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.Examples of the first include losing money on a venture, starting a newbusiness that fails, setting a goal and not reaching it, or entering a contestand losing.Examples of the second include breaking a promise, letting afriend down, failing a class, or getting a divorce.No matter if your failurehappened because you went out on a limb and the branch broke, or becauseyou blew it, it takes courage to come back from a failure.One of Scripture s most spectacular failures is Peter s denial of Jesus toa servant girl (Luke 22:54  62).Peter had bragged to Jesus,  I will laydown my life for you, but a few hours later, Peter was denying that he124Courage Day : Your Courage Coacheven knew Jesus.After his resurrection, Jesus singled out Peter to restorehis relationship with him (John 21:15  17), and Peter went on to becomea humble, powerful leader of the fledgling church (Acts 2:37  41).Thatfailure and subsequent restoration was a turning point in Peter s life.Notethese lessons:1.Failure is a good warning.Peter never repeated his mistake.The restof his life was devoted to proclaiming Jesus deity and resurrection to farmore threatening audiences than a servant girl.How have you been doing at learning from your mistakes? Describe anarea where you seem to be repeating your mistakes, and think about how toovercome and break the cycle.2.Failure builds character.Peter s failure made him better prepared tolead.At the point where Peter used to feel the strongest and bragged aboutit (Luke 22:33), God showed him the truth about himself, and Peter nowrelied on God.So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don t fall!1 Corinthians 10:12Have you failed in the very area in which you felt the strongest? Explainhow God has used that failure to build your character.3.Failure is not fatal.After Peter s denial, Jesus gave him a mission; Feed my sheep. Jesus did not give up on Peter because he blew it.God isthe God of second chances.It s up to us to accept the clean slate he offers usand to start over, trying again.How are you doing at letting God release you from the prison of yourfailure? On the next page, write down the failure that has been on your slate;then cross it out and use your clean slate to write down a mission that Godcould be giving you as a result of your failure.125Part : The Making of a Right Relationship to MyselfMy Failure Clean SlatePRAYERPrecious Lord,Make me an overcomer.Give me a daily dose of courage to face my every-day problems.Break me free from the prison of my past by using it to showcaseyour grace and daily making me a new creation.Break me free from theprison of my pain by using it to reveal your works and your power.If I haveput myself in a prison of pain because of my own sin, convict me and help meturn from my sinful habits.Break me free from the prison of my failure byhelping me to stop repeating my mistakes.Build my character upon the foun-dation of my brokenness, and write a new purpose on my clean slate that myfailure now equips me to fulfill.In the name of Jesus, amen.126Courage DayStepsto CourageWe become braveby doing brave acts.Aristotle, 384  322 BC, Greek philosopherSITTING QUIETLYWITH YOUR MAKERToday is a time of reflection and solitude for you in the privacy of your ownquiet-time space.You will be putting together a Courage Action Plan, work-ing with God to further develop three types of courage: courage to take arisk, courage to take a stand, and courage to be of help.Ask yourself how deeply you are able to focus on increasing your courageduring this season of your life.Then select the appropriate action steps onpages 128  131, whatever you feel you can realistically experiment with thisweek.It s your plan, your life, and your prayerful decision  nobody else s.If you feel God impressing on you to concentrate on your courage right now,go for these exercises with gusto  without further ado or delay! I am con-fident that whatever effort you are able to devote to improving your couragewill be richly rewarded by him on earth and in heaven.127Part : The Making of a Right Relationship to MyselfCourage Action PlanPRAYER FOCUS: Pray Jabez s prayer of risk:  Oh, that You would bless meindeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and thatYou would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! (1 Chronicles 4:10NKJV).Pray for government leaders, university professors, classroom teach-ers, social workers, police officers, and others, like yourself, who need courageto take a stand against the forces of evil and injustice in our culture.Then, askGod what he wants you to do about taking an action step yourself [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]