Some people refuse to bend when someone corrects them. Eventually they will
break, and there will be no one to repair the damage. (PROV 29:1 ERV Translation)
Today, while looking back on all the mistakes I've made; all I can say is, thank God,
Jesus is Merciful and Our Heavenly Father is the God of a second chance!
So as I begin to share my thoughts on mistakes, let me first encourage you by saying;
We are learners and not losers. In every situation, we either win or learn.
Now, here are some of the mistakes I have made.
1- I remember, making the mistake of getting married at the tender age of fourteen:
Talk about Mistakes!
But you know what they say; if you play with fire, you'll get burned. Well, I did, and
by that, I mean, that by the time I was fourteen years old, I got a young girl pregnant.
Oh, Oh! Well, before long, her father found out about it, came looking for me, showed
up in my house, found me, grabbed me by the throat, put a butcher knife to my
stomach and said, if you don't marry her, I'll cut you from one side to the other, until
all your guts are hanging out and you bleed out. Now; what are you going to do? I
said, I will do, what ever you say! Lol. So that's how that went down. I had no other
choice!
Yet, God in his mercy, has used my testimony to bless many people around the
world.
2- I can also remember making the mistake of thinking I could play the Hammond
organ. Man, was that ever a mistake! Cause the truth is, I was the worst at it! (I
didn’t want to play it, but my friends insisted???) Now let me tell you how that all
changed. One day, my friends and I were trying to move my Hammond C3 organ
down from the second floor; when all of sudden, It slipped out of someone's hands
and fell all the way down to the bottom of those stairs, breaking it all apart. I could
still see and hear my precious father crying in agony and my friends screaming, “Oh
no! Oh no! How could this happen? ‘J’, we're so sorry, But all the while, deep down
inside me I kept shouting, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Well, That glorious day, when my C3
organ was shattered in pieces, it literally broke the chains that had been binding me
for a long long time. Finally, I could once again sing, “free at last; free at last; thank
God Almighty I'm free at last! And sure enough, from that unforgettable moment,
my organ playing days were over. HaHaHa, The truth is, I felt like a man who had
served his prison sentence well and at last had been set free. LOL
3- Another huge mistake that I can clearly remember was trusting people who had
not earned it or proven themselves. You talk about a painful mistake and a difficult
learning experience! Wow! The first thing I learned was, that trust and respect are
not to be freely given away like candy. They must be earned. When I saw this, I had
to make up in my mind, that going forward, I would have to learn to qualify people
for access into my inner circle of life, cause little did I know, that not everyone
qualified, and not everyone was worthy to walk hand in hand with me.
Furthermore, I had to look closely at who was presently in my inner circle and
realize that many of them never did belong there to begin with, and some who were
with me presently, definitely did not belong in my future; because just as sure as
seasons in our life change, so do people.
Jesus’ Relationships
I didn't know, that when it came to relationships, Jesus himself operated on five
different levels?
A. The first level was the multitudes. Or those people who, for the most part, he
never met face to face. He simply ministered to them and only touched them at a
distance.
B. The second level was the seventy, which he sent out to preach and cast out
devils.
Those, I'm sure, He spent more time with, teaching and pouring Himself into them.
And although, he was closer to them, yet, they were not in His inner circle.
C. The third level, were the twelve, to whom he expounded the word and ordained
as apostles.
I'm sure, These were the ones, He spent the most time with, because they were His
inner circle.
D. The fourth level, was the three, Peter, James and John.
His relationship with them was deeper still than with the other nine. These, he
would occasionally take with him on special missions, like when he went up to the
mountain of transfiguration.
Another example was when Jesus raised the twelve-year-old girl from the dead
whose father was the ruler of a synagogue. Mark tells us, “As soon as Jesus heard the
word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid; only
believe.” And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the
brother of James. (Mark 5:36-37) I personally believe; these were the three that He
as personally grooming to take the lead after his departure.
E. On the fifth and most intimate level, there was only one, John.
Amazingly enough, John was the only one that at the last supper laid his head on
Jesus heart. To me, the reason this is so sad is, because, there are so many people,
who long for His blessings, His power, or His favor, but very few, ever really want
His heart. And honestly, it's no different with you and I. This is why, one of the most
difficult lessons I have had to learn is, not everyone who is around me, wants my
heart either. They may want my money or my favor, my help, or my company, but
unfortunately not my heart. This is why I'm urging you to begin qualifying people
for access to your life and stop allowing everyone who knocks on your heart's door
to freely come in, because remember, not everyone is worthy or qualifies!