It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2

Posts tagged ‘success’

Life Success in This World According to God’s Word

Success has been defined by the world as the attainment of wealth, position and honor; the attainment, performance or achievement of ones goals that can bring honor and respect.  In the book of Joshua, the Bible defines success as one who is intelligent, prosperous, prudent, skillful, and wise and behavesself wittingly. It also explains how to be successful, by meditating on the word of God Day and night and to not depart from doing what is right.

Joshua1:8-9 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.   Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” NKJ

We are to be a people who live by God’s word both in the day and in the night. Some people want to live with multiple personalities. One side they show to the public during the day and another they display at night when they are alone or with their groupies, fans and enthusiasts. 

The world is going after what they define as success with suchtenacity, determination and drive like never before. Thisdistorted and perverse way of thinking about success has led many people astray, they are becoming self-centered and self-indulging. We see people giving up on and leaving their families to free themselves of their responsibility only to indulge, pamper and focus on themselves alone without any other obligations or liabilities. All because they lack the true understanding of how to obtain and rightfully use success.   

It is God who created and designed mankind and He is the One who has established our purpose and defined the meaning of success for not only this life time but for all eternity. We werecreated in the image and likeness of God with the task of having rule and dominion over the things He has given us on the earth.  Our purpose is to be the glory of God by revealing, reflecting and resembling His love, splendor and praise on the earth. God did not create us to barely exist or to scarcely survive in life. He gave us dominion and authority over our lives and sphere of influence that we may show those who are lost, the love of God and how to find eternal life. 

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”   So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.   Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”NKJ

Many people are going through life thinking there is no hope for them. They have been brainwashed by this fallen world’s teaching and line of thought that there is lack and everyone should be for themselves and to think only of themselves. Thepeople perish for lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s principles and precepts, and go after the world’s way of ideas, views and beliefs. 

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. NKJ

Many people end up forsaking the good, eternal and ultimate purpose for the lesser and fleeting, short-lived and temporary things. They will discard their families, children and the welfare of human souls, which are eternal beings, for the passing and fading wealth of this world. 

Proverbs 18:1-2 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment. A fool has no delight in understanding but in expressing his own heart. NKJ

We are told to keep His commandments, to be merciful and to know and walk in His truth. The one new commandment Jesus gave us was to love others as He has loved us, and that would be unselfishly and sacrificially. God gives the command with a promise of long life, favor and high esteem in the sight of God and mankind. 

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Proverbs 3:1-4 My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.  NKJ

God has told us what is required of us and what we are to do. To be just in all our affairs, that is to do the right thing. To love mercy, that is to forgive everybody everything. To walk humblybefore God, that is to live simply and unassumingly without pride and self-importance.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is a generational God. He wants to make a covenant, a contract, a promise with not just us but with our children and their children. God choose Abraham knowing he would teach his children, God’s word. That is what God is doing today, teaching and training us, through His word and Holy Spirit, that we may teach and train our children in the things of God.

Genesis 18:18-19 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” NKJ

Isaiah 54:13-14 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Success is knowing the one True and loving God so that we, our children and our posterity will be established in love and righteousness in the earth.

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Success For a Christ Follower is to Look Like Christ. – repost

The world has taken on the definition of success as the attainment of wealth, position or honor, but followers of Christ must define success differently. Christ followers define their success as the achievement or attainment of one who is Christ like in their various endeavors, performances or just in their daily lives. When we live life like Christ and when we follow in His footsteps, then we will have obtained success in the eyes of God and His kingdom.

To be a follower of Christ or to be Christ like, we must change our view of what Christianity is. The word Christian was given to the early followers of Christ by the world who were nonbelievers. This was because the Christ follower behavior was so different from the world’s way, they actually saw them behaved and walked like Christ.

Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. NKJ

The world was living a life in fear of lack, in scarcity and in self-focus, while the followers of Christ were giving out of their poverty, sharing their resources and loving those that were unlike themselves. Christ is the One who gave Himself for others, the One who became poor that others may be rich, the One who died that others might have life and the One who forgave and loved those that abused and reviled Him.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. NKJ

1 John2:2 And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone. GNT

1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. NIV

Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. NKJ

Successful followers of Christ are defined as the ones who live their lives like Christ. It has been said if you want to find Christ, go low. He was born in a stall not a palace, He lived as a servant and not as a Pharisee, He washed the feet of His friends and even the one who would betray Him. If we want to be first in the kingdom of God, then we are to be last in the eyes of the world. If we want to be chief among the people in the kingdom of God, then we are to be a servant to the people. If we want to be exalted by God live simply in humility, respectfully toward all people, regardless of the origin or status because all humanity are image bearers of God.

