A Winner and Learning Humbly

I just drew the winner of my 300th post giveaway! The winner of "Same Kind of Different as Me" is:

Becca!!

Congrats, Becca! I hope you like the book as much as I did!

Yesterday at church, we wrapped up our series on "One Month to Live" and this week we talked about learning humbly. We talked about how we learn from our losses. The power of God comes when you're powerless. "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9

We talked about the life of Peter and how even though he disowned Jesus three times, Jesus did not disown him. God is a god of second chances. He will never waste a hurt and will use those hurts to teach us. We have to take responsibility for our failures, instead of playing the blame game like society has been taught to do these days. The bottom is often the place of new beginnings. "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." Prov 28:13

We have to learn to let go of guilt when we make mistakes. The last thing Peter said to Jesus before he died was "not me", meaning that he wouldn't be the one to disown him. Then he went on to disown him three times. He probably felt huge regret for that being the last words he spoke to the Lord. Still, in Mark 16:7, it says, "But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee." Peter was still included, even after what he had done. Guilt will blind us of the future that the Lord has planned for us. We have to surrender to God's strength and remember that Jesus' blood paid for our mistakes. Reminders of guilt do not come from God!

Surrendering to God's strength means that if you want to follow Jesus, you must die to your plans and desires. It's not about what we can do, it's about what's already been done. As our Pastor was talking about this, he mentioned how today's society is all about self-help. Self-help is all the rage......it's all about what we can do for ourselves. Self-help says look within yourself and you'll find the answers. Oprah, Dr. Phil, they all say this is the key. But the reality is God says don't look within yourself because you won't find the answers there. We have to look to God for those answers. When my Pastor said this, it's like a light bulb went off! I realized that is why it took me so long to recover from losing my Mom. For a long time, I would watch all these talk shows about how you get over loss or anxiety. I must've read a million books and articles on how other people recovered from these things. But it wasn't until I cried out to the Lord for help that everything began to change. It's amazing how people can spend so many years searching for something, anything to fill the void, to make them feel better, to ease their pain, and the answer is just so simple............the Lord patiently waits for us to finally realize that He is the answer.

When you fall on your knees, that's the new beginning. We have to pursue God's path. It begins with the call (God's plan and purpose), then usually you'll run into a wall (things will happen and we'll begin to doubt), and then comes the fall, when you have a choice to either fall on your face or fall on your knees. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm." Ps 20:7-8