Feb 2, 2014 - trillion connections for those memories, 46 ounces of memories in all, and ... to unpack a lot of our bagg
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BAGGAGE CHECK
Baggage Check
Dr. Brandon Park | February 2, 2014
The worst thing about traveling is having to lug your luggage and bear your baggage. Many people cannot live in spiritual victory because they are dragging around all of their baggage from the past. You do not have to live life depressed and discouraged because of what you have been through. Your memory is a very powerful tool. Your memory is capable of containing 500 times the information contained in a complete set of encyclopedias. Your brain has 100 billion neurons, and 100 trillion connections for those memories, 46 ounces of memories in all, and that's if you're average. But just as your memory can work in the positive, it can also work in the negative. You cannot live in the _________ and be an effective champion for God in the _____________. In fact, if you are living in the past, it neutralizes and paralyzes your effectiveness in the present.
Why We Must Let Go of the Past 1. It is an ___________________ to live in the past. You cannot change anything that has happened. As painful as it is, you must move from this point on. We have to stop trying to change what happened in the past. 2. Past _________________ are Flawed. Past memories are almost always exaggerated. When you look back over your past, things are never as good as you think they were and they are never as bad as you think they were. We have a way of looking at the past idealistically or we misunderstand and inflate it. Memories will lie to you. 3. We ___________ What We _______________. If our past dominates our minds, we will begin to act out what we think we are as a result of our past. We act out what we remember. If you dwell on the garbage of your past, it will just be a matter of time before garbage begins to come out again in your life.
In this series, we are going to unpack a lot of our baggage and ask God to check it for good! God wants you to drop some of these burdens that you were never meant to bear. Definition of “Baggage:” This refers to the ____________ and ______________ burdens you were never meant to bear. It could come in a variety of forms such as anxiety, worry, addiction, a relationship, or a loss suffered. In Matthew 11, Jesus actually said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary a nd carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” God wants to check your baggage for good. What are you ______________ into 2014 that you know shouldn’t be on your journey with Christ this year? What issue in your life would y ou love for God to check for good?
How Do We Pick Up Baggage?
There are 3 Biblical sources of where baggage comes from.
1. Baggage that Comes From ___________ ___________________. You thought that a situation was going to go one way, but it ends up going another. It could be in the form of a relationship (singles wishing they were married or married people not satisfied with their relationship). Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope d eferred makes the heart sick.” Some of us had dreams that we thought would happen, but they haven’t yet – and it makes our heart sick. The source of anger comes from unmet expectations.
2. Baggage that Comes From ________________ ______________. Perhaps something happened to you in the past and it hurt you real bad. You may have tried to move on from it but that wound hurt you so deeply that now your past affects your present. Psalm 109:22 says, “I am poor and needy and my heart is wounded within me.” David wrote these words and he knew about heartache. Everyone he c ared about had deserted him and his heart was wounded within him and he broke inside. We are told as c hildren that time will heal all wounds but the Bible does not teach that. Wounds come when we lose things we love – people, jobs, relationships. When the source of our wound goes untreated and it remains unhealed, it becomes a weakness (i.e. when someone wounds your heart – it’s difficult to trust again.) God doesn’t want us just to put on a fake smile and minimize our hurt. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that there would be a generation to come that would minimize the wounds that God’s
people were carrying around. Jeremiah 6:14 says, “They dress the wound of my people a s though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.” 3. Baggage that Comes From ___________ _______________. Once you get honest with God about the hurts you’ve received as well as the hurts you have caused – then healing c an begin in your heart. Healing cannot happen if you STUFF it or stay SILENT about it. Psalm 32:3-‐5, “When I kept silent, my b ones wasted away through my groaning a ll d ay long. For day and night your hand was h eavy upon me. My strength was sapped as if in the heat of summer. SELAH” Christ died in order to free us from our ________; then He rose again in order to give us a ________.
