Your Past and Back Fat

So, I love to buy new clothes, I enjoy finding something new that makes feel good when I wear it. Are you like that?? Do you ever get that exciting feeling when you put on an outfit and you say..."oh ya, I am lookin FUH-INE??" ha j/k {That was my ghetto way of saying "FINE" incase you missed that. :) }

Well, I remember a shopping trip about 3 years ago, where while trying on some new clothes I had a horrible discovery......

BACK FAT!!! I was completely horrified to see back fat for the first time. So much so, that I immediately put my clothes back on, went home and exercised and ate ice chips. Ok it wasn't THAT bad..but I did exercise. 

So fast forward to a night a few weeks later with me lying in bed thinking about my sin filled past. I'm not sure why I was thinking about my past, but you know those moments when you get lost in totally random thought about something you haven't thought about in forever?? Well, that was this night.

Anywhoo As I lay there thinking about my idiotic past choices, I remembered my back fat incident and made an odd, yet strangely uncanny correlation. 

Are you ready? 

Cause this is deep….

In fact this is MIND BLOWING... 

"Your past is like back fat. It’s always there to haunt you if you keep turning around to look at it."

BOOM, THERE YA HAVE IT!!! Your mind is officially blown right?

I'm sure that was the most shocking revelation of your life... OK, probably not, but let me explain what I mean.

I have always had an understanding of the things of God, and I thought I always had a relationship with him, but before I truly gave my heart to Christ I did, said and thought things that I'm not proud of, a.k.a. My PAST!

We all have a past, some are worse than others according to human standards and most of us would agree that we are ashamed of the things we did prior to salvation.

I often find myself thinking back to the dumb person I was before really giving my life to Christ and all the nonsense I allowed myself to get involved in and I shake my head in disbelief!

 HOW COULD I HAVE DONE THOSE THINGS! WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING??

I’m sure many of you can relate. I can honestly say, that I am a completely different person now than I was then, but there are times when the devil tries to remind me just how horrible I was, and if I’m not careful I start to feel guilt over things that Jesus has already paid the price for!

That’s right ladies no need to buy a chocolate bar and binge eat, THAT is your golden ticket! 

JESUS PAID THE PRICE!

 If you have given your life over to Jesus and asked him to forgive your sins, you are PAID IN FULL. You no longer have a debt to pay for your sins. 

Isn’t that exciting??

If you’re not jumping up in down about the awesomeness of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice for you, I would guess it’s because you, like many before you are experiencing guilt about your past. Let me be the sympathetic encouraging voice that says....

WELL STOP!! 

You no longer have to feel ashamed, dirty, guilty, or indebted. 

YOU HAVE BEEN BOUGHT. 

Not only did Jesus purchase your salvation, he promised to forget all your past sins. Once we confess our sins to Christ and He covers them with his blood, his blood becomes what he see’s when he looks at us, Christ’s perfect, spotless blood. 

So, there is no need to feel ashamed any longer. {insert Happy dance, and yes i'm actually doing one. :)}

Now that you understand just how bought you are, it’s time to stop going there! I mean it…Don’t GO THERE! I love this phrase, and it completely applies. Every time the devil starts bringing the thoughts of your past to your mind, say ”NO, I’m not gonna go there” and mean it!! Recite a scripture that assures you of the truth and don’t give the devil ANY leeway. 

This also applies to things in your past that were beyond your control. I am sure that many of you reading this have or will endure something terrible in your life that without Christ could spiritually cripple you forever. Please hear my heart that if you’ve been through something horrible there is a time for grieving and healing. God’s word says there is a time for everything under heaven and unfortunately grieving and healing is a part of that. But then........ THEN there comes a time of restoration and moving forward!! 

PRAISE GOD that we can move forward from the hard things we go through, cause without the moving forward there is no witness as to what God has done in your life. You simply cannot live in your pain and grief forever. SO tell the devil I’M NOT GONNA GO THERE!

I heard a saying by Chris Caine of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. She said, “When you wake up in the morning decide where you want to mentally be by the end of the day, If you want to be joyous and content in the Lord by the end of the day, then you have to be careful which “train of thought” you get on.

You have to jump off any negative train that pulls into the station of your mind, and find a train that will take you to the positive place of contentment and joy in the Lord ”.

If a train of negativity, regret and pain pull into the station of your mind, YOU have to decide not to get on it. Only you can decide which thoughts you will let in and which thoughts you wont. 

SO BE STRONG and jump on the train that takes you to a beautiful future with Christ instead of getting on the train that u-turns you back to the painful past. Let the past be the past, live in today so you can get to your future.

Christ already paid your ticket to eternal life with him.

So let us reflect and recite our “shocking revelation phrase” together...

are you ready?? 

Your past is like back fat; it will forever haunt you if you keep turning around to look at it!

Be Encouraged!

Take a moment and listen to this awesome song.  I hope it encourages your heart today.