Untitled Sermon

Blessings

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Philippians 3:13 NIV

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

The NKJV records the verse as

Forgetting those things which are behind..... [reach] forward to those things that are ahead

Whatever your past has been, Whatever my past, or whatever our past has been, no matter which way we look at it we know firstly because scripture tells us and we should know in our hearts that God always has a better future for us

However before we can ever think of reaching out for a better future we must first begin a process of forgiveness

forgiving the people who have hurt us and sometimes they are the ones still hurting us

Forgive ourselves

often people who are in abusive environments blame themselves

or like the man who told the counselor that the reason he wantd to get divorced was because 10 years ago the wife had burnt the peas

In reality me end up practicing a form of self harm

I was harming myself by not allowing God to heal me

I was hanging on to the things of the past so that I did not have to reach forward to those things that are ahead

I have turned Paul’s verse around and made it into a negative and as I said last week it was truer for me than the way in which it was actually written in our bibles.

Facing the difficulty - it can be hard to let go

Knowing what the issues are

Having the ability to move in a forward direction towards what God desires for us

For the alcoholic it is found in being sober

I can safe fully say that one way for me was food. so became a foodalohic

like Linus in Charlie Brown food became by blanket

Eating not only made we fat it became the catalyst for other health problems in my life - the ulcers, cellulitis, heart and blood pressure concerns, and mobility issues

there is no doubt that with doctors, nurses and self control in dietary matters there are improvement, and knowing that others have been praying for me has been positive, however the healing and / or the blessing that God is offering to me re muted while I do not deal with the issues. What is the quantity of blessings that I should seek, a percentage or the fullness of what God has to offer?

Being honest with God is of major importance

Listening for God

When Jesus says Ask in my name and the father will do it what does he mean?

Will he heal the broken Me?

What is stopping me from being a blessing to others?

How do I keep going forward?