Thursday, May 20, 2010

Success...

All people deserve the chance to reach their full potential of success. But what just is success, and what does it mean to be successful or to be a failure? Success is most often defined as either achievement or attainment. Achievement of something that was planned, attempted, or intended; or the attainment of a level of social status, wealth, fame, or even power. So essentially the outcome developed in life revolves around what can a person do to become more successful, and/or how can a person excel in all areas of life; whether professional or personal?
The difference between being, or becoming, successful or to be a failure is answered by many, and usually gets the same answer. To many, success is financial security, a house, college degree or degrees, and so on, and failure is being defined as not achieving or attaining these in life. Clearly if these things are defining your life in terms of success, then you are living the wrong dream and for the wrong things. A person must be strong and courageous to even attempt to achieve success in their life; yet a person in life must achieve success by God's principles and standards (Joshua 1:7-8). The bottom-line is that obedience to the Lord will equal success and disobedience will equal failure. When you try to make the world's standard, or even the so-called American dream, your measuring stick for success then you will end up with the short end of the stick, so to speak. It is possible that a person could attain all the riches and fame in the world, and yet truly without the Lord they will have nothing and still be broken and empty.
With God nothing is impossible. A person's potential is within the unexplainable and supernatural realm with the Lord. Look at it this way, potential in your life is simply expressing the possibility, liberty or power; something that can develop or become actual. With the Lord Jesus, potential becomes a promise. Furthermore, when the Lord is guiding you and the Holy Spirit is developing your potential then success is guaranteed when you live in obedience to the Lord. It will be hard and you may not like what is going on at times, but you will reach your fullest success potential in life with the Lord. God's own living Word, the Bible, provides comprehensive and effective structure through collaboration across churches and communities that facilitates the development of a diverse and vibrant success experience in life.
If no one ever even notices anything you have ever done in your life, know this, when you live a life of obedience then God will see you as a success because you obeyed. Never allow the world to define who you are, much less whether you are a success or a failure. Let God decide this! You can do amazing things with your life when you give it to the Lord and live obedient to His purpose and mission. This is the only solid and lasting success. Amen.

Rushing God...

While watching the television recently with my daughters, we can across something completely astounding. We were watching an animal program about eagles and what was learned is phenomenal. You see, to an eagle timing is everything. There's a time to build a nest, hatch an egg, and even a time to feed the baby eaglet. The mother eagle even has a time when enough is enough. The eagle will then teach the young eagle how to fly. At this point the mother eagle wraps her talons around the young eagle for his first lift-off from the nest. The mother will then soar about two miles high while clutching the young eagle in her talons. When the time is just right she will retract her claws, and for the first time ever the young eagle is on his own. Free falling, tumbling, screaming, and facing certain death is in his young feathered mind; especially as the ground quickly approaches. But, at the perfect moment, the mother will tuck her wings and shoot straight forward to the young eagle. She will zoom past him, level off, spread her huge wings, and catch the young eagle on her back. This routine is practiced over and over until, at last, the young eagle learns to fly. It was totally amazing to witness this on television, I could just imagine in person.
By the same token, it is totally amazing to go through this with our own lives. God does the same thing as illustrated above with His children. God reminded Moses, "I've held you up on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." Thus, this amazing fact concerning the eagle is true about God; timing is everything. The Lord's mighty and majestic moves are precise and calculated. God is, in fact, mighty and swift to save. Yet one truth remains, God is never in a hurry. Noah's building project was in excess of 100 years and Abraham awaited a son in his great old age. Joseph spent 13 years in prison and Moses was 40 when he went into the desert, but 80 when he returned with a mission and a purpose. So, you can see God will not be rushed. While time is a man-made thing, time still belongs to Him.
For me, patience has never been my strong suit. Both God and I know this. Have you ever found yourself telling God what to do or rushing Him? I'm sure I'm not alone on this. Accordingly, "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." I'm usually willing to wait 24 hours, but 8,760,000 hours? Have you ever tried to set a fire under the Lord's throne? Have I poked a familiar nerve. A long illness, no job, an overdue pay raise or promotion, church feuding or gossip, a perpetual critic, wayward children, a family problem, immature and/or undisciplined church members, a bad neighbor, one or many unanswered prayers, waiting for your church to take off as other churches do. Is this getting warm yet?
From the patriarchs of old, to the disciples of today, God's people have always asked the same questions, "When Lord, and why not now?" Yet, to paraphrase His answer to Isaiah, "My timing is not your timing, neither are your deadlines my deadlines." Jesus spent 30 years preparing for a 3-year ministry, and the Lord Jesus also knew something about timing. He exhibited poise and patience in every phase of His demanding work and His pressures would have crushed any pressures we have of today. He was never rushed, and never preoccupied with that day's frantic pace. He was, as His father, never in a hurry. Again, timing is everything. Our timing is to wait on His; and like the mother eagle, God may let us free fall, but He's never lost one of His kids yet! If your trying to rush God or losing patience, I can tell you from experience this will not work. Come back to where the Lord is at work in your life, then be still and know that He alone is God. Pray that the Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit Himself, will give you patience; and help you to see the timing of the Lord. Amen.

