~ Open in Prayer ~

Icebreaker
• What is something you’re believing God for?
• What is something you’re thankful for today?
• Would you rather have an ice cream cone or an ice pop?

Message Review
The most strategic decisions you’ll ever make will be after a defeat. Those decisions will define the trajectory of the next season of your life. If you get the mind of God behind the decision you’re about to make instead of your emotions, you’ll reap a good harvest. But if not, you’ll have to endure some pain as a result of the bad seeds you sowed in a previous season. But the good news is that there is treasure in pain. God uses pain to push you forward and to help you to realize the error of your ways. Through wisdom and understanding the principle of reaping and sowing we can maximize the “destiny decisions” in our lives and use our mistakes to help enhance our futures.

Let’s dig in more…

Read Matthew 17:14-21

You can’t stay on the mountain top but your mountain tops prepare you for the valleys. If you’re living in something negative that you’ve created you have to have the grace to walk through it, and God will give you that grace. But God will not be mocked; for whatever a man sows he will also reap. Your actions now will eventually produce a harvest later and that harvest will be a direct reflection of what you sowed in a prior season. Whenever your flesh is making the decisions something is going to deteriorate, but if you sow by the spirit you will have life. Your decisions must be spirit led not flesh led. It would mock God if you could get something out that you didn’t put in. You want bible results but you won’t sow bible seeds; you want to be blessed but have you sown the seeds of blessing. Do you usually make decisions by the spirit or your flesh? What are you reaping now that you may not have realized you sowed in a prior season?

A lunatic spirit is when you keep feeling pain but never change. You keep doing the same thing over and over even though it brings you pain. You must learn to taste the pain of your mistakes. Pain is discomfort created by disorder. Pain is not the enemy, it is telling you an enemy exists; that something needs to be reordered/restructured. We must learn to find the treasure in our pain because pain is a master teacher. Pain is not usually God’s first choice; He’ll send you a sign or someone but when we ignore that He’ll use pain. Don’t let pain take you down; it should fuel you to correct/redirect. Struggle causes you to develop in such a way that you’re stronger and ready for more. The things going on around you help develop the spirit within you. How have you viewed pain in your life? Have you used it or let it use you? When we’re going through painful moments/seasons what are some things we can do to stay strong?

Read Luke 15:15-24

In the scripture we see that the son had to come to himself; the father didn’t aid him in his pain. You cannot keep intercepting other’s negative harvest; the pain of their decision was meant to change them not you. People never change when they never feel the pain and consequences of their decisions. When you hurt bad enough you come to yourself. When people hit bottom you don’t have to pull them up, they’ll pull their own selves up. Taking responsibility for a harvest that isn’t yours leads to bitterness and resentment; pain was sent to change the person that was causing the problem. The thing about being burned is that you don’t want to be burned again. Have you been taking responsibility for someone else’s pain? Has there been a time in your life where pain pushed you to grow?

The greatest quality in a leader is self-awareness; they know their strengths and their weaknesses. When you’re self-aware no one has to correct you. After you go through a painful season or moment, to learn and grow from it you need to…

•#1 Confess Your mistake to You – You have to admit “I screwed up.” You can’t turn it around if it’s always someone else’s fault. When someone has wronged you understand that the blood of Jesus was not only payment for your sins but payment for those who will sin against you. So you don’t need to wait on someone else to take responsibility. God has already done that. You leave the judgement to Him and you take accountability for your pain and your role in the situation.
What do you need to confess to yourself today?

•#2 Confess your mistake to God – He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins (1 John 1:9).

•#3 Confess to those who were wronged by your decisions – Go make peace. The word says if you bring a gift to the altar but you have conflict with your brother go make it right with them and then come back (Matt 5:23-24). Sometimes making things right means restitution; it’s not just saying “I am sorry.” Restitution is going above and beyond to rebuild trust. You must try to rectify the harm you caused. You don’t have to go above and beyond with God but you do have to go above and beyond with others. Is this hard for you to do? Have you witnessed the impact of restitution versus just apologizing?

•#4 Assign the responsibility of the mistake properly – Assess how you got to your situation. What steps did you take to get where you are. What people did you let in, what advice did you follow?

•#5 What alternatives were available to you at the time of your mistake? – Luke 14:28-31 tells you to count the cost. Think with the end in mind. The “be present” and “live in the now” mindset can lead to destruction. You must weigh the costs….where is this going? How will my decisions today impact my future tomorrow? Whatever decision you make is going to come right back around to revisit you. Your decisions are cyclical. Slow down and count the costs. What are some practical ways you can count the cost before making a decision? Have you witnessed the negative effects of the “YOLO” (you only live once) or living in the “now” mentality?

•#6 Who were the people influencing you at the time of your mistake? – Whoever has your ear has your future. It’s never “what”, it’s always “who.” You’re trying to deliver them from “that” but you need to deliver them from “them.” “That” is connected to “them.” Assess your inner circle and who has your ear.

Scripture References
Matthew 17:14-21 (KJV)
Luke 15:15-24
Proverbs 28:13
1 John 1:9
Matthew 5:24
Luke 14:28-32
Philippians 3:13
Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
Mark 5:25-34
Phillipians 4:8

Prayer Focus and Requests
Ask your members if they have any prayer requests or praise reports. Pray that each member makes wise choices and when they don’t, that they use their pain to help them make good decisions in the future.