Take the Risk and Try Again
Nobody wants to fail & God didn’t create you to fail.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2Tim. 1;9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began
Colossians 2:10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
When you experience failure or abuse or have been full of worry, often the last thing you want to do is to take a risk, embrace change, or try again.
Those however, are the very things you need to do & must do if you are truly to live an authentic life from the inside out.
You were not created for fear.
You were not created to be shackled by negative emotions or memories.
You were created to live out a bold, dynamic, creative life filled with expressions of love & joy.
There are something’s or steps you can do to bolster your courage.
Quit Dwelling on Past Failures
Faults & failures are a part of life; accept that fact.
When you fail, pick yourself up & chose to move forward.
You only really fail when you refuse to get up.
Recognized that others around you have faults & have failed also;
Don’t get stuck in those moments, either in your failures or theirs.
We all fall short of the glorious potential God has placed inside us.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Recognized your mistakes, take responsibilities for them, & chose to pursue greater excellence.
Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Failure is part of life’s learning process.
God created that process, & He intends for you to learn from your failures so that your life continually moves in an upward pattern.
God never calls you a failure when you fall.
God never rejects you when you fall; instead He reaches out with great Love.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 32:7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
Don’t dwell in your past, aim for your future.
Isaiah 43:18 Give no thought to the things which are past; let the early times go out of your minds.
Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing; now it is starting; will you not take note of it?
Identify The Risk Worth Taking
The risk of trying again involves brushing yourself off after unsuccessful attempt & actually doing something that pushes you toward your future.
Don’t just think about trying again; don’t just talk about it; Take Action!
Learn what you can from your failure & apply what you learn to a new, fresh start.
Let’s look at Peter failure; we’ll call this the award winning failure trophy.
Peter failed Jesus and failed Him miserably.
Luke 22:33 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."
Luke 22:34 Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."
Luke22:54 having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance.
Following Jesus at a distance means not walking close to Him, not standing and being identified with Him.
A man who follows at a distance is not focusing on Christ.
His mind and life are not fixed upon the Lord. His commitment is weak; therefore, he is easily...
• distracted by the world and drawn into its ways.
Luke 22:55 Some men had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard. As they sat together, Peter sat among them.
Peter "sat down among" the crowd, the crowd which represented the world of rejecters.
Do not sit among rejecters of your destiny.
Do not sit with the crowd who are trying to kill your purpose, dream, and hope.
Luke 22:57 but he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."
Peter got infected with the same spirit that this crowd was operating with.
Luke 22:58 and after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"
Peter definitely denied that he was a disciple, a follower of Jesus: "I am not!"
Peter was falling (progressing) more and more into sin.
He was denying Jesus because he was standing among the Lord’s rejecters.
Luke 22:59-60… "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
This is the denial that claims ignorance, "I do not know what you are talking about; I know absolutely nothing about the matter."
Matthew and Mark say Peter began to curse and swear, denying any knowledge whatsoever about Jesus.
His emotions just burst forth in cursing and swearing, a forceful denial:
"I do not know not what you are talking about."
Note that this denial occurred about one hour after the last one.
Peter’s failure was a deteriorating failure.
1. At first, he pretended not to know Jesus.
2. Then he fell even farther. He insistently denied being a disciple.
3. Now, he claimed total ignorance of all.
He cursed and swore that he knew absolutely nothing about Jesus.
This is the point: Peter stayed in the crowd, still stood around the rejecters of Jesus—even after they had led him to deny Jesus twice.
He was trying to be one of the crowds, when he should have been off praying and seeking to understand the ways of God.
Luke 22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him,
"Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
Apparently while the rooster was crowing, the Lord, standing in the chamber of the palace, turned around and caught the eye of Peter.
And Peter, eye to eye with the Lord, remembered the words the Lord had spoken to him:
Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you…"But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
In the midst of all His own pain and suffering, the Lord’s look told Peter that His Lord had not forgotten him.
The Lord still loved and cared for Him and wanted his loyalty and service.
Jesus had prayed for Peter, and the power of that prayer was now moving in Peter’s heart and life.
Peter now remembered His Lord’s word and that word began to take effect.
Luke 22:62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Peter left as fast as he could from the courtyard through the gate out into the night to get alone at last with God.
He was broken, full of anguish & pain for having failed his Lord:
He "wept bitterly."
Psalms 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
1John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Even though Peter deny the Lord 3-times God still had purpose for him.
You must believe that God is greater than any sin, failure, disappointment, rejection, you go through.
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
Acts 2:37-38
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Go forward in your life w/ thanksgiving that you are still alive to see a new day.
Those things that should have destroyed haven’t.
Those things that should have killed you didn’t.
Those things that should have made you weaker have actually made you stronger, because you survived them.
