Showing posts with label forward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forward. Show all posts

Thursday, September 27

Forward or Reverse?





Imagine this scene with me for a moment.

You’re floating on a beautiful, crystal blue river in a raft. You’re stretched out. Relaxed. Hands tucked in behind your head. You’re looking up at the cloudless expanse of an azure sky.

Question: Which way are you going? Forward or reverse?

This is not the river of life that rushes you along with the current, taking you to some unknown destination and sweeps you over the rocky edge to destruction.

No, this is The River of Life, “a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Rev. 22:1 NLT) Those eternal waters of refreshing that take you where God wants you to go.

When we go with God’s flow, we find The River of Life flows so freely and we have a Helmsman to navigate for us. Though we encounter an occasional storm or billowing wave, the Helmsman guides us when we cannot see a way. He steers us away from crashing into the rocky shore. He anchors us when we feel as though we drowning.

However, if it seems so easy to go with the flow, why then do we insist on going in reverse and making it so hard for ourselves? The struggle mainly comes when we try to go against God’s flow.

Maybe we should pay attention to what God said to Jeremiah about the Israelites, “But they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear [to Me], but followed the counsels and the stubborn promptings of their own evil hearts and minds, and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward.” (Jer. 7:24 Amp)

Reverse rides on the whispers and way of the world; forward flows with God’s commands and blessing of His kingdom.

May your heart and mind be willingly bent to follow the Lord’s every command. And may your River of Life be effortlessly navigated.

Question: Which way are you going? Forward or reverse?

                                                                       
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katherines corner
Reflections of His Grace
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Wednesday, November 9

The Other Side of the Cloud


The Pillar of Cloud.

Billowing majestically, it moved forward...and the Israelites advanced.

Pulsing with power, it hovered...and they pitched their tents and waited.

The Cloud...always in front of the people. “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” (Ex. 13:21-22 NIV)

The Angel of God. Giving divine guidance by day and fiery heat and light by night.

But the horses’ hoof beats pounded. The chariots rattled. And the marching soldiers’ footfall droned. The enemy closed in on them, in pursuit of their lives.

Israel shook in their sandals. They cried out to the Lord.

Moses said to them, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Ex. 14:12-14 NKJV)

“Raise your rod, Moses,” God said. “Stretch out your hand over the sea. Divide it that Israel may walk through it on dry ground.”

“Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them...coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.” (Ex. 14:19a, 20 NIV, emphasis mine)

The Living Bible says, “It gave darkness to the Egyptians but light to the people of Israel!” (Ex. 14:20b) Darkness to the enemy; light to the people.

The Lord stood between His children and their enemy. He had their backs! And this enemy at the rear was history. God had a plan for their future and a path all mapped out for them to move forward.

God does the same for us. Sometimes, He performs His handiwork behind us, in the background. So, what is behind us? Our past? Depleted circumstances? Old way of thinking? Attempts of the enemy?

The Lord stands between us and whatever attempts to come against us, protecting us. He has our backs! Our enemy is history. God has a plan for our future and a path all mapped out for us to move forward.

No matter what is behind you, God has drowned it in the dark depths of the sea of forgiveness, if you have given it to Him. Don’t let worry go to the shed and pull out the ol’ fishing pole!

Whatever is on the other side of the cloud, the Lord stands ready to fight for you. Stand still and see what He will accomplish for you.

Let God’s pillar of cloud be darkness to what is behind you and a glory light to what is in front of you.



This post is part of Internet Café's Wordfilled Wednesday...



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