Move Forward!

Good Morning My Loves,

Yesterday, the Lord gave us an encouraging word on the purpose of His pruning, and a promise that “richer and finer” fruit was coming out of our pruning season. He also instructed us to not “look back” to the way things “used to be,” but to move forward! I see many people that get stuck reminiscing over the past so much that they miss the good things that God has for them in the present. Or their present is so painful that they want to run back to their past, instead of pressing through to the glorious future that is right on the other side of this painful season. It’s important to learn how to move forward regardless of what you’ve experienced, or are experiencing in life, because our God is ALWAYS ON THE MOVE! Acts 17:28 (AMP)

28 For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

Those that get stuck in the past, stop developing, and this always has an adverse effect on themselves and those that love them. We’ve all seen the person that loses someone close to them through death, divorce, or betrayal, and they never recover. Or the ministry that has a tremendous season of renewal-revival, and they get stuck talking about the way “things used to be.” They dwell on the past so much that they lose “energy” and sight of what God is doing NOW! Our God is ALWAYS doing “new and exciting things!” He's always beckoning us to STOP LOOKING AT THE FORMER THINGS, and “BEHOLD,” or “LOOK” for those new things with hopeful expectation. He's always wanting to “move us forward.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (AMP)

18

“DO NOT remember the former things,

Or PONDER (Dwell on..emphasis mine) THE THINGS OF THE PAST.

19

“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even put a road in the wilderness, (a way out…a way to move forward…emphasis mine)

Rivers in the desert.

Here’s some helpful tips on moving forward: 1. Understand that you can grieve and move forward at the same time. Grief has no time limit. It can be short or long. If it’s short, it doesn’t mean you don’t care about the person you lost. It means you’ve come to terms with it, accepted it, and moved on. It doesn’t take away from the deep love you shared. It simply means you’re done being sad about it. If your grief lasts longer it doesn’t mean that you can’t move forward either. You can still choose to embrace new things, people, experiences, even though you still feel the emotion of grief. Everyone grieves differently. It’s just important that you don’t get stuck in the wilderness for 40 years going around the same old mountain (story of loss). 2. Cherish your memories, but don’t rob yourself or those you love of new ones. Allow yourself the pleasure of enjoying the new moments that are in front of you. They’ll become cherished memories along with all your past ones, for yourself and those who are in your life NOW.

3. Be quick to forgive. I say, “Forgive everyone, for everything, before the sun goes down, and THAT INCLUDES YOURSELF!” Forgiveness isn’t forgetting what happened. Nor is it staying in contact with those that you no longer trust. It’s letting go of the hurt and bitterness that will consume you if you don’t. It’s the only way to hear and receive healing from the Lord.

4. Fix what you can fix, and what you cannot fix, leave alone. You can’t always change the past, but you can take responsibility for your role in it and do what you can to make restitution. Sometimes it makes things better, and sometimes it doesn’t, but at least you tried. At that point you must accept it, and move on! Let’s move forward into what God is doing NOW. There are great things on the horizon! I love you all! PV