Hey Y’all!
Two steps forward, one step back, it don’t pay to live like that. I’ve heard that phrase since I was a kid and I wish I could remember who taught me it first, but it’s something I’ve carried into my life to this day but it resonated with me. The life I’ve lived has taken me to lots of moments where I’ve taken those two steps forward, and the one step back but I learned that I can just live always moving forward and never backward and you can too. You need to make the Lord your utmost priority, make quality decisions, and look ahead.
Make Priorities
Everyone has priorities, maybe not the same ones but we have them. I might think it’s more important to move the fan behind my door in the morning whereas my roommate thinks it’s more important to make her bed first. It doesn’t make her priorities wrong, we just have different ones. Now there are day-to-day priorities that we can each decide for ourselves from our work task list, personal errands, the order of our days, and more. Then there are uncompromisable priorities. What could that possibly be? The cultivation of your relationship with the Lord. That’s a non-negotiable as a believer. You NEED to make time for the Lord.
We’ve heard me say it before if you've read previous posts, you need to talk to build/maintain a relationship with a person. I cannot be best friends with my best friends if I don’t talk to them regularly and build that trust and vulnerability with them. Before that relationship can even be cultivated the relationship you have with the Lord is far more important than any other thing you can cultivate. It even helps you in the way it overflows into every other part of your life, especially relationships because you’ll see people the way Jesus does. It makes you more patient, more kind, more radiant, more joyous, and more loving. You can’t show the love of Jesus if you’re not taking the time to love the Lord and let Him love you back. You can tell who people have hung around based on how they walk around. They’ve either spent time with a good friend, a bad influence, a leader, a family member, or no one at all. It’s always evident, so who are you spending time with?
Once you’ve made time for the Lord and made it your priority then everything else will come into line. It’ll make you more efficient and effective. This year my biggest thing was making sure that I made time for the Lord in the morning daily. I wanted it to become the very first thing I did. I’ve always made time for the Lord but I would miss a few days here and there or life would get busy for a week or two and I read a lot less. Daily and consistent time with the Lord has now become such a habit that my day feels slightly thrown off if I didn’t spend time with the Lord first. You can never have too much time with Jesus. Don’t let your Bible collect dust, listen to messages/podcasts by faith-filled preachers, pray, and do life with Jesus. It can’t hurt you. It’ll only keep you ahead because then it quickens your spirit man and the Lord will prepare for things before they even come. It’ll propel you ahead of the enemy and keep you protected. I know I hit a hard circumstance this summer but before it happened the Lord told me to go on a fast and now it’s been a month and what some people may have taken months to recover from I was able to move out of so quickly because the Lord quickened my spirit before it came and it set me ahead of the curve. I could not have done that had I not made the Lord my utmost priority. The Lord keeps you ahead and never behind!
Quality Decisions
Decisions, Decisions. We make them every day too—whether it’s big or small. Sometimes people make wise decisions and other ones are straight-up stupid. It’s the “why did you do that?” moments in life. I read a book called God’s Will is Prosperity by Gloria Copeland by the recommendation of one of my pastors and it was SO GOOD. She talks about making a quality decision. Quality decisions are when you make strong, wise decisions that impact your life. That includes who you marry, what you decide to do with your life, where you live and base your life from, who your friends are, what you put into yourself, and the list goes on.
One of the biggest quality decisions we make regularly is choosing life. Deuteronomy 30:15-16 says, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” The BIGGEST quality decision you make is accepting Jesus into your heart. You choose life, you choose salvation, you choose abundance, you choose joy, you choose to hide the Word in your heart and abide by its commands. Choosing to obey the Word brings wisdom into your life and there’s blessing in that. I don’t know about you but someone with wisdom and blessing never goes backward. Allow the Holy Ghost into your decisions. It’ll set you ahead. Next thing you know you’re driving home and you drive a different direction that day and it saves you from an accident. You have to move and you decide on one set of housemates over another and avoid unbearable drama. Quality decisions set you up for success! Don’t go backward by listening to immature friends, ungodly opinions, or accepting negative thoughts that way you down. It’s not worth it to go backward. You’ll make progress and lose it but for what purpose? Drop the weights. Move ahead and look forward.
Look Forward
When you look forward and run you’re headed towards something. Imagine driving in a car and having your head turned while you hit the gas in drive… not reverse. You’re driving ahead but looking back, you’re going to get into an accident. When you’re in drive and looking straight your odds of an accident are slim to none if you’re cautious. When you look ahead it’s hard to go back. You can’t look forwards and backward simultaneously. You have to pick what you’ll do. Paul said in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.” Drop the weight in life, cut out the unnecessary things, walk away from toxic people, and run. The Lord will give you the endurance to finish your race but you have to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the results you’re running to.
You’re Ahead + Not Behind
Maybe you’re on fire and have things together or maybe you have some things to improve. No one is above self-evaluation. I mean genuine, honest evaluation. Check your priorities. What are you giving time to? Time is most valuable because it’s the only thing you’ll never get back. Is the Lord anywhere in your day-to-day life? Check the decisions you’ve made and see if there are better ones moving forward or better ways to handle things. Ask yourself what quality decisions you can make to keep you running towards what God has put in your heart. But most importantly, keep your eyes looking ahead to Jesus. Remember He’s the one we do everything for and give glory to! With the Lord, you can’t be defeated, behind, or losing. With the Lord, you are more than a conqueror, the head and not the tail. You my friend are two steps forward and never one step back.
Talk to You Later!
Kez
Peace + Pursuit
