Live in the present in the presence of God!

Dennis Edwards

I saw something on Instagram yesterday that made me think. The friar said there were two things we shouldn't do. The first was don't lament over the past. The past is gone. Learn from your mistakes, but forget the past. It's gone, like water under a bridge. Don't let your past control your future. The past should be a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. Apostle Paul said, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the high calling of God." 

The second thing we shouldn't do is fret or worry over the future. You cannot control the future. What will be, will be. Jesus said, "Take no anxious thought over tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient are the problems of today." Corrie Ten Boom said, Worrying about tomorrow is carrying the load of tomorrow on the shoulders of today. God said don't do it. He has given you sufficient strength for today's load to carry. By worrying about tomorrow you are carrying tomorrow's load and today's load at the same time and we're not strong enough to do that. God has given us strength for today, not tomorrow. That's why Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow. Take no anxious thought. 

King David said we should cast our burden on the load, and He would sustain us. Apostle Paul said if we are tempted to worry, we should cast those worries on the Lord through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. When we do that, Apostle Paul says, that God will send His peace that surpasses all our natural understanding. God's peace will fill our hearts and minds. Prayer is for our good that while we are in the presence of God in prayer and supplication, God will transmit to us His Spirit. We benefit when we pray, because God sends us His Spirit which fills us with love and peace.

The friar says, by not dwelling on the past, and not worrying about the future, we live in the present in the presence of God. God's presence will be with us as we live in the present. We need to fight the our tendency to dwell on our mistakes of the past, or "if only I had." We need to fight our tendency to worry about the future. Forget the past, it's behind us anyway. Don't worry about tomorrow. All the worrying is not going to change anything about tomorrow, but it will drain you of the strength you need for today. 

Lift up your eyes to Jesus from where our strength comes from and give thanks. Abide in the present with God's presence. Don't lament over the past or fear and worry about the future. God's word prohibits both. Don't go there. Rebuke the enemy and he will have to flee from you. Happy is that people who don't lament the past, or fear the future. Happy is that people whose God is the Lord and they live in the present with His presence abiding in them.

See the link below in Spanish.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxnr-IJH89/?igsh=ZDc1cmlnMmY2bW52