Make a fresh start today

This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, The God who summons horses and chariots and armies— they lie down and then can’t get up; they’re snuffed out like so many candles: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’ —the coyotes and the buzzards— Because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sunbaked earth, Drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me. (Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 MSG)

Today's message will be simple - it is time for us to take a firm stand and completely stop going over old history in our lives. So many of us spend countless hours rehearsing past failures, short-comings that have long been forgiven by God, and likely forgiven by many around us who either were a part of that failure in our character, or observed us going through it. The issues of the past are just that - they are the past. We cannot recreate the past anymore than we can blink our eyes and create a Corvette out of the void in front of us. Why do we try? Why do we feel the need to go over and over again the things that have already been dealt with under the grace of Christ? I think our pride has been dealt a blow by our failure and we have a hard time letting go of the things that affect our pride so deeply. Recall for a moment what scripture says about pride - it goes before our fall. If we continue to allow pride to rehearse our past, we will continually be setting ourselves up for future falls!

The key to letting go and taking a stand to no longer rehearse our past - be present in the moment. God is present in the moment - he isn't back there in the mess of our past. He is right here in the moment of today, but we have to acknowledge his presence and keep our pride from turning us back. I don't know about you, but my pride gets me to do a whole lot of things I later regret. Pride isn't going to let us off the hook that easy - we need God's help to deal with our pride. This is why he sent the Holy Spirit into the world - to help us where we most need his help. God's instructions are clear - forget about what's happened, don't keep going over old history. Instead, be alert and be present - pay attention to the presence of the Spirit of God within you, not that gnawing accusation of your wounded pride. God's promise to those who will be alert and be present with him - he is going to do something brand new within us!

As we start a new year with Jesus, can we take a moment or two to just pause and consider where our pride is keeping us focused on things already fully dealt with under the blood of Christ. Things we have already confessed, but where our pride keeps reminding us of our failures. Notice - we have already confessed those things. We have sought God's grace and he has extended it. Grace isn't earned - it is given as soon as we acknowledge our need for it. That is the basis of confession - laying down our failure, picking up grace, and then allowing grace to cover us fully until there is no sign of the failure any longer. Perhaps you haven't sought grace for that failure yet - it isn't too late. You can begin this year with a totally 'clean slate' - laying down those sins of the past and walking into the newness of grace. 

Pride will seek to keep you 'laser-focused' on how badly you screwed up in your choices. Grace will point you toward new choices. Pride will putting niggling thoughts into your mind that keep you rehearsing the 'severity' and the 'frequency' of your failure. Grace will put new thoughts in your mind of how you can find new paths away from those failures. It all begins with confession - what is confessed is laid down, not to be picked up again. When God reminds us of the need to 'be present', he is reminding us that we have this tendency to always look back - to 'figure out' why we failed. His truth will come to us not in the rehearsal of the past, but in the moments we spend with him in the present. There is nothing liberating about rehearsing the past, but there certainly is new liberty in staying current in the present. Just sayin!

This is indeed a "set up"

Have you ever been "set up"?  It could have been a "set up" for some kind of prank where someone proudly announced "gotcha" at some point.  Maybe it was a blind date and you endured the torture of having to get ready without really knowing the other person you were going to be meeting that night, but in respect to your friend who "set you up", you go despite everything within you that is saying "don't go".  Perhaps if was your relative helping you get your first start out in the "real world" by packing up some care packages complete with a new set of pots and pans, some towels, a little bit of basic stuff you need to start a new life on your own.  Whatever the "set up", you had some apprehension, did you not?  Anytime we feel "set up", we will always feel some type of nervousness, anxiety over the potential outcome, coupled with a sense of excitement because you are going into the "unknown". God doesn't want us to feel like we are being "set up" for any type of failure in this walk with him - so he makes sure to let us know we are NOT set up for failure - but for success!

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it. (I Thessalonians 5:9-11 MSG)

We approach things differently when we don't have a grave sense of apprehension, don't we?  There is less anxiety and more excitement.  God wants us to approach this relationship with him without anxiety - because all which could "go wrong" was already taken care of by Jesus!  Nothing remains which could interfere with our ability to draw close to our heavenly Father. ALL was dealt with at the cross!  We may fear rejection because of our past wrongs, but in reality, we are embraced in spite of those past wrongs!  This is contrary to our way of thinking, so God continually has to remind us that his way of doing things differs from what we might expect from an "earthly" father.  When I disappointed my dad, I know I was fearful to be with him - not so much because he would reject me, because he NEVER did, but because I felt the shame of my transgression.  In God's presence, there is no shame! We need to learn this simple truth - this truth which we tend to make so complex in our minds.

His death triggered life in us.  His sacrificial offering on our behalf settled once and for all this question of "standing" before our heavenly Father.  His life given on our behalf made a way for us to no longer "fear" God, but to settle right up into his lap as our DAD!  Just like my earthly father always restored me into loving relationship with him whenever I did something to disappoint him, I can count on my heavenly Father to do this even better! Some may not have known this type of relationship with their earthly fathers, but hear me - God isn't like your earthly dad!  No matter how good or bad your earthly father may have been - God is infinitely better!  He is infinitely patient, loving, forgiving, embracing, and restoring in his character.  Nothing catches him by surprise.  No need on our behalf is too small or insignificant for him to pay attention to when we call out.  Neither our limited view of his ability nor the limited understanding of his goodness keeps him from acting on our behalf.

IN CHRIST:  Life is exchanged for death.  Freedom is exchanged for bondage. Peace is exchanged for anxiety.  Forgiveness is exchanged for wrongdoing. Hope is exchanged for despair.  If you don't see the pattern here, let me spell it out - this is a finished work in Christ Jesus.  When we step into this relationship with Jesus, nothing and no one can separate us from the goodness of our heavenly Father.  Not our misgivings or mis-doings.  There is no cause for apprehension or anxiety.  In stepping IN, we step OUT of what we once knew and how we once operated.  

One of my favorite songs contains these lyrics by the group Rend Collective:  

Countless second chances
We've been given at the cross
Countless second chances
We've been given at the cross

Fragments of brokenness
Salvaged by the art of grace
You craft life from our mistakes

If you don't hear the words of grace interwoven in this chorus and verse, read them again and again until you do.  God is not going to set us up to fail - in fact he sets us up to get second chances - at the Cross.  Countless second chances - this is the action of grace.  Grace is not some theory - it is a person - Christ Jesus!  Countless second chances - in Christ - no apprehension, no doubt, just grace!  Just sayin!