Overcoming Failures

We've all put our heart in doing something and have many times failed to achieve it. It may be during our childhood or while we were teens or even when we grew up and became adults. We all have tasted the bitter drink of failure from time to time - bad exams, wrong relationships, being unsuccessful in whatever you do or even having failed GOD.

Bible too talks about failure and recognizes that human beings fail. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. James 3:2. But the question arises - how do we handle failure in the situation that we are in and at that moment. There are 2 choices in front us- either we feel depressed or seek deliverence. Its easy to be depressed and give up and blame it on God or on ourself for the circumstance, which is what we do most of the time. But Jesus wants us to be delivered. Even in complete devotion and love to God we may fall. That is why God gave us his son Jesus who died for us so that we may get up and start our life again. No one is perfect but God does not want us to face failure for our entire life. Handling failure is a vital part of our spiritual life and a sign of our maturity.

God wants us to repent and seek god. If we look at the life of King David, he had failed in many situations. In one occasion when David decided to bring the ark back, he failed at his attempt as he planned to bring the ark back with his own wisdom and knowledge but when we further read in the Bible, he sought God's word and was successful in bringing the ark into Jerusalem which led into joyous celebration for all children of Israel. David, despite of his wrong decision and failure, he did not get depressed but decided to seek God and do the right thing and in the end found success. Almost all important figures in the Bible, to name a few - Abraham, Peter, Moses all failed but they not only recovered from their failures but they learned from it and confessed their sins to God and gained favour and strength from God. Humble yourself to God and acknowledge your mistakes and failures and he will lift you up in due time.

God did not restrain us from failing either because He wants us to fail or He wants to punish us for disobeying Him but He wants to teach us as part of his discipline. Hebrews 12:11 says, No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Be disciplined and self controlled, practicing the fruits of the spirit so that we may get what scripture says in Philipians 3:14 - I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Get help from the word of God. Word of God will give answers to all your doubts, fear and failures. Bible is full of verses to comfort you in times of need. Here are some verses that you can meditate on when you face trials or failures in your life -

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Romans 5:8 - But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Cor 12:9-10 - 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Acts 2:38 - And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:3-5 - More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Proverbs 28:13 - Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

The words of our mouth can bring failure into our lives. We need to be very careful about the words that come out of our mouth. We say words like nothing good happens to me, I will never be able to do this or achieve this. Though were saying this but we don't realize that what we are in large part is because of what we speak. They are like seed that is planted, once we speak they take root and product fruit. We speak words of defeat and failure and can't expect success in our life. Confess the word of God and release yourself from the curse of a bad mouth.

Above all, never give up. Pray without ceasing. God has a set time for our miracles. Remain active and do the right things. We can do all things through Christ and boldly declare our destiny. We need to have a vision for our victory and have to see ourself happy and successful and give light as it comes to pass. We have to understand the true purpose of God's calling in our life. God tells us to be active, enthusiastic, energetic, on fire and zealous. God wants to defeat our flesh and win the battle for us. Trust in the Lord at all times. I wish that God may give you all the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

Intimacy with God

Have you ever wondered being a Christian, why do we still feel emptiness in our heart? Do you know of Christians who are successful in life but do not have the fullness of God in the inside of their lives? It’s tragic that many amongst us are unhappy and seeking the pleasures of the world. It is only because we do not have an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Christ came to give us abundant life, to heal the broken hearted, to remove pain, to show us there is more to life. All we need to do is to trust him enough to tell him all our secrets, every decision, every thought. Jesus knows everything about us, but when we tell Him and let Him be part of our lives, it shows we trust him. We can't divide our life to be spiritual and material. Every area of our life has to be Jesus-controlled. Many of our secrets may be very sad that we may not wish to think about and give them to Jesus but doing that is the first step to a closer walk with God. Matt 22:27 says "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. These verses and many other verses in the bible talk about us loving God and leaning on Him for everything so that he may lead us to the right path. God promises to give the BEST and not the rest only we when let God take complete charge of our lives. The deeper your relationship with God, the more devil will be afraid of you. When Adam and Eve were in the Eden, they could hear the sound of the Lord because they had a closer walk with him. Our fellowship should be like what Adam and Eve had with God in the Garden of Eden.

But how do we get closer to god. Here are some simple ways to do so: 1) Making time for God: All of us have 24 hrs but some do more in the same time. It’s our daily lifestyle that shows how spiritual we are. We need to give God the priority in our life. Discipline our lives to read and meditate on the word of god daily. Spend time in prayer with God. Matt 6:33- But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. We should approach God not only when we have sorrows but also in our good times. When we get good scores in our exams, or a promotion at work or may it be any achievement, we give the credit to our hardwork. We say, our hardwork paid but we should not forget that God’s favour and grace was with us always.

2) Study and meditate the word of God- Get deeper in the word. Take a subject and meditate on it. Eg- If you lack discipline. Look for verses on discipline. Keep some good study material, reference bibles, memorize verses. What sets Bible apart from other books is that, God speaks to individuals through it. Studying the gospel will be a good idea. You will understand Jesus better. The parables will help understand the love and compassion that Jesus had. The more you study the Holy Spirit will unfold mysteries of the word of God. Initially you may not notice much of a difference but slowly the bible verses will take on a new meaning for you and slowly your bond will get stronger with Jesus and you will feel that your prayers are been answered. All you need to do is hang on to God and trust God to do that change.

3) Prayer- Prayer is the strongest weapon to fight the devil and flee temptation. Pray diligently, pray without ceasing, pray like Jesus did and you will see God’s power , mighty hand, God’s blessing and victory in your lives.

Jesus will never turn us away if we let him be part of our life. He will extend all his help to build an intimate relationship with Him.

Christian Cartoons

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