When I Fail
As a kid: “I wish God would fix me…” If it were possible, I would have taken the BAT!
When a person crosses the threshold of faith there is a change of heart about sin…we no longer want to…not deep inside!
Heb. 11:25 KING JAMES VERSION
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Sin is only pleasurable for a season…and, as a follower of Jesus, your season is over!
This is why Paul mused about his internal struggle…his inner contradiction (and we can ALL identify with it):
Rom. 7:15
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
A couple weeks ago we were talking about the freedom that is promised to us as believers…but our freedom in the arena of sinfulness is not some MAGIC moment…where God gets a hold of you in such a way that you always act right…
Like Peter Parker got BITTEN by that spider…one interaction…SPIDER MAN
I wanted some magic interaction (A BITE AT THE ALTAR) to turn into GODLY MAN.
BUT IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!
This is how it works:
Heb. 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
There will always be an area that easily entangles us!
We need Jesus and we will never RETIRE from needing him.
Which means, when you fail, you ought to recognize that is the best you can do apart from the direct working of God in your soul.
(BROTHER LAWRENCE…17TH CENTURY MONK)
Paul said it this way:
2 Co. 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
THIS IS THE WAY STRENGTH FROM GOD WORKS…HE DOESN’T GIVE US STRENGTH…
LIKE A WATCH—IF I HAVE ONE…BUT IF I AM ONE?
We hardly ADMIT our weaknesses, much less boast of them!
That’s one of the great powers of the 12 step programs…”I’m an alcoholic or I’m a drug addict or I’m a control freak or gambler or WHATEVER!
THEY ADMIT STUFF IF BIGGER THAN THEM!
That is biblical!
BUT HERE IS WHAT I WANTED TO FOCUS ON FOR A FEW MINUTES THIS A.M.
WHAT ARE WE TO DO WHEN WE FAIL?
CHANCES ARE, SOME OF US MIGHT fail…
ESPECIALLY as you learn how to connect with Jesus in your weakness…and YOU TRY TO figure out WHY you keep getting triggered into sin…there is a time between struggling poorly and struggling well.
The message this morning is about what to do when you are struggling poorly…when you fall down in sin.
A few suggestions (and by the by, I’m not an expert at much, but I am an expert here):
Thought #1
1) RUN to God, not from him!
There is something about sin that makes us think God is mad at us!
James 4:4
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
He’s NOT saying God thinks of us this way…it is the way we feel when we sin.
BUT NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!
1 John 2:1-2 THE MESSAGE BIBLE
I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. 2When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good--not only ours, but the whole world's.
Remember the Garden story…humans run to the bushes and hide when we sin…God sought them out…NOTHING’S CHANGED!
YOU WILL WANT TO RUN FROM GOD…SEW SOME FIG-FASHION TOGETHER AND COVER-UP…BUT GOD IS ALWAYS IN PURSUIT OF US!
YOU MATTER!
HE IS NOT THROWN BY OUR FAILURE!
PSA 103:10-14
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
RUN TO GOD
• WALKING OUT TO THE CAR ONE SNOW DUSTY MORNING IN WI
• GUY AT DALLAS MALL IN 80’s (tall, good-looking African-American in an all white suit and wide brimmed white hat).
Don’t waste time…run to God.
2) Thought #2—SIMPLY CONFESS YOUR SIN
-you don’t have to feel sorrow yet
-you don’t have to make promises to do better
-just honestly and openly confess you did wrong!
1John 1:8-9
If we claim to be without sin [when we have sinned], we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Don’t try to justify what you have done or are doing…
Don’t try to punish yourself
Don’t try to do penance
Just confess the fact you have sinned and do it quickly.
Don’t spend one MINUTE in shame or guilt.
If your sin has involved another…ask forgiveness of them too.
If restitution is appropriate, do it (don’t steal $20 from me and ask me to forgive you unless you bring a 20 dollar bill w/you)
HERE IS where you do, what the old-timers called, PLEADING THE BLOOD.
Recognize that what Jesus did means more than what you can do.
And realize God is more faithful than you!
Matt. 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Another place, Jesus adds: “a day”
If God asks us to forgive this often…how much more often will he forgive us?
Think of your sin frequency…have you ever committed the same sin 77 times in one day?
3) THOUGHT #3 Recognize that God sins with FORGETFULNESS!
This is amazing…
BASICALLY WE MARK UP OUR LIVES WITH [ERASE A SLATE]:
Lies, we cheat, we’re mean, we’re nasty, we do evil things…and 1 JOHN 1:9…POW.
4) THOUGHT #4 [last one] WHEN you are free from guilt, fear, shame, and self-hatred for your failure (plead the blood), then turn to God and ask…”WHY DO I DO ALWAYS DO THAT?” ASK FOR WISDOM!
THIS IS WHERE YOU TELL GOD, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE BACK WHERE YOU WERE…
SIN DESTROYS STUFF
IT UN-GOODS THINGS
IT DOESN’T MAKE GOD HATE US, BUT IT DOES DESTROY OUR PURPOSE FOR BEING HERE ON THIS PLANET.
PROV 13:15 NEW LIFE VERSION
Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the sinful is hard.
Pray about THE TRIGGERS
-BOREDOM
-loneliness
-self-hatred
-misdirected passion
-external circumstances (rejection, delay, promotion)
Psa. 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Pray about what role the enemy plays
Pray about someone with whom you can be honest.
Pray about empty places (ACHES) inside and how God can help fill them.
STYROFOAM BALL
Realize a day will come when you really will be able to STRUGGLE WELL!
DEFINITION OF A SUCCESS/FAILURE—ONE MORE TIME!
THANK YOU, SARAH KELLY -- CDS
As a kid: “I wish God would fix me…” If it were possible, I would have taken the BAT!
