C. BOSTIAN Facing The Facts About Failure 1/22/06
MAKING A
FRESH START PT.3:
[s] Romans 3:23-23 (paraphrase)
All of us have failed,
falling way short of fulfilling the beauty of God‘s plan, that which God
intended us to be.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[s] 1. PEOPLE FAIL WHEN THEY
DON’T PLAN AHEAD.
Proverbs 27:12 (MsgB)
A prudent person sees trouble coming and plans for it;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
Proverbs 16:9 (MsgB)
We plan the way we want
to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
I’M
SURE YOU’VE HEARD THE SAYING: “IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN THEN YOU PLAN TO FAIL.”
[s] 2. PEOPLE FAIL WHEN THEY
THINK THEY’VE ALREADY ARRIVED.
[s] John Ruskin said, “In general, pride is at the
bottom of all great mistakes.”
[s] Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 29:23 (KJV)
A man's pride shall
bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
[s] 3. PEOPLE FAIL WHEN THEY
ARE AFRAID TO TAKE A RISK.
Romans 1:17 (KJV)
For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just
shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:11 (KJV)
But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by
faith.
[s] 4. PEOPLE FAIL BECAUSE
THEY GIVE UP TO SOON.
[s] Galatians 6:9 (KJV)
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall
reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9 (MsgB)
So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right
time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit.
I’M SURE YOU’VE HEARD THE SAYING: “WHEN THE
GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH KEEP GOING.”
ACCORDING TO READERS DIGEST THE VALUE OF A POSTAGE STAMP IS ITS ABILITY
TO STICK TO ONE THING UNTIL IT GETS THERE.
YOU SEE, WE GIVE UP TO EASILY AND QUICKLY. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE SHUT OFF THE TV
BECAUSE OUR FAVORITE TEAM IS PROBABLY GOING TO LOOSE THE GAME ONLY TO FIND OUT
LATER ON THE NEWS THAT THAT HAD A MIRACLUOUS VICTORY. MANY TIMES THAT’S HOW WE PLAY THE GAME OF
LIFE, THE ODDS ARE MOUNTING UP AGAINST US AND IN DESPAIR AND FRUSTRATION WE
QUIT.
[s] "Many of life's failures are men who did not
realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Anonymous
[s] Dr. John Smith Pemberton, an
LET ME MAKE A QUOTE FOR T.D.JAKES:
Growing up, many of us heard this phrase from our parents,
grandparents and teachers: "Never give up!" While many people believe
in this theory, they often fail to demonstrate it in their lives.
In this "instant" age we live in today, people are no
longer interested in process. We want to get to the bottom line quick! We’re
into fast foods, online prescription refills, speed dial and DSL. Even the cell
phones we use are designed to accommodate quick responses to everything. We use
to stop by the pay phone to place a call, now we use cell phones to take
pictures, download music AND read e-mail
It is often in the very process of achieving the goals we desire in
life that we quit prematurely. However, the danger in giving up too soon is
that we never arrive at the place God has predestined us to be. For example, we
want a marriage that will last forever, but we can’t survive the storms. We
want to lose fifty pounds, but we don’t want to exercise. We want a degree, but
we don’t want to go back to school. Somewhere it has to end!
Many people who are constantly challenged by failure seldom realize
that it is their own fault. They sabotage their circumstances because of their
attitude toward life. Often they are bitter about something that happened that
they never got over.
Too many people buy into the myth that life is over when they’ve
been dealt a bad hand. But the truth is someone else could take the very hand
you’ve been dealt, and win with it! The same man you’re thinking about leaving,
the same woman you’re cheating on, the same job you’ve threatened to leave a
thousand times…someone could take these same circumstances and make it work.
You’d be amazed by the number of people who have the potential to do
great things, but their hearts are contaminated with bitterness. Unfortunately,
they allow the past to bleed into their present and pollute their future.
