“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”(2 Corinthians 2:9).
2010 has come and gone, the Christmas Season is here and before long the New Year will begin. But 2011 has not yet been revealed. Therefore, we do not know what tomorrow brings. But God knows! ‘Eyes have not seen and ears have not heard’, nevertheless God has prepared incredible things to happen in our lives. He has prepared many blessings and fresh opportunities. He has provided generous benefits for every challenge and great rewards for every effort. Yes, He has already made a way, even where there is no way. He holds every day of 2011 in His mighty hand. God has already ordained and commissioned the blessings we will receive six months from now. He knows who He plans to bring into our lives and He knows who will walk out of our lives next year. 2011 has always been on God’s agenda – He knows everything about it!
Since our God has already prepared a distinct course and direction for the New Year, I believe we must ‘position ourselves’ to receive His blessings. For that reason, we must seek the heart of God for clarity and direction concerning the future. It would be a great shame for us to miss the blessings of God by being out of position to receive them. Why? Because God has already ordained that He will ‘reveal’ them, by His Spirit… “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (2 Corinthians 2:10). The Holy Spirit brings to light the deep things of God, and He does this by His promptings. That is, the still quite voice that witnesses with your spirit (the inner man).
In order to help you position yourself to receive the fullness of God’s blessings in this coming year, I want to encourage you to look back and see how far you've come. Looking back may help you to see life through God's eyes. "If we don't know where we have come from, we won't know where we are going." As we move forward from one year to another, it is a good idea to look back – as long as we do it in a positive and spiritual way. There are many things every one of us can think about as we review the past year. We can look at relationships, finances, achievements, holidays, milestones, and so much more. However, when it comes to our faith we need to look back at our relationship with God. All the God-encounters we have had! There’s no point in looking back at our negative circumstances because they have no power over our future. The times and seasons are in the Lord’s hands.
God is real. He is always interacting with His people. Did you know there isn’t a moment in your life when God isn't involved with you? There isn’t a thing you can do where He cannot see you. There isn't a place you can go where He can't reach you. There isn't a situation so severe that He can't deliver you from. So remember, it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. Whether we acknowledge Him or not, God is still God, and He is an active participant in our lives. If we allow Him, He will make an immense contribution in all our affairs. So trust in His loving kindness!
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…
That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:1-4).
In this passage, John helps us to look back by accomplishing two things. First, he shows us “how” to look back. John gives us a framework we can use to look back at our faith walk in a constructive way. Second, he shows the “blessings” of looking back. This is where he reinforces the benefits of looking back on key areas of our faith. Let’s now examine these two topics:
How to Look Back
Notice how John takes a moment to look back at his encounter with Jesus. We know that it was a personal and intimate relationship he had with the Lord. John walked, talked, ate, worshipped, learned from, and participated in miracles with Jesus. His experience with the Lord was closer than that of any other disciple. Not only was John present at the transfiguration but he was also the only disciple present at the crucifixion. John was uniquely positioned to really ‘encounter’ Jesus in His earthly ministry. So when it comes to eyewitness accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, there are no better accounts than that of John.
As John affirms this relationship with his readers he sights four things that validate his “looking back at his time with Jesus.” He says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.”
As we attempt to look back at 2010, John teaches us what to look for. That is, that pertains to God! It is (a) what we’ve heard, (b) what we’ve seen, (c) what we’ve looked upon, and (d) what we’ve handled concerning the Word of Life, which is Jesus our Lord.
(a) What have you heard? When did God speak to you this past year? All of us must have had moments when God was speaking to us. Your answer to this question will reveal just how much you were paying attention to God in 2010. How many times did God speak to you in 2010 and you paid Him no attention at all? What did God say? Were you even in a position to hear from God? John was always in a place where he could hear from the Lord – a place of intimacy. Even when he had dinner, John sat close enough to lean his head on the chest of Jesus and hear even the slightest whisper. Were you doing the same?
John says, when he looks back there are some sure things he heard from the Lord. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). You need to look back and recall if you were in a ‘place’ to hear from God. If your faith wasn't activated in 2010 it is a direct result of what you didn't hear. Every time you hear a word (rhema) from God “faith” rises up in you and it becomes active and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
(b) What have you seen? John says that he has seen the Lord. He has taken notice of the Lord and he has recognised that Jesus is Lord. To do this John must have had his attention fixed on Jesus. The challenge we face is the same, we can’t see God if we aren’t contemplating Him. We have either filtered the events of the past year through the lens of our faith or we’ve filtered it through the lens of our natural senses (whatever else we’ve been paying attention to).
Many of us have not been observing God. We haven’t seen God move in a long time. So when we are asked to look back at our faith walk, we don’t see anything of significance. The real question is, “Did you look to see what God was doing?” Did we see God’s hand sustaining you through the recession? Did you see God holding your family together? Did you see God performing miracles in the lives of others? Did you see God intervene in your life in 2010? John saw Jesus at work. He saw the Lord ministering to people; he saw the deliverance; he saw the miracles; he saw how the Lord operated. And when John looks back on his faith walk, the things he saw validate and strengthen his faith. However, he goes one step further and says that he has looked upon the Lord.
(c) What have you looked upon? There are some things that we just see, and there are others that we gaze upon! There are many things we are not going to understand until we dig deeper. There are some blessings we are not going to harvest until we dig deeper. John says he didn’t just see he looked! John didn’t just notice the Lord; he drew in close enough to understand every word. He didn’t just know of Jesus, he knew him intimately. There are some break throughs we can’t experience until we draw nearer to God. We need to look upon at all of the revelation knowledge the Lord gave us in 2010 because God wants to build on that knowledge.
(d) What have you handled? John says he didn’t just hear the word. He didn’t just see the word. He didn’t just gaze upon the word. He handled the word. He skilfully operate in the word. He verified the word, and he applied the word. Did you skilfully operate in the Word of Life? Did you use it and apply it? Did you verify it? Each time you apply the word to your life it is an act of faith. Faith is a spiritual function. Your faith releases the Holy Spirit to operate on your behalf. Regardless of how things look now, you must be fully convinced concerning God’s word to you. God’s word to you cannot return void. It will accomplish whatever He has ordained for your life - if you just have faith. Somewhere in 2010 God invited you to hear and handle His word. Those were the times when you needed to apply the word and have the faith to believe that God would deliver in time. You need to remember those times because the testimonies of those victories will sustain you throughout next year.
The Blessing of Looking Back
I am blessed because I have an assurance that the same God who opened the windows of heaven and poured out blessings that I didn’t have room enough to contain, has also promised to sustain me in 2011. When I look back I get confidence to press forward. John says, by looking back, we can have fullness of joy ... “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” During those empty moments in our faith walk, the testimonies we hear can cause us to be filled with joy. If we just look back we can probably see the times when the blessings of God had overtaken us. If we just look back and start to count our blessings, we might get really happy.
Look back.... Look back in 2010 and recall what you have heard. Remember what you have seen and what you have gazed upon. Rejoice over the things you have handled. The testimonies of your life with God in 2010 will lay a foundation for the blessings of 2011. Use those stories to confirm and strengthen your faith. Look back and acknowledge the benefits of your close fellowship with God. And let each testimony of 2010 to fill your 2011 with the fullness of joy. God wants’ your joy to be full because His joy is your strength! Joy will see you through the coming year!
