Category Archives: Choices

Choose to Live

Posted on by

“If you don’t let your past die, it won’t let you live.”

I was going through notes on my desk and came across this quote. I had scribbled it on a piece of paper. I do not know where I heard it or even who to credit it to. (If you know who credit is due to please let me know so I can add the author.) What I do know is the Holy Spirit prompted me to share this message here.

How true that if you let your past control your present circumstances you can’t truly live life to the fullest. What joy is there in living in the past? What joy is there in reliving past experiences that you CANNOT change? I’ll tell you…none. There is no joy in it because it is not how God intends for us to live. That is why we are to ask forgiveness for our sins and do as God does…forget it and move on. We can only make amends for our mistakes and then keep moving forward. Learn from the mistakes but do not live IN them.

As many people do, I have a past that is definitely full of severe traumas and pains. I could so easily choose to live in that. I could wake up each day feeling I’m “justified” to keep reliving that pain. However I choose not to do that. I choose each morning to leave all that junk in the past because that’s what it is to me. Gone. Done. Over. It shaped who I am today but it does not have any control over shaping my today. Stop and think about that for a minute. It’s a wordy sentence but really think about it. The reason it has no control is because I give it none. We each have a choice in whether we live in the past or the present.

When I chose to follow Christ I was born again. I was renewed in and through Him. My past became my old life, old blood. With Christ I am a new creation with the blood of Christ running through my veins. I am His. I walk each day in the light of His truth. I wake each day to the joy of a new day with Him. New adventures, new struggles, new everything.

Is that not the lesson of the cross? Christ went to the cross so that we may be free to be new again. That we may LIVE. How sad must He be when we choose to hold onto our past. When we do not choose the new day with Him. When we instead choose to listen to the lies of the enemy who would love nothing better than for us to keep reliving the past. Beloved, it does not have to be that way! He died on that rugged tree so that we don’t have to. When we live in our past we die needlessly on our own trees every day. That is just a slap in the face to our precious Savior. Take your past to His feet and leave it there. Do not pick it back up! Walk away renewed in the knowledge that He set you free from that past and you never have to live in it again.

Each day is a new day to be shaped by the Master’s hand not by our past. Let your past die and you can then LIVE in the present WITH Him.

Emotions

Posted on by

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. – 1 Peter 5:7-9

Some days are just plain difficult. Life is not easy. At every turn there is a reason to feel lost, depressed, angry or disappointed. We have an enemy who wants to make sure of that too. The Bible clearly tells us that the devil prowls around looking to destroy us. Sounds like we’re doomed before even starting doesn’t it? Well we sure would have been if not for our Blessed Savior, Jesus. He defeated the enemy. Case closed. The victory is already ours. Now we have to have the mindset to LIVE that way. When we live for Christ, standing firm in our knowledge of Him, the devil doesn’t stand a chance. Sure he can still throw plenty of darts at us but when we are alert to his schemes and we resist him…victory is ours. Does that mean we will always get what we want or live perfect lives? I’ll be blunt…absolutely not. I guarantee you will feel defeated at times, depressed, even burning anger. This is where we absolutely MUST turn to Jesus. If we don’t turn to Jesus and instead let these emotions overtake us then we fall into the enemy’s devouring plan. No, this is when we need Jesus! We need to fall at His feet. Take the burdens of life to Him. He loves us dear one and wants to help us through. He can only do that though if we turn to Him. The choice always has been and always will be within our own hands. Choose Jesus!

Loving Father, Let your face be the first thing we seek when emotions overwhelm us. Remind us to call on your name and pour our pains at your feet. Hold us tight within your mighty arms when the enemy draws near to us. Let us never forget we are victorious in you alone. Thank you my precious Savior…how I love you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Salt of the Earth

Posted on by

From EnterMission’s Post:

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

God believes in you.

You matter to God.

Salt does not exist for it’s own sake.

Salt’s calling is to lose itself in something more glorious than itself.


The italics and bold are mine because I love what this says. Think about it this way. When we add salt to say a baked potato we add it to enhance the flavor of the potato. We don’t add the salt so we can enjoy eating the salt. Rather we add it so the salt can get lost in the potato further adding to the joy of eating the potato. That is the true path of a believer. We are to offer our salt to others to enhance their JOY of living. We offer our salt for a more glorious purpose…to show the love of Jesus.

It’s so easy to get lost in thinking, “What about me?”, “How does this affect me?”, “Why ME?”. Me, Me, Me, Me, Me. Goodness, enough already! We really need to step back from ourselves and see those around us. There is a hurting world out there that needs us to show them Jesus. As believers we know that God is on our side. We know that no matter what we go through He is with us. So why do we worry about things we shouldn’t be worrying about? If we truly believe He is taking care of us then why the me, me, me’s? Do you see what I’m saying? If we leave our burdens at the Lord’s feet where they belong then we have the ability to reach out to the lost. We can then use our salt for it’s purpose. We can then use our salt to teach others that God is on their side too. That they are loved.

We need to realize that God has more for us when we lose ourselves in HIM instead of ourselves. We exist for a purpose and it is not our own. Take out your salt and sprinkle it on the world. Be a flavor enhancer not a me enhancer.