peter
when he'd fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus said, "Go out there
and fish again. You'll catch more than you ever have or ever dreamed."
Forget the past failures. Get up! None of those failures have to matter
today.
And the other thing then that you're going to have to forget if you're
going to make spiritual progress is past damages. You've been hurt, you've
been wounded. You know what? Bitterness is a terrible bondage. It's like
emotional cancer, and maybe right now it's hard for you to get out from
under that person; those incidents that have hurt you. But if you're going
to get on with your life spiritually and go for His gold, you've got to
forget the past damages. You know, the Bible says, "Forgive as the Lord
forgave you." So get God's divine eraser and say, "God, help me to erase
this and move on and set both of us free."
See the enemy loves to have you dwell on the past. I'll tell you why,
because it can't be changed. He wants you to think about those past
failures because you can't do anything about them. He wants you to think
about those past damages because you can't change those, instead of what
you can affect, which is this 24-hour period of time and a future that has
yet to be written.
Turn the page on the previous chapters. Forget! Press for the gold and
don't look back. That is the truest invitation of Easter! Embrace it and
have the Easter of your life.
See you in Church
Rev. Chuck
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