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Failure

Mark Batterson: “We Live In A Culture That Idolizes Success And Demonizes Failure”

by Le-Jovale Vallejo October 12, 2023

written by Le-Jovale Vallejo

Mark Batterson preached a hard truth during one of TBN’s episodes. But at the end of the video, he shared some encouragement for everyone.

God’s Grace In Failure

Have you ever asked yourself, “Does God allow us to fail? And if so, why?” It may be a goal that wasn’t reached, a job application that was rejected, or a project that didn’t succeed. Or it may be a bad habit that, for some reason, you couldn’t stop doing. And if we speak in spiritual terms, it may be “the sin which so easily ensnares us.”

Time and again in the Bible, we read stories about the forerunners of faith who failed in their walk with God.

Moses committed murder. David committed adultery. Peter denied Jesus. Paul persecuted Christians. These men of faith were used mightily in spreading the Good News.

But in the beginning, and even in the middle of their walk with God, they failed.

Mark Batterson Talks About Failure

So, what does God say about failure?

Mark Batterson, the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, shared his thoughts about failing.

“We live in a culture that idolizes success and demonizes failure. But in God’s kingdom, the outcome isn’t the issue. Success isn’t winning or losing; it’s obeying. It’s honoring God, whether you’re in the red or the black. In God’s book, success is spelled stewardship. It’s making the most of the time, talent, and treasure that God has given you. It’s doing everything for the glory of God, whether you see the results in this lifetime or not,” he said.

JIM CAVIEZEL: “IN GOD’S HALL OF FAME, BY JUST BELIEVING IN HIS SON, FOREVER THERE’S YOUR NAME”

Furthermore, he said that the internal influence should carry more weight than external ones.

“The key to pursuing your dream is doing it for intrinsic reasons. In other words, it can’t be about fame or fortune. The will of God is not wealth, health, and prosperity. The will of God is the glory of God,” he said.

Verses In Overcoming Failure

These Bible verses about failure can comfort us in knowing God is there with us during the hard times as well as the good times:

Proverbs 24:16 (NIV)

“for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”

Psalm 40:2-3 (NIV)

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

Joshua 23:14 (NIV)

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

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Reference | TBN

Header image: Matt Batterson [tbn]. Instagram, 8 October 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGmX4yuwzx/

October 12, 2023 0 comments

Faith

A Whale Of A Dilemma

by Corine Channell July 4, 2021

written by Corine Channell

You think you’re having the worst day ever!? Sometimes THAT is an understatement and yes, it truly could be the worst day ever. Been there, done that. But sometimes we measure bad days by the sum total of how many ducks got knocked off our rows. Maybe we broke our favorite coffee pot, or lost our keys and it made us late for work, or we drove straight into whiteout conditions, or a recipe called for 3 eggs and we only had one…and on and on and on that scenario could go in a day, and BAM – sum total = bad day. I think a REALLY bad day would be seeing a giant whale, like Jonah did, headed straight for you with its mouth open, and you realize you are his meal. And THEN you find yourself STILL alive in his belly. Now THAT is the sum total of a bad day.

A Very Fishy Story

You have heard of this guy. Jonah. Let’s go back to the beginning of Jonah’s day – before it went all wrong and straight to the depths of the ocean. His bad day was his own fault. I think THAT is the worst – when you know that whatever consequence you are going through, did NOT have to happen to begin with. Oh, the shame and regret.

God asked Jonah to do something he did NOT want to do (go preach to the wicked people of Ninevah), so he ran to hide. I see myself in this. I ran to hide a time or two (thankfully, I didn’t have to get swallowed up by a whale to get my full attention). Jonah jumped aboard a ship to hide from God. Logically, pretty sure you can NOT actually hide from God, but – he tried.

Fast forward – a fierce storm came upon the boat and its crew, and Jonah the stowaway. Hoping to stop the wind and the waves, they all prayed to their own gods with no avail. Then they threw cargo overboard to lighten the ship, and finally cast lots to see who was responsible for the wrath of the gods. The lot fell on Jonah and they asked him who he was – where did he come from – who were his people – what was his country? He answered and said, “I’m a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven; pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” (Jonah 1:9-12)

I admit it – it was me!

