Forgetting And Pressing
She stirred lemon into her tea and flashed a brilliant smile. “If I told you how many times I have failed in HUGE ways, you might be surprised!” This was a woman who was a vibrant Christian, beautiful in body and spirit, and completely devoted to the calling the Lord wove into her. She was a Lighthouse leader and seemed to have everything together. I had been looking forward to meeting her for several months.
“I do not always share about my failures because they are redeemed by Jesus’ blood, but I have often wondered what the ‘me’ of 20 years ago would say if I could go back and tell her where I would be today. I have had more abortions than I can count. I have prostituted myself, sold drugs, and I have spent time in prison.”
Her flawless countenance and chic clothes belied her past. She continued, “I am so thankful God does not hold my failures against me. That is what made me fall in love with Jesus when I first heard about Him: not only did He forgive my sins, but He was not focused at all on my past behavior. He knows the real me and He LOVES me for who I am. And just look now - He has called me into Christian leadership!”
We all have a past, we all have failures and victories. Sometimes we let those things we count as failures fester inside of us, wreaking damage and chaos. But that is not what God sees when He looks at us. Our big mistakes do not remove His calling upon us. We can be the worst ones about holding our pasts against ourselves. Hear me when I say, “Get over yourself!”
Graham Cooke says, “We are not born again to be ordinary or mediocre. We are chosen as failures with the outrageous promise of succeeding. And what is true is that on the way to learning to overcome, we will have to face our past failures and see them fully redeemed so that we are not present-past in our lifestyle, we are actually present-future.
Philippians 3:12-15 says: Not that I have already obtained it or I have already become perfect [that means fully mature], but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. [You see the partnership in that?] That in I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do [then he mentions three things, typically Paul]… one thing I do:
- forgetting what lies behind and
- reaching forward to what lies ahead,
- I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us, therefore, as many as are mature have this same attitude and if in anything you have a different attitude, well God will reveal that also to you. That is His way of saying, “Dude, figure it out.”
Practical Application
Consider these questions:
- Do you believe that the Father judged and punished Jesus enough for the sins of all mankind?
- Did God pour out every last ounce of wrath, anger, and indignation upon Jesus for sin?
- Were you included with Jesus in His crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection?
Maybe you are not quite sure of the answer to the questions. Take a few minutes to slowly read this beautiful passage of scripture from The Message, Hebrews 10:1-10:
The old plan (Old Testament) was only a hint of the good things in the new plan (New Testament). Since that old "law plan" wasn't complete in itself, it couldn't complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:
You don't want sacrifices and offerings year after year; You’ve prepared a body for Me for a sacrifice. It's not fragrance and smoke from the altar that whet Your appetite. So I said, "I'm here to do it Your way, O God, the way it's described in Your Book."
When He said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," He was referring to practices according to the old plan. When He added, "I'm here to do it Your way," He set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God's way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all.
Take Time to Proclaim Out Loud And Ponder These Truths:
- Lord, I believe that Jesus paid the price for anything that would separate mankind from You. There was one huge debt and Jesus’ death on the cross paid it. In places where I have had wrong thinking, where I have made judgments against others, where I thought You were angry, I give You permission to shift my way of thinking so that it comes into alignment with the way Heaven thinks.
- I Corinthians 2:16 declares that I have the mind of Christ; therefore, I walk in the fullness of all it means to have the mind of Christ. I think Heaven’s thoughts. I bring Heaven’s ways to earth. I am a partner with the Trinity. I am in on Their plans, walking as They walk, talking as They talk.
- God is not working on my sin, because sin has no place in me! It lost any grip it had on me when I died to it and now, I am only alive to Heaven. God does not need to ‘fix’ me or repair me because anything that was out of alignment with Heaven has been done away with. I am totally new! Alive in Christ! Everywhere I go; people are attracted to the life of God in me. Favor surrounds me. Resources come to me. Problems only alert me that there are new resources and upgrades available for me.
- I am attracted to the God-destiny in each person I meet. I speak in such a way that I impart life to them and help them see themselves as God sees them. I can bring life because I am a new creation. Every old stinking way of life that I had was crucified with Christ. It was buried with Him and when He and I arose, I was made brand new! So I am a blessing to all I meet.
- I live a life that brings honor to God and deposits blessings everywhere I go. Fields produce abundant crops. Crime rates drop. Businesses are recovering and prospering. Goodness is plentiful. Lack has totally lost its place. Sickness flees. Darkness is receding. Glory is flooding the earth like the waters cover the seas!
- This is the kind of life I release wherever I go because I abide in the special place set aside for me between the Father and the Son. The fiery love of God for Jesus consumes me. The adoration of Jesus for the Father undoes me. I am amazed at the strength available as I live life from this special place.
Now, read through this declarations again, more slowly, taking time to let the words soak in.
Now read it again. Clearly pronounce phrases deliberately.
Read it again, finding a rhythm and allow faith to be stirred in you. Your identity is rising and as it does the government of God is rising in the earth through you.
