Looking back
All over America and around the world, people are taking time today to look back on this past year. After all, today is the last day on the calendar, and tomorrow begins a new year.
The Bible has two things to say about looking back:
1.) Do it.
2.) Don’t do it.
This can seem like a huge contradiction until you consider what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” Just like there is a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing (see Ecclesiastes 3:2-5), so, too, is there a time to look back and a time to stop looking back. Let’s take a look at some biblical reasons to look back.
Why look back?
1.) The word of your testimony. “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (Revelation 12:11). The word of your testimony can involve two things. First, the Word of God itself is your testimony, and you have the right to speak it in faith to overcome your enemy, the devil. Second, your personal story of salvation and how God has manifested His care for you throughout your life is also included in the word of your testimony. You have the right to overcome the devil by reminding yourself and him of all the astonishing ways God has come through for you in the past.
2.) Memorial stones. God stopped the Jordan River from running, causing the waters which flowed down from upstream to pile up in a big heap (see Joshua 3:13) so that the tribes of Israel could cross on dry ground. Joshua, their leader, then commanded men to remove twelve stones from the supernaturally dried up river bottom and to set them up on the other side as a memorial to this miracle from God. Joshua directed “…when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’” (see Joshua 4:6), then the adults could tell them how God held back the Jordan’s waters in a big heap while they passed through on dry ground. Memorial stones are very similar to the word of our testimony. We use both not only to overcome the devil and pull ourselves out of unbelief or despair, but also to train up young believers in God’s miraculous ways.
3.) For our instruction. “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). If in your looking back you are not instructed, encouraged, or made hopeful, then you’re not looking back in the way God has prescribed. If this describes you, then stop looking and ask God to help you to adjust your vision.
4.) As examples. “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). George Santayana wrote in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Looking back upon failures—those recorded in the Bible, in history, and in our own lives—can be a beneficial discipline when it is done as a study in what not to do. Be instructed, and then pressing on in faith, put what you’ve learned into practice.
The Bible also instructs concerning not looking back, as in Isaiah 43:18: “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.” From what I can determine, the privilege to look or not to look is all in the “hows” and “whys” involved in the looking. Are you looking back to give glory to God, to encourage yourself or others, or to overcome attacks or negativity battering your mind? You are looking back in accordance to the will of God. Are you looking back to receive instruction in proper decision making? You are looking back according to the purpose of God—but leave room for the Holy Spirit. Are you looking back to determine how to avoid repeating certain failures of the past? You are looking back in line with the plan of God as long as you take the information you need and then return, girded and armed for an overcoming lifestyle.
Don’t be afraid to assess this past year. A good look back is beneficial on so many levels. You can receive instruction and wisdom for your future as you prayerfully consider the last 365 days.
But most importantly, as you look back, be sure to give God the glory for all that He has done for you. Because of Him, you have arrived here, on the last day of the year, to think about all that has transpired this year. He has granted you life, health, a sound mind, and the strength to finish out the year. And it is by His grace and eternal purpose that you will enter the new year tomorrow.
To God be the glory!
Dorothy
Read MoreThe power of thanking God
Have you ever wondered how to pray about the chaos out there without being weighed down by its sheer awfulness? Here’s a hint: Your natural tendency is to gravitate toward the object you are observing. I learned this from my drivers’ ed teacher when I was fifteen. He warned the four of us crammed into the well-dented ‘beginner drivers’ car that if we watched cows and horses grazing in the field, that’s where we would end up—in the pasture and not on the highway! That’s why God included thanksgiving in His list of prayer methods—thanking Him causes you to gravitate toward Him and not the problem!
Have you ever been frightened about situations in your life and asked God for help? If you prayed without thanking or praising Him, you probably continued to feel very afraid, trying to battle anxiety on your own because your eyes remained glued to the problem. Giving thanks to God pulls your attention off of the enormity of the problem and onto the greatness of God. As you gaze at God, giving Him thanks for His willingness to do wonderful things for you, the anxiety you feel drains away. If you find it creeping back in, you just ramp up your thanksgiving to God again! Thanksgiving is a powerful antidote for the anxiety you feel.
Do you try to ignore fearful situations in your life in an attempt to resist fear? Do you think about Job when he said, ‘For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me’ (Job 3:25) and try to avoid Job’s outcome by pretending there is no problem? Is denial your strategy for dealing with fear? Is that the way you walk by faith?
