Press On

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;

but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are

behind

and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

    Philippians 3:13

The world will tell you that the dominating influence in

your life is your past. If you came from a difficult home,

that will determine the direction of your life. If your culture

was treated unfairly, that will dictate the condition of your

life today. If you were hurt or abused or if your youth was

spent in rebellion, the remainder of your life will be spent

struggling with your past.

Christians, on the other hand, live in freedom because

Christ has overcome our past. The “old things” have been

done away with and “new things” have come (2 Cor.

5:17). God has so totally forgiven the Christian's sin that

He chooses not to remember it (Isa. 43:25). Christians do

not forget the past, but we are not controlled or motivated

by it. The Christian looks to the future with hope.

The people of the world focus on what they are

overcoming. Christians focus on what they are becoming.

Christians know that the Holy Spirit is conforming them

into the image of Christ. Christians know that eventually

every injustice will be addressed and every hurt

comforted. They know that Satan, and death itself, will

finally be brought to an end. The Christian's future is so

full and rich and exciting that it supersedes whatever

happened in the past.

If you are preoccupied with your past, ask God to open

your eyes to the incredible future that awaits you and

begin, like Paul, to press on to what is ahead.

Devotional by Richard Blackaby:

Experiencing God day by day.

GOD'S DESIGNED REST

"One of the things obvious from a quick reading of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 is that the fourth commandment is the most detailed by far. Whereas some of the commandments are recorded in as few as three words in some versions (in the Hebrew some can be expressed in only two words), the fourth commandment gives space to the why, how, and who of remembering the Sabbath day."

"Notable among these Sabbath details is the focus on others. Sigve K. Tonstad argues that this kind of command is unique among all the cultures of the world. The Sabbath commandment, he explains, “prioritizes from the bottom up and not from the top looking down, giving first considerations to the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Those who need rest the most—the slave, the resident alien, and the beast of burden—are singled out for special mention. In the rest of the seventh day the underprivileged, even mute animals, find an ally.”—The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press,
 "The commandment has a special focus on urging that the Sabbath is a day to be enjoyed by everyone. In the light of the Sabbath, we are all equal. If you are an employer during the week, you have no authority to make your employees work on Sabbath. And that’s because God gave them, too, a day of rest. If you are an employee—or even a slave—for the rest of your days, the Sabbath reminds you that you are equally created and redeemed by God, and God invites you to celebrate this in ways other than your usual duties. Even those outside the Sabbathkeeping people—“any foreigner residing in your towns” (Exod. 20:10, NIV)—should benefit from the Sabbath."

"This idea would have been a remarkable change of perspective for the Israelites, fresh from their own experiences of slavery and marginalization. Now that they were to be established in a new land, God did not want them to adopt the habits of their former oppressors. As well as giving them detailed laws for their society, He gave them (all of us, actually) a weekly reminder, in a powerful way, of just how equal we all are before God."
Sabbath School for Mobile
https://goo.gl/3vHYXM

No wonder then that the enemy of souls is so adamant to try with all his might to blot out from the minds of humanity the wonderful laws that God has put in place to show that ,equality for all is possible and also the possibility of living in peace and harmony with each other.
But man has allowed selfishness and pride,(place before them by the devil),to be the hallmark our existance here on earth. God's plan for us is more than we can think or imagine..
KJV Jeremiah 29
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.