Tag Archives: New Beginnings

A PRAYER FOR LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

November 20, 2019 12:55 am , 4 Comments ,

Following Christ with a singleness of heart takes tremendous courage. It means we need to leave behind everything that is not part of God’s plan for us. It’s tempting to live life focused on the past or worry about what lies ahead in the future.

I believe it’s necessary to completely leave the past behind to experience God’s best for our lives. The ones who are not lukewarm in their pursuit of Christ are moving at a rapid pace toward God’s divine plans.

Prayer is our most powerful spiritual tool to open up HEAVEN’S floodgates. We experience God’s glory when we are on our knees often, in a position of submission, willing to let the Lord carry out His plans for our lives. Otherwise, we will be stagnant and continue to wallow in the muck that has held us back in the past. Christ is calling us to bravely follow Him no matter what the cost might be. He is calling us to move forward and He desires for us to take up our cross of surrender daily (Matthew 16:24) and leave the past behind forever.

The Lord whispered words to my heart during a time I was struggling to let go of the past, and He encouraged me to stay focused on what is eternal.

Be still and quiet every day so that you can hear My voice. I will give you what your soul is yearning for if you keep focused on Me. Don’t look back to the past. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Simply walk with Me and live in the present moment. Savor what I am giving you in the present and enjoy every single breath I am giving you.

With a fierce determination to stay on God’s path, I have been seeking the Lord for His purposes for my life. In the process of seeking Him with all my heart, He has helped me to completely leave my past behind. As I chose to let go of the things that were holding me back, it immediately set things in motion for the new beginnings that God wanted to release in my life.

Because of Christ’s gift of the cross, we are free to live in victory every moment of every day. As we turn away from sin and follow Christ with total commitment, we will continue to live victoriously. We only need Christ and His love. It’s when we yield every part of our hearts and allow Christ’s love to work through us that we easily leave the past behind.

Beloved Jesus,

Thank You for being the greatest friend and faithful shepherd to us. Thank You for loving us perfectly. I ask You to be with the ones who are struggling to leave the things of the past behind them.

I ask You to raise up a generation that follows You with a singleness of heart and lives with integrity. Give them a new sense of courage and hope for the future. Help the children and younger generations to trust You and follow You where You are leading them.

Heal every hurt from the past and take away every traumatic memory from those who have been mistreated. Help them to walk in total forgiveness and let go of the people who are not meant to be a part of their lives. Let them be willing to leave the places You’re calling them away from and let them move toward the new beginnings You have planned for their lives. I ask You to breathe life and strength into their souls as they trust You to renew their spirits. I pray in Your name, Christ. Amen.

 

Brethren, 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. Philippians 3:13

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 This post includes a portion of  an article I wrote in 2008.

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JESUS MAKES BEAUTIFUL THINGS

June 2, 2014 5:45 pm , Leave a Comment ,

Beauty for Ashes - Isaiah 61

As I shut off my cell phone, I burst into a deep heartfelt cry. I’d just listened to someone spill their heart about a really tragic circumstance. I could feel the pain of another person’s heart entering into mine. It hurt me deeply to watch a loved one go through such an excruciatingly painful thing that seemed more like a nightmare than reality.

After I dried my tears, my mind filled with thoughts and questions. How can this be redeemed? How can anything good come out of this tragedy?

Within moments, the questions left my mind and I felt the warmth of Christ’s love wash over me. In my spirit, I could hear Him whispering, “I can make beauty out of anything.”

As the day went on, I felt God’s presence and peace so intensely, and I remembered the song, Beautiful Things, recorded by Gungor. I rushed to my computer and pulled up the video online. As I listened to the words, I began to weep again. This time it was different though. My tears were not filled with distress like earlier in the day. The tears were an expression of joy as I meditated on the fact that Jesus is the Beauty-maker.

If He could take a broken, messed up life like mine and turn it into a beautiful story of love, He can surely take my loved one’s or anyone’s life and turn the ugliness into something beautiful.

My life is proof that Jesus creates beauty out of messes. He healed my broken, painful marriage and turned my seeds of hatred into mountains of love. He turned my depression into unspeakable joy. He breathed life into my broken spirit and made me new.

Because of the way Christ has redeemed my past, I choose to have child-like faith for every person’s life—not just my own. No matter how big the mountain is in a person’s life, it’s not too big for Jesus. He is the healer of broken hearts and the mender of all things.

With my redeemed life, I’ve made it one of my life’s purposes to spread encouragement everywhere I go and to pray without ceasing for those who haven’t yet seen Christ’s beauty revealed in their lives.

For those experiencing anguish, you can be assured that Christ will replace the ashes of your past with a crown of beauty and give you a joyous blessing instead of despair. The Spirit of God holds a ray of light so intense that it will penetrate the darkest places of your soul and will fill you with an indescribable peace as you trust Christ to make beautiful things out of your pain.

 “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” — Isaiah 61:3 (NLT)

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