I think we should note something RIGHT here – His admission of his own mistake, and NOT blaming it on anyone else – and being willing to face the consequences of his actions. Before God can even begin to rearrange or fix our mistakes and failures, we need to own them! This then releases a way for change to come. Jonah’s change came in the form of a whale. I am sure Jonah just figured he’d drown when they threw him overboard, and he obviously felt he deserved that fate.

Enter – the whale. (Cue the “Jaws” soundtrack).

I don’t know about you, but this is the most horrifying, yet amazing way of escape I have ever heard in order to save a man’s life and his purpose. “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17)I guess if God wants to get your attention He would hand select the very thing that would most likely get your attention and turn you around to go in the right direction. I mean, parents know exactly what works for each of their kids. My guess is Jonah was REALLY bull-headed and really needed a whale of a smack upside the head. Or in his case, his WHOLE body.

So just for a minute – put yourself in his place. You may or may not have been completely clear about the fact that a whale swallowed you up until you woke up in his belly. Or did you still NOT know? You have no flashlight to take an assessment of your current surroundings. You just know it’s incredibly dark and that you are still alive (like the walking dead) and that it’s unbearably hot and it stinks (whale breath must be putrid)! And you are 100% convinced there is NO escape from this realm of the dead – and worse than ALL that? You know everything happening to you was your own fault!

I have had some moments in my own life of realizing things (decisions, choices) that were my own failures and feeling utterly consumed by my own shame and guilt. Jonah felt the same. And so he did what I have done in those times. Prayed to God. Period. Desperate loud pleading prayers! When all seems hopeless and over, we cry to the Lord in our distress. We cry for HELP. I am not too proud to beg for God’s help. Nor was Jonah. He dared to ask God if He was somewhere, anywhere – listening, if He would rescue him.

God Our Rescuer

I love this. Jonah was in the belly of a whale, somewhere out in the depths of the ocean. No one could help him. He couldn’t help himself. But here comes that BUT GOD moment. In our darkest, most foul moments, even if it is our own fault – our own mess – our own failure – our own shame – our own regret – IF we admit our fault, own it, and ask God for His help, He will deliver us.
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help.” (Jonah 2:1)

No matter what; no matter how far down or far gone you think (or know) that you are, you are NOT too far from the grace and mercy of God. Call on Him like Jonah did. Did Jonah actually know for sure that whale would puke him up on the shore line? Nope. He did not. Did it even look possible? Probably didn’t actually cross his mind. I am sure he really just felt hopeless. Yet, he still called on God. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You Lord.” (Jonah 2:7)

The whale puked up Jonah. After 3 days and 3 nights of desperate praying and crying and screaming and being barely able to breathe, God delivered Jonah. Okay Jonah, NOW let’s pick up where you left off. Let’s get it right this time. Second chance. If you read more about the life of Jonah, yes – he DID go back and preach his original message to the people of Ninevah. But he still didn’t have a great attitude – even after his whale of a detour. Humanity is really bull-headed. And yet, God is really merciful.

Despite our worst failure, God can redeem us. No matter our vilest sin, God can forgive us. Whatever ugly mess that stains our conscience or the backdrop of our life, God can turn it into a whale of a beautiful message.

___

Failing Forward

by Renee Evans January 13, 2020

written by Renee Evans

In 1978, in Wilmington, North Carolina a 5’10” kid was cut from his high school varsity basketball team. He went home locked himself in his room and cried. He picked himself up and joined the Junior Varsity team. That year he grew 4 inches, put up multiple 40 point games and attracted crowds that were unprecedented for junior varsity games. He went on to play in the NBA, 6 Championships and 5 MVPs later, Michael Jordan became arguably the greatest basketball player of all time.

He said this, “I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Failure Isn’t Failing

Sometimes success looks like failing. On the road to success there will more times than not be failure, but it’s what we do when we fail that determines if ultimately we will succeed.

We can not let the fear of failure stop us from pursuing the call of God on our lives and the dreams that he has placed in our hearts. See in order to step out and pursue there is an element of risk that we must take, but taking risks in the kingdom doesn’t have to be daunting or overwhelming because we know that if we fall we have a good, good Father that is there to catch us!

Learning To Trust God

We must learn to trust God in every area of our lives and lean upon Him and not our own understanding. Risks are easy to take when you fully trust the outcome to God. Risk and trust go hand in hand.

