Starting Over - Part 2

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