No Ragrets - Personal Guardrails

• Remember

• Recall

• Repent

“Godly grief produces a repentance…
2 Corinthians 7:10

• Refocus

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

“Great is His faithfulness; His mercies are new each morning.”
Lamentations 3:23

“We all sin and we all fall short of the Glory of God.”
Romans 3:23

“The prudent see danger and take refuge. But the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
Proverbs 27:12

The simple keep going and drive off the cliff.

Where do you need guardrails?

Career?
Marriage?
Finances?
Personal Integrity?

Many of our greatest regrets in life probably could have been avoided IF we had put personal guardrails in place…!

• Personal guardrails are standards of behavior that HAVE TO become matters of conscience!

• You can wreck your finances without spending unethically.

• You can ruin a relationship without doing anything sinful.

• Guardrails aren’t just meant to keep you on the safe side of right vs. wrong.

• In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing to do?

What’s the wise thing to do?

If you’re living too close to the edge, it may be time to set a guardrail.

Eventually our behavior (on the outside) will mirror what’s going on-on the inside.

• Guilt
• Anger
• Greed
• Jealousy

Guilt says, “I owe you.”

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Psalm 32:5

“I am about to die, and I cannot forget my pain. I confess my guilt; I am troubled by my sin.
Psalm 38:17-18

Anger says, “You owe me.”

“For a man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
James 1:20

“In your anger, do not sin; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold.”
Ephesians 4:26-27

“Fools give vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
Proverbs 29:11

Greed says, “I owe me.”

“A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.”
Proverbs 28:25

“Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.”
Proverbs 15:27

Jealousy says, “Life owes me.”

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
James 3:14-16

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy and unkind speech.”
1 Peter 2:1

Ignore the warning and regret will be waiting on the other side.

“Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”
Proverbs 24:16

No Ragrets - From Our Regrets to His Glory

Regret
   /rəˈɡret/
    noun
a feeling of sadness, repentance or disappointment over something that has happened or been done.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.“
Romans 8:28

“Great is His faithfulness; His mercies are new each morning.”
Lamentations 3:23

“Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14

Bitterness
• the belief that God got it wrong.

Anxiety
• the belief that God’s not going to get it right.

Regret
• the belief that the mistakes I made are so bad that God can’t make it beautiful again.

“Christ died for a million regrets.”

“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:43

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
Psalm 130:3

“Remember regrets to a point.”

“A life without regrets is a life built on a mirage.”

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:12-13

“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” -and I am the worst of them all.”
1 Timothy 1:15-16

“Press on in faith.”

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. That is, I haven’t become perfect. I haven’t arrived yet. But one thing I do: Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death..”
2 Corinthians 7:10

“Come and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

The Hammer & Sword - Part 2

Picking up where we left off

“So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”
Nehemiah 4:6

“And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.”
Nehemiah 4:8

Speculation is the Opposite of Revelation

They prayed

And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
Nehemiah 4:14

Our Family is Worth Fighting For

We fight for our family

If we run from conflict, that’s what will chase us.

…Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built…
Nehemiah 4:17b, 18a

Are you prepared to fight today?

When we fight for what God has called us to, there is no way to know how God will use it.

We have no idea how much God will use our obedience.

The Hammer & Sword - Part 1

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah 1:1-3

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
Nehemiah 1:8-9

I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:3-4

• Permission to leave his position for a time and rebuild Jerusalem
• Letters of safe passage
• Timber from the king’s forest

God prepares us to act boldly in obedience.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah 2:17-20

Haters gonna hate

And next to them

• UNITY
• RESPONSIBILITY
• ACCOUNTABILITY

You don’t have to carry your burdens alone.

When we help carry each other’s burdens, everyone carries less.

Christianity cannot be an occasional additive to our lives.

There were plenty of people that didn’t help Israel rebuild.

Not everyone present is willing to participate.

If we are not willing to serve, how can we ever lead?

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

I want to build beside you.

When church is only something that happens on Sunday, we are all missing the benefits of community.

God uses the burdens on our hearts to shape us.

God calls us to step out boldly when He presents us with opportunity.

God calls us to unite and work beside one another to build and defend.