BUT YOU CAN Decide today to BURY THE PAST AND pursue your dreams at
all cost. God has a blessing for you, a supernatural release that will push you
into the great future, you desire. Remember, never give up! The best is yet to
come.
Rudy Ruettiger once said: IT'S ALWAYS TO EARLY TO QUIT!
"Ever since I was a kid I wanted to go to Notre
Dame and everyone said it couldn't be done," recalls Rudy Ruettiger.
"My whole life people were telling me what I could do and what I couldn't
do. I'd always listened to them and I just didn't want to do that anymore. I had
my own dream and there wasn't anything that was going to stop me from achieving
it." "It's about believing
in how this country was built, hard work, a dream...and everybody has a
chance."
Rudy, the third of 14 children rose above his
circumstances and broke away from being stuck in a blue collar rut in his home
town as an oil refinery worker to achieve great success through hard work and
perseverance.
While working in the refinery, Rudy lost his best
friend in an industrial accident. Just prior to the accident, his buddy Pete
gave him a Notre Dame jacket he had purchased at a surplus store for Rudy's
22nd birthday. To this day, he still remembers his buddy's encouraging words,
"Rudy, you were born to wear this jacket."
Rudy was never one to let anybody down, especially
Pete or most importantly, himself. Immediately after his best friend's funeral,
he jumped on a bus and headed for South Bend, Indiana with a goal of meeting
Notre Dame Championship football coach, Ara Parseghian, never giving up on his
dream, "I'm here to play for the Irish."
Over a two-year period, Rudy first had to enroll in
Holly Cross Junior College to get his grades up prior to ever being considered
for Notre Dame. With nowhere to live, he slept in the maintenance room. After
numerous applications and tryouts, Rudy was finally accepted to Notre Dame and
made the football team as a walk on.
Amazingly, in the last play of the last game of his senior year, Rudy, who
never once missed a practice, had finally suited up in uniform and was
energized when the crowd started chanting Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. Coach Dan Devine
put him into the game in the last 27 seconds where he sacked the quarterback
and was carried off the field in triumph on the shoulders of the fighting
Irish.
Today, Rudy is one of the most requested motivational
speakers in
"All in all, people don't remember statistics,
they remember the spirit," I'd rather be remembered as Rudy...never quit,
than Rudy, how many tackles did you get? It's about leadership by example. It's
not about power. It's not about status. It's not about how much money you have.
It's about believing in yourself. It's about believing in the values and
morals. It's about believing in how this country was built, hard work, a
dream...and everybody has a chance. so
if you want to avoid failure then never give up on your dreams. with god, all things are possible.
Matthew 17:20 (KJV)
And Jesus said unto
them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as
a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Matthew 19:26 (KJV)
But Jesus beheld
them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things
are possible.
[s] 5. PEOPLE FAIL WHEN THEY
DON’T LISTEN TO THE GOD.
[s] Proverbs 14:12 (KJV)
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death.
Proverbs 14:12 (MsgB)
There's a way of life that looks harmless enough;
look again—it leads straight to hell.
[s] Proverbs 16:1 (MsgB)
Mortals make elaborate
plans, but God has the last word.
GOD’S WORD IS FILLED WITH GUIDELINES AND PRINCIPLES TO MAKE OUR LIVES
BE ALL THAT GOD WANTS THEM TO BE. BUT
MOST OF THE TIME WE WANT TO LISTEN TO OUR FEELINGS. WE SAY STUFF LIKE: “WELL I KNOW WHAT GOD SAYS
BUT I JUST FEEL…” I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY
TIMES I HAVE HEARD THAT. THE COUNSEL
FROM GOD’S WORD IS 90% OF THE TIME JUST THE OPPOSITE OF OUR HUMAN
EMOTIONS. YOU CAN DEPEND MORE ON THE
ACCURACY FROM GOD’S WORD THAN YOU CAN ON YOUR FEELINGS. AIRPLANE PILOTS HAVE TO BE TRAINED EARLY ON
THAT THEY CAN’T FLY THAT PLANE BY THEIR FEELINGS BUT BY THEIR INSTURMENT
PANEL. SOME OF YOU ARE NOT THERE
YET. YOU ARE FLUNKING SPIRITUAL
AVIATION. YOU HAVE GOT TO FLY THE PLANE
OF YOUR LIFE BY THE INSTRUMENT PANEL OF GOD’S WORD. YOU ARE LIVING YOUR MARRIAGE, YOUR LIFE, YOUR
FINANCES, YOUR HEALTH, YOUR RELATIONSHIPS AND YOUR DREAMS BY THE SEAT OF YOUR
PANTS. YOU SAY, “BUT I FEEL.” BUT YOU’VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD SAID IT
AND THAT SETTLES IT! THE PRINCIPLES AND
GUIDELINES OF GOD’S WORD ARE INFALLIBLE.
