May 1, 2011 | Future Power

Of the three: past, present, future, we give the least power to the future. History is very powerful in our lives. We can learn from it which gives us a great advantage tomorrow, but we are also powerfully impaired by the past too. Many of us have been unable to break poor patterns, abuses, and mistakes of our past. The past can paralyze our present.

The present is powerful in an inevitable sort of way. That is, it’s difficult for us to avoid what the present brings to us. Health, finances, success and security are powerfully and almost always being pulled from our grip. The present is an upstream battle against a powerful downstream current.

The future is given the least regard with respect to power. We try to give it power in our life by having an Covey-attitude, “Begin with the end in mind,” or the ol’ “If you can dream it, you can be it!” farce.

Not meaning to be the world’s best DE motivational speaker, I’m trying instead to direct our attention to the most powerful future reality. The known future we have in Christ raised (1 Cor 15:20, 22). To quote C.S. Lewis, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

We know that “life after life after death” with Jesus and because of Jesus exists, and those in Christ will be there with him one day. THAT brings a powerful purpose to the present! It should change everything:

The way we view and handle death, the way we embrace suffering, the way we leverage our past. Each of these, seen in the light of a certain future bring great peace and great purpose to what we do, the choices we make.

Eternal life begins NOW, and everything in life is being stored up within us or for us in eternity. God has already begun the restoration and rehabilitation of the believer and what occurs now, ramps right into eternity!

Make every day count for eternity. Stop packing for tomorrow and start preparing and packing for the eternal future today!

1.       What in your past impacts you and your decisions today?

2.       What does the “Certain future” mean to you?

3.       Are you absolutely certain about your future?

4.       The known future is most powerful….how could the known future affect us more today?

5.       Eternal life starts now if we believe in Christ.  Have you ever thought of that? What spiritual muscles are you flexing, what are you packing for the life to come?

6.       How does the resurrected Christ affect you today?  Hebrews 11:1″……How does the resurrected Christ affect death for you?  How does the resurrected Christ affect your view of suffering

7.       Share an example of how your past affects and lives on through your spiritual nature in the future?