Proverbs 24:16 The Passion Translation – “For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, But they will continue to rise over and over again. But the unrighteous are brought down by just one calamity, And will never be able to rise again.”

It even states in the Word that if we love God then if we stumble we will continue rise over and over again. In the same vain it says it is the unrighteous who when they stumble do not rise again. We can have hope that as lovers of God He will give us strength to rise time and time again if we fail.

Fear Of Failure Will Never Overcome The Disappointment Of Regret

Failure is meant to propel us forward through lessons learnt, not become our destination. We need to learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves back up and try again. God will give us wisdom in the process and encouragement for the journey. He never intended for failure to be a place where we set up camp and live.

I love this quote from Elbert Hubbard, “There is no failing except not trying.”

I want to encourage you to step out and move toward the calling of God on your life. Go after the dreams that He has placed in your hearts. Let us trust in our Heavenly Father as we continue to take ground for His Kingdom to be established here on earth. If you fail, you will rise again, better, wiser and stronger than ever.

Don’t let fear overwhelm or paralyze you! You have what it takes to succeed because you have the Holy Spirit on your side!

– Renée Evans

—

January 13, 2020 0 comments

Articles

Intentionally Move Away From The Unintentional

by Corine Channell October 1, 2019

written by Corine Channell

I wonder if I have any fellow sojourners out there on a well traveled road I have walked (and crawled) upon. It’s the least favorite road I have ever traveled; the one where I fall into many dark pot holes and I get stuck on the side of the road wondering if I really can finish this race. I call it ‘the broken road of guilt’.

I cannot forgive myself for things I know Jesus has forgiven me for.

Maybe that sounds like an oxymoron, but it is the truth. So the topic at hand is – how do I or maybe WE learn to forgive ourselves for things we feel are unforgivable. How do we really not forever walk on the broken road of guilt?

What I have first come up with is to search out God’s words on self guilt and on self forgiveness. I have lived long enough to know that how I FEEL is not necessarily a truth. If God has forgiven my failures, what then is His thoughts to me on how to forgive myself? I sincerely have tried, and I can not.

We all fail.

Wow. Psalms 103:10 says – “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” If He dealt with me as harshly as I judge myself, well – He doesn’t.

As I have said before, God knew we needed a Savior, so He sent us Jesus. Regardless our sin, He will forgive us because of His love for us. Psalm 32:10 says, “I acknowledged my mistakes to You, and You forgave them.” Romans 3:23 says, “We ALL fall short of the glory of God.” Quite honestly, I get that and I believe that. I just have a hard time letting go of my failures, especially when I realize they touched others. I think that is the guilt part for me – that in my mistakes, I caused the pain of others. As a spouse or parent or friend or sibling or any part of any relationship, none of us want to be the reason for another’s pain.

So let’s explore the wrong that has been done – it was given to God and forgiven, however we stored it in our own mind and heart and it is forever attached to guilt or shame or sadness. If your mind and heart feels so strongly about what you uploaded into them, you will always feel exactly the same way when brought back to the doorway of the failure.

Unintentional failures.

First of all IF we hurt or failed someone, most probably it was NOT intentional or we wouldn’t have done it to begin with – not to someone we genuinely loved. Maybe we made decisions based on those current situations and thought processes at the time, and maybe not born out of real truth or real knowledge or intention.

If we are at the point to actually admit we DID fail, that really is a good thing. It is? It is. Not fun, but essentially good – because ultimately it is only in facing the painful truth that we are free from its tight, suffocating grasp of guilt. In owning our failure, it is the foundation for moving past it. If it hurt someone else, that feels tougher. There lies the relentless guilt that gets a firm grip on us. I think it really IS all about whether or not we can truly believe we are forgiven.

Time to move on.

After Jesus forgave the adulterous woman He said, “GO and sin no more.” There is seemingly nothing profound in those 5 words; no long sermon or theological thesis. However, it truly holds the key to forgiving ourselves! Two parts in 5 words – GO. First He told her to GO. We could interpret that as telling her to get up off the ground (groveling in the dirt in her guilt and reproach), and then – AND SIN NO MORE. “Go, and sin no more.” Whatever she did before (sin, failures, regrets etc.) – stop doing it! WOW. I asked God to forgive my failure, but I remained face down in the dirt in my shame and reproach when what I NEEDED to do was simply move on from it, and change whatever it was I failed at.

