I am willing to bet that every one of us, even those that are young, wish you could change something in the past one way or the other.
You got to that fork in the road, and you made the wrong turn.
You got in a heated exchange and said the wrong thing.
You put yourself in a compromised position and it ended up biting you.
You took the wrong job.
You deserted your true friends for fake friends.
You didn’t do this / you didn’t do that.
You chose drugs instead of your family.
You made an emotional financial decision that you regret. I bought the car and it turned out to be a banana.
You reacted instead of praying.
My point is, “In this life you have made mistakes” Guess what we all have.
Here is the problem. Many people are still living your mistake. Your past is still your future.
God’s people were never meant to carry the burdens of a mistake. One of the saddest things I have ever seen is going to a pet store and seeing an animal in a cage so small it can’t turn around.
I remember when I was little, I saw elephants with chains around their feet, inside a giant steel cage, and they couldn’t move.
I was a kid, a child, and that scared my mind. But it still reminds me of the way God’s people still act.
God never meant for you to carry that heavy load but you have to decide to lightened your load.
Listen to what God hath said:
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of[d] the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. EPH 4:17-24
You know what that says to me:
You’re a new creation. Why are living in the past? Why do you continue to live in your decision.
Listen we have made choices that has really put a hurting on us. We have made bad choices in our lifetime.
The thing about that is how do you fix the decisions you have made?
You want to just click your heels and back up. There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home. At the end of the Wizard of Oz, she clicked her heels and went back to the beginning.
I want you to get something out of this. We all have made bad decisions, you can choose to live in it or deal with it. I have been guilty of saying; you dug your whole now live in it. But even when we make a mistake, do you think that God wants us to be miserable. You tell me. How many of you have ever had a child make a wrong choice? Now depending on how bad that choice was, you may want to let that child deal with the consequences but no parent wants there child to suffer because of a bad choice. Listen you have a Father that feels the same way.
There have been so many times God has blessed me despite myself.
1) So you have made a bad choice- what now. Lord I messed up. Yes I know. CONFESS – if you would cry out to the Father as much as we are mopping around crying to our friends, our family, anybody who will listen, then we would find forgiveness, peace, and hope.
Lord, I wish I had listened about taking that Job.
Lord, I messed up when I accused my friend of something he didn’t do.
Lord, I shouldn’t have gotten that credit card.
Lord, I shouldn’t have bought that vehicle.
Lord, help me , help me , help me.
I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies. Pslam 18:1
In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Psalm 18:6
So you call upon the Lord.
2) Don’t stay in your bad decision - 13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13
Ok, you made a bad decision. Own it, it’s yours. You bought it, you did it, you said it. Now what? Now here is where people just don’t get it. You have a choice here. Listen, you can stay in your bad decision or you can do something about it. If you have sinned, the Bible states, your sins will not prosper, but when cry to God and decide you’re going to fix it, you will find mercy.
Lord, I know I shouldn’t have done what I did. I am going to turn it around.
Lord, I should not have bought that car, I am going to get a side job and turn this all around.
Lord, I should not have talked to my kids and friends that way.
STOP it, take charge, it’s your life, it doesn’t matter what anybody else sees or does, its your life, and see what is the best remedy to fix this problem.
3) Wrap your mind around everything God has said.
Not what everybody has said!
Not what you have said
Not the status quote.
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Jos 1:8
The Lord hath said, be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid.
Quit believing the lies of the devil. You got yourself into this so you deserve it. How many of you have said about your self?
Here’s the truth. Wasn’t Jesus that said, 5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having an ass[a] or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Luke 14:5
“If your ass fell in a whole would you leave him?” The answer is no, Jesus was talking about healing a man on the Sabbath. He was talking about someone who was hurting and in need.
Guess who’s the ass in your story, you are, we are. God’s not going to leave us there even though we act stupid. He will help you. Where’s your faith?
4) Ask the people you love for forgiveness?
It’s ok, they know you made a stupid decision. Your family has already forgiven you , they are just waiting to see how far you are going to take stupid, they are waiting to see how long your ass is going to be in that whole.
Your friends, that know you (well), they know you are stupid sometimes, they love you anyway. So own your choice, and tell everybody you effected, you are sorry. They already know.
5) Help yourself by setting boundries – I don’t know if you saw my facebook. I had dinner with my baby girl and my baby boy last night. While at dinner , I asked my daughter a question:
So here's dinner with my daughter tonight:
Dad: did you eat daddy's grapes Hannah
Hannah : yep you have other stuff you can eat
Dad : no I can't Hannah , I can't eat ice cream and stuff like that anymore
Hannah : well if I had diabetes I would eat whatever I wanted
Dad : Hannah you can't do that it will kill you
Hannah : oh well I love "chocolate"
Some choices in life are fatal.
Proverbs 27:11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may answer him who reproaches me.
Maybe if I determine already I wasn’t going to put myself in a bad situation I would not be in one. Maybe if I wasn’t walking in the dark, I wouldn’t have fallen in that whole. Maybe If I know my limits, I want make a bad decision.
6) Surround Your Self with Godly people – The problem sometimes is we have encouragement to make the wrong choice.
(Watch This – price is right)
Maybe the reason you keep falling into trouble is because your so called friends are leading you there. When you have Godly people around you vs people who have no desire to live for God, you are going to make a bad decision. Surround yourself with like-minded people.
33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Cor 15:33
7) Make the Right Decision but Fixing the Bad Decision –
Proverbs 21: A wicked man hardens his face,
But as for the upright, he establishes[f] his way.
30 There is no wisdom or understanding
Or counsel against the LORD.
31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the LORD.
A man’s heart plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
You must formulate a plan to fix your bad decision!
No matter how bad it is, there’s always a way to get out of the circumstances you put yourself in.
Circumstances don’t make a man, a man makes his circumstances – Jimmy Shipley
The choices are yours, you have been given them all.
You may email me at = Travis@shipleyteam and I will send you the opening Video I used and the pictures.