When a person crosses the threshold of faith there is a change of heart about sin…we no longer want to…not deep inside!
Heb. 11:25 KING JAMES VERSION
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Sin is only pleasurable for a season…and, as a follower of Jesus, your season is over!
This is why Paul mused about his internal struggle…his inner contradiction (and we can ALL identify with it):
Rom. 7:15
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
A couple weeks ago we were talking about the freedom that is promised to us as believers…but our freedom in the arena of sinfulness is not some MAGIC moment…where God gets a hold of you in such a way that you always act right…
Like Peter Parker got BITTEN by that spider…one interaction…SPIDER MAN
I wanted some magic interaction (A BITE AT THE ALTAR) to turn into GODLY MAN.
BUT IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!
This is how it works:
Heb. 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
There will always be an area that easily entangles us!
We need Jesus and we will never RETIRE from needing him.
Which means, when you fail, you ought to recognize that is the best you can do apart from the direct working of God in your soul.
(BROTHER LAWRENCE…17TH CENTURY MONK)
Paul said it this way:
2 Co. 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
THIS IS THE WAY STRENGTH FROM GOD WORKS…HE DOESN’T GIVE US STRENGTH…
LIKE A WATCH—IF I HAVE ONE…BUT IF I AM ONE?
We hardly ADMIT our weaknesses, much less boast of them!
That’s one of the great powers of the 12 step programs…”I’m an alcoholic or I’m a drug addict or I’m a control freak or gambler or WHATEVER!
THEY ADMIT STUFF IF BIGGER THAN THEM!
That is biblical!
BUT HERE IS WHAT I WANTED TO FOCUS ON FOR A FEW MINUTES THIS A.M.
WHAT ARE WE TO DO WHEN WE FAIL?
CHANCES ARE, SOME OF US MIGHT fail…
ESPECIALLY as you learn how to connect with Jesus in your weakness…and YOU TRY TO figure out WHY you keep getting triggered into sin…there is a time between struggling poorly and struggling well.
The message this morning is about what to do when you are struggling poorly…when you fall down in sin.
A few suggestions (and by the by, I’m not an expert at much, but I am an expert here):
Thought #1
1) RUN to God, not from him!
There is something about sin that makes us think God is mad at us!
James 4:4
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
He’s NOT saying God thinks of us this way…it is the way we feel when we sin.
BUT NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!
1 John 2:1-2 THE MESSAGE BIBLE
I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. 2When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good--not only ours, but the whole world's.
Remember the Garden story…humans run to the bushes and hide when we sin…God sought them out…NOTHING’S CHANGED!
YOU WILL WANT TO RUN FROM GOD…SEW SOME FIG-FASHION TOGETHER AND COVER-UP…BUT GOD IS ALWAYS IN PURSUIT OF US!
YOU MATTER!
HE IS NOT THROWN BY OUR FAILURE!
PSA 103:10-14
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
RUN TO GOD
• WALKING OUT TO THE CAR ONE SNOW DUSTY MORNING IN WI
• GUY AT DALLAS MALL IN 80’s (tall, good-looking African-American in an all white suit and wide brimmed white hat).
Don’t waste time…run to God.
2) Thought #2—SIMPLY CONFESS YOUR SIN
-you don’t have to feel sorrow yet
-you don’t have to make promises to do better
-just honestly and openly confess you did wrong!
1John 1:8-9
If we claim to be without sin [when we have sinned], we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Don’t try to justify what you have done or are doing…
Don’t try to punish yourself
Don’t try to do penance
Just confess the fact you have sinned and do it quickly.
Don’t spend one MINUTE in shame or guilt.
If your sin has involved another…ask forgiveness of them too.
If restitution is appropriate, do it (don’t steal $20 from me and ask me to forgive you unless you bring a 20 dollar bill w/you)
HERE IS where you do, what the old-timers called, PLEADING THE BLOOD.
Recognize that what Jesus did means more than what you can do.
And realize God is more faithful than you!
Matt. 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Another place, Jesus adds: “a day”
If God asks us to forgive this often…how much more often will he forgive us?
Think of your sin frequency…have you ever committed the same sin 77 times in one day?
3) THOUGHT #3 Recognize that God sins with FORGETFULNESS!
This is amazing…
BASICALLY WE MARK UP OUR LIVES WITH [ERASE A SLATE]:
Lies, we cheat, we’re mean, we’re nasty, we do evil things…and 1 JOHN 1:9…POW.
4) THOUGHT #4 [last one] WHEN you are free from guilt, fear, shame, and self-hatred for your failure (plead the blood), then turn to God and ask…”WHY DO I DO ALWAYS DO THAT?” ASK FOR WISDOM!
THIS IS WHERE YOU TELL GOD, YOU DON’T WANT TO BE BACK WHERE YOU WERE…
SIN DESTROYS STUFF
IT UN-GOODS THINGS
IT DOESN’T MAKE GOD HATE US, BUT IT DOES DESTROY OUR PURPOSE FOR BEING HERE ON THIS PLANET.
PROV 13:15 NEW LIFE VERSION
Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the sinful is hard.
Pray about THE TRIGGERS
-BOREDOM
-loneliness
-self-hatred
-misdirected passion
-external circumstances (rejection, delay, promotion)
Psa. 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Pray about what role the enemy plays
Pray about someone with whom you can be honest.
Pray about empty places (ACHES) inside and how God can help fill them.
STYROFOAM BALL
Realize a day will come when you really will be able to STRUGGLE WELL!
DEFINITION OF A SUCCESS/FAILURE—ONE MORE TIME!
THANK YOU, SARAH KELLY -- CDS
posted by salt tv at 6:25 PM
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