Forget the Past and look towards what lies ahead. Heaven!

" And I want you to know dear friends, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ."

This is an incredibly convicting bit of Scripture for me. Does ANYONE know that I live for Christ? And I am talking about people outside my family and close friends. Can people tell by what I post on Facebook that I live for Christ? Do I talk about Him enough? I can say with certainty, that I do not. Just as Paul says that he is "not all I should be" in chapter 3 verse 13, I am not all I should be! I need to do as Paul did and "focus all my energies on one thing : forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." (still verse 13)

I hear many people I know talk about looking forward to heaven. I can't say that I do that. I think about it, yes. Heaven will be such an incredible place that I can not even imagine it. But do I daily think about it. Do I think about each decision I make relative to heaven and getting there? Again, no I do not. My mother-in-love signs off by telling people to keep looking up, in reference to Jesus coming back soon. My father used to say " Here, there or in the air." In reference to when he might see someone again. Knowing that he may never see that person on this earth again but if he knew that person had accepted God's gift of salvation, he would see him in heaven. And the way he said it was always with the anticipation of heaven. Since I knew my father was dying, I knew that the next place I would see him was heaven. But when I say goodbye to a friend that I know I wont see for a while, do I think about the possibility that it might be in heaven the next time I see that person? No. My mind is most often on the here and now. Where my children are in their school work. What my husband needs. My own selfish wants and desires. I have a very difficult time thinking about my life now in relationship to heaven, now. I mean really, do I think about going to heaven now? I tend to think about it when I get the large medical bills in the mail or when some one else is talking about it but I need to change my mind set to heave, now! Forget the Past and look towards what lies ahead. Heaven.