Get Over Your Past: New Year, New Theme, New You? Series

So its a new year, and a new preaching theme, Discover Your Destiny...

Is that something you desire to do this year?

Our focus last year was on being a dynamic disciple, after listening to 12 months of preaching on that theme, has there been any noticeable difference in your life and my life as followers of Christ?

Maybe for some that is an easy question to answer, perhaps for others its a little more difficult. So, let me answer the question for you:

In some lives I have seen real change in the last 12 months. There is a real fire in their hearts, an eagerness to be all that God has called them to be.

There are others where I have seen subtle differences in both speech and actions.

Also there are those where there is no visible sign that they have drawn any closer to the Lord than they were before.

Sad, but true.

So, as we enter into this new year, I wonder if our new theme will have a significant impact in my life and your life this year.

Are we prayerfully seeking to move forward into all God has planned for us?

The truth is there are many things that can hold us back and stop us from becoming the person God has called us to be.

Instead of seeking to move on and press into everything God has planned for us we can be hesitant, the prospect of change can be daunting to some, the idea of change does not come naturally to others, some people spend years living in a comfort zone of their own creation.

And often, even though it is our fault that we are where we are, we will blame circumstances, situations, other people, bad choices, it is easier for us to attribute blame to anyone or anything other than ourselves for a lack of change in our lives.

If we want to be obedient disciples of Jesus then we must choose to allow God to work in our lives, to work in us and through us, to change and transform us.

To take us from where we were, where we are to where God wants us to be.

Instead of living in the past, we need to live in the now, with an eager expectation of what God will do in each of our lives now and in this coming year.

The old has gone it is a new year, a new theme, a new opportunity for each and every one of us to experience a fresh move of God in our lives.

God wants us to move forward, to grow closer to Him, to grow in our faith and spiritual maturity, to stop dwelling on the things that have past and to embrace all He has planned for each and every one of us.

Need an encouragement from scripture? Look at Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past...

Is there something that you refuse to forget that is stopping you from moving forward?

Is there something that happened that put a bad taste in your mouth?

Or is there something that you are holding onto that you refuse to put aside?

God wants to do something new, something fresh in your life, what is it that you are holding onto that is obstructing God’s will and plan for your life?

2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

When we repent and accept Christ as our Saviour we are forgiven.

All of our sins, past, present and future are forgiven.

A new life begins as we are born again as a child of the living God.

We enter into a real relationship with the God who loves us and cares for us and has a perfect plan for each of us.

We are saved, but we are not perfect, we stumble, we make mistakes, we may choose at times to please ourselves more than please God by the way we live, but because we are in Christ God forgives us.

We know we are forgiven because of Jesus sacrifice for us and so maybe we allow ourselves a little too much lee-way when it comes to the whole area of forgiveness.

If we do something wrong, it is often easier for us to rationalise it or excuse it. Maybe we even blame others even when we are actually the ones who are at fault.