March 6, 2007
Getting Good at Being You – part 2
Today’s truth
Luke 12:12-13 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her,
"Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Friend to Friend
Jesus could have healed this woman where she stood, but He called her to come to Him. Why? I believe Jesus wanted her to leave some things behind. When Jesus called her, this woman had a choice to make. She could either stay where she was and had been for 18 long years of pain and sickness, or she could choose healing and a new identity. I believe she was healed the minute she took that first step because it was a choice to leave the weight of the past behind her.
Hebrews 12:1 Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Like this woman, we need to leave some things behind.
1. Our past
Everyone has a past to deal with. While we cannot change our past, we certainly change our response to it. We can either allow our past to defeat us or we can harness it, and use it for power in our lives today and tomorrow! Our past can be our quicksand or our cornerstone.
The natives of
2. Our sin
We need to keep short books on sin. Allowing sin to build up in our lives creates a sense of condemnation. It allows guilt to become a toehold in our lives.
Isaiah 1:18 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow. Though they be as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Sin requires only one payment! And that payment has already been made. A little boy and his mom had been shopping at the mall. The little boy had acted very badly and knew he was in serious trouble as they were driving home. After a few minutes of strained silence, the little boy whispered, “When we are bad, and we ask God to forgive us, He does, doesn’t He mom?” The furious reply came, “Yes, He does!” The little boy continued, “And when He forgive us, He buries our sins in the deepest sea, doesn’t He?” The mom answered, “Yes, son, that’s what the Bible says.” Sensing that his mom was softening a bit, the little boy said, “Mom, “I’ve asked God to forgive me, but I bet when we get home, you’re gonna go fishin’ for those sins, aren’t you?” We need to quit fishing in the emotional waters of our past, deal with our sin and leave it behind.
3. Our good things
Many of us need to leave some good things behind. If those things are not the highest things God has for our lives, they become distractions from the best things! Yes, we can be so busy doing good things that we miss the highest things.
Philippians 3:13-14 But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
We need to live life, straining toward the prize God has for us. To get good at being you, forget what was and press toward what can be!
Let’s pray
Father, I do not want to be a prisoner of my past anymore. I ask that You free me from those things that are holding me back. I want everything that You have for me and today, choose to look forward. Thank You for Your power to harness my past and use it my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now it’s your turn
- When you think of your past, what one word comes to mind?
- When you think of your past, what one word would you like to come to mind?
- Make a list of past wounds and painful circumstances that are holding you prisoner.
- Under each one, write one step you can take today to be free from your past. Celebrate the truth that you are now choosing to strain forward to all God has for you. Walk in that freedom.
More from the girlfriends
A failure to deal with my past was a major factor in a battle with clinical depression. I know it is painful to deal with the past, but it is necessary for healing. If we bury pain alive, it will resurrect itself in our lives – time and time again. But if we deal with that pain and bury it dead…it stays dead…with no power over us. For more help on this topic, see Mary’s new book, “Coming Out of the Dark“.
Girlfriends in God
Matthews, NC 28106