Make A Fresh Start
MAKE A FRESH START
TEXT: Isaiah 43:18-19 (NCV)
How many of you here would like to have a fresh start in life?”
Many of us here have made many mistakes before
We have experienced many setbacks and failures throughout our lives.
Sometimes we allow these mistakes, these setbacks and failures to enslave us.
In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Then he goes on to tell us that there is an adversary, called the Devil, that seeks to steal, kill and destroy that life.
The Devil will remind us of our past in order to keep us from enjoying the life that God gave us to live.
The good news is, God says, “I want you to have a fresh start in life, I want you to have a new beginning, I want to do something new in your life.”
This morning, I have good news for you. That is, according to Isaiah 43:18 “The Lord says, `Forget about what has happened before. Do not think about the past. Instead, look at the new things I’m going to do.”
Listen to what God is saying in this verse. Forget about what’s happened before.
He says don’t think about the past. It’s over.
We need to understand that God is far more interested in our future than He is in our past
That’s where you’re going to spend the rest of your life. He says, “Forget about your past. Forget about the former things. Don’t think about it. Look at the new thing I’m going to do.”
God wanted to give hope and encouragement to His people. He wanted them to know that even though they were being punished they had not being forsaken.
That is why God said; “I am going to do something new.
This morning I want to share with you,
HOW TO MAKE A FRESH START.
I want to share with you a formula for starting over with the word S.T.A.R.T. as an acronym.
I hope you’ll remember this and pass it along to friends when they have failures.
Regardless of the failure you’ve had in your life, here’s how you start over.
S – STOP MAKING EXCUSES.
If I want a fresh start in life, I have to stop making excuses for my failures.
I have got to stop blaming other people.
Other people can hurt you.
Other people can harm you.
Other people can scare you.
But the only person that can ruin your life is you.
Nobody can ruin your life without your permission.
Proverbs 28:13 “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them he gets another chance.”
That if we admit the mistake, if we admit our failures, and if we admit our sin, then we get another chance in life.
The Bible say’s (Proverbs 27:12) "A sensible man watches for problems and prepares to meet them but the fool never looks ahead and suffers the consequences."
Was it raining when Noah started building the ark? No. He had to prepare for the coming flood.
Proverbs 15:22-23 says “Plans fail without good advice.”
Get good advice from people you know you can trust.
If at first you don’t succeed, Try Again.
Very few people make it on the first try.
Very Often, we give up just when success is around the corner.
You’re never a failure until you give up.
Sometimes we give up too soon.
It’s always too soon to quit.
So "S" in START stands for Stop making excuses.
T - TAKE AN INVENTORY OF YOUR LIFE
You need to take an inventory of my life. That means you need to evaluate all your experiences.
Learn from your mistakes. Failure can be your friend or your foe.
You determine if failure will be your friend or foe by the way you react to it.
You can choose to learn from it or choose to repeat it.
There are different kinds of experiences that God uses to shape our lives.
He uses vocational and educational experiences to shape you.
He uses spiritual experiences to shape you, like coming to church, going on a retreat or reading your Bible, having a quiet time.
He uses painful experiences to shape you.
As you take inventory of your life in starting over, you need to ask yourself three questions.
What have I learned?
I know people 40, 50 years old but they don’t have 40 or 50 years of experience.
They’ve had the same year of experience. They’ve never learned anything.
What are my assets?
What do I have that I can get a fresh start with?
KFC - BIRTH & HISTORY (COL. SANDERS STORY)
Who can help me?
When we need a fresh start, we need somebody by our side – a friend, an accountability partner, a support person, or a support group. Find someone that can help you.
The Lord Jesus will be there, He will help you to pull your lives back together and make sure that you get started on the right foot.
A - ACT IN FAITH
This is the third step in getting a fresh start. Act in faith. You have to launch out into new territory. The Bible says that the key to changing anything is faith.
If you want to change anything in your life, you have to have some faith.
How do you get rid of fear of failure? Faith. That’s why the third step in starting over is Act in faith.
The Living Bible says, “Fear of man is a dangerous trap, but to trust in God means safety.
R – RE-FOCUS
I need to re-focus my thoughts if I want to change my life. 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.
Proverbs 4:23 "Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts."
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.
Romans 12:2 “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
NOTE: FAILURE IS A CHOICE.
If I have to refocus my thoughts to start over to get a fresh start. How do you do that?
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.
T – TRUST
Trust God to help us succeed.
Depend on Him.
We don’t need depend on ourselves.
We’ve already proven that we can’t do it on our own.
Some people just don’t get it.
They stumble and fall and then they get up and say,
“I’ll just try harder!”
You try it again and again and AGAIN. Harder and harder!
Zechariah 4:6 “You will not succeed by your own strength or power but by My Spirit, says the Lord.”
CONCLUSION:
How can you have a fresh start?
You can have a fresh start by:
· Stop making excuse
· Take an inventory of my life
· Act in faith
· Refocus my thoughts
· Trust God
This is the perfect time to give yourself a brand-new beginning.
You can do anything if you want to then you can say;
Ish. 25:8b
“And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it”.
This is the perfect time to give yourself a brand-new beginning.
You can do anything IF ONLY YOU WANT TO!
Will you have a fresh start in life?
Will you have a new beginning?
It’s your choice.
Bye Rev. K. O. Appianing
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