I think I got this!

“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (I Timothy 1:15) Sometimes we feel like the chief sinner, the chief failure, the one who knocked the earth off its orbit by our mistake. For THIS reason, Jesus came. For my sin, Jesus came. For my failure, Jesus came. For my shame, Jesus came. For my redemption, Jesus came.

“No one who believes in the Lord will be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11)

Time to get up – dust ourselves off – move on and be better and do better.

Time for making intentional successes out of unintentional failures. Time to see our Savior make a message out of our messes. It is time to see the weight of our sin become the weight of His glory. Trade it in. It is time.

#MovingOnWithIntention

October 1, 2019 0 comments

Articles Faith

The Redemptive Story Of Mephibosheth And His Nanny

by Corine Channell July 21, 2019

written by Corine Channell

The story of Mephibosheth, and his redemption.

For a few years, I had the privilege of being a nanny to 3 precious little girls. To be trusted with the care of a child who is in your sole care day after day is not to be taken lightly. It is a critical responsibility as well as a complete and utter joy! One of those little girls is my granddaughter and it was truly a bonding time for us that will last a lifetime. My sweet little girls – Keira, Elizabeth, and Lily. I counted those years priceless as well as terrifying.

Terrifying? Yes. What if something unthinkable had happened on my watch? The possibilities of things that could have gone wrong are endless – choking, falling, a natural disaster (I lived in CA so earthquakes were in the back of my mind always) and so many other things you have to be on high alert for.

The grip of responsibility

What if. What if something happened and it was YOUR fault? How can anyone live with that kind of guilt? What if in trying to save someone’s life, it appears you destroyed it? This happened. Remember Mephibosheth from the books of Samuel in the Bible? Remember he was dropped and crippled for life? And do you remember who did that to him? His beloved nanny.

Let’s revisit the story of The Nanny.

Not a lot is said of her really. Mephibosheth’s father was Jonathan and his grandfather was Saul. Israel’s King, Saul. This means at some point in Mephibosheth’s life he would have been heir to the throne. It seemed his path was set. Never hearing much of his mother Rizpah, we do hear of his nanny caring for him. I am guessing from personal experience of being a nanny, myself, that they were close.

“Jonathan, son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.” (2 Samuel 4:4)

Son of the King: Mephibosheth

On that fateful day when his father and grandfather were killed in battle, it was decreed for all members of his family to be killed. Even his young 5-year-old self. His nanny did exactly what I would have done – RUN! She ran carrying him, either to hide him or protect him or just to give it her best shot at protecting him from death! And then the unthinkable happened – she dropped him.

We never hear of her again.

This story bothers me on so many levels. Having been a mother, grandmother and nanny I can relate to how she must have felt in the moment when she dropped the precious boy she was trying to save. And again, we never hear about her again. So I am going to interject my OWN thoughts on the rest of her life.

She surely lived in shame and guilt. She probably could never forgive herself for dropping and crippling Mephibosheth. I bet she never stopped beating herself up over it. I call this an unintentional hurt. She didn’t mean to hurt him – quite the contrary. She was trying to SAVE him.

Mephibosheth was no longer a threat to King Saul’s throne because, well – he was crippled. He grew up alone in a sad town called Lodebar where he was a crippled orphan. Lodebar was a barren town; we might even call it a ‘ghost town’. It was a virtual wasteland. He even referred to himself as a “dead dog”. His life had lost all its value and meaning. What is sadder than that? Sometimes this story just unravels my heartstrings.

Nevertheless…

‘Nevertheless’ is a word used 245 times in the Bible – It simply means “in spite of, notwithstanding”, or “But God”. This ‘nevertheless/but God’ moment held true for Mephibosheth but it took much of his life to see it come to pass. He DID get his ‘nevertheless’ moment when King David went searching for descendants of his best friend Jonathan. David heard of Jonathan’s crippled son in Lodebar and went and got him.

He took him into his home to eat at his table for the rest of his life and he was adopted into David’s family. Mephibosheth got back everything he had lost. He restored to him his name, his dignity, simple pleasures of life such as family, friends and food. In essence, he got his life back. His being crippled DID save his life that day. Nevertheless; but God.

But the nanny never knew that. At least not that we know of.

What if you fail unintentionally, and you cause someone pain and you can’t fix it or change it or even apologize? I just often wonder how that nanny went on with life, or if she was even able to.

For all of us who have failed unintentionally and maybe dropped someone while trying to actually save them, we must trust that God loves them MORE than us and that He will weave out a plan on their behalf. It may take a lifetime to see it come to pass. For myself it has been a choice to lay my shame and failures at His feet, trusting that He died for those failures and He WILL perfect the story of each of us. He takes away our shame if we let Him, and replaces it with His grace.

I hope the nanny found that grace and was able to rise above her failure because it was her actual failure that SAVED Mephibosheth.

“The LORD will vindicate me; Your love LORD, endures forever – do not abandon the works of Your hands.” (Psalm 138:8)

Let us just pause and see that God is bigger than our failures.

July 21, 2019 0 comments

Articles

8 Reasons Why You Can Be Confident Even When All Hope Seems Lost!

by Ward Simpson October 26, 2018

written by Ward Simpson

Be Confident: God Never Gives Up On You!

Let’s look at some reasons why people aren’t confident and why we give up every single day:

Overwhelmed
Tired
Bored
Failure
Money
Fear
Lost motivation
Unbelief
Sin
Distractions
Damaged relationships
External Influence
News
Lack of confidence

Here are eight reasons why you can be confident; even when all of those negative things are weighing on you:

1) Don’t Put Your Faith in Yourself

One main reason why we quit trying to serve God is because we try to serve him in our own strength. We try serving Him in our own abilities.

Paul puts it this way: Philippians 3: – Put no confidence in the flesh.

In other words, forget self-reliance; it will fail you and cause you to give up.
Self-reliance is trusting solely in one’s abilities, qualities, and judgment.

2) Paul’s Success Did Not Come From His Résumé

Paul wrote much of the New Testament. He performed many miracles. He was an excellent teacher and preacher. He traveled the world preaching and meeting with leaders in Government and clergy. Paul was a huge success and he had the qualifications. Philippians 3:5-6 tells us about Paul’s background:

Born a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin- (A Jew of Jews).
Born in Israel-Born and bred in the land- (A Hebrew of Hebrews).
A master of the Law-PHD- (A Pharisee).
Followed the law “to the T”- He was “faultless”
A zealous follower to the point of persecuting all who opposed the teachings – including Christians.

Paul’s success, however, did not come from his resume. Paul says in Philippians 3:3 “ Do not put any confidence in the flesh.” Forget self-reliance.

3) We Have a Race to Run

Paul is saying “listen here, we have a mission in life. We have a goal. We have a race to run and the only way we will succeed is to put our confidence in Christ. Our prize is Christ Himself. The greatest prize any of us could ever win! In the end we will be like Him (Philippians 3:21).

4) Put Your Confidence in Christ

Paul put aside his education, his experience, his expectations and instead put his trust, his plans, his ambitions, his goals, his dreams, his future, and his entire life in the hands of Christ. He put aside his self-reliance and instead put his confidence in Christ.
We can’t do it but with Gods help, we CAN do it, and with confidence!

5) God says you CAN

If God says “you can,” then you can! If God says, “you shouldn’t “ then you should never try.

No one can stop God’s plan for you.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” That means we can do everything in God’s will for us, but not by our own willpower, but by His strength!

6) Confidence Comes Through Faith

True confidence is activated by faith. Faith requires that you stop worrying about failing and believe that God will give you the ability to succeed in doing what He has called you to do!

Faith stops listening to other voices and listens to Gods voice.
Faith and confidence will cause you to focus on whom God has called you to be rather than trying to be like someone else.
Faith and confidence do not say” If only…”
If only I had more money…
If only I had a better education…
If only I had better parents…
If only I had more friends…
If only I had a better job…

7) Fear Has Been Defeated!

Fear is an enemy.
Fear stops us: Fear of failure, fear of being laughed at; fear of what people think.
Fear never leaves for good.
Fear will require confrontation.
Fear is defeated by faith + hope + love!

8) He Is Strong When We Are Weak

Confidence in Christ takes the focus off our strength and puts it on His strength.
His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Be Encouraged; Take Heart!

In closing, I want to remind you to take the pressure off yourself and stop trying to impress others. Trying to impress and please others all the time only leads to disappointment and misery. It’s time to put your confidence in Christ and rise up to answer the calling on your life and become the person God has intended you to be.

