"Ain't no future in the past"
Forgive me but I was listening to a little Vince Gill over the weekend as I was driving, and this one line stood out like a light, "ain't no future in the past". Man, what a message and yet so many people live a meager existence stuck in the past. So many struggle to relive some glory days or long for a lost relationship or are all bound up in bitterness over the "what ifs" of life. The Apostle Paul said it this way, "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You can't get the prize reaching back, only by reaching into the future. You may need to simply let some things go today. One thing is for sure, you can't lay hold of that thing you are praying for in the future if you are tied up in the past. Take an inventory and see what's sinking your ship today. When a ship is about to sink an assesment is made and only the most critical things are kept on board. What is it in your past that needs to be thrown overboard? Remember, life is short and there "ain't no future in the past"!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Making it fit!
Teresa and I were given a puzzle for Christmas. It is a cool one that has our house as the exact center and it goes out a couple of miles square. Sounds like an easy one, doesn't it? Well, it's not! You see, we live in the sticks, and acres and acres of pine trees don't make very good reference points. We would work on it a couple of hours each night. I came to the point that I was cramming pieces in slots where they "almost fit"! You know the outcome, we had to let the puzzle dictate to us where the pieces fit. We had two sides reversed actually, and once that adjustment was made, "bam", it came together quickly. This past weekend I was ministering in North Carolina to a group I had never visited before. Minutes before the first meeting I saw this mental picture of a model airplane being built and one piece being glued where it "almost fit". I knew it was a word from the Lord for them but I didn't know what it meant. I decided instead of preaching what I had planned that I would "pull this little prophetic thread" and see where it led. It unfolded, and direction came that said there were people there who had made decisions that almost fit into God's plan but it was off. The group knew exactly what it meant and it was an adjustment for them that hopefully, will keep them from trouble down the road. We have all done it. We get a glimpse of God's plan and we like what we see. Then, we rush to make it happen. As we have all heard, "haste makes waste"! Maybe you are struggling with just such a dilemma at this very moment. With God, good's not good enough! Actually, good is the enemy of God's best. Let me encourage you to back away from the puzzle in your life that you may be dealing with right now and give the Lord some time to lead you to the next step. He will without fail!
Psa. 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
Teresa and I were given a puzzle for Christmas. It is a cool one that has our house as the exact center and it goes out a couple of miles square. Sounds like an easy one, doesn't it? Well, it's not! You see, we live in the sticks, and acres and acres of pine trees don't make very good reference points. We would work on it a couple of hours each night. I came to the point that I was cramming pieces in slots where they "almost fit"! You know the outcome, we had to let the puzzle dictate to us where the pieces fit. We had two sides reversed actually, and once that adjustment was made, "bam", it came together quickly. This past weekend I was ministering in North Carolina to a group I had never visited before. Minutes before the first meeting I saw this mental picture of a model airplane being built and one piece being glued where it "almost fit". I knew it was a word from the Lord for them but I didn't know what it meant. I decided instead of preaching what I had planned that I would "pull this little prophetic thread" and see where it led. It unfolded, and direction came that said there were people there who had made decisions that almost fit into God's plan but it was off. The group knew exactly what it meant and it was an adjustment for them that hopefully, will keep them from trouble down the road. We have all done it. We get a glimpse of God's plan and we like what we see. Then, we rush to make it happen. As we have all heard, "haste makes waste"! Maybe you are struggling with just such a dilemma at this very moment. With God, good's not good enough! Actually, good is the enemy of God's best. Let me encourage you to back away from the puzzle in your life that you may be dealing with right now and give the Lord some time to lead you to the next step. He will without fail!
Psa. 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
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