INVENTORY

If anyone’s ever worked in a business or owned a business that handles inventory. You know, every so often, you gotta stop and take count of damaged or broken items? You write that off your list as being broken, and you get new. This helps to make sure the figures you show are correct.

I want to talk to you today about spiritual inventory. There are so many things in the Bible that we talk about Christians not needing in their lives. All the different temptations and sins, things that are contrary to what we should have as Christians. We are told to bear fruit and to love one another. We should be gentle, kind, good, humble and all these different things. This is a small list of the inventory we should have in our life.

There are times when we pick up different things which are contrary to what we need to have in our lives. Sometimes it’s important for us as Christians to slow down and ask God for help to take inventory of what we’ve got in our lives. We need to learn to not be swayed by people, sometimes they’ll come along and they’ll brag on you and they’ll brag you up. And if you let it go to your head, you can become self-righteous.

While other people come along and they’ll criticize and they will pick.  That makes us self-conscious. We should never be self-righteous or self-conscious about anything. If we can get to the point where we walk in between those things, before God, we’ll be doing a pretty good job. It’s easy to look at people sometimes and compare ourselves, which God tells us not to do.

There are times when we find out things or suspect things that someone else is doing wrong. Instead of praying for them, we get self-righteous and judgmental. We start talking about it, “Well, I would never. I have never.” It’s easy to be judgmental of other people. Which falls into that being self-righteous, they go hand in hand. Be careful about what you say, because the very thing that you say, “I would never.” If you’re not careful, you will end up doing that very thing. But God is faithful, and God is good, and he is just to forgive us of all of our sins and all of our shortcomings and our failures. I’m so grateful for his mercy and his grace.

I was raised, in the Pentecostal church. In that denomination, there is not a lot of room for people to make mistakes. They teach you need to live right, live right, live right. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t. So much so that there is not a lot of room for God’s grace when we fall. Sometimes we forget about all the things that we’re told to do, because we’re so busy going you can’t, You can’t, You can’t. That we don’t tell people they can, they can, they can. They can walk humbly before the Lord. They can encourage one another. We can and should lift one another up.

I want to stand before God with a clear conscience. And I want to be able to say. Lord, I’ve done all I can to walk, the way you want me to walk. If he knows, we are sincere in our hearts. His grace is there to pick up the pieces. His blood cleanses all sins. The church, the body of Christ today, is just so easy to get wrapped up in the ideas of man and denominations. We get wrapped up in the number of people that sat in our pews last week. We get wrapped up in our programs and trips to amusement parks. Church, to many, is just a social club, a place to network business ideas over fried chicken.   

Live right and do right. You know, love God and love people. And I mean, it boils down to that. Eccl 12:13-14  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (14) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Spend time with him this week.  Ask God to help you with your inventory. I pray you find only good things.  But if you are not perfect and find areas that need work, then that is a good thing too. Because now that it has been brought to light, God can help you deal with it and remove it from your life.  That vacated space in your life can be filled with new deeper and more exciting things from God.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.

WORDS

Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Abraham called things that were not as though they were and it was counted as righteousness. In other words, he was exercising his faith. He would pray for something to happen, then would speak out of his mouth and talk about what he prayed for as if the prayer were answered. This is what the old timers called putting legs on your prayers. Let’s say for example, there was a drought and people got together to pray for rain. Who do you think God would answer? The one carrying the umbrella, ofcourse. Because they had enough faith to bring the umbrella. By doing this, they were saying, we are praying for rain, I am going to believe God is going to cause it to rain. I better take my umbrella.

Heb 11:6 -But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We look around at the crazy state of the world. Things seem impossible that they will ever change and be right again. This is what we see with our natural senses. If we go by sight, the world is full of evil and there is nothing we can do to stop it. This is the lie the enemy has been feeding to the church for too long. We need to look at things and take the authority given to us as Spirit-filled children of the MOST HIGH GOD. We need to call things out in prayer.

“Lord I thank you that you are turning around things in our nation. I thank you that right is right and wrong is wrong again. I believe you when you said, our words have power. We are pulling down the enemy’s strongholds in the name of Jesus. There is nothing too hard for you Lord. We ask that you set the captive free. Many are bound by addictions of all types, we thank you Jesus for breaking the chains and setting the captive free.” If we look with our eyes these things have not taken place yet. But we have to call things as not as though they were; we walk by faith.