Let’s take a look at some familiar names who should have given up according to the world, but never did. Taken from 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed At First:

Henry Ford: While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn’t an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company.
R. H. Macy: Most people are familiar with this large department store chain, but Macy didn’t always have it easy. Macy started seven failed business before finally hitting big with his store in New York City.
Soichiro Honda: The billion-dollar business that is Honda began with a series of failures and fortunate turns of luck. Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation for a job after interviewing for a job as an engineer, leaving him jobless for quite some time. He started making scooters of his own at home, and spurred on by his neighbors, finally started his own business.
Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn’t last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked
Oprah Winfrey: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well as one of the richest and most successful women in the world. Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was “unfit for tv.”
Jerry Seinfeld: Just about everybody knows who Seinfeld is, but the first time the young comedian walked on stage at a comedy club, he looked out at the audience, froze and was eventually jeered and booed off of the stage. Seinfeld knew he could do it, so he went back the next night, completed his set to laughter and applause, and the rest is history.
Lucille Ball: During her career, Ball had thirteen Emmy nominations and four wins, also earning the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors. Before starring in I Love Lucy, Ball was widely regarded as a failed actress and a B movie star. Even her drama instructors didn’t feel she could make it, telling her to try another profession. She, of course, proved them all wrong
Elvis Presley: As one of the best-selling artists of all time, Elvis has become a household name even years after his death. But back in 1954, Elvis was still a nobody, and Jimmy Denny, the manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis Presley after just one performance telling him, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”
Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn’t believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn’t let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

This article was written by Ward Simpson, who leads the global GOD TV network. Ward is the host of many GOD TV broadcasts including his series Today With Ward. A leader at Brownsville, his passion is souls, Israel and revival.

October 26, 2018 4 comments

Faith

I Wanted Jesus to Heal Me, But I Wasn’t Willing to Face My Pain…Here’s What I Learned

by Justin Daniel April 24, 2017

written by Justin Daniel

I Wanted Jesus to Heal Me, But I Wasn’t Willing to Face My Pain

I was hit, not quite out of nowhere, in the stomach by a series of rather unfortunate events. My life had been on a good upswing. I was hitting many goals, and it seemed that I was about to mount the hill I was climbing to gaze upon all the world before me. I was filled with excitement, but it left as suddenly as my breath when these events struck me. Doubled over in pain, I rolled backwards down the hill.

Recovery

It took me weeks to stop rolling, and when I did, I did not know where to go. I had lost all sense of direction. A big decision was approaching, but I didn’t know how to handle it anymore. In retrospect, the best choice I could have made was what I had decided on prior to this painful series of occurrences, but in the moment, because of what happened, I questioned my prior judgment and made a lesser choice.

It should have been an easy fix. By this time I had learned that Jesus is Direction. A loving awareness of him was all I needed to be counseled and guided by the Way.

There was, however, a problem: He really wanted to heal me, and I really did not want to deal with my pain!

This made resting in his presence difficult because He required me to do something I did not want to do: face that pain and hand it over.

The Lord Comes to Heal You

I wanted to go on living like nothing had ever happened.

I figured that the things that I used to do to connect with God might help me get around this. At this point, I was living in denial that part of my being was injured. I wanted to go on living like nothing had ever happened, neither accepting the pain nor responsibility for my contribution to it, but the Lord wouldn’t have any part in that. He patiently waited for me to come to myself, take his hand, and walk together with him into wholeness on the other side of the pain.

Can’t Get Away From Goodness

A moment of simple faith is all that is necessary to become aware of his presence, but the terror that I felt as I did produced a resistance in me. I smelled the fragrance of death that His Life was bringing to the parts of me that were perishing (my wounds), but to my spirit He was a fragrance of life for as His life swallowed up my pain, I would live!

When pain becomes our focus then the anticipation of the cleansing is often more painful than the cleansing itself.

I found that when pain becomes our focus then the anticipation of the cleansing is often more painful than the cleansing itself; but, when the focus switches to the wholeness had on the other side of that cleansing and the goodwill of the one cleaning and binding the wound, the momentary suffering is more easily borne.He surrounded me with love, backing me into a corner with his goodness. His resistance to my escapism forced me to come to myself, govern my emotions and evaluate the pathways before me. I made a decision based on the options I saw.

