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Writer's pictureJoni

Day 20: Press Forward


I hear the words

PRESS FORWARD

and sometimes I cheat

and do the opposite,

and instead

PRESS BACKWARDS,

regurgitating old wounds

as I am trying to make sense of them.

For what if I did this differently

or what if I did that differently

would the things that I want to be different

be different

or would things be the same?

And then I hear the words

PRESS FORWARD.

The two words of action,

that at times,

take a lot of energy

to take the first step

because my other step

is trying to

PRESS BACKWARDS.

So as I take a moment to stop

to be STILL enough,

I know what I have to do.

We were not created to walk BACKWARDS,

because BACKWARDS is where you have already been.

We can learn from the PAST.

We can try to right the wrongs.

We can cherish the JOY of memories.

But we can't get back what we never had

or redo what we had already done.

BUT GOD CAN.

HE REDEEMS.

HE FORGIVES.

HE HEALS.

HE was in your PAST

as HE is in your PRESENT,

and HE is in your FUTURE,

but where are you?

GOD stopped me in my tracks,

as I starting sliding BACKWARDS,

as HE gently reminded me

of my life when I was

LIVING BACKWARDS~

thinking I

"had" GOD

and

I "had" JESUS,

when I just left them at church

because I wasn't doing life with THEM.

Now that is BACKWARDS

Oh I am so GRATEFUL that

GOD never stopped pursuing me,

because HE never stops pursuing

ALL who HE CREATED,

which is

you and me and everyone else.

I am so glad that HE stopped me in my

BACKWARD LIVING,

the moment

I WANTED HIM

because

HE so WANTED me.

Who PURSUES someone

with such PATIENCE and GRACE,

just so

HE can whisper

I LOVE YOU?.

Oh the sweet spot of

FAITH

is what makes you

PRESS FORWARD,

when you feel like your life is going

BACKWARDS.

Because our

GOD is a FORWARD GOD

who is

always LEADING us to spaces and places

where we have never been before,

but oh so much

BETTER

than we can ever imagine

because

GOD

"is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,

according to HIS power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

GOD IS ALWAYS A GOOD GOD

who ALWAYS wants

BETTER for HIS CHILDREN,

for

"The LORD compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. HE will not always accuse, nor will HE harbor HIS anger forever; HE does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103: 8-9).

Oh our GOD is so PATIENT

that HE does not force anyone

to COME TO HIM,

because HE WANTS HIS CHILDREN

to WANT HIM,

because GOD WANTS you.

FREEDOM of CHOICE,

To PRESS FORWARD or to PRESS BACKWARDS~

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but

I press on to make it my own, because CHRIST JESUS has made me HIS own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of

GOD in CHRIST JESUS"

(Philippians 3:12-14).

I choose PRESSING FORWARD

with JESUS

because

"THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU"

(listen to the song below)



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