John 13:5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. NKJ

Mark 9:3 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” NKJ

1 Peter 5:5-6 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, NKJ

The name Christian is a label the world gave to the followers of Christ in the early church but now the world has used this label to skew, twist or change the image of how the followers of Christ are viewed. Many people label themselves as Christians but choose to live like the world. They are self-centered, in fear of losing what they have, in fear of lack, or of not having enough, and their only concern is themselves, while refusing to help or assist others.

God has called us children born into the family of God, The Almighty God, El Shaddai, the Inexhaustible One who pours out and whose source is unlimited, boundless and everlasting. God gave us a position not a label. We are children of the Most-High King and we are in His family and we are to look like our Father. Though labels may change but God as our Father and us being born into His family will not change. Just as children in the natural take some resemblance or likeness of their parents, so do we as we grow more knowledgeable through the Spirit, into the image of Christ the Son of God.

Ephesian 2:19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.NKJ

1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. NIV

Like the early church, our lives should so reflect the life of Christ that the world would notice a lifestyle different than their own. We as Christ followers should live from a place of grace and forgiveness, because the God we serve gives grace to us, therefore we give grace and forgiveness to others. We serve The Almighty God who is limitless and lives in abundance. He will supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ and not according to our self-importance or works. Therefore, we can give without fear of lack, we can love because He first loved us.

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. NKJ

We can be generous because the God we serve is Yahweh “I am that I am,” He is Elohim the God who creates. Whatever the need, Yahweh is the fulfillment of that need, be it peace, joy, healing, protection, provision, The Great “I Am” is that, and all we will ever need.

Followers of Christ are most successful when they operate in love, humility and grace that Christ displayed while on earth and because our goal is to love God with all that we are and to love and serve others as Christ loved us. Christ followers’ success is not measured by the world’s standards of wealth, position or honor. We are to look like Christ, to operate in meekness and not be prideful; in gracious generous giving and not mean, tightfisted or grudgingly giving. Followers of Christ are to live in kindness, having compassion, sympathy and charity to all, even those who misuse and revile us.

Acts 2:44-47 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. NKJ

People of the world become mean and lack generosity because they operate in fear of never having enough and refusing to share. They will not give to the needs of others because they are afraid in the end there might not be enough for themselves.

Followers of Christ operate out of kindness, generosity and humility, because we know God is our endless, vast and everlasting source. We know we can rely on God, Yahweh, El Shaddai, the One who pours out of His abundance and we do not have to rely just on our limited resource, our job or our earthly means.

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The Level of Our Integrity Determines the Level of Our Success

It is imperative that we stand with integrity. The enemy and the world would have us to believe we can be halfhearted and not fully committed to integrity and it will be ok in the end because they will say it does not matter.   But we are told to be like God and He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  God is One with Himself and we are called to be one person at all times. We are to be followers of Christ, people of integrity every day of the week and in every circumstance.  We are to be people of integrity, to be the same today when things are going well and the same tomorrow when the bottom falls out of our lives.  We must hold fast to same level of integrity, being the same whole, one person at all times.  We are not multiple personalities, not knowing what person and attitude will show up.  We are call to holy and holiness is being the same person at all times just as God is the same, He does not change and we should not either.

Integrity is the covenant we make with ourselves and God to commit to live to His standard of ethical behavior and conduct, especially when life comes to test our convictions. Everyone will be tested or tempted to take the easy way out and the results will be measured according to our integrity.  The testing of a metal is important in finding the weak areas or where it may crack or fail.  Our areas of strength or weakness are found when the test of life comes and the pressures of life are applied and our true self is revealed.

Holy comes from a Hebrew word, qadash, the root meaning clean, to dedicate, or to set-apart, or being whole. This is who God wants us to be when we are with our friends or family dedicated to being the same person at all time, being whole and not split into several personalities depending on who we are around. We are to be the same person on the job as we are at church or in the community. So many of us have multiple personalities living in one body and it is difficult for others to know who the real person is.  Many of us have different personas that we display depending who we are interacting with.  People may not know which personality will show up on any given day or which persona they will be talking to.  It is important to remember that we are called to be one person at all times.

It has been drilled into our minds that holiness is associated with our appetites, cravings or desires.  But holiness is a commitment to live as one person at all times and live an informed life and not be ignorant of God’s word. The truth we know and accept can change the way we think about ourselves and others.   If we are one with ourselves and know who we truly are, we will worship and be committed to our Sovereign King.  We are foreigners living in a strange and different country and culture and God has called us to represent Him.  We will find ourselves in some major battle and we are to be prepared to stand and not let our appetites or the world’s opinions rule over us.

Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever NKJV

1 Peter 1: 14-17   As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. NIV

When we know in our hearts and minds that we were created for greatness in the image and the likeness of God, the enemy and the world cannot have us trick us with their lies. We can only stand by knowing what the word of God says about who we are and how God loves us. It is our knowledge of God’s truth that will keep us from destruction.  It is our commitment and integrity to God’s word that propels us to success. It is not just intellectual knowledge but it is the truth that we commit to and do that sets us free.

Our commitment to integrity is what will keep us from being swayed by wrong motives, society, family or friends. It is our commitment and the decision we make when we are alone with ourselves to live by integrity that will give us the strength to stand when the waves of life come crashing in on us.  Many of us think we will be ready when the storm hits, and we will be able to just say no to life’s pressures. But they will find that they were not prepared to stand the test because they were without the truth of God’s word nor had they committed to the integrity of God’s way. That is why so many people fall to the ways of the world when they are under pressure.   When the flesh is fighting for its life that is not the time to stop and try to figure out what God said or try to make a decision on the spot.  Military personnel know they cannot do strategic battle planning in the middle of the fight. Those decisions must be made before they are in the battle and then their actions are automatic based on the planning and training beforehand. We too must know the battle plan before the battle.

Again, a covenant to God and commitment to ourselves is made in the quietness of our heart, and then we make a choice to stand for integrity.  It is in the quiet times we will make a decision to stand for truth while we take into consideration the cost and the repercussions that will follow our decision not go along with the world’s way.  It is at this time we make peace with ourselves and commit to God’s love and then we are able to stand against the pressures of the world and are able to fulfill our purpose. Knowing Who God is, His love for us and His purpose for our lives will give us the will and the strength to hold on to our integrity.

Integrity is to have a steady devotion and allegiance to act and adhere to just and ethical principles of God and to have the soundness of moral character to be honest in every situation. Only the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is more important as Christ followers and eternity than our commitment to integrity.

John 8:31-32     To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” NIV

Psalms 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You NKJV

Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. NKJV

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him. NKJV

Our integrity is the most valuable asset we have, beside the Holy Spirit living in us, and is a primary weapon against the enemy and against self-destruction. Integrity is our steady allegiance to God’s principles which aid to our success and to the success of our children.  The right and ethical conduct according to God is found in the word of God, the Bible.  It is virtually impossible to stand committed to integrity under presser apart from the commitment to God’s truth and knowing His word by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Most people are committed to doing the right thing and they will try as long as things are going well. But when life brings chaos and shortages the nature of man will return to the fallen state of survival and self-preservation. Integrity is an individual choice to trust God in all things for our provision, health and even our life.  No one can give us integrity and no one can take away our integrity it is a personal commitment.  Our integrity is linked with our God given will, which is our ability to choose to live by a standard of conduct and principles outlined by the God our Creator to ensure our good success in this life and life eternal.

Our integrity is what allows us to be one with ourselves, that is to say we are one person all the times. Whether we are alone with no one looking or if we are before thousands of people, we are the same person at all the times. God calls this Holy, to have the character of God, to be the same yesterday, today and forever no matter the situation.

Our integrity is our contract or our pledge we make to ourselves and God to uphold His word and to trust God to be with us in the challenges of this world and to help us stand against the cravings of this world and the flesh. We all live in this fallen world and fallen humanity with the pride of mankind railing against the word of God with passions of the flesh if left unbridled would send us all into a vortex of corruption and decadence. It is our integrity that holds us to a commitment of control and restraint and it is because of the decision we made before we entered the battle that sustains us.

