Do you ever find yourself saying “remember when”, “I remember the time…”, or even “I was so much fun when we…” of course you do, we all do it. We remember the “Yesterdays” the times spend with family and friends the days when we were young and set out to conquer the world. Those are good things to remember.  But when you find yourself saying “I wish I had…” “If only I had done this instead…” and even “why did I do that” or “I should have said this…” Those are the thoughts that can either keep us in the “yesterdays” or help us to move forward.

In Isaiah 43 the Lord himself speaks to Jacob and tells him:

Isaiah 43:18-19 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

God wants us to move forward and not allow our past to stop us from serving Him. When we dwell on the “what if’s” we all tend to get discouraged.

Later in that chapter in verse 25 God states “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God when we confess our sins to God, He forgives them, he blots them out, He forgets them.  

If God doesn’t remember our past sins, then we should not allow them to stop us from moving forward.

This is Satan trying to stop you from moving forward in your Christian journey.

2 Corinthians 11:3 – But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Satan is subtle and will use your own thoughts against you. Don’t allow him to deceive you into thinking that you are not valuable to God. Remember if God can use 12 simple men (fishermen, a lawyer, a tax collector and peasants) to change the world he can use you!

I will leave you with a verse to help you when you get discouraged, this is a promise from God when you choose to serve to Him.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.