::Food For Thought

 FOOD FOR THOUGHT MESSAGE
FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2006

ARE YOU LOOKING BEHIND?

My brothers and sisters there is no need to look behind at our old lives. We should all stay focus on today, the present, and not yesterday. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you are a new creature in Christ. (1Corinithians 5:17) You should not be walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16) We must press forward at all times towards Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:14)
How many times have you looked behind? Are you looking behind at a sin that you have committed or at a trespass that someone has committed against you? Are you looking at a failed marriage, a relationship that has not worked out, a job that you didn’t get, a car that you didn’t get, a loved one that has died? Are you allowing the devil to distract you? Lot’s wife was looking back and not focusing on what was ahead. Life was ahead and death was behind her! Now she just had to look behind.
Once again I ask you are you looking behind? I am here today to tell you do look behind you; and that you do not have to worry about your past as long as you are abiding in Christ. I am not talking about abiding in Christ today and not tomorrow. We must deny ourselves and pick up our cross daily and follow Christ. (Luke 9:23) So many people living in today’s time are looking behind at there past and not focusing on the present. When a person has accepted Jesus Christ as ones Lord and Savior they have been cleansed by his blood. This means that they are a new creature in Christ.
A new creature in Christ will focus on the words of Christ. They will seek the kingdom of God, Now understand that their will be temptation in ones life and that at times the past will come up, but when this happens one should call out to Jesus for help and trust in the words of Christ. Peter did it when his faith, falter while he was walking on water and started to sink he call out to Jesus, and Jesus reached out his hand immediately to save Peter.
In Genesis 19:17, Lot and his family were told to escape for their life and not to look behind or stay in the plain for if they did they would be consumed. Meaning they would die if they disobeyed these words. They were told by and Angel who was sent by God not to look back. Now Lot’s wife looked back anyway. (Genesis 19:26) How many times are we disobedient to the words of our Lord? When we submit our lives to the Lord we should not look back at our sinful ways! We should not cling to our past as Lot’s wife was doing. In doing this Lot’s wife was being disobedient to God. Another thing is that if we look back who is to say that one couldn’t turn into a pillar of salt. I will say that if we are looking behind we are not looking at the prize which is Jesus Christ. We must press forward at all times.
Have you been a pillar of salt before; meaning looking behind at your past (frozen, distracted) and not focusing on the present? When we are disobedient to God’s words we are just like a pillar of salt. Looking behind at ones past is stopping one from moving forward. Have you been a pillar of salt before? Now we never know how the Lord will punish us for not obeying his commands. So why disobey the Lord! We do know that the wages of sin is death. Not obeying the Lord is a sin, which leads to death. Remember that we do not know when Jesus is coming back, (Matthew 24:44) so we must be ready for his return. If you are not ready when he returns, you will not have eternal life with the Heavenly Father.
Lot’s wife was unwilling to turn completely away from her past, and disobeyed the Lord. The Bible doesn’t say why she turned around to look back, but we do know what happened after she did it. God did punish her in Genesis 19:26. Are you willing to be just like Lot’s wife and disobey the Lord! You cannot grow in the word of God as long as you are holding on to your past. Are you willing to take the chance on life and be disobedient to God? Do you not fear God?
Check out what Jesus said {No one can serve two masters; Matthew
6:24}. This is so true, I tried it myself and I am here to tell you that it does not work. Many are trying this today and it is not working. In doing this dumb act you can only serve Satan. How can you claim to serve the Lord one minute, then the next minute you are serving Satan? Are you looking back at your sinful ways, while trying to grow deeper in the word of the Lord? (Luke 17:32-33). My friends turn away from sin and do not look back. Trust in the Lord and do not be like Lot’s wife and look back.
Remember what James told us in James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Now understand when James is telling us to submit to God he is telling us to be totally committed to God. We must love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:37) This is submitting to God, it must be done with love and that love must come from our hearts.
In the Old Testament the people lived by the law of God, in the New Testament, thanks to Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross, we live by the Grace of God. Jesus is the link to God the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us until Jesus returns. As I close this message I hope that you will not look behind at your past and turn to Jesus Christ. Allow Jesus to guide you from this moment on! Press forward towards Jesus Christ who is in Heaven next to his Father God who did create the world.


Your brother in Christ

Minister David K. Morrison

REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL (MARK 1:15)