Everyone talks about the “good old days” when everything was “better”. We all look back from time to time, wishing we had our youth back, or our money back, or this person or that person back. But if we spend all out time wishing we could return to the “good old days”, we will totally miss out on the “good days ahead”. And I for one don’t want that to happen.
If life was only better in the good old days, there would be absolutely nothing to look forward to in the time ahead. To me, that would mean my best days were behind me, so why bother living any longer, if there’s nothing better ahead. How about you, are you living in the past, or present, or are you looking forward to the future?
I for one am looking forward with happy anticipation for the future. With Christ Jesus of Nazareth, Y’shua Messiah as my LORD and Savior, my best days aren’t behind me, they’re ahead! My goodness! Here we have everlasting life with our LORD waiting ahead, and we’re bawling and squalling about how we long for the “good old days”? Not me!
My past was filled with misnakesxxxxxxmistakes, pain, misery, sickness, sadness and all the other “stuff” (for lack of a printable word) the devil brought upon me, and that which I foolishly brought upon myself. The “good old days”, when I look back, weren’t good at all! In fact, I’m so glad to be out of them, that I can’t stop praising God that He brought me out of them. The day I got “born again”, God regenerated my spirit man, gave me a NEW identity in Christ Jesus, no longer a “loser” and a “sinner”, but a NEW creation in Him. He made me a son instead of an outcast, an heir to all the promises of God, and since that day I’ve been working on renewing my mind to bring it into His image of who HE says I am.
Now mind you, the devil doesn’t like to turn loose of his slaves. He hates it when Jesus sets someone free, and the first thing the devil does is reminds you of who you WERE, and that you’re really having too much fun to leave him now. Some people are so deceived that they THINK they’re having fun, but in the quiet of the night, they realize they aren’t, if only they’ll admit it. Most people won’t admit that they’re NOT really having an enjoyable life, because it looks bad for their pride. But I will readily admit, I was NOT having fun before Christ Jesus.
God has given me a whole new outlook on life. I hate strife, envy, jealousy, sickness, sadness, lies and perversion. And it pleases me much to know that those are the things God also hates. Yes, we’re living in a sinful, perverted world filled with sickness, poverty, and war. But as a child of God, I’m not a “resident”, but merely “passing through”. And though as it says in Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” What is so significant about that verse? Two things: one, I’m going THROUGH, not taking up residence in the valley of the shadow of death, therefore I need not forward my mail there. Secondly: have you ever been bitten by the shadow of a dog? I haven’t, the shadow can’t hurt anyone.
People are so afraid of shadows, that they never enjoy life. In Christ Jesus, His light makes the shadows flee, and the constant threats of the devil are exposed for what they really are: lies. Have you ever considered that most of the things you worry about never come to pass? That’s because worry and fear are tools of the devil, made to terrify you and take away your joy of living. I know, I was a world-class worrier in my younger days. And my Mom was one of the world’s worst worriers, so I inherited worry from her. If she didn’t have anything to worry about, she worried about that as well. What was the next big bad thing coming down the pike? I lived in constant anticipation of bad things happening. And those were the “good old days”? I’m sure glad to be living now in Christ Jesus.
People are creatures of habit, and it’s hard to break out of that. When you’ve lived your whole life never getting ahead, never enjoying life to the full, it’s hard to see yourself as living “life more abundantly”. And yet in John 10:10, Christ Jesus said, “The thief cometh not but for to kill, and to steal, and to destroy; but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Well, He sure described my life to a tee, everything concerning me was killed, stolen, and destroyed before Jesus saved me. It was so bad that there wasn’t even any looking forward to anything better, that it was just my lot in life. I’m sure many of you feel the same way. Ah, but let me point out the word “but” in that verse: that means, “contrary to the previous part”, Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
That means you don’t have to live like you did anymore. Life can indeed be “Life more abundantly”! YOUR LIFE! Not just mine. If you don’t know Jesus, today is the day you need to meet Him up close and personal and let Him fix your life. And if it so happens you already know Christ Jesus as LORD and Savior, but you’re not living life more abundantly, then you need to be asking yourself WHY NOT? It surely isn’t God’s will for you to be one of His kids running around with a long face and miserable. New life in Christ Jesus is exactly that: NEW LIFE! Not living in “the good old days”. Don’t let the devil steal your joy of living! Regardless of who is in political power, or what is going on in the world, life in Christ Jesus gets better every day!
I see far too many Christians who are sad and troubled. They obviously aren’t keeping their eyes upon Jesus. Let me put a few verses in here to make things clear: It is written in Matthew 14:22-33,
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
There are a couple things going on in this account that you need to see. There was a storm going on around the disciples; a REAL storm, that even those experienced fishermen, including Peter, weren’t equipped to deal with. They were SCARED FOR THEIR LIVES! Imagine this scene in your mind if you will; this storm was raging around them, and they were powerless in their own minds to do anything about it. Maybe some of them were hanging over the side of the ship chucking up their supper. Then they saw Jesus walking on the water. Now on top of that, they thought they were seeing ghosts, and that scared them even more! Jesus told them, Don’t be afraid, it’s ME! So Peter, for some reason said to Jesus, If it’s really YOU, bid me come to you on the water! Now what if it had really been the devil? Peter gets out of the boat and promptly drowns. One down, eleven to go, right? But it wasn’t the devil, it was Jesus, and what else could Jesus say? Peter it’s me, but don’t come! No, He told Peter to come to Him on the water.
So Peter climbed down out of the ship and walked on the water to Jesus. About then the devil whispers in Peter’s ear, “Hey Peter, don’t you know you can’t walk on the water when it’s WINDY?? And Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm raging around him, and BEGAN to sink, it says. With his faith waning, he couldn’t keep walking on the water. Have any of you ever stepped off of the side of a swimming pool and BEGAN to sink? No, you sink IMMEDIATELY! Now, before you fault Peter, remember the rest of the disciples opted to stay on the boat. He stepped out in faith, leaving the “good old days” behind, in order to embark on a “new day” of walking on the water.
Some of you have also done that, but the devil let the air out of your balloon, and you sank and gave up and went back to the “good old days” where you thought you were safe. You really weren’t, but you tried stepping out and looked at the storm and failed, and thought you’d be better off as you were.
This is a new day. It’s your day to never go back to the “good old days” again. Your future awaits you in Christ Jesus. Even as Peter cried out “LORD SAVE ME!”, Jesus DID save him, and He will save you, too. Stop doubting God’s love for you, He didn’t save you for you to be a failure! When Jesus and Peter made it to the ship, everyone worshipped Jesus. OF A TRUTH THOU ART THE SON OF GOD! You need to see the truth of that! You don’t need the “good old days” anymore! There’s a bright new day dawning and God wants YOU to walk in the glory of it with Him!