“STARTING OVER - AGAIN”
By Pastor Mark Taylor
“To him that overcomes, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God”
Revelation 1: 7
There are prayers you have not prayed that God wants to answer for you. There are things that God wants you to accomplish in your life time that He has given you the abilities to accomplish that are not accomplished yet. God wants you to accomplish those personal goals you have set for yourself. You have the ability to have a positive direct influence on your children, your grand children, and many other people. You will be one of the people who encourage or discouraged them from being successful in their lives.
Each of you have a destiny that God wants you to fulfill in your life. A successful life is not about making the most money at a job or in a career that you are unhappy working in. It is about using your gifts and abilities that God has given you. “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). God does not take back the gifts He has given or forget the people He has chosen.
I would encourage you not to take the attitude that you are going to live your life the way you want to, and catch up later. Talk to those who have done that, and see if they are proud of their past. Talk to those who have followed that philosophy and see if they have experienced the law of reaping and sowing. If you choose that path, you will “grieve the Holy Spirit” and you may never catch up. It is not you who chooses to serve God, but it is God who chooses you. When He calls you and gives you power to serve Him, then you need to yield to His loving call.
Jesus reminds us: “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you” (John 15:16).
It is time for you to “start over - again”.
It is very important that you become an overcomer rather than a victim. God wants to give you a second and third and many more chances to please Him. He has the power to get you through the difficult times you are going through. This is about His power, not about your strength. “I can do all things through Him which gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13). It is not time to give up or quit. It is time to get closer to the Power source and that is in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord is saying “Let you and I work together and overcome this difficulty you are going through. Let us be partners in accomplishing great things for our Heavenly Father.”
When things are going good for you don’t forget the goodness of God. Don’t walk away from the God who loves you. God has feelings just like you. The Lord Jesus says “Follow Me”. If you are not with God it is not because He has left you, you are not following Him. God is moving forward and wants you to walk with Him.
God will forgive you of your past failures. Jesus wants you to know that your past can be forgiven and forgotten and you can catch up: “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
God is not a tyrant who is trying to motive you by fear. He is trying to motive you by love and promises of a happy life now and a great future with Him in Heaven.
Listen to what Jesus tells us about God’s response to us when we want to catch up. This is the conclusion of the story of a son who fell behind and needed to "start over - again". We know it as the story of the “Prodigal Son”. “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf here and kill it. And let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry” (Luke 15:20-24).
God does not keep records of your failures. He forgives you of your past. Each day with the Lord is a new day. “His mercies are new each day.” Every day we fail we can start again. When we make mistakes we ask each other for another chance. God has given you another chance to “start over - again”.
“To him that overcomes, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God”
Revelation 1: 7
There are many incentives for you to be an overcomer. You have a friend that can and wants to help you to have a happy and fulfilled life while you are on this earth and then He wants to spend eternity with you when He calls you home to Heaven.
This world is not all that God has prepared for you. If you become an “overcomer” and continue to “start over” there are many promises that are waiting for you. “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe me also. In My Father’s house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). If man can entertain you with amusement parks and video productions, God will be able to keep you busy and excited in your new life with Him and all of your loved ones who are already with Him.
It is worth “starting over - again”.