Think of the boy David, one of the greatest worshipers in the Bible, watching sheep out in the pasture. When he spied the lion and the bear stalking his sheep, did he conquer his fear by ignoring the situation? Of course not! He rose up, likely with a mixture of adrenaline, fear, and a strong protective instinct and killed the carnivores! His faith empowered him to confront those hungry varmints despite the very real danger! He didn’t seek to protect his faith by looking away from the predators or by denying their existence. Dead sheep would have been the outcome of that kind of faith walk. Even worse, without the experience of subduing the vicious beasts, David may never have been equipped to take down Goliath!
Ignoring evil, by definition, is ignorance! Thanking God, however, in the face of evil acknowledges His greatness despite the growing darkness. This powerfully applies to facing the destructive forces at work in our nation. Faith confronts the frightening events with the Word of God. Ignoring such forces in our country in an attempt to stay in faith actually prevents you from becoming a part of God’s solution to change the course of events. The sense of fear is not always the spirit of fear spoken of by Paul (see 2 Timothy 1:7); at times Holy Spirit-initiated warnings are alarming—even frightening—yet they are sent by God to reveal that danger is looming. In response you pray and dig into the Word to prepare for battle—and victory.
When fear does rise up—and it will—ask God how to deal with it and the fearful situation instead of hiding under the covers, hoping the boogeyman will go away! Declare like David, ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You’ (Psalm 56:3). Then in prayer confront the giants both in your life and our nation, giving thanks to God for His Goliath-defeating power!
(The above paragraphs are excerpts taken from pages 20-23; First of All, Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis; © 2013–Dorothy Frick; available on Amazon.com)
Have a glorious, thankful Thanksgiving! See you in December!
Dorothy
Read More1 Peter 2:25—The Shepherd and Guardian of your soul
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:25
For you were continually straying like sheep…
Peter was not putting anyone down when he likened all of us to sheep; he was merely telling it like it is.
Sheep have very little situational awareness. They have very little self-awareness as well, and as a result, they have been known to wander off into danger.
Sheep can be busy munching on new and unusual grass, entirely unaware that they have wandered far away from the flock and straight toward a lion or a bear—the jaws of death in search of lunch.
Humans can be busy pursuing new and unusual diversions, entirely unaware that they are being wound around and around by webs of steel masquerading as fun, stimulation, pleasure, excitement, escape—the list goes on and on.
For you were continually straying like sheep…
…but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
The Good Shepherd leaves the flock to find the one sheep that has strayed, and finding it, He deals a deathblow to its predator and snatches the sheep from its doom.
The Good Shepherd whispers in your ears throughout your life—no, not that way; go this way. He woos and pursues you, and He prods you patiently as you search for truth down dead-end paths, as you dull your boredom or pain once again, or as you dogmatically deny your need for His kind of help. The Good Shepherd is relentless; He does not give up on you when others do—not even when you’ve given up on yourself—and He quietly works behind the scenes to bring you to the place where you will eventually say yes to Him: I let go of my own way. I am now ready to make You the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul.
And there your journey ends. And there your journey begins.
Dorothy
I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me. John 10:14
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Read More1 Peter 2:24—By His wounds you have been healed
…He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24, ESV
Why did Jesus have to suffer the horrible death of the cross? Couldn’t our salvation have been purchased by a less brutal method? Lest anyone be confused about the matter, Peter clearly laid it out:
- He bore our sins in His body on the cross (not while comfortably unharmed).
- So we might die to sin and live to righteousness (we would not have been able to die to sin and live to righteousness had He not taken our place in an atoning death—bloody by Scriptural definition and decree).
- By His wounds you are healed (He was not a Lord who dodged brutality or who hid from the cross; otherwise, “by His wounds you are healed” could never have been written).
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…
The intimacy and vulnerability of Someone bearing my personal sin brings tears to my eyes. That which I would want no one to see; that which has stabbed me with shame—that very darkness of soul is what Jesus lifted from me and bore in His own body that day—on purpose. And that’s exactly what He did for you, too.
…that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
Try as you might to prove otherwise, sin is sewn into the very fabric of your being by virtue of your membership in the human race. As a result of our fallen nature, the prospect of you and me dwelling in God’s presence for eternity (the very reason He created us) became an impossibility. You see, He is holy, and sin cannot exist in the presence of His unadulterated, full-blown holiness. For you to dwell forever with God, either He would have to change—or you would. And God wasn’t changing. And you couldn’t …
Therefore, when Jesus bore our sins and died under their load, He reopened the door for you and me to enter into the presence of God. When you, by faith in Him, realize and believe that your own sin was placed on Him that day long ago, you identify with His death. And as a result, you die to sin and are made alive to God…no longer in bondage to sin but made righteous with His own righteousness. This is God’s gift to you for opening up your heart to Him.
