ISAIAH 43:18-19 “STARTING OVER – PART 2”
A) God is saying to all of us who have failed, “It’s not over, I have plans for your life – I am
about to do something new for you!”
* It’s like God is giving us a “starting over” button to push and starting our lives fresh and new.
B) I’m sharing with you a formula for starting over ... Anagram – S.T.A.R.T.
* I gave you the first two letters earlier .......
(1) S – STOP MAKING EXCUSES!
A) If I want a fresh start in life, I have to stop making excuses for my failures!
* Quit playing the blame game because most of my failures are my own fault.
* I know it’s hard to admit that we’ve made a mistake and blew it, but we’re a lot better off
when we do admit it – Prov. 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but .......”
(2) T – TAKE AN INVENTORY OF MY LIFE!
A) That means I need to evaluate all my experiences and learn from my mistakes!
* Experience is the greatest teacher, and when we learn from past mistakes and failures, it helps
us sometimes in not making those same mistakes again. (Notice I said sometimes)
B) There is one that we can count on to be there to help us to get a fresh start in life – Jesus!
* And He will help us to pull our lives back together and make sure that we get started out on
the right foot.
(3) A – ACT IN FAITH! * This is the third step in getting a fresh start ... Act in faith.
A) You have to launch out into new territory because the key to changing anything is faith!
* If you want to change your circumstance, it takes faith – If you want to change your personality,
it takes faith – If you want to change anything in your life, you have to have some faith.
B) Jesus says this in Matt. 9:29 “According to your faith be it unto you.”
* That is a very simple statement but it’s very powerful – “According to your faith be it unto you.”
* That means we tend to get out of life what we expect.
* “According to your faith be it unto you.”
C) What are you expecting in life? ... Are things going to be better or worse?
* Are they going to be the same? ... If you act in faith, then you will do something positive to
ensure that you don’t repeat the same mistakes over.
D) The faith that I am talking about is not a dead “hope-so” faith!
* It is an affirmative faith that takes positive action coupled with the help of God to change your
life.
TURN TO Acts 3:1-5 FOR A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT I’M SAYING
A) This man asked for something and expected to get it, but in reality he got more than he
expected!
* The point that I want to make is this lame man acted in faith and was greatly rewarded.
* Many times we ask for something, and expect to get nothing, and we get exactly what we
expected ... NOTHING.
B) In order to start acting in faith that means you’ve got to stop having a pity party!
* You’ve got to stop feeling sorry for yourself – “Poor me – I’m such a victim – Life is unfair.”
* Of course life is unfair ... Whoever said it was fair? ... God never said that.
C) This is a world filled with sin, and because of that, life is unfair!
* But you have to go on with life anyway ... Stop having a pity party and stop rehearsing the past,
regretting the past, and you get on with the present and the future.
D) The more time we spend regretting our past, the more of our future is wasted!
* The more time you spend thinking, “I wish that hadn’t happened ... I wish I could change that.”
* “If only I could go back, reverse the clock and redo history,”
* And you’re rehearsing and regretting, you’ll not only make yourself miserable right now, you’re
setting yourself up for more of the same thing in the future.
E) The way you set yourself up for more failure is by focusing on past failures!
* Whatever you focus on, you tend to reproduce in your life.
* “According to your faith be it unto you.”
F) What you need to do is learn from those failures!
* Let me give you the real secret of success ... Every successful person knows this .......
* Real success is built on failure ... Failure is the way you become a success because you figure
out what doesn’t work.
G) When Edison figured out on the 200th or so time what would make a light bulb stay lit, he
did that because he knew 199 ways that didn’t work!
* You never call it a failure in your life ... Call it an education.
* You learn from past failures and mistakes and act in faith for the future.
H) Some people will never act in faith because they have been paralyzed by the fear of past
failures and mistakes!
* What we need to do is learn from the past, act in faith for the future, and look to God for
guidance.
I) How do you get rid of fear of failure? ... FAITH!
* That’s why the third step in starting over is “act in faith.”
* Faith is not so much the absence of fear, as it is moving ahead in spite of your fear.
J) Sometimes faith is doing the thing you fear the most!
* Stop worrying about what others say or think – Prov. 29:25 “The fear of man bringeth a snare:
but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”
* In other words, “The fear of man is a dangerous trap, but to trust in God means safety.”
(4) R – REFOCUS! * I need to refocus my thoughts if I want to change my life.