II Cor. 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We do not realize how powerful our words can be; this is a lesson I learned when I was dealing with depression. Depression happens when we look at things in our lives and feel the negative emotions that come from negative thoughts. It is like a reel in our minds over and over again, like listening to a tape on continuous playback. Every time, we think about how hopeless we are, the deeper we dig and the worse things appear to us. In reality, things probably had not changed. With the enemy whispering in our ear constantly, negative things they will seem to be getting worse everyday.

Take heart, if you find yourself in a hopeless place, like depression or filled with anxiety or fear. The same principle applies to all. Start telling yourself it’s not as bad as it appears. Pray and ask God for help and then call things as not as though they are and say, I have peace and not anxiety. I do not have fear; I have courage. I am not in the pit of depression where I am surrounded by darkness; I walk in light.

It takes a little bit of practice to walk in faith and speak positivity. But it can be done, I promise you. Our words have the power to motivate, to encourage, to share hope. They can also have the power to discourage, teardown, make angry or cause those around us to be negative and depressed.

Prov. 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Go out, make a difference by speaking life into someone’s day. You never know how much it may mean to someone that is bound by the enemy. It could mean the difference between literal life and death. I often tell the story of a friend of my husband. He worked at a convenience store in his early twenties. This friend was a Christian and decided he was going to be more bold about his faith. He started saying God bless you to some of his customers.

One day, he felt compelled to say to a man, “God loves you” the cashier went on about his day like normal. Two weeks later, he was working and that same guy was back. He reminded the cashier of what he had said to him and told him he was planning on committing suicide. Those words made him stop and think. He questioned if God existed and really did love him. He stopped in to thank the cashier for his kind words. The man found a preacher to talk to and had dedicated his life to Christ, all because that man said, “God loves you.”

Go make a difference in your world. Speak life and faith. Be bold, be brave and keep your God focus.

GREAT WISDOM

The book of Proverbs is full of wisdom.  It is believed to be written by King Solomon. If you remember his story, he asked God for wisdom and God gave him vast wisdom. Many people in our lives have wisdom; these are the ones we want to spend time. We gain wisdom by being around wise people.

Proverbs 30:24-28 speaks of four wise animals.

Prov 30:24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

Prov 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

We can learn a lot of lessons from each of them; ants are very small creatures. They communicate and work well together.  Their cause is greater than their individual needs.  They know winter is coming and they need to store up for winter.

We need to be laboring to get souls saved before it is too late, and we cannot work. The harvest ready and the laborers are few. 

Many things could be said about saving or storing up for winter. We try to save money for emergencies or for something we want to do, like a trip to the beach. The greatest thing we can store up is treasures in heaven. 

Matt 6:19-20

 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:   20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Prov 30:26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

Conies are small creatures that look like rabbits with short ears. They find holes in rocks to hide from the weather and get protection from larger animals and birds that may want to have them for dinner. They are wise in the fact that they make the rocks their home, their hiding place.  We can be wise, too when we make “the rock” Jesus our hiding place. He will keep us safe from the storms and will protect us from satan who is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Prov 30: 27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

Locust are grass hopper like creatures, that are docile on their own but when they get in a swarm of others can be quite destructive to crops. The lesson we can learn from them is to band together. When we come together with a single purpose in mind, more gets accomplished than each of us can get done on our own.

Prov 30: 28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces

There is nowhere a spider cannot be found building her web; even kings palaces. One of the lessons we can learn from the spider is determination.  They will build a web and you can sweep it down and by the next day there is another web in its place.

What if we were so determined to build the kingdom of God? What if every time the enemy knocked down what we were trying to do, we didn’t complain. What if we just got up and tried to build it stronger.

Another lesson is, what comes out of the spider is what gets it where its going. Sometimes it is what comes out of us that determines our destination.  Are we talking defeat or are we talking faith? We can only go on if we have the faith that we will overcome the enemy and be able to build God’s kingdom.

The book of Proverbs is definitely worth reading, even if you have read it before today. Each time we read God’s word we gain new insight, strength and wisdom.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

WORSHIP FIRST

Worship invites the presence of God. Many things have been written about worship. Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him and bless his name. If we look at getting to God like castles were set up in ancient times. There were three levels inside the gate, which puts you in the courtyard. Level two puts you inside the castle in the outer court. The inner court has the fewest people. The inner court is where the king is sitting on his throne. In order to petition the King, you need to be in the inner court.

