Hope, Part 2: Hope For The Past

(Hebrews 6:19)  "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…" (Psalm 71:14)  "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."Title of my message: Hope for the Past(Lamentations 3:19-20)  "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.  I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me." Past problems. (Job 30:26)  "Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness."Past mistakes. (Job 27:8)  "For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? Past relationships. (Job 19:19)  "All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me."(Lamentations 3:21-23)  "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." 1.    Refocus your mind.(Romans 12:2 NLT)  "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."(Ephesians 4:18 LB)  "Many are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds against Him, so they can't understand His ways." (Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT)  "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully." 2.    Release your past.(Isaiah 43:18)  "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."(Psalm 103:10-12)  "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Micah 7:18)  "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?  You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy."(Romans 3:22 LB)  "God says He will accept and acquit us – declare us 'not guilty' – if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in the same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like." (Romans 8:1)  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."3.  Renew your heart.(Ezekiel 36:26)  "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."For more information on the vision of Freedom Church, please visit our website at www.freedom-church.org.