IF I COULD GO BACK IN TIME

Have you ever heard someone say, “I wish I knew then what I know now,” or, “I wish I could go back and live my life over, knowing what I know now?” Maybe you’ve even said something like that yourself. I know I have. I’ve always had a very active imagination, so I’ve imagined countless scenarios about going back in time as I was growing up.

I’ve always loved science fiction. It offers endless possibilities for the mind to wonder. I especially love the concepts of space travel and time travel. Space travel is a little more within our grasp than time travel, but even it has limitations.

I do believe there are other inhabited planets in the billions of galaxies out there, but the chance of us ever reaching them is very small. Time travel is even more impossible, but I’ve found myself wishing I could go back in time on several occasions.

One of my favorite back in time imaginings always involved going back and doing something to make myself rich in the future. I’ve thought of buying some things in the past that I know are worth a lot of money now; Things like comic books, baseball cards, paintings, and other collectibles. I would bring them back with me if I could, but if I couldn’t, I would hide them somewhere that I knew would still be there when I got back, then I would cash in; 

I also thought about changing the past to make the present better, not just for me, but for all my family, and community, our state, and even our whole world. If I could go back in time I would change so much. There are many, many things I would do, but, there are more things that I would NOT do than things I would. There are so many scenarios with the theory of time travel, and so many variables depending on who writes the story, but I would love to go back as I am now and see just what I could do, and what I could change. Maybe even find my younger self and give him some guidance to help him become the man I always wanted to be someday.

After many years of entertaining the idea, I’ve mellowed a bit, and grown some intellectually, and spiritually, and I think if time travel was possible I would do things a bit differently than I had always daydreamed about. Of all my imaginings, I think I would like most to go back to when I was twelve years old and live my life over from there with all the knowledge I now have, including all my memories from the life I have already lived.

Before I tell you what I would do, let me first tell you what I would not do. I would not jump on the tree knot one more time after my grandmother told me to stop, and my leg would not get the skin peeled off the bone from my knee to my foot. I would not take my new basketball to school and it would not get stolen from me. I would say, No, when Arlan asked me to draw the hand with only a middle finger sticking up on his notebook.

I would not grab that tennis racket in math class and clown around behind Mr. Jobe’s desk knocking the light fixture down, and I would not get a paddling because of it. I would do my homework and never copy Lisa’s, and Debbie’s papers. The day I was being chased through the gym, I would not duck and run through the line of girls doing basketball drills. That way, I would not end up unconscious on the floor with a concussion because I ran into the wall and fell and hit my head.

I would not pick up that rat I found in the bathtub one day after church, and I would not get bitten and have to go to the hospital for a tetanus shot. I would not jump off the top of our house and hurt myself. I would not get on that horse at Jamie’s house, so the horse would not run away with me and scare me almost to death. I would not quit school after I turn 16. I would never touch a drop of alcohol, and I would never, ever try drugs even one time.

There are many bad choices I made back then that I would never make if I had the opportunity to choose again with the knowledge I now have. I could go on for pages, talking about the things I would not do, but I won’t. Let me tell you a few of the things I WOULD do if I could go back in time and live my life over.

The first thing I would do, without hesitation, is to fall down on my knees, and ask Jesus to save me, and guide me from that moment on, for the rest of my life. I wasted so many years doing my own thing, my own way and I regret that. The second thing I would do is hug my grandmother, and tell her how much I love her, and from that point on, I would cherish everything she had to say, and I would obey her in whatever she told me, and I would treat her with the respect she truly deserved.

Then I would hug my three sisters and let them know how much I love and respect them, and that I will always love them, no matter what, and that I will always be there to protect them. I would do my very best to be a better example for them than I was. I would go tell my mom and dad that I love and respect them, and I forgive them for everything I was angry at them about. I would let them know I understand why things had to be the way they were. I would tell my Aunt Lee that I love her and I appreciate all she has done to help our grandmother take care of us. Those are the things I would do first.

I would also study more, and do my homework every night. I would read and study the Bible every day. I would spend more time praying and worshiping God and less time with my celebrity idols. I would spend more time helping others and less time satisfying my own selfish desires. I would spend more time telling others what Jesus has done for me, and how much he loves them. I would be a different young man than I was, and I would grow into a young adult that God could use. These are the things I would change if I could go back in time.

The reality of the matter is, I can’t go back in time. I can’t change a single thing that I ever did. “The Past Is The Past,” and “What’s Done Is Done.” The amazing thing is that God forgave me for all those bad things I did and he gave me a clean slate. Yes, I messed it up too, but thankfully, his mercy is new every morning. Each of us has a new opportunity each day to start over and live a better life from that point on. Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive. Search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you“ (Matthew 7:7). John said, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Remember this if you ever find yourself wishing you could go back and change your past.

Our main focus should not be on the past, but on the future and the glorious gift of eternal life with our creator and savior. That shouldn’t be the reason we serve him, though. We “must be born again” in order to receive that eternal life (John 3:7). When we’re truly born again, we will serve and obey him because we love him. He loves us so much that he died for us, and if we love him, we’ll live for him.

This life will end someday, and I truly believe it won’t be long now. Life is too short to waste, and eternity with Jesus is too precious to miss out on. So please, give your life to him right now. Look to the future, and leave the past in the past.

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ASLEEP ON THE JOB

If you’ve been following my blog or read my books, you know I’m not one of those Christians who pretend they’ve never done anything wrong. We all have a past, and at some point, we've all said and done things that God has told us not to. The Bible says we've all sinned (Romans 3:23) and none of us are righteous (Romans 3:10-12). We like to think we're good on some level, but without Jesus, we're nothing. Ronnie Freeman sings a song that says, “The only thing that’s good in me is Jesus.” That's a profound statement, and no matter what we like to think about ourselves, it's a very true statement.

