A sermon on rising after failure, using biblical passages to argue that hardship is inevitable but believers must learn from trials and move forward. Forgiveness protects your health, and dwelling on past pain blocks the future blessings God promises.
Chapters
On this subject called Never Give Up, and there's a couple of scriptures that I want to integrate into this topic. And the first one is the book of Proverbs chapter 24, verse 16, which says, a just man may falleth 7 times, that's right, but yet he will rise up again. And the second one is Galatians chapter 6, verse 9, which says, be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you will reap if you faint not. When we look at these particular scriptures that we read, Isaiah 42:8-9, Isaiah 43:18-19, there is something there that God is saying to us relative to the journey ahead, relative to our life's journey. And God says through the prophet Isaiah, and this is prophetic, that it's written here, God says, the former things are come to pass. In other words, he's saying that there are some things that have happened in your life, and I'm shifting you beyond those things. I don't want you to get hung up on what has transpired in your past. Amen. As long as you live in this world, you're gonna have some moments in your life where things are gonna happen, and they're unavoidable. It has nothing to do with whether you're saved, born again, filled with the Holy Spirit or not. It just has all to do with the fact that you're a living being. And as long as you live, there's going to be some things in your life that you're not happy about, that you're not pleased with. Some things that will frustrate you, upset you, and make you feel like at times quitting. There are some things that will happen in your relationships with people. Your marriages will go through turmoil. You'll have some difficult seasons. You'll have some difficult times in your parenting with your children. Sometimes your children may not want to talk to you or may want to disown you. Sometimes in your friendship, your friends may walk away from you and disenfranchise themselves from your relationship. Sometimes on the job, there would be problems. There would be people that falsely accuse you or may do things to try to develop a conspiracy against you. There will be problems in your life. There would be problems against your health. Yes. Sometimes you'll find yourself going through battles with sicknesses and diseases. And different attacks against your health. Sometimes you'll have that warfare in your mind where you're struggling emotionally, you're struggling mentally, and you're struggling psychologically, and you're finding yourself going through these different moments where your emotions are just totally discombobulated. You will have those moments in your life, and God is saying that when that happens, don't get hung up right there. Don't stop right there. Don't stay right there. People would die on you that you You love, but you cannot make your home the cemetery. That's right. You cannot make your residence the place where the dead lies. That's right. You cannot stop your life where someone left you. You cannot end your life where things fell apart. You have to be able to not only take your licks and keep on ticking, but you have to learn how to build the bridge and get over it. Amen. Because life— say this with me— life goes on. Come on, say it like you mean it. Life goes on. Look at somebody and tell them, life goes on. So God says the former things are come to pass. Sometimes when you're dealing with hardships and circumstances and situations, there are lessons to be learned. There are lessons to be learned. And when there are lessons to be learned, then it's time to let God teach you how to get past whatever lessons need to be learned. That's important. Selah. Selah. Think about what I just said. There are lessons to be learned. And when you're— when you have lessons that needs to be learned, you have to let God, you have to let the Holy Spirit, right, who is our teacher and our comforter, show you how to learn what lessons need to be learned, because you can't pass to the next grade, to the next level, to the next stage, to the next phase, to the next breakthrough, to the next blessing until you have learned the lesson and passed the test. Are you hearing me? Amen. But God says that the former things have come to pass and new things do I declare. He says, I want to declare, which means I want to decree, I want to pronounce I want to prophetically declare some new things in your life. What are new things? New doors, new people, new opportunities, new blessings, new favor, new breakthroughs. The prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah— in Lamentations 3:21-22, he says, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. His mercies, they are new every single moment. David wrote in Psalm 23 that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. God says, I want to do a new thing in your life. Psalm 66, verse 8— verse 19 says that he daily loadeth us with benefits. God says, I want to show you something today That you did not see yesterday. I want to give you something today that you did not have yesterday. But in order for you to embrace what's new, Paul wrote in Philippians 3, I must forget those things which are behind and reach forth for those things which are in front of me. Yes. I gotta press toward the mark of the prize. In other words, divorce your past. and marry your future. All right. Yeah, amen. Divorce your past and marry your future. Can you tell somebody that? Divorce your past and marry your future. Nobody wants to sit down at lunch and, and have that same conversation with you over and over and over and over again about how you went through a divorce and how someone left you and, and how your house got foreclosed on and your car got repoed and how you were sick 25 years ago and how they did you wrong 4 years ago. Nobody wants to keep hearing that out of you. Nobody wants to hear that every time we come together. Like, at some point you got to stop inviting people to your pity party, including yourself. Amen. And you got to rise up because the issue is that many of us, we, we, we become our biggest fan when it comes down to being victimized. And there are things that's going to happen to you. And in fact, not only did God not tell you that there won't be trouble in your life, but he did tell you that there would be trouble in your life. He did tell you that folk are going to hate you without a cause. He did tell you that you're going to be persecuted. He did tell you that there's going to be trouble on every side. He told you to prepare you so that when it happened, Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strange thing has happened unto you. Look at your neighbor and tell them, you're not the only one. You're not the only one. You're not the only one. You're not the only one going through something. Right. You're not the only one having to contend. Life itself is a fight. Life is a fight. Life is a fight. Life is a challenge. Life is a competitor. And every day you rise, life put his boxing glove on, and only the strong shall survive. That's right. And life will bite you. Life don't fight fair. Life will bite you in the top of your head. Life will spit on you. Life will hit you with a low blow, with an uppercut, knock you down, stomp on you, and leave you with a DOA sentence. And when life knocks you down, you gotta learn how to get back up and fight some more. Yeah. You got to learn how to take that lick and keep on ticking. You got to learn how to fight back. You got to learn how to rise. You got to learn how to overcome. You be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the armor and tell life to bring it on, because there's going to be times when things are going to happen. And I know if you're 15, 16, 19, 20, you can't relate to what I'm saying right now because you haven't lived long enough. But keep waking up in the morning and going to sleep. Keep rising. and then taking your rest. And one of these days you're gonna run into something that will make you feel like life is not fair. Amen. The wisdom of the old is that they learned how to fight back. They learned. And God says in the second passage that we read, Isaiah 43, remember ye not the Do not become mentally attached to the pain of your past. That's good advice. Somebody did you wrong, for your own sake, forgive them. Yeah. Because holding unforgiveness is like drinking poison expecting them to die from it. Having unforgiveness in your heart Builds a prison for you to live in while they go on and enjoy laughter and recreation. Having unforgiveness in your heart can lead to things like stress, heart attacks, strokes, and other physical ailments. Remember ye not The former things, neither consider the things of old. God says, "I want to do a new thing in your life."