[s] 2 Tim. 3:16 (MsgB)
Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or
another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes,
training us to live God's way.
2 Tim. 3:16 (KJV)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
[s] YOU’VE GOT TO BUILD YOUR
[s] Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. [9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
[s] Isaiah 55:8-9 (MsgB)
"I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way
I work." God's Decree. [9]
"For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the
way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
HERE ARE SOME BASIC BIBLICAL PARADOXES THAT WE NEED TO GAUGE OUR LIFE
BY: THEY ARE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE OF THE WORLD’S PHILOSOPHY AND THAT’S WHY
THEY ARE CALLED BILICAL PARADOXES.
1. THE WAY TO GO UP IN GOD’S KINGDOM IS TO GOD DOWN
2. GOD SAYS YOU WANNA GET, “YEA I’M AN AMERICAN”; THEN GIVE
3. YOU WANT TO BE EXALTED THEN HUMBLE YOURSELF.
4. YOU WANT TO BE GREAT THEN BECOME A SERVANT
5. JESUS SAID, SAVE YOUR LIFE AND YOU WILL LOOSE IT. LOOSE
YOU LIFE AND YOU WILL FIND
IT.
6. SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER AND YOU CAN LEAD.
7. DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED TOGETHER WITH UNBELIEVERS.
WOMEN RUSH INTO MARRIAGE WITH AN UNSAVED MAN BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY
CAN GET THEM SAVED AFTER THEY’RE MARRIED.
IF THEY WANTED TO BE REAL HONEST THEY’RE JUST AFRAID OF BEING AN OLD
MAID AND THEY TAKE JUST ABOUT ANYBODY TO AVOID THAT. BUT BEING UNEQUALLY YOKED CAN ALSO BE A
BUSINESS PARTNER. “WELL I KNOW HE’S A
GOOD, HONEST AND UPRIGHT MAN.” AND TIME
AND TIME AGAIN CHRISTIANS HAVE LOST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE OF BEING
UNEQUALLY YOKED WITH AN UNSAVED BUSINESSMAN.
IF YOU WANT TO AVOID FAILURE THEN LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD AND OBEY IT. DON’T LISTEN TO REASON OR SECULAR INTELLEGIENCE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD
AND OBEY IT.
[s] "The Lord gives us a plan to follow. It is
outlined in His commandments. And all those commandments are designed to build
stability within us. We are not to excuse our failures and weaknesses: We are
not to say we are made the way we are, And thereby justify our sins. The Lord
expects us to rise above our weakness, become strong, and pattern ourselves
after Him.” Anonymous
[s] Jeremiah 29:11 (MsgB)
I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned
out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future
you hope for.
Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give
you an expected end.
LISTEN, GOD IS MORE
INTERESTED IN YOUR FUTURE THAN IN YOUR PAST. SO WE HAVE TO FOLLOW PAUL’S
EXAMPLE IN PHIL.3:14
[s] Philip. 3:12-14 (KJV)
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but
I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus. [13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
WE MUST STRIVE TO DO ALL WE CAN TO MINIMIZE FAILURE IN OUR LIFE. BUT THE FACT REMAINS, FAILURE IS A
