Remembering and Forgetting, Part 2

Today, I want to thank you, for God worked through you to greatly encourage me when I was here two weeks ago. If you were here, you know that we were looking at Psalm 136. Every verse tells something God did for His people, then says:

HIS FAITHFUL LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.

I asked you to come with short testimonies of what God did to show His love to you in 2022 and everyone here had a testimony. I was so touched by what you shared. Again thank you!

You had so many great testimonies to share that I only talked a little about the second half of the sermon:

FORGETTING

I shared something Paul wrote:

Philippians 3:13–14 (CSB)

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

We talked about how important that we forget things like

HURTS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS

When we fail to put these behind us, they fill up the space in our hearts that Jesus wants to fill with the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to go deeper with this today, to help you to see the different choices made by two men who met Jesus:

Luke 19:1–10 (NASB 2020)

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!” 8 But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

He was a tax collector and people hated Him. He was very rich, but his heart was unhappy. He was very short and was probably insecure because of his size. He was very happy that Jesus wanted to come to his house. He gladly gave his money away and it created space in his heart of the love of Jesus.

Now, let’s look at the second man who met Jesus:

Matthew 19:16–22 (NASB 2020)

16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony; 19 Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

Like Zaccheus, he was interested in Jesus. He was looking for hope. He was very rich. He wasn’t willing to let Jesus change His heart.

Now, I want to ask you a few questions about these two men?

Which one wanted to see and talk with Jesus? Which one wanted Jesus’ love? Which one was rich? Which one was willing to forget his past?

I want to introduce you to one more Scripture:

Hebrews 12:1 (NASB 2020)

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us,

I want to share a Biblical principle with you that you may not know:

God always trades up!

I have known Jesus for a long, long time and I can tell you that I have never given God anything that He didn’t give me something better!

When I was engaged in college and we broke up, my heart was broken. Then He let me find Cathy.

When we retired and were starting a long trip around the US, He showed us we needed to take care of family. He keeps give us more family than we ever imagined. You are a part of our family.

At the end of last year, God showed me I needed to quit thinking of my time as my own and give it fully to Him. He is filling my heart with more joy and hope than I ever imagined!

Will you be like Zaccheus or will you bee like the rich, young ruler?

Will you give God control of you life or will you begin to give your life to God and to others?

You will either find great joy like Zaccheus or keep your life and walk away sad like the rich, young man.