We enter his gates by offering Thanksgiving. Which means to thank God for all he has done for us. Going from thanksgiving to praise allows us to enter the castle. Worshipping God for who he is gets us into the outer court and eventually into his presence.

David made a lot of mistakes; he fell into sin many times. But God still said David was a man after his own heart. David wrote Psalms to God. He was a true worshipper. David understood that he was imperfect and that he needed God. Worship is a heart thing and we must connect our heart to God’s heart.

Worship changes the atmosphere. Sometimes things can look dark. The enemy can be pressing in from all directions; if we can press through in worship and praise, soon the atmosphere changes. We can be under a cloud of anxiety, fear, stress or sadness, to name a few, and we can start worshipping. Our worship will cause that spirit of heaviness to be lifted off of us.

God desires to spend time with his children. He wants us to worship him in spirit and truth. Satan hates it when we worship; I don’t mean just going through the motions. But when we connect to God through our Praise. Satan was the music leader, the head worshipper until jealousy entered him and he wanted to be God. God kicked him out of heaven and, along with him, him a bunch of angels that were loyal to satan.

Psalm 96:9 – O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Take some extra time this week to show God some love and make the devil mad at the same time. Lift your voice and hands to God in praise.

TRAINS

Trains travel on rails that run from one destination to another.  Everything runs smoothly until a train gets off track.  This is called a derailment. Many things can cause a train to get off track. Obstacles in the way, mechanical failure in the train or rails.

The reason is important only to help prevent a derailment in the future. More important than why is the prevention of future failures. As we travel life, we can be gliding along at a good speed when something major happens to derail us.  Sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, betrayal of a friend. Once we have lost our momentum, it may take a little while to get our life back on track.

It often takes great effort to lift the weight of the train and get it back on the tracks. This is where our determination to not be stopped will be crucial to our momentum.  Keeping our God Focus even in the middle of a derailment, can be done if we TRUST GOD. Jesus is always there to help us get things back on track.

Sometimes the enemy will build obstacles on the tracks for us to run into causing us to get derailed.  He custom creates temptation for each of us.  He will whisper, “you are not good enough” “who do you think you are to be doing what God has called you to do.” “Is it really that bad if you do this one little thing that God said no to do.” Like with Job, he will send you miserable comfort that will encourage you to curse God and die.

We have power over the powers of the enemy. All we have to do is speak the word. Use scripture to put him in his place. This will remove him and his obstacles from our path. Resist the devil and he will flee. Leaving us a clear path to reach out and cry out to Jesus so that we can always be in the presence of God to thank him for what he has done for us.

BURN THE SHIPS

The church needs to be like the people that came from Europe to the new world. When they arrived they unassembled their boats and used the wood for building or they burned their ships. In other words, we are here, no matter what happens we are not turning back. They knew they had nothing to go back to in Europe. Eliminating all other options but to go forward.

When we are delivered from sin we need to burn the ships. There is nothing in our old life to go back to, we are made new in Christ. He has given us a new life. The enemy will try to tell us that the new world before us is scary. He will try to work on our self-identity. Questioning us if we can actually be a Christian. If we let him talk to us too long we would be on the ship ready to return to a place we escaped from; our old life. If that life was so great, why did we want to escape it?

Satan will try to paint a pretty picture. He will make things look like they are good. When in reality they are anything but good. We need to tell him we have a new name, we are no longer defeated, no longer a slave, no longer without a father, but we have been adopted by the KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS. We have an identity, we are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

With our new life comes a responsibility to be a light to those around us. Many that knew us before we became born again of God’s Spirit will know we are different. But what about the person that meets us for the first time as this new creation. They should still know there is something different about us. God’s love and light need to shine upon us and out of us.

We are living in dangerous times. If we watch the news fear can grip us quickly. Things will look bad. I am sick of these prosperity preachers telling you that life is a bed of roses if you follow Christ. He will give you material things and you will be wealthy by man’s standards. When my bible says you will know they are my disciples because they have love one to another. Not because they own 50 pairs of alligator shoes or own twenty houses and have a large bank account.

It’s time to grow up Church; leave behind materialism and things the flesh desires. God never promised that the road would be easy. Look at our examples in his word. These people faced hard things; scary things. But not once did God leave them to struggle alone and He made a way of escape for each of them. He promised to never leave us to fight our battles alone. He said things would look scary, but do not fear for He is there to see us through.

It’s time to burn the ships. Put aside childish things and grow up. There is a great big world out there full of lost people. We sit in our churches each week and want to hear how God is going to bless us and give us things that are going to burn up. The only things that are going to last are the things we do for the kingdom of God. Reaching the lost.

It is time for us to burn the ships, don’t look back, go forth and take back what God has given us that the enemy has stolen. We have an amazing opportunity to be the light this world needs. But we cannot be that light if we are weighed down by the cares and fears of this life. We have nothing to fear, GOD IS with us.

Heb 12:1-2 (1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2)Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If we could just keep the zeal we have when we are first saved. We are excited about our life in Christ. We feel like we can take on the world. Then we go through a few hard spots and that excitement is gone. The only way we can be renewed is by asking God for that renewal. We need to build up our faith through prayer. Our inward man is renewed day by day. THe prayers I prayed yesterday carried me through yesterday. But to renew my strength, I need to talk to God today, to get through today. We do not know what is facing us in the next 24 hours. But if we are prayer warriors we can be ready for whatever comes our way.

Galatians 6:9-10  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

We will reap a harvest of souls if we faint not. If we don’t give up and go back. If we don’t sit down and get comfortable in a routine or in feel-good doctrine. We will reap if we burn the ships and not look back but keep looking up to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

WAKE UP

Our world is in darkness and that is partially due to the state of the body of Christ. The church has let the world creep in a little bit at a time until we find ourselves in a lukewarm state. We have been so obsessed with things that do not matter that we have lost sight of the important things.  We like to brag about how many bodies fill our pews on Sunday morning but forget to ask God to enlighten us. We go through the motions of a service, but never stop to ask God what he wants to do for us or say to us. We never question if someone got what they needed for their soul. We warm the pews but are never changed by anything we see or hear during service. We have lost our GOD FOCUS.

While we were asleep the enemy was busy destroying our world.  People everywhere have a skewed view of God because we have not been walking in the light.  We have not been the light. We have been asleep.  I feel like God is saying, WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP!!!! You don’t have long to work.

John 9:4-5 KJV I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

God doesn’t want us to be lukewarm, this is a dangerous state to be in because it gives the lost a false impression.  If we are cold, then we are in sin and not claiming to be anything. No one notices or judges the cold.   If we are on fire, everyone will see our light shine.  God will use us to be a light and witness to others.  If we are on fire, people will know we are who we claim to be; disciples of Christ.  But being lukewarm is a state of misery. We have no victory and no power. 

Lukewarm people are walking in their flesh more than they are in the Spirit.  They care more about superficial things or being politically correct. They don’t want to offend anyone with “THE TRUTH” of God’s word. The lukewarm (asleep) church allows sin in and accepts it, just to keep their numbers and offerings. They clear their conscience by saying they are not as bad as the world.

Rev 3:15-16  (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

WAKE UP, WAKE UP it is time for old-fashioned preaching that is so on fire that it burns out our impurities.  I want a sermon that makes me hit my knees and ask God to set me free or set me on fire for him.  Sin will not enter into the kingdom of God.  He is coming after a bride without spot or wrinkle. We need to do all we can to walk free of sin. His grace will take care of our shortcomings.

However, grace for too long has been an excuse to walk in continual sin.  Jesus didn’t die on the cross to have us be nonchalant about sin.  I Peter 1:16-16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.-KJV We cannot allow sin to abound or the enemy to prevail. WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!!

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  (12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.-KJV

We are living in a time when people are starving for the word of God.  They have seen so much fake Christianity that they are sick.  It makes them wonder if there is really even a God. The world has turned to all sorts of false religions because they have not found the answers they seek. In our asleep state, we have let them down.

