Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Stepping Stones: God Is The Timeless Present

Transformational Tip
It's very tempting to live in the past. Most of us do. We replay old scenes in our minds; we fight old battles; and most of all we find ourselves spending so much energy reliving old scenes over and over again. And here's the sad part....the past is over. The second most common place for our minds to linger is in the future. Our minds are filled with hopes, fantasies, and fears for the future.
Like the shadows of the past, the visions of the future are not real. Both the pains of our past and the fears of our future (even tomorrow) take up huge amounts of our time and mind-space. We become prisoners of our own selves. Most importantly, these images take us away from the place where we can have an effect on reality: the present. How foolish are we to squander our only opportunity to affect reality, the present, by spending too much effort on our useless fears of the future and old hurts from the past. I am not saying we don't remember and study the past, or don't plan for the future, but those activities should be to help us focus on and maximize what we do in the present.
One of the most important spiritual exercises is to live in the present, which is to live in reality. The only place we can face and commune with God is in the present...find a way to stay there. Remember that God actually defined himself with the statement; "I AM"
This statement tells us that God is the timeless Present.

Prayer
Dear Father,
I come to you in thanksgiving for the wisdom of Your scripture. I'm guilty of constantly escaping the present and wasting so much time and energy on the past. Help me release and let go of the past. Help me once and for all forgive those who have hurt me, for I know it is the lack of my final forgiveness that keeps my mind locked in the past. Help me heal Lord, help me stop scratching at old sores. Help me stop seeking relief by fantasizing about the future. I stop my mind from wandering and I focus on You my Lord, for You are my true revealer of my reality and I know it is only in the present that I can find you. I pray this in Jesus' cleansing name - AMEN

The Truth

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34
God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to you."
Exodus 3:14