"It's Too Late"
We are so "time conscious". We allow time to limit us and define for us what we're capable of or what God can do in our lives. Today we're fasting from the thought that says, "It's too late."
It's often ingrained in us that it's too late to change; too late to start a new career; too later to save our marriage; too late to recover from a terrible mistake; too late to start over again; or too late to be forgiven or have a second chance.
The truth is: IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!
When you realize that it's not too late, you have hope. You take action. You move forward. You stop thinking that it's a futile and useless to do the right thing.
LET'S CHANGE THAT TODAY
1. UN-DECIDE that it's too late for these things to change. Un-decide that you
can't recover! Un-decide that the damage is irreversible. It's not too late to turn your
finannces around; to recover from a tragedy or mistake; to surrender your life to
God; to take better care of yourself; to change the way you see yourself; to
apologize; to break a bad habit; or to start saving.
2. Meditate on the fact that God created time, and He can multiply it. The earth
stood still in Joshua 10:12-13, which says, "And Joshua spoke to the Lord at
Gibeon... and said in the sight of Israel, 'Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the
valley of Aijalon'. So the sun stood still and the moon stopped. "Joshua had control
over time, for God's purpose. We need to start thinking that way -- we have control
over time. it doesn't control us!
3. Think about the great cloud of witnesses, for whom it wasn't too late:
- It wasn't too late for Abraham to be a father at 99 years old!
- It wasn't too late for Sarah to be a mother at 90!
- It wasn't too late for Peter after he denied the Lord 3 times!
- It wasn't too late for Paul after he had persecuted the church and killed other Christians! God later used him to write two-thirds of the New Testament after the book of Acts!
- It wasn't too late for the woman caught in adultry (John 8:1-11), the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34), or the man who was lame at the pool of Bethseda for 38 years (John 5:1-10).
- In business, it wasn't too late for Ray Kroc, who at the age of 56 started the first McDonalds. (How did that work out for him?)
4. Meditate on God's mercy and grace. Lamentations 3:22-33 says, "His mercy is
new every morning..." Hebrew 4:15 says, "Come boldly to the throne of grace to
receive mercy and grace in your time of need." Mercy is when God doesn't give us
the judgement that we DO deserve. And "Grace" is when God give us the goodness
that we DON'T deserve.
5. Adjust your thinking here; Stop making excuses for why it's too late. God
doesn't listen to our excuses. Realize, HE IGNORES OUR EXCUSES, and
EXPECTS us to believe in His faithfulness. We claim we have low self-esteem or a
disability. Moses wasn't confident and he had a speech impediment, but God gave
him chance after chance to be used by Him to deliver God's people.
6. Meditate on the verse in 2 Timothy 2:13: "Even when we are faithless, He
remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself."
7. Ask God for more time and another chance. Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 20:1-6.
When Hezekiah turned back to the Lord and asked for a second chance, God told
him, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Surely I will heal you... And I
will add to your days FIFTEEN YEARS." If he did it for Hezekiah, He will do it for
you!
THINK IT AND SAY IT
FEATURING: I believe that it is not too late for things to improve in my life and
radically turn around.
I believe in the God of second chances. I can recover and there is
nothing that God won't turn around in my life.
It is a fact that God created time and He can multiply it for me. I am
not controlled by time. By God's grace, I control it!
It wasn't too late for Abraham or Sarah, Peter or Paul. It wasn't too
late for the woman caught in adultry and IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR
ME!
God is no respecter of persons, therefore, if He multiplied time back to
Joshua and Hezekiah, he will do it for me, in Jesus' name.
*** reprinted from Gregory Dickow "Start Thinking Forward."