January - God's Fresh Start Month

HOW TO MAKE A FRESH START
1. Stop making excuses

• Quit blaming others and making yourself the victim. Others may hurt and/or scar you, but YOU are the only person who can ruin your life.
• Learn to say "It's my fault."
• People who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else.
  
• Proverbs.28:13 - A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them he gets another chance.

2. Act in faith

• From Matt. 9 - According to your faith it will be done to you
• A pity party is the antithesis of faith
• God never promised that life would be fair
• The more time we spend regretting the past, the more of our future is wasted

3. Refocus

• Primarily our thoughts/the way we think
• Proverbs 4:23 - Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life (CEV)
• God is more interested in my future than in my past
• The way you think determines the way you feel. And the way you feel determines the way you act.
• Romans 12:2 - Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. (NLT)
• The longer I dwell on the past, the longer the past will hurt me
• Focus on God's Word

4. Trust

• Trust God to help you and don't depend on yourself
• Trust God to help you do it differently
• Definition of "insanity" - doing the same thing, the same way and expecting to get different results

WHY PEOPLE FAIL (REASONS FOR FAILURE) 1. We don't prepare ourselves for the problems we are going to face in life

• Proverbs 27:12 - A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (NLT)

2. We don't listen to others

• Proverbs 15:? - Plans fail without good advice
• EGO - Edging God Out
• The person who gets too big for their britches will exposed in the end!

3. We give up too soon

• Proverbs 24:10 - If you give up when troubles come, it just show that you are weak.
• Every time something goes wrong in your life, it is an "education". Thomas Edison had many such "educations" before he came to the right material for his light bulb filament.
  

From "January - God's Fresh Start Month" by Pastor David. Vine Fellowship, January 8, 2006