Remember, it is our integrity that brings glory to God, which is why the trails of life comes to test us and to see if we are really committed to the truth, we say we know and have.   The world knows how it will respond in difficult times and expect Christ followers to do the same. We have seen it all too often in a time of crisis people lose their concern and compassion for others and become self-centered and self-absorbed.  To see someone committed to their word and hold to their integrity even at a cost to them, is an example to the world the love of God and the power of God to uphold and keep His people.

God will be praised when we are able to stand against the chaos and pressures of life and for our ability to live integrity which come from our God.

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Successful and Not So Successful People

We all were created to succeed. We have been given by God all we need to succeed and yet there are so many people who are barely making it in life. The level of our success is determined by the level of our knowledge of God’s principles and our choices to obey His word. God says His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. They lack the knowledge of who they truly are so they never grow into their maturity and their life’s purpose.

We want to blame the devil, sin, drugs and all the appetites of the flesh. But God says His people are destroyed because they do not know who they are, their purpose or the God Who created them. God is talking about the people who are in His family being destroyed. They have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and their souls are saved, but their minds are still enslaved to the lies of the world. This is why we are told not to conform to the ways of the world but for us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God says as a man thinks so he is. If our minds and thoughts are open to the lies of the enemy, this will affect how we live.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God. I also will ignore your children. NIV

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJV

Some people are ignorant to the word of God and they do not know the right path to take. Others reject knowledge and refuse to accept God’s word. Those who blatantly reject God, He says, He will reject them on judgement day. Their actions will not only affect them, their children will be affected because they will not have the knowledge of God and will follow after the patterns and lifestyle of their parents.

God has given us everything we need to be successful. We have Jesus Who paid for our sins and gave us a new life; we have the Bible to reveal God to us, to teach how to live; and we have the Holy Spirit to empower us to be successful and fulfill His purpose for us. Jesus has defeated the devil, our sins have been forgiven by His blood, but we continue in a depraved lifestyle because our minds have not been renewed and we do not have enough truth in us to direct us.

For anything to grow, it must be attached to its life source natural environment. God gave instinct to all the creatures in the world for them to grow. But for them to be successful, they must stay in their given environment. Plants must stay attached to the soil; fish must stay in the water and animals in their habitat. To take anyone of these creations out of their environment for very long, they will become unsuccessful in accomplishing their purpose. The same is true for mankind we were created by God, in His image and our spirit is the life source from God. When we are ignorant to God’s word then we do not know how to live and be successful, and any lie might lead us on a path away from God.

God told Joshua how to prosper and be successful; to keep the word of God always on his lips and to meditate on it day and night. God is telling Joshua to say and do what the word says and you will not go wrong. When people come to talk, slander or suggest some evil scheme, we are to say what the word says on the matter. If we continuously meditate day and night on the word of God, it will become embedded in our hearts and become the foundation of our character. Our faith is increased by reading and hearing God’s word and it is faith in God that gives us hope so we can be strong, courageous and not be afraid or discouraged.

Joshua 1:8

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” NIV

It is when we read the word of God we will learn who we really are and the way God sees us, which is our only true identity. The Angel of God appeared to Gideon saying, the Lord is with you mighty warrior. God saw Gideon as a mighty man of valor at the same time he was hiding in a winepress from his enemies. Gideon started sounding like most of the people today, if God is with us, then why are we going through all of this trouble?

The world would have called him a coward but God saw the man He created Gideon to be, and not what he was doing at the moment. People want to label us by our faults and mistakes. We all have failed at something in the past but that was an event in time and it does not define who we are today and God’s purpose We can change our actions and therefore change our future according to God’s purpose for us.

 

Judges 6:12-13a, 14-15 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us….

Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” NKJV

 

 

God told Gideon to go and save Israel and again Gideon started speaking what society and the world had taught him about himself and his family. Gideon was saying his family was the least in their clan and he was the least of his family. That made him the last one in this hierarchy to do great things. This is the way the enemy and society want to make us feel, that there is nothing good in us, but God has called us children of the Most High King.

Life is a never ending process of learning the wisdom of God through His word. When we know God’s word and mediate on it, we will live by moral character with a covenant and commitment to do the right thing no matter if there is an audience or not. We must be strong and courageous to stand against big business, political agendas and the pressures of this world. Our integrity will protect us from making wrong decisions under pressure. It will keep us at a weak moment because the commitment to moral character has already been made. We know God will be with us no matter what we go through.

Remember, God wants us to change the way we think about ourselves and others by renewing our minds to His word and having the mind of Christ.

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