When You Fall or Fail Get Back Up!

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When You Fall or Fail Get Back Up!

When You Fall or Fail Get Back Up!

Sometimes we are our own biggest critic and condemner when fall short, fail, and or make mistakes. We may even have a tendency to give up and stay down once we’ve fallen. However God wants us to get back up and keep going. He’s not mad or angry. He’s not discouraged or disappointed. In fact, God is our biggest cheerleader!

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a (ESV)

“Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.” Psalm 56:9 (NIV)

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NIV)

“The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Psalm 118:6 (NLT)

“But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.” 2 Corinthians 7:6 (NLT)

I’ve mentioned before that Joe McGee often says, “We’re not the perfect people, we’re the getting back up people!”

“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

God cheers us on even more if we fall or fail

God is our Father, and he a good father, a good parent…even better than we could ever be.

“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:11 (NLT)

Subsequently which of us would kick or discourage a child when he’s down? That would be a pretty awful parent to do something like that, right? So why would we expect God to do something like that?

I recently heard someone say that if a child is running in a race but then falls in the middle of the race, the parent would never say, “You’re so stupid. How could you do that? What’s the point of even trying now? You might as well go ahead and give up.” That’s when a parent starts cheering even louder and encouraging them even more… “Get back up! You can do it! You’ve got this!”

That’s how God is. God cheers us on even more when we fall or fail.

It also reminds me of my son pitching at a baseball game. If he’s pitching well and throwing strikes but then starts throwing balls instead of strikes, that’s the time I start cheering him on a little more.

God won’t kick us when we’re down. If we mess up, sin, or fail in some way, he is cheering us on even more…”Don’t give up! You’ve got this! You can do it! You’re not alone—I’m right here with you!”

God won’t kick us when we’re down. If we mess up, sin, or fail in some way, he is cheering us on even more.

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A fall or fail is not the end or a death sentence

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Prayer for an Addict

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Prayer for an addict

Prayer for an Addict

Addiction is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. It’s unfortunately one that comes laced with shame, brokenness, and often a loss of hope. There’s collateral damage surrounding an addict, often to those closest to them.

Sadly, I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of addiction firsthand and have personally experienced some of the collateral damage. Not only do I teach at a women’s restoration home, where many of the residents are recovering addicts, but I also have a brother who is an addict. I’ve seen their lives ripped apart to the point of losing everything because of their addiction. It’s extremely hard to watch, and I often feel hopeless and helpless.

One hard and fast lesson that I’ve learned is that you can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves. Until they are ready, there’s not much one can do…EXCEPT for one extremely powerful thing: Pray. I’ve been reminded of this recently when seeking counsel about my brother. Prayer should never be underestimated because it is immensely powerful and has the capacity to produce wonderful results.

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b (NLT)

Therefore I should never feel hopeless or helpless because I have a powerful God that is far bigger than any addiction. I CAN help by appealing to my God and interceding on behalf of my brother or others captive to addiction. Today, I’ve written a Prayer for an Addict based off of scripture that I plan to pray over my brother and others struggling with addiction. My hope and prayer is that this will be a resource for others to use as well.

You can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves…BUT prayer is extremely powerful!

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Prayer for an Addict

Lord, Give _____ the desire and the ability (through Jesus) to do the right thing and to actually want to help himself/herself and to get better. Soften _____’s heart and help him/her to be tender and responsive to you and to the help, guidance, and counsel of others. Show _____ the way out when he/she is tempted. Help ____ to choose life. Surround _____ with godly friends and influences that will sharpen him/her. Hinder any ungodly influences and cause them to lose interest and depart. Protect _____ from any unsafe thing or person that would pursue him/her or that he/she would pursue. Send laborers across _____’s path to speak and show your truth and love to him/her. When _____ thinks about his/her failures and if he/she falls or relapses, help _____ know that he/she is loved and nothing he/she could ever do will ever separate him/her from that love. Finally, let _____ know that he/she still has a future and a purpose regardless of any past mistakes because you, Lord, can take ANYTHING and turn it around for good! I ask these things in Jesus’ name.

Prayer for an Addict

Scriptures this prayer was based upon:

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Funny Friday: My parents spanked me as a child

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My parents spanked me as a child...

Funny Friday: My parents spanked me as a child

My parents spanked me as a child. As a result I now suffer from a psychological condition known as “Respect for Others”. I saw this meme and had to share because it made me chuckle… a lot. 🙂 Happy Friday!

“Don’t fail to discipline your children. They won’t die if you spank them. Physical discipline may well save them from death.” Proverbs 23:13-14 (NLT)

Slow Growth

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Slow growth

Slow Growth

Well, it’s nearly springtime. I love the spring and planting season. It’s almost time to start thinking about my spring and summer garden. I absolutely LOVE gardening, and I’ve learned so many practical spiritual lessons from it. One such lesson is that of slow growth and gradual progress.

Like a plant, I should always be growing. Sometimes growth is slow and not as noticeable though. It’s often only detected in hindsight.

Consider a plant…

Most of the time, when I go out and look at my garden every day, I rarely notice a significant difference in size from one day to the next. It’s a slow growth that is unnoticeable without a time-lapse camera or video. However, if I look at the plant just every now and then and then think back to that same plant a month ago, I can definitely see a difference in size and growth. The same is true if I were to take a picture and then compare the plant to a month old (or more) picture of that same plant.

We usually can’t see the growth as it’s happening. It’s only in hindsight and retrospection that we can observe some of the progress.

We often can’t see growth as it’s happening–only in hindsight do we recognize progress.

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Consider kids growing…

I don’t notice my kids growing from day to day. I can look at them each and every morning and they look exactly the same to me. However, if a friend or family member who hasn’t seen them in a while sees them, they always comment on how much they’ve grown.

This past school year my son went up 4 sizes in clothes all in one year! We even had to buy him new baseball pants and cleats midseason because he outgrew the others just since the start of the season. He was quite obviously growing. I just didn’t notice it daily. It’s a slow growth process. Though my bank account might not have considered it too slow having to buy new clothes so often!

Spiritual slow growth

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How to Apologize Effectively

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How to Apologize Effectively

How to Apologize Effectively

Updated post (*originally published 8/5/14)

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)

I stumbled onto something pretty cool previously that I thought I’d share with you.  I think you’ll like it too!  It’s a free personal profile to discover your “apology language”.

I’m a HUGE fan of Dr. Gary Chapman, who is best known for his New York Times bestseller: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts and the series of books that go along with it.  A few years ago I was listening to one of the Focus on the Family podcasts, and Dr. Chapman was discussing the Five Love Languages and how there are also five languages of apology.  He’s co-authored a book with Dr. Jennifer Thomas titled When Sorry Isn’t Enough: Making Things Right with Those You Love in which they detail the study of apologies and how people give and receive them.

Listening to the podcast, I found this very intriguing because I’ve noticed myself sometimes having a hard time receiving somebody’s apology simply because of the delivery or because it didn’t feel genuine to me.  Dr. Chapman mentioned that “If you receive an apology that omits your apology language, chances are you won’t fully accept it or even recognize it as an apology.”  The goal of their book was to help people “learn the techniques to effectively recognize and deliver apologies and watch relationships thrive as a result”.

The five basic languages of apology are: Continue reading →

Funny Friday: If you’re having a bad day, look at these…

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If you're having a bad day, look at these pictures

Funny Friday: If you’re having a bad day, look at these…

I came across these funny pics and memes on Pinterest via 9gag (original link) for when you’re having a bad day. I thought I’d share them with you to make you smile too! Happy Friday!

“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this…” Ecclesiastes 7:14a (NIV)