Lesson 3, Week 4:
Living in The Present
Today’s
Scripture Focus: The LORD will
command His loving kindness in the daytime. Psalm 42:8a NIV
*Before you
begin, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you study His Word.
Whenever we see the word daytime,
we think of it as referring to the hours of daylight we have in every
twenty-four hours. But often, in biblical times God used “daytime” to refer to
our life with the meaning that He will command His loving kindness in our lives.
Yesterday, we talked about
putting the past behind us. If we have truly done that, then we can live the
rest of our lives baggage free. We can live freely in His presence.
That’s what it mean in John 8:32 “And you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” When you
understand that you are truly forgiven—past, present, and future sins—then you
can live unencumbered in the present.
Think on These Things
Read Isaiah 43. Focus on verse
18, The Good News Bible.
“But the LORD says, ‘Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on
what happened long ago.’”
I know we discussed this verse
yesterday, but I want you to focus on it again with an eye to the future. In
this passage God was talking to His chosen people, the Israelites. He was
telling them He was going to make a way where there wasn’t any way. God had
forgiven them their sins and was already doing a new thing.
What does this passage tell us
today? It is telling us in no certain terms, don’t cling to past mistakes.
You’ve confessed them and now it’s time to let go of them and move on. God
already has, and he wants you to do the same. You have permission to never beat
yourself up again over “should haves”and “shouldn’t haves.” Always, God forgives
us when we ask Him, but often we don’t forgive ourselves.
Isaiah 43:19 goes on to say, “Watch for the new thing I am going to do.
It is happening already—you can see it now.”
But as a grandparent, a senior
citizen, you may be asking, There aren’t
too many more years of my life, why would God be doing a new thing now?
The answer is because God has a PLAN or your life, in EVERY SEASON of your life. Don’t underestimate the
living God. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. Plans for good and not for evil; to give you a future and a hope." (NIV)
In Isaiah 46:4 we are told “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will
carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (NIV)
God is going to be in our day with His
loving kindness, watching over us and guiding us. The Lord willing, I’ve always
said, “I’m going to live until
I die.” By that, I mean I choose to make
my days count until I go home to be with the Lord. So, let’s live in the
present being the hands and feet of Jesus.
What I learned
What does God want us to
do?____________________________
If we are truly forgiven and have received
God’s grace, how can we live?
_____________________________________________________
God has a plan for our ___________________
in every ___________ of our __________________.
God has made a promise regarding our
senior years. What is it?
______________________________________________________
We can live in the present because God is
____________________
___________________________________ Isaiah
43:19
How I will Apply What I Have Learned
I will pray about the activities I do to
be sure they are in line with God’s will.
I may have to slow down, but I’m sure I
can do something such as pray for the sick, send cards to the sick and
to the shut-ins, or take food to someone. Prayer is the most important
thing we can do.
I will listen more to God, and not over
schedule myself. Then I can hear and recognize his voice.
Dear
Lord,
Since I’m free in Christ, through the precious blood you shed
on my behalf, I can make the most of my days. Don’t let me think that because I
am a senior citizen, a grandparent, my days are to be lived without meaning. Instead, remind me that
the most important thing I can do for my family and grandchildren is to pray for
them. Guide me, show me, how you want me to live out my senior years. May I
reflect Your loving-kindness
in my days. Let me live until I die. Amen
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