WHO DO YOU SEE FIRST?(4)

*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*

*WHO DO YOU SEE FIRST? (4)*

*Scripture Treasure.*

Col 3:9-10:

*Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;*

*And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:*

*Insight and Highlight.*

Our shame and the faulty labels on us will fall away if we truly see our needs to see Jesus.

*Scripture Commentaries.*

We started this series by looking at two things that may be key hunters after the human life.

First is life's current and recurrent turns of adverse events.

The second is our past (that is, our sinful nature).

Under the first, we have looked at how we could motivate the body, soul, and spirit to find God when we are faced with life's adverse situations.

Today, we will look at the second key hunter after the human life (that is, our sinful past).

We all each have a past. Some of us still carry them.

While we are told by Paul in 2 Cor 5:17 that

*...if any man is in Christ he has become a new creation old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.* the past has remained a stigma that would not go away. Or should we say we have refused the past to pass away when God has made it pass away.

While establishing that God can not lie in His transformative work on a new creation, it may be right for us to say that some people still see their past before they see their present.

They still carry their past with them, or their past are still in them.

Paul in 2 Cor 5:17 is telling us to see the present and put the past behind us.

If we do not see that old things are passed away, we can not see all things as new, and we would be far away from the new creation Christ intended for us.

If we can not see our present, we can not see or have any idea of the future or see that our tomorrow is well.

Do you see your past before you see your present?

Which do you see first?

Do you see yourself yearning to see Jesus than your past stories?

Until we see ourselves yearning for Jesus, our past stories will continue to impact us negatively.

Your guilt of shame and your faulty labels are most destructive when you see yourself, but your guilt of shame and faulty labels will fall away when you see yourself as a sinner needing Christ.

When you see yourself as truly needing Christ, your stories no longer matters but you will see how you matter to God.

The Samaritan woman was no longer threatened by her past which, though she did not make known to Jesus but Jesus knew, when she went about saying *".....Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did:...."*, John 4:29.

When you desire God and you yearn for God, you will no longer be in bondage of your sinful past.

They are washed away, and your stories will change.

Dignity replaces shame, mountains are leveled, and crooked ways are made straight.

I do not know how far you have strayed from God, but if only you can satisfy a longing desire to meet Christ, you will live never to be influenced or tormented by your past.

Which do you see first?

Your need to meet Christ or the fear that your past will not leave you?

It is not just enough to see yourself as a sinner but as one who needs the transformative power of Christ.

Zacchaeus saw how he mattered to God when he saw the need to see Jesus. He was made dignified to host Jesus, Lk 19:5.

Which do you see first? Your need for salvation or the sin that has beset you or that still easily besets you?

Who do you see first?

The new man of the new creation or your old man of sin?

When you first see the need to be the new man of the new creation, you will forget the old man of sin and your past stories!

*Remorse corner.*

Zacchaeus failed to allow his past to stand in the way of his soul's need for Christ. His sins were washed away, Luke 19:1-8.

*Call to Word action.*

Zacchaeus saw the need for his soul for Jesus. Though rejected by the people, he became dignified enough to feast Jesus, Luke 19: v5 *And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.*

*The Christian clarion duty.*

Imagine how you would have changed

if you had seen, known, and loved Christ before the life you had lived.

*Prayer.*

Lord, from today l see myself as a new man of the new creation never to see the old man of sin anymore in Jesus name.

Good morning all, and have a blessed day.

God bless you.