One of the greatest ways that Satan keeps you from fulfilling all you were created to be is by keeping you looking at your past. Yet God invites you to look at your future (Jeremiah 29:11). While the enemy says, “You can’t because of the damage that has been done!” God says, “You can, in spite of what has been done!” God will never define you by your past, but the enemy will try to confine you by it.

Friend, never let your yesterday keep you from your tomorrow.

Learn from yesterday, just don’t live in it.

The Israelites struggled with the same thing after having escaped from a 430-year domination by the Egyptians. The Israelites had left Egypt, but Egypt had not left them. As they sent the spies into the Promised Land, they stood on the precipice of a glorious tomorrow. But because they chose to focus on their past rather than overcoming the challenges in their tomorrow, they did not move forward. They opted for a rearview mirror outlook on life, rather than looking through the windshield of opportunity in front of them.

When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He not only delivered them from their past, but He also delivered them to their future - Canaan. Yet because they chose to be so focused on yesterday, they missed it. As a result, they were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years so God could disconnect them from their past.

Many of us cannot get to our tomorrows because we are still carrying a connection to and baggage from our past. We cannot take the step into our future because we cannot even get through today. You may have been delivered from the offense, or offenses, you are struggling to forgive - but they hold just as much weight over you today because they have not yet been delivered from you.

The Israelites stayed tethered to their past because they failed to let go and move on. It was a 35-day walk for the people of Israel to get from Egypt to Canaan. But what should have taken 35 days ended up taking 40 years because they kept looking back. Maybe that sounds familiar to you. Maybe you feel you should have been further in your life by now, further in your career, relationships, family, finances, or even in your emotional and spiritual well-being. But instead, you keep looking back. You keep saying, “What if?” “Why?” “But...” and everything else that can be said about yesterday.

You fear that what happened to you has so shattered or altered you that you will never regain the hope you once knew. You fear that someone else has messed you up too much, stolen your future or your innocence.

Yesterday is real. I am not saying that yesterday isn’t real. What I am saying is that you need to stop looking at it so much that you miss out on today, and thus dim the light of your tomorrow.

When someone has sinned against you, or you have committed sins that you regret, it is like a wound or a cut that has been made on your soul. If that wound is left untreated, it will fester and bacteria will begin to grow. For example, if you got a pretty nasty cut on your arm but didn’t clean it or care for it, in time that wound would start to ooze with puss, and the pain would increase. So much so that even if you were to go about your day with your wound nicely covered by your shirt, and someone accidentally brushed up against your wounded arm - you would jolt in pain and lash out at them.

Unforgiveness has the same effect (Matthew 18:34). When the wounds in our souls are left untreated, they fester and rot. They create residual pain in other areas of our lives. Then even the slightest brush by someone else - even if they didn’t mean anything wrong at all - can cause us to react in ways we normally wouldn’t. We may lash out, accuse, blame, cry, or say and do things we regret. All the while the other person is caught off guard by such a reaction.

In order to overcome unforgiveness, you need to treat your wounds, let them heal, and then take your focus off of your scars by putting it onto your new start. It’s a new day. Live in it. Take it one step at a time. One moment at a time. Keep your mind active in the present, not the past, and you will discover the ability - step by step - to move on.

Testimony Time

“Your daily Life Essentials Bible Study is a great way to start the day! My husband and I have been reading it on our iPhones, and it urges us into being with our Lord in the morning, and through each day! Thank you, Pastor! ”   

“Tony Evans has given me true vision to receive and give love through the many names of God. He is an exemplary teacher that I needed in my hard-knock life. I feel that God has used him as a living vessel to teach me and show me that the love of Christ is real.”   

“The words given to you by our Lord Jesus Christ have truly blessed my family. Thank you for being obedient to the Holy Spirit. God bless you!”