A Place to Begin Again...

Bible readings...
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” Philippians 3:13
“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” Galatians 4:9
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Hello everyone! Happy Sunday and welcome today, to Sunday Inspiration…thru the Risen Hope Ministries! It’s so good to have you with me and I pray that today, we will be able to find a brand new place to begin again…where everything that we may be experiencing at this present time, can be turned around and be made new once more!
 
How many times have we tried to press on; but yet we still find that we step back into the past…a place where we really don’t belong anymore? One thing that I have learned thru my own past; is that I’ve had to completely let go; so I can move forward and begin to live the true life that God had purposed for me, from the very beginning…and may I say that this has not been an easy road for me; but as I have learned to let go of a very painful past; to truly seek after and pursue God’s will and purpose for my life; I have actually come to see that where I am now; is what I call a “Happy Place” in my life!
 
You know…sometimes we can put up barriers in our lives; that keep us from moving forward. For instance…one of these barriers can be represented through pleasing others, while forgetting to just forgive the past and move on. This is exactly what I did, for many years of my life, which only brought me stress and deep heartache, while making me feel, as if I was constantly going in circles.
 
One thing I definitely found out, while trying to leave the past behind; is that it’s not always easy to honestly let go and move on. I guess it’s because we become immune to our actions and the way things have always been; but in order that we should experience the newness that God longs to give us; then first, we must find a way to close the door to the past and be willing to lean on God, for that first step; that can lead us into something brand new.
 
Something that helped me to move on quite a long time back; was actually one of our Bible verses for today, which is found in Galatians 4:9, which reads… “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 
 
You know…there can be moments in the past that can actually become a beautiful place to visit, within the heart and mind…a place where something great took place in our lives that we always want to remember and go back to from time to time; but on the other hand, there can be moments, where God may have freed us, from certain situations; that can almost be too painful to think about. When we choose to hold to these moments; then before we know it, our hearts and minds begin to walk back to a time, when Satan had once taken hold of us…a place, where we may have even felt in deep bondage. These are the places that we must let go of…places that Satan can actually enter, while attempting once more to place us back into a very hard and difficult time, within our lives.
 
I guess the question that we need to ask ourselves today; is what we actually see within this Bible verse, in Galatians 4:9… “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”
 
You know…when we look at our past thru our own eyes, we may see; what has been, a hard and difficult road; but I have come to see that when we look at the past thru God’s eyes; it’s as though He is offering us a new place to reside...a place, where we can move on and learn to be happy once more…and just think, all we have to do; is be willing to shut the door to the past…lock it up for good…hand the key over to God and take a brand new step, into a brand new beginning…it’s that simple. There is no hard work to moving on…just a willing heart and mind.
 
As we close, let me ask you one final question. If God has already made your life brand new thru the cross; then why are you choosing to stand in the midst of the rubble of the past? You know…when we choose to live like this; then it isn’t God whose doing this to us…or even any other person…it’s ourselves.
 
Today, I pray that we will find the strength thru God, to quit looking behind us and just be willing to take a new step, into all that God longs to do for us. God never said that life would be easy; but He did say that He would be with us; so quit following the path of the past and let God take you by the hand and lead you into something brand new!
Blessings on your Sunday!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…
Diane
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