Are you having a bad day? (part two)

In part two we will deal with dealing with defeat. A lost battle. A bad day.

That is really the bottom line to what I am speaking today. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH DEFEAT?

In my book, “A Warrior’s Heart” that I wrote as encouragement and motivation for athletes, I had the following entry:

We need to learn how to miss our free throws. Not from a technical aspect… but rather, the reaction to the reality that you DO miss, you HAVE missed, and you WILL miss again in the future. It’s not THAT you missed your shot, but HOW you missed it… With what emotion do you treat a missed free throw… a missed shot… a missed opportunity? With anger or understanding? Swearing or silent contemplation? Depression or determination? And remember… Your next shot may be determined by which emotion you choose… and so it is with life.

It is the footsteps you take after the crisis hits. And you can’t leave footprints to victory as your legacy when you are lying down. You need to get up and walk. BACK to the lover of your soul.

Peter. Judas. Both were disciples, appointed by the Father, called to greatness. Here are some of the things these men BOTH did:

Mar 6:7 And he called unto him the 12, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

Mar 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

Mar 6:13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

Peter. Judas. They both had the power of the Holy Spirit upon them. They both were preachers – leading people to Christ and to repentance. They preached REPENTENCE. They delivered those in bondage and healed the sick. They bound up the hearts of those who were broken.

And these two great men. Both of them. Went to the crusades at Jerusalem… The battle of the Passion. Both of them were wounded and knocked down in the battle. Only one survived. How?

It deals here with relationship. Peter had been the one who was broken in prayer, had transcended the realm of earth and had sat at the feet of His heavenly father. He had Jesus revealed to him.

Judas, on the other hand, had a religious relationship with the church leaders. He sat at the feet of the Pharisees and listened as they revealed Jesus to him. If you only know Jesus by what people or pastors or religious leaders tell you – that is not a revealing and you will have no confidence in the Spirit when the crisis hits. And trust me… YOUR CRISIS WILL HIT HARD.

Peter sinned. He went back to His revealer. He learned how to go the Father before the fall and thus… during the crisis – he knew His way back home. Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Judas sinned. He went back to his revealers. He repented to them. They could NOT nor would NOT grant him absolution. He could not find his way back home in the crisis because he had never been there. If you look at the phrase “repented himself” the word there translates out to “a less intimate repenting.” It could not come from his heart because his heart had not been broken. It could not come from his heart… because his heart was selfish. Selfish spirits of self-condemnation, self-pity and self-serving suicide. The ultimate destruction… he hung himself and gave away any chance for God to continue to call him to greatness. He threw away his calling. He threw away a chance for salvation. He made it very clear that he aligned his heart with Satan who screams out to God… “I hate you. I hate your gifts. I hate your gift of LIFE. I HATE YOU.”

Mat 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Mat 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? see thou to that. Mat 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Sin is evidence of a lost battle. Regression is evidence of condemnation. Condemnation is evidence of a faulty or flawed relationship with your Heavenly Father. We are again wise to look at Judges 20 and the battles lost by the children of Israel to reveal to them their true heart. When they lost in the same battle twice, they did not give up. They moved closer to the heart of God. Now… you do you just sit back and continue to live in sin? That is foolishness, and if you are reading that into this message, you need to adjust your focus. We Battle. If we lose “hamburger hill” 20 times… we go the 21 ^st time… and we fight again. Until we have the victory.

And finally… two thoughts written by John the beloved. Once as he quoted Jesus and the second as he continued in God’s love:

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart,

and knows all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart (does not have the power to condemn us),

then have we confidence toward God.

1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1Jn 3:24 And he that keeps his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

I am going to draw this all together with the same conclusion that Solomon gave us back in Ecclesiastes:

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Get up. Arise. Shine. Your light is come. Battles will be won and battles will be lost in the days ahead… your response, your reaction and your resolve will determine your next steps. The life you save may be your own.