How Can We Check Our Baggage? 1. You’ve got to check your baggage with ___________ Jesus is truly the only one who knows what you’re going through and who has the power to heal your heart for good. He wants to begin healing your heart by applying the balm of His grace and love. Psalm 71:20, “Though you have made me see troubles, many a nd b itter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me u p.” Jesus’ death means that your past is dead and over – it no longer has to define you! Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. ________ wounds heal ________ wounds. In Christ, we check our Past so He can take control of our future. 2. You’ve got to check your baggage by _______________ on the _____________ Phil. 3:13, “ This one thing I do: forgetting those things which lie b ehind…” You will never sail the ship of your life into the future with joy and peace if your anchor is stuck in the mud of the past. How can you forget your past? The word “forget” in the Bible does not mean to no longer remember. The word forget means “to no longer be ________________ or affected, or ______________ by.” Forgetting is caused by Refocusing. Refocus on Jesus Christ and his plan and purpose for your life and you will be so consumed and c ommitted that you won’t have time to think about the past. Unless you let go of the old, God will not bring in the new. In John 5, Jesus encountered the man by the Pool of Bethesda. He was lying around feeling sorry for himself. It was obvious that he was crippled, but Jesus asked the man what seemed to be a strange question, “Do you want to be made well.” I believe God is asking a similar question of us today: “Do you want to be well or do you want to continue lying around feeling sorry for yourself.” When Jesus asked him this straightforward question, he came up with all kinds of excuses. Jesus didn’t sit down and have a pity party with him. He told him to get up off the ground, take his bed, and be on his way. When the man did what Jesus told him to do, he was miraculously healed. You have to make a decision, are you going to set around the pool for 38 years or are are you going to get up and get moving with your life. Luke 9:62, ““Jesus Jesus said to h im, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks b ack [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.” .” [Amplified] God has designed us to move forward, not backward. 3. You’ve got to Check Your Baggage in ________________. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Carry each o ther’s burdens a nd this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” hrist.” The first step involves you going to God, the second step involves nvolves you going to His people. Christ doesn’t just save us on a personal level – after that He puts us into a community and it’s called the c hurch. The idea behind this is you need “traveling partners” – you need other people who will come alongside of you and d carry that baggage when it gets heavy. James 5:16, “Confess your sins to o ne another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” James is alluding to the fact that one of the ways God restores your heart is by giving you other people to unpack your baggage with. 4. Check Your Baggage with a Christ-‐Centered Centered _________________ _________________ When When it comes to the deeper wounds of the heart, we may need Christian counseling. 1 Chronicles 27:32 says, “Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, b eing a man of insight…” That’s That’s how the Bible defines a counselor – it’s someone who’s able to see “inside” a matter. Many times times God’s path towards liberating you from your past does involve the the counsel you receive from godly people. Proverbs 20:5, “The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it o ut.” ut.” Think of a counselor as a professional “baggage handler.” What is the primary source of baggage that you need Christ to check for you today?
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BAGGAGE CHECK
Baggage Check
Dr. Brandon Park | February 2, 2014
The worst thing about traveling is having to lug your luggage and bear your baggage. Many people cannot live in spiritual victory because they are dragging around all of their baggage from the past. You do not have to live life depressed and discouraged because of what you have been through. Your memory is a very powerful tool. Your memory is capable of containing 500 times the information contained in a complete set of encyclopedias. Your brain has 100 billion neurons, and 100 trillion connections for those memories, 46 ounces of memories in all, and that's if you're average. But just as your memory can work in the positive, it can also work in the negative. You cannot live in the _________ past and be an effective champion for God in the _____________. present In fact, if you are living in the past, it neutralizes and paralyzes your effectiveness in the present.
Why We Must Let Go of the Past impossibility to live in the past. You cannot change anything that has 1. It is an ___________________ happened. As painful as it is, you must move from this point on. We have to stop trying to change what happened in the past. memories are Flawed. Past memories are almost always exaggerated. 2. Past _________________ When you look back over your past, things are never as good as you think they were and they are never as bad as you think they were. We have a way of looking at the past idealistically or we misunderstand and inflate it. Memories will lie to you. become What We _______________. remember If our past dominates our minds, we will 3. We ___________ begin to act out what we think we are as a result of our past. We act out what we remember. If you dwell on the garbage of your past, it will just be a matter of time before garbage begins to come out again in your life.
In this series, we are going to unpack a lot of our baggage and ask God to check it for good! God wants you to drop some of these burdens that you were never meant to bear. onal and ______________ spiritual burdens you were Definition of “Baggage:” This refers to the _emoti ___________ never meant to bear. It could come in a variety of forms such as anxiety, worry, addiction, a relationship, or a loss suffered. In Matthew 11, Jesus actually said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary a nd carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” God wants to check your baggage for good. carrying into 2014 that you know shouldn’t be on your journey with Christ What are you ______________ this year? What issue in your life would y ou love for God to check for good?
How Do We Pick Up Baggage?
