"PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte

PSALM 77:1-9

1. DON'T LET YOUR PAST LIMIT YOUR PRESENT:
1. The Psalmist dreamed of "the good old days." He looked backward and his attachment to the past limited his present. He would have done well to forget what was behind and focus on the what is. Looking back and dwelling in the past will limit our present. I want to say three things about that:
1. Don't dwell on past sins and failures. Learn the lessons that failure teaches us, turn away from those sins in genuine repentance; forsake the old wrong, but don't muddle around in the muck of what has been. Maybe you:
1. Were guilty of abortion. Move forward.
2. Were addicted to drugs or alcohol. Move forward. .
3. Were guilty of sexual immorality, adultery or homosexuality. Move forward. .
4. Were dishonest and cheated or stole from your employer or shoplifted. Move forward.
5. Were atheistic and anti-Christ. Move forward.
6. Maybe you were an abuser of wife, child or parent. Move forward. Don't let your past hinder your present.
2. Don't dwell on "the good old days" which weren't as good as our memory tricks us into believing. Have fond memories, cling to happy thoughts, cherish special moments of days gone by, but don't live there and forget about today.
3. Don't rest on the laurels of past accomplishments. Some think they've done their lifetime of service for Christ and now they'll just sit back and let others do all the work. Past accomplishment should not limit present service.
2. What happened in our past in some way influences our present and that can be a good thing if we learn the lessons we ought to have learned. But it is a bad thing if we drag former sins, former joys and even former successes into the present and let them limit what we are doing right now. Whatever you were in the there and then should not keep you from being what you can be in the here and now. Don't let your past limit your present.
3. A little girl went into a ball pit at McDonald's. She quickly scooped up an armload of balls and immediately took a noser in the balls. She started crying and trying to stand up. Her daddy said, "Let go of the balls and you can stand up." She screamed, "No!" and clinging to those balls she continued to cry and struggle and she couldn't stand up. Many are like that. We cling to the past, our failures and our glory days. And when we do that, our present is less than it should and could be.

2. DON'T LET YOUR PRESENT RUIN YOUR FUTURE:
1. The Psalmist thought that his present distress meant that never again would things be good. "There can be no joy for me until He acts. ... Will You never again show me favor?" Had he allowed his present distress to destroy his faith, he would certainly have ruined his future. That is a mistake many make today. Let me give you a couple of clues about living in the present so you don't ruin your future.
1. Don't do wrong now and regret it in your future. Don't let a desire for the immediate pleasures blind us to the consequences. Don't live in such a way that regret is sure to follow. Indulged wrongs in the present will ruin our future.
1. Some live by: "I want what I want when I want it which is now! Hang the future! I'm gonna get my jollies while the getting is good and I won't worry about what it will mean tomorrow!"
2. There is no right way to do a wrong thing, and doing the wrong thing will always bring undesirable consequences in the future.
2. Don't let present problems, afflictions, failures, weaknesses, distresses and other concerns keep you from doing what you need to do right now, and don't let them destroy your faith! If you do, you will impact negatively on your future.
2. Both being involved in wrongdoing and being so absorbed with our difficulties that we lose faith, will surely ruin our future.
3. Shelly started attending a church and decided to give her life to Jesus. She said, "Mother, I am going to be baptized." Her mother, of a secular bent, decided to nip that in the bud and appealed to her daughter's love of clothing. She told her that if she'd wait awhile, she'd buy her the nicest prom dress in town. They bought a dress that cost over $500.00 and Shelly and her date headed for the prom. There was drinking, and on the way home they were in a car crash. In the intensive care unit, Shelly's mother hovered over her daughter. Waking from her coma, her dying words were, "Mother - that dress - the price of my soul." So caught up in the immediate, her mother neglected the girls' destiny. Don't let your present ruin your future.

3. DON'T LET YOUR FUTURE DARKEN YOUR PRESENT:
1. The Psalmist worried, "Will You never again show me favor?" I.e., "Will my future be hopeless?" That grim anticipation of a future without God's mercy and grace darkened his present and he lived in the shadows and gloom of depression. Many let their future concerns darken their present situation.
1. Some people do that by worrying about the future.
1. "What if I lose my job?"
2. "What if I get really sick?"
3. "What if terrorists strike again?"
4. Jesus said, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:34 (NLT).
5. And God said,"For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT). With God, the best is yet to come.
2. Some people anticipate and yearn for the future as "better days which are to come."
1. Many are like Orphan Annie singing, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow!" and longing for tomorrow, they despise today.
2. Some say, "When my ship comes in I'll have it made." But while waiting for that ship, they sit idly on the dock.
3. Others dream, "When my kids are grown and gone I'll be stress free." In the meanwhile they miss all the memory making moments of the now.
2. Both being apprehensive about the future and longing too much for it darkens the here and now.
3. Be like the elderly man who began cutting trees to construct a log house. A neighbor who knew his purpose and also his age asked him, "Isn't that too large an undertaking for someone your age?" "It would be," replied the elderly man, "if I looked at chopping all the trees and sawing all the logs, and thought about laying the foundation and laying the floor and building all the walls and putting on the roof. But it isn't much of a job to cut down this one little tree, and that's all I have to do right now." Worry and anticipation about the future did not darken his present.

If Christ is the Lord of your present, He has taken care of your past and assures you of a glorious future. We must not allow past failures to keep us from coming to Him. We must not wait for some more convenient time to come to Him. This is the day He has made and we need to make Him Lord of it. Now is the time we have and what was, simply was. You can't go back and change it. But you can let Jesus forgive it. What will be, simply will be and you have little or no control over that. He is the Lord of our past, our present and our future. And knowing Who holds tomorrow and knowing Who holds your hand makes the past forgettable, the present acceptable and the future glorious. Yes, He will show favor! No, His promises have not and will not fail! He has not forgotten to be kind! Just believe Him, trust Him, and obey Him. Then the words of this song can be your testimony: "All I know is I find mercy." / "I know Who holds tomorrow."

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