Warriors of Christ, we need to start standing guard and watch for the enemy.  Taking every opportunity to say, “satan, you cannot have that person, not on my watch.” It is time we become bold in our faith and speak out. We have been asleep too long, so tell everybody you know it’s time to WAKE UP!  It is time to make things right with God.  It is time to be the warriors he needs us to be, by walking in the boldness of the Holy Ghost. He didn’t give us His Spirit to hide it under a bushel and be lukewarm.  We have that fire to be bold and be a light.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

PREPARATION

The people of Noah’s day had become very wicked. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God always has a remnant of people that are prepared to stand for Him. God decided to destroy all the people that were on Earth. All but Noah’s family. He gave Noah specific instructions on how to build a boat, in the desert. A place that had never seen rain before the great flood. But when the rain started falling, he was safe in that preparation (boat). Because he followed God’s plan.

God’s plan was perfect. He gave Noah specific instructions on just how big to build the boat. He told him how to make it weatherproof. And when it was finished. It sat there for several days before the rain started falling. God always has a way of escape prepared for his people, before judgment falls.

God is never surprised by the things that happen in our lives. He had seen them coming from afar off. He will make a way of escape before things turn really bad. However, there are times when God allows us to go through things to teach us lessons. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

Deut. 31:8- “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”  And he will not allow us to be overtaken by the enemy, even if we’re trying to learn a lesson. If Noah had not followed God’s plan and built a boat exactly as he asked, then Noah and his family would have perished along with everyone else.

There’s a phrase people often say when it seems like trouble keeps coming. “When it rains, it pours.” Trouble seemed to fall down like rain, and when we think it’s about to stop, it keeps happening.  We don’t know when the rain will come into our lives.  We don’t know how much the waters will rise. When the enemy comes in like a flood trying to drown us in trouble, God will raise up a wall of protection and keep us from being overtaken. Isaiah 59:19 KJV When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

How do we prepare? What do we do to make sure we’re ready for the attack of the enemy? Many would say put on the whole armor of God. Found in Ephesians 6:11. And I do not dispute the fact that it is a good start. If we could master the whole armor, we would be warriors. But even more than that, we need to be in communication with God. He will reveal his plan to us, just like he did Noah.

A good soldier is ready at a moments notice to go to battle. We cannot wait until Satan comes with his attack, to decide to pray. We need to build up our faith, our strength, and our stamina by training. JUDE 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

An excellent soldier Knows how to use their weapon. Our weapon is the sword of the word that we carry; which is our Bible. We need to be vigilant in knowing it, so we have the right words at a moments notice to fight the enemy. We can also have words of comfort for a brother or sister in Christ. Most importantly, words to show someone how to escape the evil one by becoming a child of God. The key is prayer and preparation, by listening for God to reveal his plans for us. If we listen, he will speak.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.

BEAUTY

The world has a definition of beauty. What the world defines as beauty is not anything more than superficial beauty. They want to look at what is on the outside. If you have wrinkles or spots they don’t define you as beautiful. They look at youth as being attractive. We all spend a lot of money to wash, moisturize and enhance our physical attractiveness. It is all for nothing, our fleshly body still gets old; youth fades.

God looks not on the outside but looks on the heart. God is looking for a bride without spot or wrinkle of a spiritual nature. He wants a pure heart and one that is covered by the blood of Jesus. A heart that is hungry for him. He wants the beauty of our love for him. Prov. 31:30-31. (30) Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. (31) Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

The fruit of the Spirit is beautiful; Love, Joy, Peace, Long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. When the church rises up and learns to walk in the Spirit the fruit will follow. Walking out a life full of God’s power and Spirit is the truest form of beauty.

God takes our messed up lives, our broken pieces and puts us back together into beautiful vessels. Ones He can use for His glory. When it is all said and done, true beauty comes from the Lord.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

GOOD THOUGHTS

Every day we are tested. Some days more than others. That reminds me of a quote. “I try to take life one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” It is not accurate, in reality, but sometimes it feels like it is very true. Matt 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

And it’s hard sometimes not to allow anxiety to overtake us. It is easy to worry about stuff so much that we miss today. Things can look grim. Many emotions can creep in and get the best of us if we allow them to take control. Self-control is the fruit of the spirit. It is hard to not allow our minds to get bogged down in details that want to overtake us.

Phil 4:8 –Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Instead of worrying about things we cannot control, we need to focus on God. The word tells us to think on good things. Positive thinking can turn around situations. God doesn’t want us to be anxious or depressed. He wishes for us to walk in peace. He wants us to forget the past, it is gone and we cannot change it.  Defeated people think about the past. Victorious people choose to believe the best is yet to come.