My heart burned, frustrated with my body and mind running away from Jesus. That desire to be with Him quickly reached a tipping point as his presence increased. Facing my pain, though severe, had become an altogether acceptable option and a very small price to pay.

I yielded to Him, becoming immersed in His presence. He brought the pain before me, and I faced it with Him. This was done wordlessly, as I offered up all of the feelings themselves to the Lord in a spiritual motion, my heart’s pain, my culpability, and my longing for Him, trading them to know him more. The Lord dearly loves a contrite heart. In response, He spoke through visions.

Revelations

A road and a coffee cup floated before my eyes. As they did, I knew: journeys are made by steps forward, and relationships develop as their conversations grow from the prior day.

“Forget what is behind, and press toward what lies ahead,” He continued, quoting from Philippians 4. I saw clearly that I had been doing the opposite, reaching for what behind to find an anchor. But to heal and flourish again, I needed to let go of where I am for what is ahead. It is in steps forward taken together that we get to know Him and grow, and this is the upward call of our faith – knowing Him.

That moment was like running out of thick fog into sunlight where I could see again: the plains ahead of the hill I was on, and the tall, jagged mountains far beyond them.

I thanked the Lord, and asked Him, “What’s today’s step?” His answer was immediate, and He gave me a resource that quickly made up for any perceived lack of progress. What are a few weeks or months or years or even decades of “stalled progress” when with Him a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day? What is time to Him? He can make it up in an instant.

He elaborated further, and I wrote a song with Him based on what He told me called O, Faintly Burning Wick. It has been a blessing to everyone I have shared it with, a simple tune from the heart of Jesus that He will meet you in.

My friend, let’s walk forward together with our Lord, and talk with Him along the way.

A Prayer:

Father, what is today’s step?

April 24, 2017 0 comments

Faith

Never Ever Give Up: Here’s Why Failure Is Crucial to Success

by GOD TV March 24, 2017

written by GOD TV

Here’s Why Failure Is Crucial to Success

Failure is a funny thing, but what’s funnier is discovering one’s skewed definition of failure. Failure is the opposite and the same thing as success. Failure is a part of life. Moment by moment failure encapsulates life. Anyone at any given point can be a winner or loser, success or failure. Choice and decision are all that stands in the way.

Here are some things to consider regarding “failure”:

• If Adam and Eve didn’t conceive the first time they became one and stopped trying because they felt like failures, the human race never would have happened. None of us ever would exist.

• If a baby never attempted to walk after falling the first time, it tried to walk everyone would still be crawling everywhere. Could you imagine a bunch of adults crawling all to get somewhere? What kind of Olympics would we have then? Weird to think about, I know.

• Thomas Edison was asked, “How did it feel to fail 1000 times?” when attempting to develop a light bulb. He replied, “I didn’t fail 1000 times. The lightbulb was an invention with 1000 steps.”

• Babe Ruth was one of the greatest baseball players ever and a living legend in his day and a legend to this day. He said, “Every strike brings closer to the next home run.” In baseball, anyone who has a long enough career getting a hit 3 out of 10 at-bats has a great shot at being inducted into the baseball hall of fame. Think of it; a 30% success rate puts one in with the greatest players ever to play the game.

• Walt Disney went bankrupt several times. People surrounded him with negativity and attempted to stifle his dream. Eventually, he built Disneyland. Long after he’s been dead and gone, his corporation continues forward.

What’s your definition of failure? Of success?

The only failure that comes from going after your dream is quitting.

Failure is the pavement success is built upon. The only failure that comes from going after your dream is quitting. Stopping and going home is where failure is born and dies. Never quit. Never give up. Keep going.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.” Robert F. Kennedy

How true is this statement by Robert Kennedy? Does it ring a bell for you? It does for me. How much are you willing to risk? How much are you willing to step forward in blind faith? What’s the worst that could happen? How could follow after your dreams with everything you’ve got ever work out poorly? Think about the alternative. Yuck! No thanks!

God created us to dream.

God created us to persevere, to overcome and receive the desires of our heart. It might cost everything to see the dream come true, wouldn’t it be worth it?

“Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

“And not only that but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

This article was written by Joshua Paul, a staff writer for GOD TV. Joshua Paul grew up in a Christian home, regularly attending Church on Sundays. Today he is an entrepreneur and published author.

March 24, 2017 0 comments