Points from your past that impact how you view today
We’re continuing with part two of Today Counts! What you do today is going to matter tomorrow because you are a product of the decisions you’ve made in the past that lead you to today. Read Part 1
The good news is you can make a change and move forward in your life in a new direction. Let’s continue with ten life-changing reminders and practical applications.
- Clutter
Clutter impacts efficiency. It impacts getting things done and finding things. Clutter can be more than just the stuff that’s around us. It can be the things in our minds, our attitudes or our relationships. It can be financial decisions, other kinds of decisions that we’ve made in the past.According to research, there are 48,500 storage units in the United States. That’s more than the McDonald’s and Starbucks stores combined, and 67% of the storage lockers in America are filled with what people could not jam into their garage. - Experiences
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The years teach much, which the days never know,” and he’s saying sometimes it’s the long-term experiences, when we look back, that really add up. It’s not just one day. What we do today counts, because it’s adding into the collection of decisions and actions that will make our lives better. Doing one thing every day over an extended period of time will change your life and my life.Conduct an experience audit.- Create a lifeline in your mind or maybe on paper and ask yourself as you mark down on that lifeline, maybe from your birth to where you are today or over the last ten or 15 years.
- Mark the key experiences in your life and what you’ve learned through them.
- Ask the question, “How are those experiences from the past impacting my life today?”
You’re going to find that some of those experiences were very painful while others were very productive.
- Momentum
Momentum in physics is simply mass times velocity, or how fast things are moving forward and what’s the mass of that thing. Momentum is your decisions, your goals and desires in motion. It’s the finances that God’s entrusted to you and how you’re using those. It’s your health and your work in motion. It’s your spiritual life in motion.Maybe you find yourself hesitating to take advantage of the momentum you are presently experiencing. Leading up to Hebrews 12:1-2 scripture talks about all the great men and women of faith and in The Message these verses say, “Do you see what this means?All these pioneers who blazed the way. All these veterans are cheering us on, so we’d better get on with it. Strip down. Start running. Never quit. No extra spiritual fat. No parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus who both began and finished this race that we’re in today.Here’s a question for you: Are you allowing momentum to keep you moving in the right direction? - Aha Moments
An “aha moment” is a specific time of sudden realization, of inspiration, of insight. An aha moment can keep us from an “oh no” moment. Let me give you an example. If you’re having a difficulty in your marriage, you’re sensing, perhaps, that something’s going on and you’re not sure what it is. Let that become an aha moment and take advantage of it. Begin with conversations.What aha moment has most impacted who you are today? It could be a positive, aha moment, or something that became an oh no moment. Either way, it’s the realization of how it’s impacted your life that can impact you moving forward. - Beliefs
The word belief means being sure something actually exists. We have faith, as Christians, but we also believe. We believe that God exists. We believe that Jesus came, died for us, rose from the grave and He is preparing a place for us (John 14).What you believe has the greatest impact on your life today. What do you believe?
What do you believe about God?
About Jesus?
What do you believe about marriage and family? I’ve seen people abandon or give up on their marriage because they don’t have a godly intentional biblical belief about marriage.
What do you believe about work?
Don’t allow the things of the past or the uncertainties of the future to take a captive today. Experience God’s intentional freedom and love today. Live your life fully and intentionally in Him today.
If you missed part one of Today Counts read it now.
