SHADOWS OF THE PAST

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE





[00:25] Father, we come in the name of Jesus. Asking for your guidance and direction with this topic [00:25] Bless those who will enlighten us and others to your words [00:25] yes Lord [00:25] yes lord [00:26] and give us understanding to what you would have us learn.   In Jesus name. Amen [00:26] amen [00:26] amen [00:26] Amen [00:26] Amen [00:27] *** CRONUS-KEDAR changes topic to 'Shadows Of The Past--Hope For The Future ' [00:28] Tonight for just a little while we are going to look at something that is not talked about very often [00:28] in the lives of the children of God [00:28] Although our past is buried when we come to Jesus [00:29] and it is not to be brought up anymore [00:29] it is still a part of us and if looked upon right it can become a useful tool in our witnessing [00:29] to others [00:30] amen [00:30] So in a way our past experiences are like landmarks or memorials to bring the things that God has done in our lives [00:30] back to our memories and to give us experiences that can help when we relate to others [00:31] let us look at the Word now and see some things [00:31] that relate to this topic [00:32] KJV Joshua 4:1-3 Joshua 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Joshua 4:2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, Joshua 4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. [00:32] KJV Joshua 4:4-6 Joshua 4:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: Joshua 4:5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: Joshua 4:6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? [00:33] kjv Joshua 4:7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. [00:33] here we see where the children of Israel were commanded by Joshua [00:34] to build a memorial or landmark at the place where they entered the promise land [00:35] it was not for those who crossed but for a remembrance to the future generations of what had happened [00:35] today when Jesus comes into our lives [00:35] we change [00:35] He changes us [00:36] and He takes our past sins away to be gone forever [00:36] we become new creatures in Christ [00:36] our sins are as far from us as the east is from the west [00:37] but Jesus did not erase them [00:37] when Jesus was hung upon the cross [00:37] and has the roman soldier drove the nails in with the blows of the hammer [00:38] it was not just Jesus that was impaled but He also impaled our sins to the cross [00:38] amen [00:38] when we accept Jesus our old sins are nailed to that tree [00:38] they are not hidden but impaled [00:38] the only way our past can condemn us is if we personally [00:39] go back and pull them off of the cross [00:39] but they are where we can see in remembering [00:39] our past to help those to a new future and a new hope [00:40] if someone comes and they have a drug problem [00:40] who is better to show them to Jesus then one who use to be a user but through Jesus is now saved and cleansed [00:41] by example the sinner looks at the life of the saved and sees hope in his future through Jesus [00:41] amen [00:41] if the past was completely left behind it would not leave us with a way to relate to others [00:42] and like Joshua had done with the stones [00:42] so that the future generations would not forget when God parted the waters to go into the promise land [00:43] likewise we have our past experiences to cause us to remember where God brought us from [00:43] this is true for both you and me [00:43] we all have different experience from our past [00:43] that can be used by relating them to sinners who come our way [00:44] which will help to show the [00:44] glory [00:44] power [00:44] and above all [00:44] the love of Jesus that was showed to us [00:44] amen [00:50] in a way the past is like a shadow [00:50] when one walks in the light his body cast a shadow [00:50] it is not part of the person [00:50] of the person [00:51] but it is with a person [00:51] no matter how hard one tries they can not lose their shadow in the light [00:51] it is only in the darkness that a shadow can be eliminated [00:52] the shadow is only visible in the light [00:52] so if we walk in the light of Jesus [00:52] our past is like the shadow [00:52] we can look at it [00:52] but it is not part of us [00:53] It shows us ourselves in silhouette [00:53] but it is not us [00:54] so when we see our past in this sense then we can see that it is not going to condemn us but bring to remembrance our landmarks in our past [00:55] but now if we go to the darkness our shadow disappears and we do not see it [00:55] likewise if we go away from the light of God [00:55] we enter a darkness [00:55] and do not see our past and may start to fall back into our old life [00:56] it is only by staying close to Jesus that we are safe and can operate with the landmarks of our past to help others [00:57] in Jesus we are new [00:57] in Jesus we are free [00:57] through Jesus we are made righteous [00:58] the old life is gone but it is still in our memories [00:58] and those memories will make you stronger [00:58] more confident [00:59] in the Lord [00:59] and by doing so make you a more effective person to witness to others for God [01:00] and so it is that [01:00] the shadow of our past [01:00] is the hope of our future [01:00] amen [01:01] amen
index threshold