Wed. Recap; Getting Past Your Past

We continue to have a great turnout and great discussion at theshift! It is so amazing what God has planned, and what He is doing through this group of Christians! This week marked the start of a new series called "Getting Past Your Past."

Man, how hard is this!? And how desperately do we need to get over our past in order to move forward into God's plan for our lives! Living under labels of the past can be inhibiting, restrictive, and so many other things. Living under labels of the past many times keeps us from becoming the person God intended us to be. What are some of the negative labels that follow you?

There was some great discussion here. It's not just other people calling us what we aren't, but it's ourselves that hold us back. We tend to think that because of our past and past labels, that we cannot be worth much or at least we think 'how can I be what God calls me to be'? What we discovered here is that God's power is bigger than our past, that his truth is bigger than what is true about us today, and that God will break the labels that bind us.

2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

God has given us a new label, and sin no longer has any power to hold us back! Our past which has held us hostage will hold us no more because God has given us a new name. One thing that really struck me was just how much impact this discussion topic had and is going to continue to have over the next 3 weeks. Personally, God has totally redefined me recently, and has called me something completely different than I would call myself.

It's time to break free from our past, and step into the new creation that we have become in Christ. Reflect this week on what God has called you. Is it courageous, or beloved, or protector or something else? What is it? What new God-centered label have you been given to grow into?

John 10:10 "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Sam