There are 3 Biblical sources of where baggage comes from.
unmet ___________________. expectations 1. Baggage that Comes From ___________ You thought that a situation was going to go one way, but it ends up going another. It could be in the form of a relationship (singles wishing they were married or married people not satisfied with their relationship). Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope d eferred makes the heart sick.” Some of us had dreams that we thought would happen, but they haven’t yet – and it makes our heart sick. The source of anger comes from unmet expectations.
unhealed ______________. hurts 2. Baggage that Comes From ________________ Perhaps something happened to you in the past and it hurt you real bad. You may have tried to move on from it but that wound hurt you so deeply that now your past affects your present. Psalm 109:22 says, “I am poor and needy and my heart is wounded within me.” David wrote these words and he knew about heartache. Everyone he c ared about had deserted him and his heart was wounded within him and he broke inside. We are told as c hildren that time will heal all wounds but the Bible does not teach that. Wounds come when we lose things we love – people, jobs, relationships. When the source of our wound goes untreated and it remains unhealed, it becomes a weakness (i.e. when someone wounds your heart – it’s difficult to trust again.) God doesn’t want us just to put on a fake smile and minimize our hurt. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that there would be a generation to come that would minimize the wounds that God’s
people were carrying around. Jeremiah 6:14 says, “They dress the wound of my people a s though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.”
sins 3. Baggage that Comes From _unconfessed __________ _______________. Once you get honest with God about the hurts you’ve received as well as the hurts you have caused – then healing c an begin in your heart. Healing cannot happen if you STUFF it or stay SILENT about it. Psalm 32:3-‐5, “When I kept silent, my b ones wasted away through my groaning a ll d ay long. For day and night your hand was h eavy upon me. My strength was sapped as if in the heat of summer. SELAH” past then He rose again in order to give us a _future Christ died in order to free us from our ________; _______.
How Can We Check Our Baggage? 1. You’ve got to check your baggage with ___________ Christ Jesus is truly the only one who knows what you’re going through and who has the power to heal your heart for good. He wants to begin healing your heart by applying the balm of His grace and love. Psalm 71:20, “Though you have made me see troubles, many a nd b itter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me u p.” Jesus’ death means that your past is dead and over – it no longer has to define you! Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. His wounds heal ________ our wounds. In Christ, we check our Past so He can take control of ________ our future.
ng on the _____________ present 2. You’ve got to check your baggage by _concentrati ______________ Phil. 3:13, “ This one thing I do: forgetting those things which lie b ehind…” You will never sail the ship of your life into the future with joy and peace if your anchor is stuck in the mud of the past. How can you forget your past? The word “forget” in the Bible does not mean to no longer remember. The influenced or affected, or ______________ controlled by.” word forget means “to no longer be ________________ Forgetting is caused by Refocusing. Refocus on Jesus Christ and his plan and purpose for your life and you will be so consumed and c ommitted that you won’t have time to think about the past. Unless you let go of the old, God will not bring in the new. In In John 5, Jesus encountered the man by the Pool of Bethesda. He was lying around feeling sorry for himself. It It was obvious that he was crippled, but Jesus asked the man what seemed to be a strange question, “Do you want to be made well.” ell.” I believe God is asking a similar question of us today: “Do you want to be well or do you want to continue lying around feeling sorry for yourself.” ourself.” When Jesus asked him this straightforward question, he came up with all kinds of excuses. Jesus didn’t sit down and have a pity party with him. He told him to get up off the ground, take his bed, and be on his way. When the man did what Jesus told him to do, he was miraculously healed. You have to make a decision, are you going to set around the pool for 38 years or are you going to get up and get moving with your life. Luke 9:62, ““Jesus Jesus said to h im, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks b ack [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.” od [Amplified] God has designed us to move forward, not backward. community 3. . You’ve got to Check Your Baggage in ________________. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Carry each o ther’s burdens a nd this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” hrist.” The first step involves you going to God, the second step involves nvolv you going to His people. Christ doesn’t just save us on a personal level – after that He puts us into a community and it’s called the c hurch. The idea behind this is you need “traveling partners” – you need other people who will come alongside of you and d carry that baggage when it gets heavy. James 5:16, “Confess your sins to o ne another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” James is alluding to the fact that one of the ways God restores your heart is by giving you other people to unpack pack your baggage with. counselor 4. . Check Your Baggage with a Christ-‐Centered hrist _________________ When When it comes to the deeper wounds of the heart, we may need Christian counseling. 1 Chronicles 27:32 says, “Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, b eing a man of insight…” That’s how the Bible defines a counselor – it’s someone who’s able to see “inside” a matter. Many times God’s path towards liberating you from your past does involve the counsel you receive from godly people. Proverbs 20:5, “The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it o ut.” ut.” Think of a counselor as a professional “baggage handler.” What is the primary source of baggage that you need Christ to check for you today?
