How to Forget the Failures of the Past and Make the Year 2010 the Best Year of Your Life, by Daniel Whyte III

Due to the way God wired me, I am an optimist. There is not a pessimistic bone in my body. I really enjoy life. I don't dwell in the past, and I always believe my future will be greater than my present. So when God, in His mercy, gives me a new year to work with, I believe it is going to be the best year ever. I hope that you have a similar outlook. I hope that you are not a sad pessimist who ruins his or her new God-given year by dwelling on the failures of the past. That is a miserable way to live. Here is how you can forget the failures of the past, and make the year 2010 the absolutely best year of your life. 

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10).

I believe with all my heart that more goals and wonderful projects have never been completed due to people's inability to forget the past than for any other reason. My dear friends, you cannot accomplish much of anything if you allow your mind to dwell on your failures, sins and mistakes of the past. If God was through with you, you would be dead. If you are still living, God still wants to use you and glorify His name through you. Stop wallowing in the mire of failure and inconsistency; get up, fight, and do what God has given you to do.

"And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"(Nehemiah 6:3).

You will find that whenever God tries to get you excited about a new year or a new project or a new goal, the devil will hurry up and get there to remind you of how wretched and sorry you really are. Sometimes, he will say to you, "How can you do that wonderful thing for God when you did such and such?" And if you don't have some God-given fortitude and determination, you will lay aside your God-given dreams and sink down into another mediocre and miserable year. What a pity! What a waste! Don't let the devil do that to you. 

Now, these dear folks may not be the devil, but they are certainly of the devil. I will tell you in a few minutes what to do with these people. But in the meantime, don't you let anything or anybody detour you from your God-given goals and destiny be it family, friends, or foes. Focus on your dream and win, but forget anyway! Forget, you must, if you are to reach your God-appointed goals and destiny. If the blood is still running warm in your veins, and there is still air in your lungs, you must learn how to forget a lot of stuff in this life if you expect to be happy and successful. It's as simple as that. 

I hear someone asking, 'How can I forget? These bad memories keep coming back. They keep flying through my mind.' One Christian writer said many years ago: "You may not be able to control the birds that fly over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair." the same thing goes for negative memories. Here are some suggestions to help you forget the past:

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 9:13).

Salvation through Jesus Christ has an amazing way of wiping the slate clean and causing you to forget a lot of negative things in the past. Since Jesus Christ has saved me, there are people that I have even forgotten. So, if you are not saved yet, get saved by placing your trust, faith, and belief in Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection for your salvation and Jesus will save you and change you too. 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).

Friend of mine, you will never quit remembering the failures or sins of the past if you don't ask God through Christ to forgive you and cleanse you.

Jesus told the lady taken in adultery, "Go and sin no more."

Someone once said, "If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting." We cannot erase bad memories by creating new bad memories. So, repent, turn away from the failure or sin that produces the bad memories. 

"And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16). 

I am reminded of an old song I first learned right after I was saved entitled: "Nothing but the Blood". One of the stanzas goes like this:

"What can wash away my sins?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Ask God to apply the blood of Jesus Christ to your memory because "the Blood will never lose its power."

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"(Romans 12:2).

If you have offended someone or if they perceive that you have offended them, try, by God's grace, to make it right with them. Go the second mile if you need to. Also, forgive and release those who may have offended you. You can't harbor resentment and bitterness, and be happy. It simply can't be done. 

I remember once that I was not right with a brother, and every time I tried to pray, God brought this person to my memory. That stopped after I went to make things right with that dear brother. Bad memories won't go away until you make things right. 

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Psalm 119:9).

The Bible has a cleansing effect on the heart, mind and spirit. Try reading at least three chapters in the morning and two at night and notice the difference in your mindset and outlook. You have to replace bad memories with good stuff. The Bible is the best "stuff" in the world. 

Reading has an effect on the mind that no other form of communication has. Readers are truly leaders and leaders are readers. God can use one good book to change your life forever. Of course, no book should come before the Bible.

One good man said: "A good tape a day keep depression away." There is some truth in that statement. Your drive time can be a university on wheels. Good audio CDs play a role in replacing negative memories. 

The devil, the flesh, the world and other people will remind you how sorry you are, but "just a little talk with Jesus makes it right." Prayer alone is probably the most powerful weapon against negative memories because prayer helps to keep our mind focused on God, and when we keep our mind on God, He will "keep us in perfect peace."