Passion...

Passion can be defined as a powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger; some sort of ardent love. A strong sexual, desire such as lust, or quite simply the object of such love or desire. Passion has often been also described as total enthusiasm. So, what is fueling your desire in your life today? Is it the Lord or something else?
Over the years, I've come to see that a person's desire, or desires, is quite possibly one of the most sustainable and important competitive advantages a person can have. If it is the right desire, fuel by the right passion. Everything in life starts with desire, but desires come and go as real passion stays. Passion is the most important thing to leading a dream. Converting your dreams to reality will require passion. Whether in your personal life, employment, school, or whatever passion is key to a most productive life. While many see the bills laying on the counter and push themselves to work, genuine passion is about much more than that. Passion drives a person who doesn't get up every day and face down challenges just for the sake of money, but there is a fire, a passion for something more. The missing ingredient for many today is passion. Then again there are still many who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is the Lord of lighting and sustaining that passion needed in your life. You may have passion in your life without the Lord, but any passion not from the Lord will simply make you meltdown and self-destruct. The Lord is the One who gives and inspires passion. People today do not really need another strategy, and the last thing they need is another so-called guru's personal analysis on their lives. What people today most assuredly need most is to become spiritually, physically, and emotionally engaged with their own passion and their own dreams, with each other, and with their calling in life. No matter what your age, your training, your education level, or even your level of experience the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit Himself can, and will, ignite the passion in your life.
Passion isn't necessarily a word that we typically equate with certain things in life. Yet, passion is something that is needed in life. Looking back though history, the greatest impact people who did something with their lives approached their careers and achievements with passion. Some have a passion for storytelling, some have a passion for creating something that people can't help but share, but all people should be passionate about what they do; as well as choosing something they love. The ones who really change our world for the better will be the ones most passionate about doing it. There is a common thread in the people with passion who are accomplishing something great. The future of the world is in the Lord's hands and isn't about Twitter, facebook, weathering the storm, or even finding the next great groundbreaking product. Passion is a very important component of keeping things together, fulfilling dreams, and achieving goals. It's not enough anymore to just simply build a great plan that provides structure for daily life and activities; as this is essentially building a life totally on sand. A person must stay motivated and make their passion a permanent part of their life. This includes making sure that the Lord is the foundation and at the core of all passion(s).
Passion emerges from an attitude, a commitment, a hunger to see lives changed and Christ honored. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit who takes a faithful, humble messenger and sets him or her on fire for the Lord and His mission. Passion can make you walk one more mile when you are certain that mile will kill you; and passion still sparks after you have walked that last mile and found nothing at the end of it but more road. Amen.

2010 Graduates

In the next few coming weeks area high schools will begin to graduate and turn loose their classes of 2010. The world is full of choices, but which exact choices should these new graduates make? Biblical decision making begins with a willingness to submit your own choices and intentions to God's perfect will and humbly follow His direction. The problem is most do not know how to figure that out. Even though the steps of obedience is clear in the Bible many will continue to give excuses, especially teenagers who are new graduates. Life is hard, very hard. Most of the upcoming graduates will encounter messages on graduation that inspire them to go and do great things; and none of these messages will contain anything of how hard life really is. One thing is for sure, in life you can make it harder than it actually is.
A person must begin prayer, period. This includes framing an attitude into one of trust and obedience as you commit to prayer. There's no reason to be fearful in life when you are secure in the knowledge that God has your best interest in mind. God knows what He is doing, and He has a plan for even you: The new graduate (Jeremiah 29:11). If God has already revealed his will in Scripture, your only response is to obey. This is were many of us get into trouble, choosing not to obey. As a new graduate whether on your way to college, employment, both, or still just mooching off your folks; you will need a light to guide you in life. God's Word, the Bible, is that light. Let it seriously guide you (Psalm 119:105). Most of all, be ready to accept and obey God's Word for the answers in your life. It's very unlikely that God will reveal His plan just for you, especially if He knows already that you won't obey. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't try to think you have all the answers yourself (Proverbs 3:5-6). If you seek Him in all you do, He will be faithful in guiding you were you need to go in life.
Exercise your faith, and get it trained and fine-tuned like a world class athlete. You will need this healthy and fine-tuned faith throughout all your life; to get to where the Lord Jesus has it planned for you to go. Remember, without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Seek concrete direction and obtain counsel. Plans and life will experience failure for lack of planning and counsel (Proverbs 15:22). It is always wise to get spiritual and practical counsel from the Godly leaders in your life. A pastor or church leader can often contribute important insight, answer questions, remove doubts and confirm inclinations. Make sure to choose individuals who will offer sound Biblical advice and not just say what they think or even just what you want to hear. You can proceed with confidence knowing that God will work out his purposes through your life. This requires obedience on your part. Life will not be a bed of roses for which you can just lay in. Nobody is going to roll over in life for you to simply walk on or pass by. One thing is for sure, as a child of the Living God you know who is on the throne. With that, you should know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Go grab your life, use it for His glory, and do something with your life that is greater than you ever though possible! Amen.