OMBS7/ Leave the Past Behind

PRAYER - "Large Crowds 'Resorted' Unto Him" The KJV says, "the people resort unto Him again." Other versions variously say, "multitudes came together unto Him," "large crowds followed Him," "great numbers of people came to Him," etc. When God in flesh walked among men, virtually everybody wanted to be near Him, to discover what He would say or do next. Let us follow their pattern, and press into His presence. Let us come together in large numbers and seek Him while He may be found. Mark 10:1 - "[He] cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again." PRINCIPAL - "The Stone Which The Builders Rejected" After speaking about a vineyard owner whose son was rejected and killed by the husbandmen, Jesus spoke of a stone which was rejected by the builders. Both examples depict Jesus being rejected by the husbandmen (rulers) of Israel. But the owner (God) will take it from them and give it all to the Son, and the rejected stone will become the cornerstone. Matthew 21:42-43 - "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: ...The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." PRINCIPLE - "Render To Whom It Is Due" Again, the Pharisees set about to trap Jesus with outrageous questioning. This time, some of their disciples, accompanied by Herod's Roman followers asked, "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" Naturally, it was potentially life-threatening to speak against the Roman Emperor or his policies. "Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" Jesus called for a coin.  Matthew 22:20-21 - "Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." PROPHECIES - "How Are We Resurrected?" Our spirits return to God as soon as we die. Jesus told the thief on the cross, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise." But our earthly bodies have no place in heaven. They return to the dust. When Jesus returns, our old bodies will be raised immortal, for 1000 years on earth before going to heaven forever. Those new, resurrected, transformed bodies will be neither male nor female, but heavenly, similar to the angels'. Matthew 22:30 - "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Leave the Past Behind

...But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. - Philippians 3:13

Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won’t seem to go away. Most of us know what it’s like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they’ll magically stop hurting. But it never happens that way. In fact, the passing of time often leaves us in worse condition—not better. Because, instead of putting those painful failures behind us, we often dwell on them until they become more real to us than the promises of God. We focus on them until we become bogged down in depression, frozen in our tracks by the fear that if we go on, we’ll only fail again. I used to get caught in that trap a lot. Then one day when I was right in the middle of a bout with depression, the Lord spoke up inside me and said: Sir,  your problem is you’re forming your thoughts off the past instead of the future. Don’t do that! Unbelief looks at the past and says, “See, it can’t be done.” But faith looks at the future and says, “It can be done, and according to the promises of God, it is done!” Then putting past failures behind it forever, faith steps out and acts like the victory’s already been won.  If depression has driven you into a spiritual nose dive, break out of it by getting your eyes off the past and onto your future—a future that’s been guaranteed by Christ Jesus through the great and precious promises in His Word. Forget about those failures in the past! That’s what God has done (Hebrews 8:12). And if He doesn’t remember them any more, why should you? The Bible says God’s mercies are new every morning. So if you’ll take God at His Word, you can wake up every morning to a brand-new world. You can live life totally unhindered by the past. So, do it! Replace thoughts of yesterday’s mistakes with scriptural promises about your future. As you do that, hope will start taking the place of depression. The spiritual aches and pains that have crippled you for so long will quickly disappear. Instead of looking behind you and saying, “I can’t,” you’ll begin to look ahead and say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!”

Plan of Salvation read acts 2:38 clickhere