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Stop looking back

By

Sam bike

It’s been quite a while since I checked in with you!  The Greene family has moved and it has been a whirlwind.  If you have ever moved to a new state, you know what I am talking about.  Even if you have just moved down the street, you know how it feels to be displaced for a while.

When you move to a new place, everything is new.  You have to settle in to a new community.  You meet new friends and neighbors.  You begin a new chapter of your life.  There is a sense of adventure to moving, but there are also some pitfalls you can experience.  If you’re not careful, you can focus too much on the life you left behind.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how easy it is for us to live our lives looking back.  I wrote the below Joytime segment a few weeks ago when we were taking a bike ride.  Take a listen:

STOP LOOKING BACK!  Isn’t that just like us, though?  We have a tendency to keep our eyes and minds focused on what happened in our past instead of focusing on the life we are living right now.

Sometimes our past hold painful memories and we cannot forgive someone for what they did to us long ago.  Other times, we cannot forgive ourselves.  Sometimes our lives were so much better in the past than they are right now that it causes us to wish we could go back.  For whatever reason, we can get stuck.

Sometimes we cannot get over it and we miss what God has for us right now!

In the book of Philippians, we learn that the Christians are being exposed to false teachings and Paul reminds them about what it means to live for Christ.  Paul writes:

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,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14

Paul encourages the Philippians to keep straining ahead towards righteousness.  He reminds them that there is a heavenly prize he is aiming for and that prize is absolutely worth pursuing.

You and I are here to fulfill our God-given calling.   He never promised us easy!

It is through the circumstances of your life that God is making you more like Himself!

My friend, you and I are not on a quest to be more comfortable or more content here on Earth.  We are on a quest for Christ!

So, stop looking back!

Press on with your eyes ahead!  God is not finished with you yet!!

So glad you stopped by today!

~Joy

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Owessa
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    Just what I needed to hear; thank you!

  • Reply
    Nicole Henshaw
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    Joy,

    You have been on my heart so heavy lately!!!! So good to hear from you and that you have moved and are settled. I agree, letting go is hard however God does have a bigger plan for us all. While hard to always do, I am choosing to take each and everything thrown at me as a blessing no matter how hard it may be. I am a little beat up from everything that has been thrown. Yet I know through this season that I have grown and I continue to grow closer and closer to Him. That is a blessing and I’ll take that any day over change. I hope to see you soon!

  • Reply
    Angela Jackson
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    So happy you posted. I miss you

  • Reply
    Mandi
    at

    Just what I have been doing since I left Tennessee. Looking back to my “Happy Place”. Not moving forward. However, it is so hard to forget and press forward when so many people that live there mean so much to me. Thanks for the encouragement. I feel like you were speaking directly toward me. I have to some how get out of the pit I am in

  • Reply
    Jackie Bobbitt
    at

    Miss you dear friend but know All things work together for good….trusting God and pressing on! 😉 but carrying you close in my heart!!!

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