RCCG Open Heavens 18 April 2018 Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Topic: Forgetting The Past
Memorise: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Philippians 3:13
Read: Philippians 3:7-14 (KJV)
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Bible in one year: Judges 7-8, 2nd Timothy 1, Hymnal: Sing hymn 15
Message: RCCG Open Heavens 18 April 2018
In several portions of Scriptures, the Holy Spirit admonishes us not to forget several things, especially things that relate to God’s commandments (Proverbs 3:1, Hebrews 13:16). In fact, one of the mandates of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to bring to our remembrance all things the Master has told us, so that we don’t forget them (John 14:26). However, in today’s Bible reading, the same Holy Spirit encourages us to forget the things that are behind us.
RCCG Open Heavens 18 April 2018 Daily Devotional – Forgetting The Past
Why does He wants us to forget those things? The reason is that if we don’t forget some things of the past, they may prevent us from reaching forth to those things ahead of us. Someone once said that ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘better’. When you hold tenaciously to the good something better may elude you.
Furthermore, when you refuse to forget the days of your terrible past, you may never be able to live in the reality of the new beginning God has given to you. This is another danger of not forgetting the past. Many people still hold themselves hostage to their past life, long after they have been forgiven by God Almighty. They fail to recognise the terms of the New Testament they are operating under. Here is part of what the Holy Spirit says about the new convent in the Blood of Jesus:
RCCG Open Heaven 18 April 2018 Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Forgetting The Past
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
An elderly man was brought to us years ago; he was terribly sick. We witnessed to him about Jesus Christ who forgives sins so that he may confess his sins and be forgiven. Surprisingly, he felt that the magnitude of his sins was too big for pardon. We assured him that this was not the case, and thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit eventually convinced him of what we were saying. His problem was tied to his refusal to forget his terrible past. When an old friend of mine came face to face with me after I had become born again and a pastor, she could not believe that God could use me to heal her ailing child.
I assured her that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away and all things have become new (2nd Corinthians 5:17). She believed, and her sick child was healed. Today, many people find it difficult to forgive others because they refuse to forget the past misdeeds done to them. This is even more dangerous than refusing to forget your own past misdeeds (Mark 11:25-26). Beloved, keeping the record of your ugly past or that of others may rob you of the joy of forgiveness and the peace that emanates from forgetting the past.
Prayer Point: Open Heavens 18 April 2018
Father, teach my heart to forgive and forget in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
Sing Hymn 15 – NEARER MY GOD TO THEE
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
E’ en though it be a cross
That raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.
Though, like a wanderer
The sun gone down,
Darkness comes over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer to Thee.
There let me see the sight,
An open heaven;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy given;
Angles to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer to Thee
Then, with my walking thoughts
Bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I’ll raise,
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee