4-25-2017

   Good Morning All,
      2 Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

       I remember watching reruns of “Married with Children”.  I actually thought a lot of it was funny.  It satirized American life to the point of incredible exaggeration.  If you watched closely, you probably have known someone who matches one or more of the characters portrayed.  I must admit that I laughed the hardest at poor Al Bundy.  Looking at his present life and at his future life, he was so discouraged by those two prospects that he lived in the glory of his past. 

     Al “I scored four touchdowns in one game for Polk High” Bundy lives in the past glory of his high school days.  He often reminisces about his past greatness; at times, he relives them in an attempt to either prove he had potential or to correct some past error.  He is always living in the past because he sees it as superior to his life either today or tomorrow.  To him, yesterday is far better than today.

    Do we live like that?  Do we look at the past and think that it is superior?  It rarely is.  We usually look at the past through “sentimental” tinted glasses.  We want the past to be better because it is what we create it to be.  We can make our past as pretty as we want.  Unfortunately we sometimes miss the truth about what was missing in our life and continue to miss out on God’s blessings. 

   Sometimes we look at the past and think we have to live there because we can’t see any way out of it.  This can be the most painful of all.  Sometimes we look at our past and think that there is no way that anyone, God included, can love a person like that.  Perhaps you were alcohol or drug dependent and thus were completely non-dependable.  Perhaps you treated someone cruelly and now continue to punish yourself for the past failures.  Sometimes we think the past is all we deserve.

    The wonderful thing is that God does not want you to live in the past.  He wants you to live in his present grace and, eventually, in his glory.  In order to accomplish this, God made you a new creation, cleansed with the blood of Jesus.  Our slate is clean because of what Christ has done for us.  We live in his grace heading toward his glory; it is full steam ahead and we need not look back.  If you feel that you are being pulled back, look at what it is, repent of the sin, try to make amends if possible and then let it go.  God has forgiven this sin and looks at the new you and not the old you.  You should do the same.

Gracious God, you have made me new so that I may live before you in perfection.  By being new, I can stand in your holy presence and live in your merciful kingdom.  Help those who are stuck in the past.  Bring them to the knowledge of your wonderful forgiveness.  Heal their pain and keep them safe from all the devil’s attacks.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret