Peace That Passes All Understanding Pt 3

In Philippians 3, Paul gives some of the most important instructions for us to follow on our path to peace.  In chapter 3,  verse 1 he instructs us to "rejoice IN the LORD".   Meditate on this for a moment.  Our rejoicing is to come from our relationship with the Lord.  We are to rejoice IN his goodness.  We are to rejoice IN his mercy.  We are to rejoice IN his forgiveness.  This also means that we are NOT to rejoice in the world.  We are NOT to rejoice in sin.  We are NOT to rejoice in money, cars or pride.  Many of us have placed joy in things and people that let us down.  Then we wonder why we are so sad and depressed.

Paul then instructs us, in verses 7-16, to count some things as loss in order to obtain the excellency in Christ.  To count something as a loss means that I no longer try to collect on it.  It means that I no longer go back to it to try to get something from it.  Paul teaches us to continue to forget the things in the past and press forward.  How many of us are hindered by the things of the past?  No one.   But how many of us are hindered by HOLDING ON to the things of the past?   MANY OF US!   Many of you who read this post are holding on to past hurts, past grudges, past mistakes, and past toxic relationships.  LET GO and move forward.  Focus on what is in front of you, not what is behind.   Christ has no room to pour his peace inside of you if you have "junk from the past" filling your heart.   It's up to us - do we want to be right or do we want to have some peace?   I gave a person an illustration once.   We were on a football field in one end zone.  I told her to look all the way down the field to the other end zone and focus.  I then told her to look behind her.    There were some cars and people in the parking lot.  I then asked her if those people had any effect on her while looking forward.  She said no.  Get the point?  There will always be a past behind us.  But as long as we keep looking back and not forward, we can never move on.   Letting go and forgetting means to let go and forget.   It means to stop talking about it, stop texting and calling, stop bringing it up and put new things in your mind.    Press forward and get your peace.