Power of Straining Backward

Power of Straining Backward

Key Scripture:  “But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the heavenly prize.”  Philippians 2:13,14

Power Point:

Are you straining backward or straining forward?  It’s a good question isn’t it? I was thinking about something this morning and the Lord asked me what I was doing.  Was I straining backward or straining forward?  Straining implies putting a LOT of effort into something. It’s making an extreme effort to do something. If you’re “straining backward” in your thoughts continuously, then you’re putting a lot of energy into what happened in the past and it will affect what power you have left to live out your destiny.

The truth is that if my thoughts are continually straining backward I'm concentrating on what happened to me.  I’m focused on the negatives in my life that hurt me.  In other words all of my energy is being used to concentrate on what can’t be changed instead of what God has promised to change.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when you do have to address an issue in order to see what happened that is compromising your ability to bring Jesus into your future. But it’s never a good thing to live there. Jesus said we should live in His words of promise for the future, not in the past. He says He came to bring you abundant life from this day forward so why would you want to stay in a place that continually wounds you and brings death? The lovely thing about Sozo ministry is that we partner with the Holy Spirit and address those issues and He shows what lies we began to believe then that affect our "todays". Then He tells us the truth and heals the wounds. From that point people can certainly remember what happened but the pain of it is gone. I think that’s amazing. I also think that it’s the wisest way to visit the past without straining to bring it into your future.

One thing I read recently that makes this truth even more astounding is that even if you had the most incredible success yesterday; don’t keep straining to bring that into today.  In other words, you can be grateful and humbled by that experience but today you put all your energy into straining forward, gaining momentum by the success you experienced there. You build on it, you don't sit on it.

So today Beloved, you’re off and running!  No more pulling yesterday into today, whether it was good or bad. Every ounce of your energy, your power, your commitment is for today. You’ve got a goal to reach you know.  Get on with it!

Power Thought:

Forgetting the past and trusting Him gives you His strength to strain forward to an incredible future.