God tells us in Hebrews 8:12, that after we come to Jesus and have been forgiven for our sins, he doesn't remember them anymore. That doesn't mean that God loses his memory. He says the same thing in Isaiah 43:25. It simply means that he doesn't hold our past against us.

Satan, on the other hand, does hold our past against us. He uses our past in any way he can, to hurt us, and keep us from moving forward. God forgives us, but he can use our past to bless others, both by their learning from our experiences and by us using what we learn to help them. People can come to trust and believe in God when they see what he's done in our lives, the way he has changed us, and the things he's brought us through. That’s one reason why I tell people about my past. I want others to know they're not alone in their struggles and that there is hope in Jesus.

Everything that has happened in my past hasn't always been bad. I've had many good things happen to me, lots of funny things, and I've had a lot of good, clean, fun times with my family and friends throughout my whole life. I guess I write more about the negative things because I want to share the lessons I learned from them, but I want to find better ways to share more of my positive experiences.

As I said before, I left home when I was sixteen years old, and for about three years I did whatever I wanted to. I did whatever I thought was fun and entertaining. I certainly wasn't living a moral, or healthy lifestyle. I was very unhappy. I wanted to do better so I made several changes. One of them was that I started going to church again.

That’s when I met Jesus and gave my life to him. He gave me a new job that I really loved, with an awesome supervisor who was a godly man. It's amazing how God can change a person's life if we just allow him to. Many of us are so self-destructive that we get in the way of God's blessings. We want what we want and often refuse to even consider doing what God wants us to do. Jesus said if we will first seek his kingdom and his righteousness, then he'll give us all that we need. I started seeing that in my life as I submitted my will to my heavenly Father, and the joy in my heart was unbelievable.

I was still young, and I still liked to go out and have fun, only now it was all good, clean fun with some of my younger cousins and other young people from the church. I was really enjoying my life for the first time in years. We had services several nights each week. We had Sunday services, prayer meetings, prayer service, youth night, and choir practice. Many times we would go out to eat before or after church. We would take somebody home or just ride around the town.

My new job was farther away than what I was used to, so I had to get up pretty early to get to work on time. Some days I would be really tired by lunchtime. I was reading the Bible every chance I got, so that's what I would do while I ate lunch if I didn’t fall asleep. One day, I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep during lunch. I had an hour, so I set the alarm on my watch, went into the sample room, and lay down on the sofa. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was out.

When lunch was over and I hadn't returned to the line, my supervisor and the floater started looking for me. When they found me, I was still in a deep sleep. They thought it would be funny to wake me up by screaming and beating on something. When I actually woke up, I was standing in the corner of the room holding my chest, and they were both laughing so hard they could barely breathe. As startling as it was at first, I'm glad they did it that way, rather than yelling and cursing, or firing me like some supervisors might have done. We all had a good laugh and went back to work. Thanks, Bobby and Al. I miss you guys.

Memories are funny things. They have the power to change our mood in a variety of ways. Some memories can make us sad, some can make us angry, and some can make us smile, laugh, and bring us all kinds of joy. We should try our best to keep the good memories on top of the pile. They can help us to be happier as we realize how blessed we really are.

Related Topic: Once Saved, Always Saved

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DON'T LET SATAN USE YOUR PAST AGAINST YOU

I’ve said and done things in the past that I’m not proud of. Some things I’ve done, I’m downright ashamed of. None of us are perfect. We have all said and done things we shouldn’t have. We all have a past that we don’t share with just anyone, and there are probably some things we have never told any other person at all.

Secrets are dangerous, though. We’ve all seen it on T.V. shows and in movies, and we’ve read it in books where someone blackmails someone because they know a secret the other person doesn’t want anyone else to know. We can’t change our past, but we can secure a peaceful future without the worry that someone will call us out.

My suggestion is, don’t keep secrets. Here’s why. Satan knows every bad thing we have ever done, and he WILL tell on us when it suites his purpose.

A while back my daughter was visiting a friend. A guy that I’ve known for many years was there and he brought up my past. He asked her if I had ever told her that I drank when I was younger. Well, I’m not proud of that part of my past, but yes, I had told her.

I’ve been honest with my children about my past, hoping they would learn from my mistakes. Plus, I refuse to be one of those Christians who pretend they have never done anything wrong. What if I had not told her about my past? What would she have thought of me if she had found out about it from someone else?

Romans 8:1 says, “So now, there is no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ, who do not walk after the flesh, but after the spirit.”

That is, No Condemnation from God. People may condemn us, but there will be more who appreciate our honesty, and they can see the changes God has made in us when they know our past. There’s no shame in admitting we are human. If we’re honest with others, and with ourselves about our failures, we’ll be more understanding, and less judgmental when we see others do something wrong.

When we’re following Jesus, we leave our past behind, but we do need to remember the past so we don’t make the same mistakes again. Remembering that God has forgiven us for our past sins will help us to share those failures, mistakes, and bad choices with others. Our past lives, before we were born again, can serve as proof to others that God can change their lives too, just as he did ours.

When I was young, I gained great inspiration from the small glimpse that the Bible gives us into the life of the Apostle Paul before he met Jesus. I realized that, if a person like him could be saved, then there was a chance for me. He was ashamed of his past and the terrible things he had done, but he shared them with others to show the power of God to forgive sins and to save us. Our testimony is one of the best witnessing tools we possess. People can argue about our interpretation of the scriptures, but no one can argue with our personal experiences with God.

We don’t have to give a seminar, or write a book, or put up billboards to let the whole world know all our secrets, but we need to be honest about our past, especially with those who are closest to us. Then we'll never be put on the spot and embarrassed by Satan, using our past against us. Be honest. Take away his ammunition. Don’t let him use your past against you.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6