The Present

   The past can’t be changed, the future is unknown.  The present is where we must live our lives.  Too many times we let the past consume the present or set the present aside to look toward the future.

   Each of us have both good and bad in our past.  Many of us spend far too much time dwelling on both.  We look back and recall the good times even when they might not have been as good as we remember.  We tend to embellish the highs of our lives in our good memories.

   We do the same with the bad times.  We focus on what we could have done to avoid those times and wallow in guilt.  Many exaggerate the bad times, making them seem worse in our memories than they were in reality.

  Our enemy, Satan, is a master at manipulating our thoughts and feelings concerning both the past and the future.  He encourages us to dwell on the sins we’ve committed and the bad things we’ve done in the past to convince us that we are unworthy of God’s love.  After all, how could a God who is all good love us after the evil we’ve done.

   On the other hand he reminds us of the good we’ve done in the past, encouraging our pride in that good.  If he can’t convince us that God doesn’t love us because of our sins, he will try to tell us we really are good people and God should love us despite the evil we’ve done.  Make us feel guilt for the evil, or pride in the good; this is Satan’s game plan for our past.

   If he can’t get to us by manipulating our past Satan will work on our future.  He may tell us that we’ve been so bad in the past that we certainly can’t expect to do good going forward.  The evil within will cause us to sin again and again; surely God won’t tolerate that.

   He will also point to the good we’ve done in the past convincing us that even if we do evil in the future the good will outweigh the bad and God will give us a pass.  Satan is the great liar and he will lie to us about anything he believes useful in pulling us from God.

   We all too often fall victim to the lies and misdirection of the evil one.  All we can do about our past is seek forgiveness for the wrongs and thank God for the good.  All we can to about the future is offer it to God and pray for His guidance and strength.

   Once our sins are acknowledged and forgiven we need to forget them.  The good we’ve done in the past can serve as an example for us to follow but we can’t live in the past.  Let the past be past and offer the future to God.  Seek His help to rebuke Satan, his lies and the snares he will set in our path.