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Transcript

Grace Is Not Erasing the Past — It’s Redeeming It · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

• 0:00
  Welcome to Half-Faith, Let It Begin. This is Ariel Santana.
• 0:04
  Can you believe I'm seven years old already? I'm old enough now to introduce my dad.
• 0:10
  Ladies and gentlemen, your host, my dad, Angel Santana.
• 0:15
  Hello everyone, and thank you my beautiful darling seven-year-old daughter Ariel
• 0:19
  for giving me the introduction. It always chokes me up.
• 0:22
  I want to welcome each and every one of you to our Half-Faith,
• 0:24
  Let It Begin Thursday edition. For those of you that are listening to this,
• 0:28
  everybody that's watching right now on TikTok has already heard it.
• 0:32
  Why? Because on Sunday nights from now on, since I'm back in ministry school
• 0:36
  for another semester, they're going to be able to hear all the episodes,
• 0:41
  video format live in its entirety.
• 0:44
  So I'm welcoming in our good friends. We've got a front row here for us.
• 0:49
  We've got Nikki's here. Tasha's here.
• 0:50
  We've got my good friend Ariel's here.
• 0:53
  Heavenly Sweet Soul is here. And as you come into the live, I'll give you your
• 0:56
  shout outs. I think that's a cool thing.
• 0:58
  Here's today's episode. It's quite simple. It's called grace is not erasing
• 1:02
  the past. It's redeeming it. And this is how I'm going to do it.
• 1:05
  Have you ever wished you could erase part of your story? A decision you regret.
• 1:11
  A season you wish never happened. A version of yourself you don't even recognize anymore.
• 1:19
  Sometimes we think real healing means pretending the past didn't happen.
• 1:24
  But faith doesn't ask us to erase our story. It invites us to redeem it.
• 1:30
  Today, we're talking about grace, not as denial, but as transformation.
• 1:35
  I want to take you back to a scripture reading. Romans chapter 8,
• 1:38
  verse 1, it says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
• 1:45
  Now, I'm going to tell you what that meant. Because remember,
• 1:48
  when I first read these scriptures, I was like, what does that mean?
• 1:51
  Well, notice what the scripture doesn't say. It doesn't say there's no memory.
• 1:56
  It doesn't say there are no consequences. It says there are no condemnation.
• 2:02
  And in Genesis 50, verse 20, it says Joseph says to his brothers,
• 2:07
  You're intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.
• 2:11
  See, God didn't erase Joseph's pain. He redeemed it. And that's what grace does.
• 2:18
  Here's where many people struggle, myself included.
• 2:22
  We accept God's forgiveness, but we refuse to forgive ourselves.
• 2:27
  We repay our old mistakes like a life sentence.
• 2:32
  If I hadn't done that, if I hadn't known better, if I could just go back.
• 2:38
  But shame keeps us struck in the past. While grace invites us to grow forward,
• 2:44
  God doesn't waste wounds.
• 2:47
  The place that hurt you humbled you or even broke you often because when it
• 2:54
  broke you, you become that place where God builds compassion, wisdom, and strength.
• 3:01
  Grace doesn't rewrite history. It redefines the meaning. Your past is not proof
• 3:07
  that you're disqualified.
• 3:09
  It may be evidence that God is still forming you.
• 3:13
  You know, I joke around a lot with these kids.
• 3:16
  You know, growing up, I don't know if you remember these little dots.
• 3:19
  We would follow the dots.
• 3:20
  You know, we'd go one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, follow the dots.
• 3:23
  And then when we're done, the dots have a picture.
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  Well, that's what God is doing with us. You see, he's connecting each dot.
• 3:30
  Your picture was created when you were born and God is connecting the dots within us.
• 3:36
  And the picture will be completed when he calls us home.
• 3:40
  So he's still connecting dots with us. Right now, so many people of faith and
• 3:47
  those without faith are quietly carrying shame.
• 3:51
  Shame from a failed relationship, a parenting regret, a spiritual season of
• 3:58
  distance, maybe a mistake that still echoes in your heart.
• 4:01
  And the enemy loves to whisper.
• 4:05
  They love to say, you should be further along by now.
• 4:09
  Those words in our minds, right?
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  You know, you should have done this before. If you were really faithful,
• 4:16
  this wouldn't still hurt you.
• 4:18
  But hear this, and to hear this, it puts us in a position where we feel like, what do I do now?
• 4:27
  Like, you start believing in those words. Healing is not forgetting.
• 4:31
  It's learning without shame. God is not asking you to relive the past.
• 4:35
  You've heard that now three times.
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  Don't relive the past. He's inviting you to release it into his hands.
• 4:43
  26 years ago, I left New York because I lost a relationship.
• 4:49
  I went through a two-year depression that spanned up to 11 years.
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  I was hurt. I was alone. And I struggled.
• 4:58
  And one of the things that I realized is that I missed out on so many opportunities
• 5:04
  to be with my family because I allowed the negativity to steal my joy.
• 5:10
  Here's a simple practice for you this week if you're having the same problems.
• 5:14
  Instead of asking, how do I undo the past?
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  Ask, what has God taught me through it? And then take one future you.
• 5:26
  Take that future you, right? It's like a step.
• 5:30
  Apply it again. Try it again. Show up again. Forgive again.
• 5:36
  Pray again. Took me 13 years to forgive my ex for what she did.
• 5:42
  But you want to know something?
• 5:44
  She came to me and asked me for forgiveness.
• 5:48
  Even though she did the wrong thing. But she at the time made me feel like it was my fault.
• 5:54
  And now that same girl that was an atheist is the same girl that goes to church.
• 6:01
  Redemption looks like a movement, not perfection.
• 6:06
  You're not defined by where you've been. You are shaped by God and by who God is becoming in you.
• 6:14
  Many of you today are struggling. You've had some bad news. You've had some
• 6:19
  bad months. You've had a bad year.
• 6:21
  Well, guess what, y'all? 2026 is here and 2025 is yesterday.
• 6:27
  So now let's move forward, not backwards, and let's pray together.
• 6:34
  Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace. That meets us where we are today.
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  Help us release the shame that we've been carrying.
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  Those sack of rocks that are over our shoulder, let them go.
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  Teach us to see our past through your mercy, not our regret.
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  Redeem what hurts and use it for good. And may you remember today.
• 6:59
  Remember that your past is not a prison.
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  It's a place God can still bring healing from.
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  So may God be with you. May he shine his light upon you and grant each and every
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  single, I got choked up on that one.
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  May he bring you peace, happiness, and joy. May God be with you.
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  May he shine his light upon you and bring each and every one of you peace on
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  earth and never ever forget to have faith let it begin.