If you are not careful, television can ruin you. It can contribute to depression and disillusionment because a lot of the stuff on television is not fit for Christian consumption. Certain situations on television can trigger negative memories and failures of the past. 

Love these folk. Pray for them. Help them if you can. But stay away from them as far as the east is from the west, because their design is to bring you down with them.

A preacher friend of mine tells the story of how he learned from an old fisherman that when one goes crabbing you have to put the lid on top of the crab bucket if you only have one crab, but you don't need the lid if you have two or more crabs. The reason for that is because when you have two or more crabs in the bucket, one will try to pull the others down. Isn't that how many people are today? Watch those kind of people whether they be family, friends, or foes, because if you are not careful, they will take you down. 

Forget the negative past "by any means necessary" (within legal boundaries). As the commercial goes--"Just do it." I'll talk with you more about that in a few minutes. 

Pray and ask the Lord to give you exactly what He wants you to do for this year and then plan accordingly, and begin to work hard and pray hard to accomplish what it is that He wanted you to do. 

Make your failures your friends by learning from them, and by learning how to avoid doing them again. Boy, if we can just eliminate the sins and failures from just the past year, not to mention the years before the last one, what great victories we could win in the new year. Learn from your past failures, sins and mistakes.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phillipians 4:13).

The most life changing thought that has ever come to me, I learned from the Word of God. And that is: "CHRIST IN ME THE HOPE OF GLORY." My friends, if you can get a hold of that fact, in a real sense, that the true Christian has Christ living in him, you will never be the same. 

You can't, but Christ can! If you have a great year, it will be because of Jesus Christ and not because of your ingenuity, intuition, education, administration, talent, skill, ability, strength, or intelligence. If you and I succeed, it will be because of Jesus Christ. And, of course, He alone must get all of the glory. 

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." (Ephesians 6:18). 

We have already touched on this some, but frankly it can't be touched on enough, due to the dual fact that none of us are inclined to do it and because it is so very important. The prayer factor alone is probably 50 to 70 percent of the reason you will have great victory simply because if we don't pray, we get what man can do. But if we pray we get what God can do. And between the two are worlds of difference. With all your doing, do pray!

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success"(Joshua 1:8).

God wants to advise you. God wants to guide you through this maze called life. God wants to show you the right and good way. But He can't really do that if you don't read His divine road map--the Bible. Friend, God is in the Holy "helicopter", so to speak, and you are on the ground and He can see far more than you can. Besides, he's been this way before. 

It is foolish to start out somewhere (in this case the year 2010), and not look at the divine map. Read your Bible daily and receive guidance for every step of the way in the year 2010 and beyond. 

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he"(Proverbs 29:18).

I believe that God has given every soul born into the family of God a calling to serve Him and gifts to do so with. You need to pray and ask God to show yours to you so that you can start following His plan for your life. Then you need to pray and ask Him for the vision and goals that He wants you to reach for, and then you need to determine in your heart and by His grace to pursue and capture what He has put in your heart. 

Let me say this as kindly and simply as I can--get as far away as you possibly can from negative, pessimistic, non-motivated, underachieving people, because they will bring you down or at least slow you up. Dr. Bill Purvis says it this way: "These people might be saved, they might be going to Heaven, but get these negative people away from you. They will drain you." I think he's right.

"Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthinans 14:40).

Hey! This year, let's put first things first. Let's do the most difficult first instead of last. Let's get our priorities in order and let's put our best efforts into the best things. If we do so, we will get more on our return. How many people you know can't get major important projects done because they are simply not organized to do so. So, this year, let's take time and get our proverbial and literal "house in order" so that we can move towards high productivity like a well-oiled machine. 

How many people start the year out with great intentions, goals, and even vision, but get permanently side-tracked before February comes in. A lot of times, the reason for that is because they didn't plan for the obstacles, difficulties, and problems that they would have to overcome to succeed. 

If you didn't know, now you know. Plan to make some detours in the year 2010 around some persecution, problems, and people so that you can stay on track and reach your goals. If 2010 is a great year for you, don't forget to give God the glory! The wise man said: "Hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Visit Daniel Whyte III online at www.danielwhyte3.com.