RESTORATION.  I love that word.  It speaks of hope, of past mistakes being made up for. 

God is a God of restoration.  He doesn’t ignore failure.  He gives us the courage to face failure and defeat what defeated us.

Try these ideas about restoring your past failures: 

Betrayal is as old as humankind.  A strong alliance or partnership is suddenly dissolved.  Close, intimate friends are wounded.  Cynicism sets in as it seems “no one can be trusted.”

There’s hope after betrayal. 

We’ve all been there (including me) and I can help you with a few perspectives:

An insult is a hard thing to handle.  Our pride, position, and even personhood is attacked.  We all tend to automatically lash out in retaliation.

How do you resist the urge to “fight fire with fire?” 

Here are some thoughts to help you calm down and let God fight your battles:

I am not a great snow skier. I recall a time I slid down a mountain and was only stopped when I hit a snow fence and “face-planted” on the other side of it!

Snow skiing is “slightly downhill and out of control.”  Kind of like TEMPTATION. 

Sin is a slippery slope. 

HOW CAN YOU PUT ON THE BRAKES WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO SLIDE OFF THE MOUNTAIN? 

Leaders face crisis.  Parents face crisis.  Nations face crisis.  Dealing with crisis correctly can mean the difference in a marriage divorcing or a war starting. 

Here are four things I have learned to always do when a crisis, a trauma, a shocking development occurs:

These days, everyone is offended.  Offended by a social media “like" or “dislike.”  Offended by being left out of the party.  Offended by politics, religion, race, referees, and a hundred other possible stumbling blocks.

How do you keep yourself from constantly being offended?

When Moses was gone for 40 days up the mountain, it turned into a “free for all” down below.  People usually behave correctly until their leader is not around.  THEN…it is up to their inner character.

Here is how you control your passions even when no one is watching: 

The terrible violence in Christchurch, New Zealand, is a bell that tolls worldwide.  It raises questions of who we are and where we are. 

When Christ met a Samaritan woman at a well, those questions were answered.

Here are the relevant thoughts from the story of the “woman at the well” that speak to me about our current state of religious conflict:

America has gone out of control.

Civility, respect, and honor are disappearing.  Anger, vitriol, and assault have become the norm. 

Here are my 7 rules on how to have a good disagreement:

Grief and regret are the twin prongs of paralysis.  If you can change it, change it.  If you can’t change it, move past it.

How do you defeat the challenge of grief and regret?

Pain is real.  Everyone feels it.

How can you turn your pain into purpose?

can look at some people and see defeat.  They look like they have lost:   Head down, shoulders slumped, eyes down.

How do you overcome your problems?  Stand up straight and look them in the eye.

You fight an invisible enemy.  He has a strategic plan to gradually, imperceptibly squash your joy. Ultimately, he wants to control your will.

I want to show you first how he takes control.  Then, I will show you how to find freedom!

We all put off confrontation.  We hide from people we should confront.  We have imaginary conversations with them we never get the guts to have. 

How do you resolve your worst confrontation scenario?

 

Confrontation is critical.

All good, true relationships have it. 

The question is, “Can you confront someone with a positive result?”

“The desert is the greatest place for a miracle.”

All of us go through deserts.  It’s confusing, hopeless, and DRY.

I have good news for you:  It can also be the prime spot for a miracle.

It happened again.  17 students killed, many wounded.  Something has to change.  We are the strongest nation in the world but weakest in controlling killers.

God has a solution.

All of us go through trials.

In every trial, there is an Accuser (Prosecutor), a defendant (you!), and a Judge (God).

That trial you are walking through now has a spiritual dimension playing out behind it.  Satan, the Accuser, is seeking to capitalize on any of our many weaknesses.

Here are 5 important things you can do to overcome Satan’s pounding accusations:

FEAR is the biggest enemy to your future.

It comes in many forms, mainly having to do with your future:  failure, rejection, lack, or death (to name a few).  Abram was mighty in battle yet his deepest fear was not having a successor.

How will you overcome the fears that limit you?            

They call it the “baptism by fire.”  Fire is pressure.  Fire is refinement.  Fire transforms.

It may be happening to you.  Don’t worry, join the crowd. 

Here are some things to remember about this process of refinement: