Forgetting the Future

Scripture Reading - Matthew 6:25-34 KJV

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
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.

In today's lesson we will discuss the subject of “Forgetting the Future”. This lesson was birthed from The Good and Gracious Lord helping us to overcome a certain situation. Since ihlcc (Angela and Eric) truly believe that we are everyday Christians we thought His Guidance for us would be just as good for others because it deals with a principle more than just an isolated incident. We will start the teaching with the very real fact that Satan and one could say the many influences of the Kingdom of Darkness will point man toward the “Future”. If you notice even when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness according to Luke 4:1-13 that all three temptations had something to do with Jesus doing something, either speaking to a stone, worshipping the evil one or casting himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Right now is not the future, even common sense dictates that if you haven’t done something yet and someone is asking you to do something specific they are talking about your future. We have seen this trick before in the Garden of Eden where Satan/the devil was able to get Eve to do something in the near future that negatively affected her entire future.-Refer to Genesis 3:1-19 Satan influenced Eve and Eve influenced Adam and the combination of the two influenced all mankind in the “future”. This act of sin placed all mankind into a place of darkness such that God was now limited on His dealings with man. The Lord wasn’t able to keep man in His (God’s) Garden for common conversation with the Presence of God in the Place of God because man was denied access to the Tree of Life (Jesus) and promptly removed from the Garden of God. Satan had legal access to man and troubled man’s commune with God but even worst fallen man shared the same nature of Satan having fear, failure and frustration. If ever the devil can get you to move today on an event happening tomorrow he has got you right where he wants you – trapped and in trouble, which means you have failed the test and you will be subject to his consequences not Gods! Our (ihlcc) point is the craftiness of the deceiver is he (for sure) will attempt to focus your thoughts (your attention) on the “future” to provoke and/or entice a quick and foolish reaction right then (at that moment). Remember Satan pointed Eve to a glorious “future” with the promise that she would be as gods, knowing good and evil according to verse 5 but Eve didn’t quite understand that she was already as God because she was made in His Image and Likeness. Eating certain foods won’t make you wise only spending time with God in His Word gives you knowledge and understanding to make one wise. This is why we exhort all believers to “Forget the Future” which basically means don’t focus on any “future” event because most likely the devil will paint the worst picture ever and most often the picture he paints is a lie. We must remember that he is the deceiver of the brethren so we must not allow ourselves to be deceived. In our situation the term, “What if this happens or that happens” kept coming to mind so we were instructed by God to never entertain “What if’s”. The Believer’s future in Christ is nice and bright it is not subject to debate and speculation but rather peace and confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Next the common temptation of “What are you going to do if or when this or that happens . . . “ also came repeatedly to mind but we were again encouraged “to not take thought for tomorrow.” Why, because our Loving Smart Heavenly Father knew all questions and concerns wondering about our “future” in a negative sense (uncertainty) are attempts of the evil one to frustrate our peace of today. As Christians we have a promise for every blessing of God we might need. Therefore if we could just stay in the now, so to speak, taking one day at a time we will have a much easier time keeping our peace, which is the Peace of God and sustaining our joy which is the Joy of Lord. We were reminded by the Holy Spirit that a strong man of God once made the statement that, “I never allow the devil to take me into the future and you should do likewise.” This is truth, not because a godly preacher said it, but rather it is the truth of God revealed unto man. That statement was specifically spoken for the betterment of the Body of Christ. Thus, it is for our (ihlcc) benefit just as much as it is for the enlightenment of all Christians. As Born Again disciples of Jesus this is just a reminder that God has “our future” in His Hands because God is our “Future” so we don’t need to worry or wonder about tomorrow and when tomorrow gets here it will be today and then since God gives us our daily bread (Matthew 6:11) we will have the manifested wisdom of God exactly when we need it. Amen! We do firmly believe that God is all wise so He already knows the answers we need and God is always punctual because time is controlled by Him. So dear faith friend, be encouraged by staying in the now and know with all confidence that Our Lord is a “Now Faith Is” type of God so staying in the moment of today keeps you in closer proximity with God and that means He can give you whatever you need for that moment. The devil will blow upon you trying to make you fall but stand your ground on the solid rock of God’s Word and The Lord will hold you up because a strong tree firmly planted in good ground will not be moved by wind. Amen! Praise the Lord, thank you Father. We also have learned the times we have been foolish and worried about a future event it was not as bad as we thought. Why is that? The simple truth is God has got our back, so it is to our welfare that we obey His commandments to fear not, worry not and “future not” by “forgetting the future” in Jesus Name. Amen!

Matthew 6:34 Good News Bible
So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.