Good Riddance

December 28. Times Square New York. Just a couple days prior to New Year's Ball Drop, hundreds of people get together and celebrate Good Riddance Day. This past year they apparently put everyone's plan on the big marquee.

What's the day about? People letting go of their past. Some of the issues are not so serious...for other's it's a conscious choice to no longer allow their past to define their future. They write down what they're letting go of. For some they take a match and burn the paper. The goal is to make a formal declaration they will no longer live life looking backwards.

All of us have a past. Far too many of us find ourselves prisoners of it. Jephthah the 8th Judge of Israel had a past. His dad hooked up with a prostitute. It wasn't his fault his dad did it. Because of this his family rejected him. They kicked him out of the house. Disowned him. He lost any shot of an inheritance. Trashed his reputation. He became angry. He heart got hard toward life and people. He began to hand out with other angry young men. Still happening today.

Several years later, God used him to set free the people of God. God hadn't given up on Jephthah.

If you feel like you're stuck in your past, what can you do?

• Admit it out loud. Ask Jesus to give you a fresh view of what the future can look like.
• Find someone you trust and begin to find healing. Talk through your struggles & hurts.
• Take a step in a new direction. Make choices today that focus on the type of person you want to be tomorrow.

Everyone has a past. Jesus knows where you've been. With Him it's about moving forward into tomorrow. I believe the Lord takes the things of our past, both good and bad, and can bring good from it.

To His glory. See you this Sunday!
- Pastor Mike

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