There is a heavenly principle in which we must always be looking forwards. You can only prepare for what lies ahead. You can only change what is in front of you. Seasons are going to change, and the question is, will you?
We must learn to let go of the old and take hold of the new. With childlike anticipation, we need to look to the new season the Lord has ordained for us to walk in. We can trust Him with our future because He is already there waiting for us.
As the seasons change, so must you. “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV).
Don’t look back, because that is not where you are going.
You cannot start a new chapter until you write the last word of the chapter you are in.
You have to end a chapter that you could begin a new one. “Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you” (Isaiah 42:9 NASB).
Sometimes you need to just write “the end” so you can start a new story.
Never try to go back to an old season, but simply press on to the next one. Stop looking back and wondering why you never get anywhere.
Remember your past, but never look back. “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:62 AMP).
Your past does not define you, God does.
You will miss the new things if you are only looking for the old.
You can’t step into your future while your holding onto your past. To grab onto something new you must let go of something old.
To the degree you hold onto the past, you give up the present. “Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving’” (Exodus 14:15 NOG).
Sometimes God won’t part the sea until we trust Him to do it.
Don’t let your past be an anchor, but a stepping stone.
Always end a chapter well so that you are in a good position to start the next one.
Don’t assume the next chapter will be worse when it may be the best one ever. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).
If you don’t close a chapter, then that is where you will remain.
You must put things behind you that they would no longer be in your way.
The more baggage you carry, the harder your journey will be.
Consider that God has a closed a chapter in your life that you would begin to walk in something new. “…Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13 NLT).
You must empty a cup that it would be filled with something new.
Never dictate to Jesus what He should do, but only make yourself ready to be used by Him. “The eyes of all look expectantly to You…” (Psalm 145:15 NKJV).
Just when you settle into how the Lord is working in your life, He changes everything around. Never think that the change is because of you, but rather it is for you.
Always consider your future in light of all that God has done for you in the past.
The ending of one season always marks the beginning of another.
Live in the hope of tomorrow and not the losses of yesterday. A plant lives by the sunlight each day.
Jesus develops an expectant heart in you by not allowing you to know exactly what to expect from Him next.
Your success in your next season is dependent upon you letting go of the last season. “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth…” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB).
Blessings to you,
Paul
God bless you for this message! I for one have often been controlled by my regrets but I know this should not be. We can look forward with hope not just to the day when we shall be with Him in Heaven, but also to the coming minutes and hours, and even to tomorrow! A profound message!!!
Thank you so much! It is interesting that the evil one will use our regrets as a way to paralyze us from overcoming them. But when we choose to start living a life that we no longer have to have regrets, by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, everything changes! Thank you for your kind words!
Wow, this truth really spoke to me! The Lord knew I really needed to hear this! Thank you Paul for posting this. He has used your posts on many occasions to speak to my heart…. Thanking God for you.
Thank you so much, this is such a great blessing to me to receive this encouragement and confirmation for you. Praying for your victory!
Thank you. I have been teetering between regret and anticipation. Time to close that chapter and enjoy the new!
It is amazing how much we can gain simply by letting go of our past. It does not mean we forget it, but we don’t hold onto it, at least those things that would weigh us down.
I find I get bogged down rehashing my past sometimes…what would have happened if I’d done such and such, instead of what I actually did? I wish I could go back and do this over or undo that, etc. It’s such a frustrating waste of time. Thanks to your blog, I’m going to try to stop doing that.
I think we all do. Regret over our past builds a great wall right in front of us. How much we miss that the Lord was using every thing from our past that we would become who we are now. Even in our mistakes He was bringing them to an outcome of His glory! Thank you for your kind words my friend, blessings to you!
Thank you so much ,I hold on to this and trust in his will .Thank you heart ❤️ of hearts 💕 I love you
Blessings to you!
I have gone back to this post several times and will continue to do so. I am walking through a storm, but not looking back excited to see the clouds beginning to part.
Thank you for these wonderful words, and for sharing them they have blessed me .
Thank you so much for your kind words, they really mean so much to me. Praying for your great victory and for all that the Lord is going to do in and through your life. We serve a mighty God!
Paul from the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you because since I started reading your posts they have been blessing to me I always wait to read your posts I know God always speaks to you to speak to us there is a lady who lead me to your posts and she had her son in prison but I always pray for her God to strength her and to help her son come out of prison a changed man of Jesus
Thank you so much for your encouraging words! It is of my greatest desire to simply serve God and inspire others to do the same. Praying for this young man in prison that he would have his heart changed by Jesus in a mighty way!