By his wounds you have been healed.
To me, the invitation to live forever as His daughter is beyond amazing and sufficient to satisfy the longings of any living person. But He, being the God who is more than enough, included physical healing as well in His atonement. Just as salvation didn’t cease when the apostles passed, so too, healing did not cease to be offered when that generation died. Healing is part and parcel of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and it is accessed just like salvation is—through faith.
It is evident that God loves health: He created our bodies with immune systems and mechanisms by which to combat sickness and infection and to heal injuries. Indeed, one of His names is Jehovah Rapha, “I am the Lord who heals you” (see Exodus 15:26). Yet because we live in a fallen world, we are, nonetheless, subject to the same diseases and maladies that affect the rest of humanity. Therefore, by His design and because He is the Great Physician, He included sickness as well as sin in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
I want to encourage you to go to Him about any afflictions you may be experiencing in your body. Realize that it is by His wounds that you were healed. In other words, just as surely as you know you are going to Heaven because of your faith in Jesus, you can be assured that healing for any malady you may face was also provided for you in His redemptive work—by His scourging we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
As surely as He bore your sins on Calvary, so too, did He bear your physical afflictions. Go to Him in faith, for by His wounds you have been healed.
Your Redeemer lives!
Dorothy
And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” Matthew 8:15-17, ESV
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
Read More1 Peter 2:21-23—Leaving an example to follow
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously… 1 Peter 2:21-23
For you have been called for this purpose… leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…
The calling to which you and I have been called is not to merely accomplish a particular goal or hold a specific position. The call of Jesus Christ is that you be His disciple and follow Him wherever He leads—every minute, every day—for the rest of your life.
And as you follow Him, you are not groping in the darkness—He Himself is your Light. When you follow Him, you won’t walk in darkness, but you will have the Light of life.
You are His sheep, so you hear His voice, and the voice of a stranger you will not follow.
He has also poured out His Spirit upon you; this Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that He has said, and He will show you things to come.
And of course, He has left His example for you to emulate. A man or woman asking, “What would Jesus do?” can access the Book and view all that was written about His behavior, attitudes, and choices.
… since Christ also suffered for you…
The bottom line of Christianity is this: Jesus suffered for you. He bore your sins and the punishment that you deserved—and He did it completely of His own free will. A profession of faith which minimizes the suffering that the Lord endured in an attempt to “humanize” Christianity or to make it more “palatable”, has virtually humanized the power of God right out of their religion! This “cleaned-up” version of Christianity is as palatable as a piece of cold, day-old toast.
…who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth…
Central to Christianity is that Jesus was sinless in His earth walk. He was tempted as we all are, but He never yielded; He never once sinned. To paint Him any other way (as some do who seek to justify their favorite lifestyle sin) reveals ignorance at best, and more likely exposes a blatant contempt for the Holy One who died for them.
… and while being reviled, He did not revile in return…
Jesus embodied what He taught. Early in His ministry, when He enjoyed popularity and physical safety, He preached, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28). When those who hated Him finally had their way with Him, He practiced what He preached: He did not revile in return but prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
… while suffering, He uttered no threats…
Isaiah prophesied of this One, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7, emphasis added). What a contrast this is to the mindset which characterizes many in our time: “I don’t get mad; I get even.”
Jesus had the power, authority, and rank to call upon the hosts of Heaven to rally to His aid. He declared to Peter when He was first arrested in Gethsemane, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53) Jesus had the whereabouts to deal a deathblow to those who wrongfully abused Him—but instead, He uttered no threats; He let them do their worst. And by so doing, they played right into the plan of God established before the foundation of the earth.
… but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.
Entrusting Himself to God and submitting to His will was more important to Jesus throughout His earth walk than even food: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
He lived with this conviction: “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me” (John 5:30).
He lived this creed: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
Therefore, at the end of His earth life, it is not surprising to know that He accomplished this final grim act—death on the cross—by entrusting Himself to the One who judges righteously. Every torturous step of the way.
He despised every bit of the shame He experienced, but He endured it all for the joy that was set before Him—you and me, delivered from darkness, born again as sons and daughters of God, bearing His name, and carrying His healing presence into the world.
This is the example He has left for us to follow—and for this purpose we have been called.
Dorothy
© 2015, Dorothy Frick
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