Chapter – 49: Three Checkpoints 2022
These three checkpoints are a test. Are you strong enough to handle what God has planned for you in your future. All of us struggle, it’s what makes us stronger. Keep the struggle, stay tough and do the job, even when the challenges come, stay the course, do the correct thing, the right thing, God’s thing.
Proverbs 18:9
New International Version
9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.
That means a slacker for the work God has provided, works for the wrong team. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve seen people breach their fiduciary duty, give up what needs to be done because they don’t feel like doing it. They cease to exist in the capacity they’d be so lucky to have. Meaning, they lost their companies, health, well being of the family, nobody calls anymore, nobody cares. We want to avoid that, right? What was the super important position slips away leaving the memory of being special, without being special anymore. Don’t let the devil slip in and take you down.
CHAPTER 49 – THE THREE CHECKPOINTS
Checkpoint #1: “Okay, I’ll do anything, help me get out of trouble.” This is a good start. Could lead to something big.
Checkpoint #2: “I got it from here, I’m good…, I’m brilliant, let me get back to my vision.” This is the end of everything good.
Checkpoint #3: “I think I can do both, my old sneaky habits and some of my new Godly habits.” Recipe for losing everything.
You see, for believers, the devil has to be really smart. He has to sneak up on you, sell you a bill of goods. So you make little adjustments into the negative, and it seems to be okay at the time. But it’s not. I call them 2 degree adjustments. We adjust incorrectly a little here a little there and all at once we owe a zillion dollars, we haven’t been to church, we are not reading the book, and so on and so forth. Where is the “origin of failure?” Where I blew it completely? Is it my first mistake or my last mistake that broke the camels back so to speak? If my compass is off 2 degrees in the airplane, in a short distance it may not matter, but in the long, I could end up lost without gas and in a very dangerous situation. Same with life. What we want to strive for is two degree adjustments to the positive. Keeping us on track. So what are the 3 checkpoints for? They are the ultimate test. I’m pretty sure anybody who is chosen to lead, teach and inspire must go through these tests and pass. The bible says we will be tested. It also says if you’re good in the little things, more will be given. Let’s talk about these absolute tests that many of you have gone through, many of you are yet to be tried.
Isaiah 43:18-19
English Standard Version
18 “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
I used the checkpoints as a pathway from terror to peace of mind and then a short reminder of how terror can return very quickly if we’re not careful. We need these teachings that come from the checkpoint tests to be able to remember how to navigate tough times, and very importantly, be able to share with others the warning of the enemy’s snare. First of all, what is terror. Checkpoint #1 is terror. We get into trouble and will do anything to get out, even if it means behave correctly and change our ways. Hard to believe some people fail this test, it is the easiest of all. Just say okay, God, what do I do, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired, I’m scared and I don’t know what to do?
Psalm 6 New International Version (NIV)
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
He will answer you and when you have learned certain lessons, things will get back in order and quickly especially if obedience is at the top of the list. It is a relief when these upsetting situations begin to settle down and life is simpler and safer. The Lord puts us back on track because we asked. Until of course, it’s time to be tested. Checkpoint 2 is coming, and coming fast. The good life requires a steady commitment to righteous living. Staying the course is a choice. And fiduciary duty, leadership is very important. Not everybody gets to own a company and for good reason. It’s not easy and requires correct choices. Correct choices come from experience and pain and God.
James 1:2-3 New International Version (NIV)
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Not all can keep to the narrow road, they stumble from great potential to a great fall. Some revel in the challenge, some slip away. Giving back to God the knowledge He has so freely given them. Welcome to Checkpoint #2. The infamous statement that is nailed over the door of Checkpoint 2: “I got it from here, God…”
2 Peter 2:21 New International Version (NIV)
21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
Checkpoint 2 is the most sinister, but if you’re a winner, you gotta go through it, and pass the test. Everybody who is anybody has to go through the test. You going to pick God or not. Old habits or the new you in Jesus? The devil has a few tricks inside this checkpoint. Tricks that will destroy your potential. He has used them for years because they work.
Three trick statement the Devil will surely tell you:
- “You don’t need to be accountable to anybody. That’s for sissy’s, I’m in charge, I’m the reason for everything. I’ll go to church when I can.” All of that is baloney.
- “I’m going back to my old ways, now that I’m cash positive and in good shape, I can start running the old games, everything I make under the table is all mine, I don’t need to tell anybody what I’m doing, I get it, I’m special, I work harder than everybody else, I deserve it.” All of that is baloney.
