2021-08-16
2 Chronicles 26:5 NLT
Success comes in all different shapes and sizes. Everyone probably has a slightly different idea of what success looks like. But a very basic definition is achieving our aims (whatever they may be). We often tend to think of success in terms of having a good job, being rich, and having influence. Today, let’s consider what God thinks about that type of success.
1) We can be successful and spiritual at the same time. We might think that humility only really comes when we don’t have much and we have to rely on God to provide for us. But if we believe that ‘everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory’ (Romans 11:36 NLT), we’ll realise that everything we have really belongs to God, not to us, and we can be thankful for whatever He’s blessed us with, whether it’s a lot or a little. The Bible tells us that ‘As long as [Uzziah] sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.’ The king’s success came from being humble enough to ask God for help and not just rely on his own strength and wisdom.
2) We shouldn’t be afraid of success. As soon as someone achieves or gains something, there are often people around who are jealous of their success, and ready to criticise and tear them down. Having success and influence comes with a lot of responsibility, and we might not feel qualified or even want that pressure. But Paul wrote, ‘We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going’ (2 Corinthians 4:9 TLB). If God’s granted us success, we can be certain we’re right where He wants us to be, and we can (and should) turn to Him for guidance, support, and encouragement.
Judg 9:34-11:40; Luke 14:1-14; Ps 119:73-80; Prov 20:25; Ecc 5:4-6
2 Chronicles 26:5 NIV
Think about these questions and answer them honestly. (1) Do you believe you can be successful and spiritual at the same time? Some folks equate poverty with humility and conclude that successful people can’t be humble. Not so. “As long as [Uzziah] sought the Lord, God gave him success.” Success doesn’t give you the right to look down on others but, when successful people speak, others listen. Leaders like Joseph and Daniel influenced entire nations for God. The fact is, we’ve a message of hope others need to hear, but without adequate resources, how will they hear it? (See Romans 10:14-17). If you’ve been settling for less, pray for greater faith and start aiming higher in life.
(2) Are you afraid of success? Perhaps you fear the pressures and the price tag that accompany it. Leadership is lonely; maybe you’d rather be with the crowd. Or maybe you’ve been knocked down and you’re afraid to get up again. When Thomas Edison was asked about his success, he replied, “I start where other men leave off!” John Foster Dulles, former U.S. Secretary of State said, “The measure of success isn’t whether you’ve a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.” Paul wrote, “We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going” (2 Corinthians 4:9 TLB).
(3) Are you satisfied with the way things are right now? If you’re not, accept responsibility for your life and take a step of faith. Ultimately the only one who can stop you from becoming the person God intended you to be – is you! Bottom line: God wants you to succeed.
Soul food: Judg 9:34-11:40; Luke 14:1-14; Ps 119:73-80; Prov 20:25; Ecc 5:4-6
2021-08-09
John 21:5 NLT
Sometimes God uses failure to get our attention and draw us closer to Him. In John 21 the disciples ‘went out in the boat, but…caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”‘ (John 21:3-7 NLT).
We learn three things about Jesus in these verses: 1) He can do what we can’t. As long as we think we can handle things on our own, He’ll let us try. As long as what worked in the past is still working, we won’t reach for His help. It’s only when we run out of our own answers that we discover the truth of Zechariah 4:6: ‘”You will not succeed by your own strength or…power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD’ (NCV).
2) He can do more than we can. He told the disciples, ‘Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!’ It didn’t sound right, but by obeying Him they entered a level of blessing and abundance they never dreamed possible.
3) He wants a relationship with us. After eating breakfast with the disciples, Jesus told Peter, ‘Take care of my sheep’ (see John 21:17). Now fishermen don’t take care of sheep – shepherds do! So what just happened? Jesus introduced Peter to his true calling – and He’ll do the same for us.
1 Pet 1-5; Luke 12:13-21; Ps 119:25-32; Prov 17:11-15
2021-07-11
Luke 5:9 NKJV
Lesson two: God is interested in your success. Peter knew Jesus was a great teacher and that He could even heal the sick. But what he was about to learn was that Jesus wants us to succeed in our work. Peter probably had good nets, owned a good boat, and knew exactly where to catch the most fish. And his income depended on a good catch. But after fishing all night and catching nothing, Peter made the best move of his life: he got Jesus involved.
We might lose sight of the fact that God wants to be involved in our work. We can involve Him by making our work available to Him to use any time for His glory, so He’s able to minister to people through us while we’re working. We often try to separate secular things from spiritual things; we have our Christian life nicely partitioned off from our work life. But this prevents God from using and blessing our work.
God says: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good for you, and leads you along the paths you should follow (Isaiah 48:17 NCV). We might think that if the work we’re doing isn’t for a church or a ministry, then God can’t or won’t use it. But He wants to be involved and give us His wisdom and guidance in all areas of our lives, and He can use the work we do to bless others in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Work takes up a large part of our day – imagine the difference it could make if we invited God into that time too.
Ruth 1:3-18; John 6:41-69
2021-07-09
2 Chronicles 31:21 NCV
Sometimes we can think that to be successful for God, we have to become a church leader and work for Him in that way. But that’s not true. We’re not all called into that work, and we can be successful in God’s eyes even when we’re in the secular world. Money, fame and power make us successful in the world, and achieving those things is not necessarily wrong. It all depends on our attitude and our motives.
We need to make sure we’re working for God’s glory rather than our own. And that’s exactly what Hezekiah did. In the world’s eyes he would have been seen as successful; he’d become the king of Judah by the age of 25. The Bible says that: ‘In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered’ (2 Chronicles 31:21 NIV).
There are three keys to his success here. First, he was obedient to the law. We can see how important that is when God spoke to Joshua about the same thing: ‘Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go’ (Joshua 1:7 NIV). But then we also have to seek God, especially to make sure we’re still doing His will. And then we must work wholeheartedly for Him. ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters’ (Colossians 3:23 NIV). These things will help us to be successful in God’s eyes, not the world’s.
Joel 1-3; Luke 6:17-26; Ps 79; Prov 15:18-21
