No matter what I’m going through, God, who has so much confidence in His abounding mercy and grace, keeps on saying, “Leave the past behind  you and move on to the next! Don’t get stuck!”

However, for me to move on, I need to close the previous chapter well because the way I choose to close the previous chapter determines the success of my moving on to the next, otherwise the past hinders me.

The Bible verse I tend to refer to on how I can move on is this:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2a)

These two and short verses are loaded with countless truths.

But the one truth I want to draw your attention to today is this: Notice how the word of God shows us that it is completely up to us to “throw off” everything that hinders us. Everything means literally everything, sin included.

Once we throw all these things out of our lives, we will have a clear understanding of our call; we will be able to fix our eyes and get a clear view of our Lord and Savior, the beginner and finisher of our faith. Then, and only then, can we move on to the next chapter.

Otherwise, guess what we (most of us) tend to do? We tend to go around and blame others and our circumstances. Of course we also blame the devil.

Usually the devil and his angels don’t have anything to do with us if we get stuck. They’re like, “Our job is done here,” and they go to the one who is bothering their kingdom. When we get stuck, we don’t even bother the devil’s hair, let alone his kingdom.

Some people respond to this like: “But the devil blocked my way as he did to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:18.”

Are you kidding? Paul was covering the entire Rome with his Gospel when he wrote this. He was converting many pagans to Christianity, including many Jews. He was not sitting there and lamenting for his luck.

Amen!

So, let’s throw off everything that hinders us and run our race, fixing our eyes on Jesus. If the devil blocks our way, it is a sign that we are destroying his kingdom.

And remember this please: When the devil closes one door, God opens the whole world for us. He blocked Paul’s way to go to the Thessalonica but God literally opened the whole world to Paul.

Why?

Because the message is God’s message, not man’s.

Whether the devil likes it or not, the message shall reach to the ends of the earth. ///