- “I need to move people out of the way, people like “goody two shoes,” they get in the way. I’ve definitely out-grown all of them, they don’t understand a complex mind like me. I’m a risk taker, I’m definitely a player. Big risk, big payout.” All of that is baloney and…
Strike 3, you’re out. Time and Grace given to you for a second chance, squandered one more time. IF YOU DON’T GET OUT OF CHECK POINT 2, YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING AND RIGHTLY SO, BECAUSE YOU DON’T DESERVE THE RESPONSIBILITY. It will be the end of your good fortune and the beginning of a hideous discipline, losing the original blueprint of you. What might you have been had you stayed the course and listened to the Lord? In proverbs Wisdom is referred to as a “she.” This is what she says to you when you disregard Wisdom.
Proverbs 1:26-28
New International Version
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
Okay, let’s look on the bright side. You get past checkpoint #2. You actually pay no attention to the temptations of chaos, guess what? You guessed it. Next, checkpoint. Your final test for this season. Checkpoint #3. By this time, we’ve learned a lot about the Lord and about win/win situations, where everybody gets a little piece of the pie. We’ve learned at this point, God and living correctly is a verb, something to be worked on daily. However, here at checkpoint 3 we get this brilliantly totally stupid idea that we can live almost correctly —- the rest of the time belongs to Number 1 me. I can add a little of the old sauce now and then to pick up a few bucks or get ahead in this area or a little secret sin here and there. Kids, don’t be fooled, a little mistake, a little 2 degree out of whack adjustment to your moral compass can yield a complete loss to everything you’ve earned and learned. There is no sneaky way out, this is the devil’s last checkpoint to stop your training. IF YOU GET PAST THIS CHECKPOINT YOU’VE GOT TOOLS TO FIGHT THE ENEMY AND TRAIN OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. What does the devil tell you at Checkpoint 3. The usual. “You are large and in charge, you can get away with it.” My friends if you make a mistake at this point in your life, it will hurt many, many people, especially your kids. And your future — could be very grim.
Proverbs 1:29-31 New International Version (NIV)
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
So how do you escape when you’re troubled or fighting a certain thorn in your side as Paul says. Well, it’s tough, you gotta take it to the Lord and tell Him you’re struggling. He might keep it that way to remind you of your weakness, and how desperately you need Him, no matter how successful you’ve become. Paul says it perfectly in 2 Corinthians 12.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Catastrophic failure is always waiting just outside the door, especially for people who have everything. And all of you have everything, including your health and well being. And you can give all the glory and honor to the one true God that put you in your position for the good of His Holy Will, to help others and bring hope to those who need to know the Lord. If the devil can stop you, all that is over. In one fell swoop you can be introduced to your “origin of failure”. Where you accept one more negative in your life, one more point of negative that finally breaks the bank, one more sin and bam — in an instant, you are in a total financial and emotional free fall from the top floor to the bottom floor. And whatever you had, you ain’t got anymore. You might want to try one more prayer before you jump into the great abyss. Ask Him to save you.
Psalm 107:17-20 New International Version (NIV)
17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Wouldn’t you rather be rescued before the fall? I wasn’t, so I can tell you, you will pay for it the rest of your life, I’ll never forget it and it will haunt me as a thorn in my side until He takes me home. Breach of fiduciary duty, the call of the independent thinker, who needs no one and God has awards such thinking — with disaster. We call it entitlement. Without fellowship and solid teaching Checkpoint 2 will take you out. Without committed structure in living correctly Checkpoint 3 will woo you into submissiveness that leads to tragedy. All of it killing your momentum towards the blessings God has in store for you. You guys have everything, the devil wants you dead.
1 Peter 5:8 New International Version (NIV)
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
If you survive all three checkpoints you are ready for what God has in store for you. The memory of the checkpoints will have taught you what to do when the enemy stalks you. It has given you valuable tools to stay the course when obsessive temptation falls head first into your path. You will have learned to listen to the correct voice, not the wrong one. His voice is pure and true and sometimes difficult, but better for sure than the other voice.
John 10:3-4
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
There will be very big challenges in your life after you have past all three checkpoints into your Destiny, but that’s the point. Train hard for the next great adventure where the Lord allows you to fight the good fight f—Kingdom work. Stay tough on your path, wherever you may be, keep Jesus close, and His Word on your mind. Chapter 49 Three Checkpoints.
Isaiah 40:3 New International Version (NIV)
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord[a];
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.[b]
Remember kids, this is my testimony, use it to make your story, your testimony, a map to find your way back when you’ve lost your way, how to prevail over our hideous nature.
Isaiah 42:16 New International Version (NIV)
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
Be delivered from the hands of fate into the hands of destiny. From the hands of the ordinary into the hands of the extraordinary. By the Blood of Christ we live free.
Chapter 49 Three Checkpoints. Use it wisely, effectively, and most importantly — when it’s your turn pass the test. Remember the teacher is always very quiet during the test.., however in the case of the Lord, His hand is upon you always. Keep the Faith. Amen.