A) If I want to get going again, if I want a fresh start, I need to rethink the way that I think!
* I need to change my mind about a number of issues.
* Prov. 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
* Prov. 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”
B) The way you think, determines the way you feel ... And the way you feel determines the way
you act!
* If you want to change your actions, just change the way you think and it will inevitably change
the way you act.
* If you are depressed, discouraged and distressed it may be because you’re thinking depressed,
discouraged and distressing thoughts – That’s your choice.
C) You don’t have to think those thoughts!
* If you’re acting in fearful, worried ways, it’s because you’re thinking fearful, worried thoughts.
* Rom. 12:2a “But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
D) If I have to refocus my thoughts to start over, to get a fresh start, that means I have to stop
thinking some old patterns!
* Which memories are you still rehearsing that keep you from having a fresh start in life?
* The Bible says let go ... Let go of those things.
E) The more you hold on to that memory, the more you rehearse it, it continues to hurt you
today ... Remember, it cannot hurt you without your permission!
* You have to change your mind and let go and get rid of those painful, hurtful memories of
shame and guilt and other things.
F) How do you do that?
* By confession ... You say, “I’ve confessed to God but I still feel guilty ... How do I get rid of
a painful memory?”
* Not by resisting it, but by replacing it ... Not saying, “I’m not going to think about it.”
* What are you doing the whole time? ... Thinking about it.
G) Stop focusing on what you don’t want and start focusing on what you do want!
* Get your attention onto something else ... Refocus.
* Replace those memories by, every time they come up, start thinking about something else.
* Focus on something else.
WHAT’S THE BEST THING TO FOCUS ON?
A) God’s word ... Look at Psa. 1:1-3 .......
* These verses teaches us “Happy are those who are always meditating on God’s word.”
* “They’re like trees along a river that do not dry up ... They succeed in everything they do.”
B) Those are the two things that everybody wants in life!
* We all want to be happy and we all want to succeed.
* The antidote, the answer, the way we get those is the phrase right in the middle, “meditating on
God’s word.” ... That’s the answer to the other two – Happiness and Success.
C) The more you meditate on God’s word, the happier and more successful you’ll be in your
Christian life ... It’s a promise from God!
* Meditating on God’s word simply means rehearsing God’s word in our minds.
* It’s interesting that the Bible does not say, “If you read this Book, you’ll be happy and
successful.”
* It does not say, “If you listen to this book, like through a sermon, you’ll be happy and
successful.” ... It says, “If you meditate on it, you’ll be happy and successful.”
D) In meditating, it means, I think on it over and over and what it means in my life!
* As we fill our mind with God’s word, it begins to change our mind.
* We stop seeing ourselves as other people see us, or as we have seen ourselves, and we begin to
see ourselves as God does.
* That’s where the change takes place ... That’s the power to start over.
(5) T – TRUST! * Trust God to help us succeed ... Depend on Him.
A) We don’t need to depend on ourselves ... We’ve already proven that we can’t do it on our
own ... That’s why we’ve failed!
* Some people just don’t get it – They stumble and fall and then they get up and say, “I’ll just
try harder.”
B) It’s like you go up to a wall and bang your head against it, and the wall doesn’t fall down!
* You try it again and “Bang!” ... Again, you keep doing it thinking, “Maybe it will fall over
this time.”
* That’s the definition of insanity ... Doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting
different results.
* If we keep doing the same thing, then we will keep getting the same result.
C) We can’t change who we are, only God can do that!
* I’m not speaking about the outward man but the inner man.
* The real person is the hidden person of the heart.
D) Success in the Christian life is not trying harder, but living smarter, and giving God control
of my life!
* Zech. 4:6 “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. ”
E) When someone becomes a Christian, they become a brand new person inside!
* He is not the same anymore ... A new life has begun.
F) God specializes in new beginnings ... Jesus Christ has the power to do that!
* It’s called being born again, the chance to start over.
* We can have a fresh start with a new life as we begin this New Year.
* God says, “I don’t want you to turn over a new leaf, I’m going to give you a whole new life.”
CONCLUSION:
A) Will you have a fresh start in life? ... Will you have a new beginning? ... It’s your choice!
* How can I have a fresh start? ... I can have a fresh start by pushing God’s “starting over”
button and .......
B) Stop Making Excuses ... Take An Inventory Of My Life ... Act In Faith .......
* Refocus My Thoughts ... And Trust God.
