2020: A year without regrets ~ Pastor Ituah Ighodalo

  And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. Genesis 19: 30-32 KJV

Genesis 19: 30 – 38



We have almost a crisis in this country and a lot of people are not aware of it. This country has some of the most productive resources than can be found anywhere in the world. We have a serious, looming problem in this country and it is time for us to act and make this year 2020 going forward we begin to think differently as Christians. We must realize we have power which we must use to make the nation great and a success. Don’t say it doesn’t concern you, don’t lose your right as a people.

The bible us in the book of Genesis 19 reading from verse 30 of a man called Lot. Lot was the nephew of Abraham and he had only 2 daughters.


The 2 daughter had intercourse with their father and each had a son, the first –Moab and the second Ammon. These children both became a kingdom their rights.  The first problem that the Jews had with the Isrealites was when they were leaving Egypt was 500 years after the birth of Moab in Genesis 19.


That piece of land called Israel was originally the land of Canaan; it belonged to the progenitors of Lot and Ishmael. But the intent of God was that the land was reserved for the Jews.

Abraham and his people had to fight on a daily basis to have and live in the land. This is why we continue to fight in the spiritual to occupy the land that God has given to us.

Therefore, I have these things to say;

• In life we cannot to make a mistake. One simple mistake can throw you off the normal course of your life, it can have repercussion for life and until eternity. 
• The issues of sex, intercourse and premarital sex affects the course of a person’s life. It can change the course of your life for all time.

This year 2020 is not the year to make any mistakes. You cannot afford to make any mistake that will send you back or change the course of your life.


Have you made a mistake that has changed the course of your life? Turn to God and ask Him for mercy that will repair your past to change the present so that your future will be successful.

Some people have already started 2020 with mistakes, wrong choices and taking the wrong steps. If you find yourself in this position; look back and correct it by seeking Christ.


The forth things that affects man is the mistakes that we make. Mistakes are extremely costly. It has been proven that 1 mistake in a person’s life can take about 10-20 years to resolve. What we have read in Genesis 19: 30-38 tells us that some mistakes can have effects that spans generations.

1. He married the wrong woman
2. He was indecisive person
3. He was willing to give his daughters out to men
4. He was a lazy man not ready to apply himself the way he should have
5. He was a bit of a greedy person
6. He was a bit of disrespectful person. When Abraham gave him the option of choice he should have deferred to his uncle
7. Which is the greatest mistake, he did not hear from God before he made his choices

He made the 8 mistakes that ended up being the first man to commit incest in the bible. Every product of disobedience to the words of God results in mistakes that have lasting effects on our life and that of generations to come.

A life without regret pt.2

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 

Luke 16: 22-25 KJV

A lot of people might end up with one form of regret or another if we don’t know what we do at the end of life or where we would be when death comes calling.

People generally fall into 4 categories which are;

1. A group of people who never knew what life could be. They live in complete ignorance of what life is or what their life could be. (the lame man at the pool of Bethesda)
2. A group of people who see a bit of possibility but do not have the capability or think they do not have the ability, capacity or right spirit to make the best of it. A lot of people see them themselves as non-achievers
3. A group of people who have opportunity, see the opportunity and have the capacity to make the best of the opportunity but misuse the opportunity. What they use the opportunity for was not what it was designed to be used for. 
4. A group of people who through sacrifice, knowledge and understanding made the best of all opportunities in the best way possible. They can say I have finished the race

A lot of people would look back and say, “if I had known”. In the first part of this topic we spoke about people who were facing death but didn’t want to die as they do not know where they would go after death.

A lot of people don’t understand life and what life should be. We spend so much time building up a future that brings a burden and life of regret. Luke 16: 19- tells of a very rich man who had more than enough to eat; there was a poor beggar who looked to eat of the scrap left to the dogs. According to the rich man he lived a very good life. He sat very respectably over the city but at the end of that life he had regrets.

What kind of life are we living at this time of our life? Are you going to say at the end of your life that it was a great life, a well lived life or will you say it was a life filled with regrets? Will be on your bed and spend the end of your life thinking of all you could have done things differently? Do you care for the ordinary person you see on the street? Do you see a beggar on the road and help them? Do you consider other people and make their life a bit more brilliant? How many of you pick up a child and send them to school? How many of you see your friend going through hard times and help make his life better? How many of you know the name of your staff?

The rich man had wealth but his life was a failure. The other one was poor but the life he lived ended in success.

A life without regret

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12: 1&7 KJV

This morning we look at the subject “a life without regret”. We will start and continue it through a few more posts.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 tells us a little story written by the man who was considered the wisest, most profound and richest man in the world at his time. A man was promised by God that there was none as wise as he was and there shall be known as wise as he is.

He says, ’remember your creator in the time of your youth’. Remember the lord in the days when you have the wisdom and capacity to serve Him. As in time, sooner than we think, the end of life as we know it on earth will come for each of us and our spirit will return to God who has given it. Solomon was saying that in spite of it all, he has a few regrets. We shall not have regrets at the end of our life in Jesus name, Amen
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One of my favourite people is a doctor. He said in his career he has witnessed 3 categories of people that pass through the hospital

1. People who are in a coma with no knowledge of what is going on in life. They are in a vegetative state with no strength or power over their own life. Someone else or a group of people have the say or control over whether they continue to live or the plug be pulled to end their life. A lot of people go through this category of life
2. There are a lot of people struggling with life. They have tears on their face and they are begging the doctor to save them. They are so afraid to die as they have no idea what comes after death. They are neither prepared nor are they ready for life to end. Alas, there is no one on earth who will not die; death will come for each of us at any time. I have seen death leave the poor and take the rich; take the rich and leave the poor, leave the weak and take the strong.
3. Then there are those who are peaceful, comfortable, calmly reassured and seem to know exactly where they are going when they die. They look death in the face and say, “death do your worst for I know where I am going”. 

You need to be prepared for that day so that you don’t look back and have regret. What are those things in your past that when you look back you begin to regret. Today is the time you must make amends because no one knows what tomorrow will bring.

Some of us have wasted time on things that have no value, spent our life in anger and a lot other things that when we look back we would regret and wish we had done things differently.

We don’t want to wait till the time when we have to say I didn’t know that it would end like this, I wish I could tell you I love you, I wish I had not said those words, I didn’t know it would lead to death. Our prayer is that we would not live a life of regret so that in our old age we would be at peace with our past. Billy Graham said there are 3 things that science cannot solve

1. The wickedness of man
2. The suffering of the world 
3. The certainty of death

I don’t know how your life is going now. I don’t know if you are busy with the things of life, planning parties and thinking of how to look better than your neighbor; know this “Life will go on without you when you are gone”.

Jesus was speaking to Mary and Martha and He said Mary has chosen the most important thing “the kingdom of God”. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10: 42 KJV. What part have you chosen?

You must redirect, refocus and reprogram your life and leave all the struggles of life. If you are a living being visit the hospitals and see human beings like yourself who can’t help themselves. The second place you must visit is the mortuary so that you can see one day exactly how you must end. The third place is the grave, go there and see your final resting place.

Talk to Jesus today about your life; God has given us a special gift of life and we must make good of it. If someone like Solomon can look back and regret, then we need to check our life.

If there is something in our life that we have done that we regret or did that we find difficult to tell to anyone else; I implore us today to talk to Jesus about it. If you know you haven’t been close to Jesus as you should be, put your right hand on your heart and ask Jesus into your life so that He can help you and show you His mercy.