Priority Shift

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…  Hebrews 12:1

It is a new year; and it’s time for new commitments and changes.  This year I have not made any new resolutions and I did not eat any black-eyed peas or cabbage on New Year’s Day.  None of those rituals helped in the past so I did the complete opposite this year.  Honestly, my biggest goal this year may be to just put one foot in front of the other, little steps but still pressing on.  I decided that I have changes I want to make but they are very different from previous years.  I don’t want to just be skinnier, I want to be healthier.  I want my relationship with God to grow – not just grow but grow deeper and with a sold-out, solid commitment to Him. 

Life changes, we change, and our perspective changes.  Our priorities shift, and finally we begin to see what really matters in life.  So, this year I have goals but they will not be written and I will not sign in blood. I will however, hold them close to my heart and work steadily to achieve them.  This week we will talk about some changes you can make for the year ahead, things you can leave behind and not carry into the new year.

 

Leave Behind the Bad Decisions of Life
It is very difficult to put away our pasts, and that goes as much for us as it does for people of public notoriety.  Most all of us can think of some decision that we made that turned out to be the wrong decision, some situation that now we wish we had handled differently, or some act that we committed that we would never do again if we had the chance to live that part of our lives over.

The residue of these things can deeply affect our future happiness and success if we do not learn to leave some things behind.  If there is something bad in our past, and there surely is in everybody's past, that is a high hurdle to jump.

Some bad things are well known and the news makes the rounds all too quickly. Some bad things are words and deeds and thoughts known only to us.  The fact that our mistakes are lesser known does not make them less serious. As Tony Campolo says, "We need to be saved from those things about ourselves that would cause us to hate ourselves."

Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than we need to be. Sometimes the people around us are not nearly as tolerant as they should be. Whatever the situation, it is hard to put away a past that has some glaring flaw in it.  Yet, there is good news. God loves us. God forgives us. God longs for us to come to grips with whatever it is that is keeping us from full communion with God.

"In the midst of whatever temptation you may be struggling with, remember this truth: You were made for more than being stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat.  You were not made to be a victim of your poor choices. You were made to be a victorious child of God." ~ Lysa TerKeurst

Don’t let your past keep you from moving forward in the direction God wants you to go.  Satan would love nothing more.  God doesn’t want you to drown in past mistakes, He wants you to accept His grace, mercy and forgiveness and move forward!

Scripture to Claim:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:1