From Loser to Winner

My own bad decisions stand between me and God. What can I do when I realize that I'm living like a loser?

Samson was a loser spiritually (Judges 13-16). What was that guy thinking? What was the matter with him?

He didn't take God seriously. He let people manipulate him. He failed to live by his principles. He compromised. He didn't take his commitment seriously.

Yet Hebrews 11:32-40 tells us that God approved of Samson because of his faith! Yes, God did discipline Samson because of his sin. But when Samson humbly repented, the Lord God once more empowered him. He died a winner!

How do I make a turn-around like Samson? Hebrews 12:2 tells us that we can rid ourselves of the sin that so easily holds us back us by keeping our eyes on Jesus.

I repent of being a loser by turning back to the gospel.

1. I remember that I have always been a sinner.
   
2. I have always been unable to rescue myself from the consequences of my sin.
   
3. And Jesus, whose Spirit is in me, not only rescued me in the past, but is able to live powerfully in me today.
   
4. I submit to Jesus and deny myself, because his strength is most clearly manifest when I am weak (2 Corinthians 12:9).
   

Hebrews 12:3 tells me to remember all the terrible things that Jesus had to endure at the hands of sinful men. When I turn my thought there I don't get tired and give up--I don't live like a loser.

Read the sermon notes.