What to Do When You Fail in a Promise to God

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a devotional today that I
recommend to you.  He has given me permission to
copy his e-mails, and I'm sure he would be happy if
you would share this with people you know as well.

Do you ever fail in your promises to God? 

What should you do when that occurs?

Please read on.

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL   TUESDAY APRIL 18, 2006
( 1 Corinthians 10:12  )

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall." ( 1 Corinthians 10:12)

Falling off the wagon.  You have a battle with alcohol
and promise the Lord you will stop drinking, 12 days later
you drink.   You have a battle with prescription drugs and
promise the Lord you will quit, 4 days later you take some
more.  You have a battle with pornography and vow to the
Lord you won't look at porn any more, 17 days later you are
looking at porn.  You have a battle with your weight and
tell the Lord no more sweets, 2 nights later you are
sitting at your kitchen table eating a quart of Haagen
Dazs.  You have a battle with smoking and finally tell the
Lord you won't smoke again, 24 days later you are having a
cigarette.  What do you do when you decide once and for
all to take a stand over whatever bondage you may be
battling in your life, to start living in victory over that
bondage, and then fall off the wagon?

When you fall off the wagon, you feel like a failure.  You
are consumed with guilt and shame.  You can't believe after
you did so good you fell.  You are disgusted with yourself
for being so weak.  You know in your heart you not only let
the Lord down, but broke your promise to Him.  On top of
all of those feelings and emotions, here comes your old
buddy the devil to pour salt in the fresh wound.  He
reemphasizes what a failure you are, how you lied to Jesus
and now He wants nothing to do with you, that whatever
goes wrong in your life is God punishing you for falling,
how the Bible is lie otherwise you would have been
delivered from this bondage, that it is OK to give in to
your carnal urges, God really doesn't expect you to be
perfect, and oh yes the best of all, you aren't really
saved or you wouldn't sin like that.

WOW, are you still with me or did you stop reading and
delete this already?  The fact is, EVERYONE needs to hang
in there and get through this message today since
EVERYONE has bondages that we fight throughout the course
of our life.  Just so you know, lying is as much of a
bondage as drugs.  Gossiping is as much of a bondage as
homosexuality.  Anger is as much of a bondage as alcohol. 
Being mean to people is as much of a bondage as
pornography.  The fact is, we all have bondages in our
life.  Some people may not be fighting the more visible
and popular bondages, but anything that is keeping you
from being like Jesus and living in obedience to God's
Word is a bondage!

Since we all fight different bondages during our life, it
is critical to talk about what happens when we fall off
the wagon or fail since that is part of the battle.  Let
me say right up front, when you fail it doesn't mean you
don't love the Lord or aren't really saved, it simply
means your flesh is weak.  Paul summed up this classic
battle between our flesh and the Spirit  in Romans 7 when
he stated that, "He did the things he didn't want to do
and didn't do the things he wanted to do."  My friend, we
are men and women of flesh and blood.  Our flesh is weak. 
Failure is part of the human experience.

Does that make is OK to sin?  OF COURSE NOT!  Is it an
excuse to sin?  OF COURSE NOT!  Does it mean we are
doomed to failure?  OF COURSE NOT!  It simply means that
in the course of battling with whatever bondage you may
be dealing with, you may have a moment of weakness and
fail God.  What I want to do today is share with you how
to respond to your failure.  What do you do when you
fall off the wagon?

The first thing you do is go to God and ask Him to forgive
you.  1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all
unrighteousness.  After you go to God and confess your
sins, asking Him to forgive you, the next step is to go
back to living in victory over your bondage as you were
before you fell.  It is the old adage of when you fall
off a horse get right back on.  Don't ever forget, you
have an enemy that wants to see you fail, that takes
delight when you fail.  If you do fall off the wagon, ask
the Lord's forgiveness and then get right back to living
in victory and freedom over your bondage.

This is where your faith has to take over and becomes so
important.  You have to realize that even though your
bondage is in the natural, what you are really fighting
is a spiritual battle.  While you need to have the
practical day-to-day pieces in place to live in victory,
things like being accountable to others, staying away
from people, places, or things that could cause you to
fall, working hard to keep from being in a position to be
tempted, you also have to work on the spiritual aspects
of walking in victory.  The Bible tells us that our battles
are NOT against flesh and blood, but they are spiritual.

That is why we have to be praying every day, all
throughout the day.  We have to be in the Word of God
every day, taking time to study and meditate on His Truth. 
We have to be part of a local church to be fed and grow
spiritually, to have fellowship with other Believers, to
serve the Lord. These are the basics we have to be doing
to stay connected to the Lord each day and stay strong
spiritually.  We already know our flesh is weak, so we
can never lose sight that it is a constant daily battle
to live in victory.  We can never take for granted that
we have won and are safe, since the second we stop doing
the things necessary to keep our faith strong, that is
when we will fall.

Today's anchor verse from 1 Corinthians is the key.  We
can never stop doing the things we must do to stay strong
spiritually or we will fail God.  I know in my own life
as I have worked to overcome different bondages in my
life, to try to become more like Jesus each day, when I
am not praying as hard as I should, or when I am not
reading and studying the Word like I should, or when I am
not doing all the things to stay strong spiritually that
I should, that is when I fail God.  When you stop doing
all the things you need to do each day to stay strong
spiritually, that is when you will fall off the wagon.

I love you and care about you so much.  Everyone reading
these words today knows what it is like to fight some
bondage in your life, get victory for a period of time,
then fail.  That is part of life my friend.  The Book
of First John was written to Believers and tells us that
if we say we don't sin then we are a liar.  God doesn't
stop loving you or caring about you.  His promises didn't
change, they are still true.  YOU ARE MORE THAN A
CONQUEROR IN CHRIST JESUS!  My word for you today is that
when you are in the battle over some bondage in your life
and fall off the wagon, go to God and tell Him you are
sorry and then get back on that road to victory!

Don't waste precious time having a pity party and being
discouraged.  Don't sit there and listen to satan lie to
you.  Get back to doing the practical and spiritual things
you need to do in your life each day and start enjoying
the great feeling it is to live your life in obedience to
God and His Word and in victory over those weaknesses in
your life.  God has much work for you to do, so the
quicker you get back to walking on the road of victory,
the quicker you can get back to fulfilling your purpose in
this life which is to serve and glorify Him!

I will be praying for you today.  Praying especially for
those who have fallen off the wagon.  God is a God of
restoration and He wants to restore you today so that you
can not only live in victory over your bondage, but know
the peace and joy of your relationship with Him.  We all
wish we could go back and do things different in our life
but that is not reality.  The reality is if you have
fallen off the wagon it is time to get up, dust yourself
off, and get back into that close, intimate daily walk
with the Lord so that you are operating in His strenght
and not your own.  In your strength it is only a matter of
time before you fail.  In His strength, you will not fail
but live in VICTORY!!!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***If I can help you in any way you can contact me
through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND
ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die one day.  At
that moment, you will either spend eternity with
the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness
forever separated from God your creator.  To know
for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
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(C) Copyright 2006, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved


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May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell