Speaker: Blake Nichols | Series: Chasing | Chasing the Appearance of Perfect
2 Corinthians 5:17, John 4:4-26
 

The past is often like an anchor that keeps us from going forward and instead we just go in a circle.  We pretend everything is just fine and chase the appearance of perfect instead of receiving the freedom of grace from Jesus Christ.

Some of our anchors are past failures that we tend to ignore, disappointments when our dreams aren’t fulfilled and wounds received from others.  When we have these chains attached, Satan brings guilt and shame.  Guilt is a legal term, a pronouncement that we have responsibility for our sins.  Shame is a process where we identify with our sin and think something is wrong with us.

John 4:4-26 is the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.  The Jews and the Samarians did not get along so it was surprising to the disciples that Jesus wanted to travel through Samaria. In the culture of that day, women were insignificant yet Jesus ignored that and talked with the Samaritan woman.  He first asked her for water to meet His physical needs and then moved to her spiritual need for living water.

Before Jesus could share living water, He needed to deal with her past anchors so he asked her to go get her husband.  She replied that she had no husband and Jesus said that she was correct.  There were five husbands in her past and the man she was with was not her husband.  Jesus showed her that she could have freedom from the chains of her past.

How can we be free from the chains of our past?

We must have an encounter with Jesus with prayer and fasting. In prayer, we lean in to God and He will begin to reveal Himself and we realize His word is true.  We learn who God is and who He says we are.  We begin to live as a victor and not a victim. Fasting is more than just going without food but it is where we lean away from the world and limit things that take our time away from God.  We turn off the loud voices of the world and listen to His quiet voice.
We deal with our past and no longer cover it up but embrace it as part of who we are. If we don’t deal with sin, we will get tangled in our chains.
We bring our sin to the cross. Jesus paid the price for our freedom on the cross.

In verse 26, Jesus reveals to the woman that He is the Messiah.

In recent day, some of our loved ones and friends have walked into eternity where there is no more noise from the world and they are surrounded with complete and total truth.  They are able to worship God in the Spirit and in truth.

The phrase “The best is yet to come” cannot be accepted when we are chained by past failures, disappointments, and wounds.  When we face these chains and received the freedom Jesus provided at the cross, we are able to say “the best is yet to come” and share the good news with others of freedom in Jesus.