00:00You know, you can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.
00:11Those words hit because they describe something most people don't even realize they're doing.
00:17We're not stuck because we lack opportunity.
00:22There is more opportunity in the United States than for any civilization in recorded history.
00:28We are stuck because we keep revisiting the same memories, the same failures, the same regrets, the same heartbreaks, the same versions of ourselves that no longer exist.
00:48You know, your life is not frozen in time.
00:52God is moving.
00:53But you keep turning back the pages.
00:57And some of you are still emotionally living in a moment that happened years ago.
01:03A betrayal that changed how you trust.
01:07A divorce that changed how you see love.
01:13A mistake that changed how you see yourself.
01:16A prayer that wasn't answered the way you hoped.
01:21A door that closed and never reopened.
01:27And so, without realizing it, my friends, you started building your future around that chapter instead of letting God write a new one.
01:37The danger of constantly re-reading the past is not just that it hurts.
01:45It's that it quietly becomes your identity.
01:49You stop saying, that happened to me.
01:53And you start saying, that is who I am.
01:58Now, God never introduces you by your worst moment.
02:04Never.
02:04He doesn't say, this is Moses, the murderer.
02:10He says, this is Moses, the deliverer.
02:17He doesn't say, this is David, the adulterer.
02:21He says, this is David, a man after my heart.
02:27He doesn't say, this is Peter, the denier.
02:30He says, this is Peter, the rock.
02:36He does not define you by the chapter you wish you could erase.
02:41He defines you by the story he is still writing.
02:46But here's what happens that keeps people trapped.
02:50Familiarity feels safer than faith.
02:54Even pain becomes comfortable when it's predictable.
02:59You know how to survive inside that old chapter.
03:03You know how to cope.
03:05You know how to explain it.
03:07You know how to protect yourself there.
03:11But moving forward means uncertainty.
03:14You see, moving forward means you're going to have to trust God again.
03:23And that can be terrifying when you've been hurt.
03:27You know, Israel is a perfect example.
03:31Not going into politics here.
03:33But think of this.
03:34God miraculously delivered them from Egypt.
03:38He parted the seas.
03:40He crushed their enemies.
03:43He led them with fire and cloud.
03:46But the moment the journey got uncomfortable,
03:50they started talking about going back.
03:54What?
03:55Not because Egypt was better,
03:58but because it was familiar.
04:01How many times do we do that in our lives?
04:06Think about it.
04:07Old relationships,
04:09maybe a boyfriend or a girlfriend,
04:10that we know isn't good for us,
04:13but it's familiar.
04:14We let them back into our lives.
04:17Time and time again.
04:20Maybe you're looking for a job right now.
04:24Your old employer is hiring.
04:27We go back to the places we know
04:30because it was familiar.
04:33You know, in Egypt,
04:35the Israelites said,
04:37at least in Egypt we had food.
04:40They totally forgot the chains.
04:43They forgot the whips.
04:45They forgot the slavery.
04:49They remembered only what felt safer
04:51than trusting God for something new.
04:54And that is exactly what happens
04:57when you and I keep re-reading old chapters.
05:01We romanticize what God already rescued us from.
05:06You know,
05:06some of you are still emotionally in Egypt.
05:12God already brought you out of that relationship.
05:16God already freed you from that addiction.
05:19God already removed you from the seasons of darkness.
05:23But you keep looking back.
05:26Because the wilderness,
05:28well,
05:29the wilderness feels uncertain.
05:31But the wilderness is not punishment.
05:34It is transition.
05:36It's the place between who you were
05:38and who you are becoming.
05:42You're becoming something beautiful.
05:45And I believe in you.
05:47You know,
05:48Jesus also understood this deeply.
05:51And that's why when he healed people,
05:54he didn't let them remain where they were.
05:57He always said,
05:59get up,
06:00go,
06:01follow me,
06:03leave your nets,
06:05take up your mat,
06:07go,
06:09and sin no more.
06:11He was constantly inviting people to close old chapters.
06:16The woman at the well had a painful past
06:19full of broken relationships and shame.
06:23Jesus didn't minimize it,
06:25but he also didn't let it define her.
06:29He gave her living water
06:31and a new identity.
06:34The man born blind
06:35didn't just receive sight.
06:38He received a future.
06:41The prodigal son
06:42didn't just get forgiveness.
06:45He got restoration.
06:47God doesn't just erase your mistakes.
06:51He rewrites your story.
06:55But you have to stop holding on
06:57to the draft version.
06:59Some of you are still carrying shame
07:02God already removed.
07:05You keep re-reading the page where you failed.
07:08You keep highlighting the lines where you were rejected.
07:12You keep quoting the sentences
07:14where someone told you that you were not enough.
07:19And God is standing there with a pen
07:22saying,
07:24I have something new
07:25to write.
07:27Paul,
07:28he understood this better than most.
07:32Paul persecuted
07:33and killed
07:34and tortured Christians.
07:37He caused unimaginable pain.
07:40But after meeting Jesus,
07:43he didn't live in regret.
07:45He lived in purpose.
07:49That's why he said,
07:51Forgetting what lies behind,
07:54I press on.
07:56Now, Paul never physically walked
07:58with Jesus Christ.
08:01But he met him
08:02in the way that you and I can too.
08:06So, you see,
08:07his example means
08:08you can forget what lies behind.
08:12You can press on.
08:15Not because it didn't matter,
08:18but because it no longer has authority over you.
08:22That's what God is offering you.
08:26You don't have to deny what happened.
08:28You don't have to pretend it didn't hurt.
08:32You don't have to erase your story.
08:36You just have to stop living in that chapter.
08:40Do different things.
08:41Get different results.
08:44Sometimes,
08:45if you want to change your life,
08:48all you have to do
08:50is change your life.
08:52Let that book close.
08:55Open a new book.
08:57And let God write a new story.
08:59Because there is more grace ahead.
09:02More healing ahead
09:04for you.
09:06More joy ahead.
09:08More purpose ahead.
09:09More love ahead.
09:12More peace.
09:14Coming into your life.
09:16But you can't read it
09:18if you won't turn the page.
09:21So today,
09:22let God do
09:24what only he can do.
09:26Close what is finished.
09:29Heal what is broken.
09:32Release what was lost.
09:34And step into what is waiting.
09:37Because you cannot start
09:42the next chapter of your life
09:44if you keep re-reading
09:47the last one.
09:49And God,
09:51well,
09:52God is not done
09:54writing your
09:55story.
09:58Truth.
09:59God bless you,
10:01my friends.
10:05Bye-bye.
10:06Bye-bye.
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