But What If We Have A Bad Past

Today Jesus loves us.  His arms are always stretched out for us to come as we are.  He knew before we were even born each day of our lives.  He forgives everything.

The Apostle Paul is a prime example of forgiveness.  He made life difficult for God’s people even killing some.  He was always plotting ways to make life miserable for Christians yet God called Paul by name and asked why was he persecuting Him.  Paul was forgiven and he moved forward to become one of the greatest warriors for Christ.  Paul looked back just long enough to make a comparison to his past sins and his present work for our Lord.  These types of glancing back bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in order to show what all God can accomplish through a willing person.

There is another type of looking back that can destroy a person.  Living bound up in the past and never moving ahead to accomplish what God intends is an addictive trap.  To not feel worthy of God’s best is a horrible bondage.  Jesus came to die for all so we could move into His arms and accomplish much.  He has set us free.  God Himself will see to it all our wrongs are used to bring glory to Jesus Christ.  God will destroy bad habits and rebuild a brand new today if we remain focused on Him. 

In the old testament God destroyed two cities that were offensive to His kingdom.  Before he destroyed the cities He removed Lot and his family and moved them ahead in life to a better place.  Looking back cost Lot’s wife her life.  It’s the same with us today, looking back will keep us back.  Our pasts will also be our present if God is not allowed to move us ahead so He can destroy our past habits and create them brand new.  Jesus has declared us worthy to move ahead.  It’s not how we feel about our pasts but instead what God knows about our today and our futures.

Genesis 19:23-29

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.  Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.  Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.  But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.  He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.