Reflections for 2021 Part 2

It is so important at the beginning of this year not to allow the freshness and present revelation not to die, but to keep it alive in our spirit for a long time. This understanding of how precious we are to the Lord must be protected and built upon as the year progresses. The fact that the Lord knew me before I was conceived has been a challenge for me to understand but the Bible does not lie, also I have seen the folly of trying to compare myself with other people. I now clearly understand that at the end of time I have to give an account of my behaviour to the Lod and no one else. If I become aware that people are living a certain way it is my responsibility to pray for that person and allow the Lord to change them. Despite the way we live at times and things that we do that does not please the Lord did not stop Him from choosing us. A good example of this is Jesus with the help of His Father choosing the 12 disciples, there are two that stand out. Firstly Judas Iscariot who was a thief who after spending three years with Jesus decided to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest. Secondly, Peter who was close to Jesus together with James and John, despite being warned by Jesus denied that he knew Him, despite seeing Jesus transfigured did not want Jesus to die on the cross. Despite being one of the first to see the empty tomb and seeing Jesus alive – he decided to go back to his old way of living as a fisherman and turn his back on the three years with Jesus. Jesus knew all this but still chose them. I take great encouragement from this truth because as I look at myself there have been many times I have believed that I have let Jesus down.  There is a verse of scripture which is important to understand – Isaiah 43:18 which says: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old”. Something that I have learned is when I look back over my life the majority of the times I remember my failures and wrong things and this is the main reason why we are instructed not to look back. There is one important truth that we sometimes forget – when we repent God forgives and forgets and the deed is taken out of our life – while we can still remember God cannot.  I am reminded that Satan is called the accuser of the brethren(Revelations 12:10). Always remember there is no substance to the accusations of Satan. We take comfort from Romans 8:1 which says: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but walk according to the Spirit”. It is so important to continually walk in the freshness of knowing that I am chosen by the Lord and He has a good plan for my life. This understanding becomes more clear to me as I choose to spend time in His presence and I appreciate my situation.