Perhaps due to the pressure you put on yourself or your love ones put on you to succeed, and seeing how your friends and mates are moving ahead and making waves in their place of work, business, education etc, and probably feeling frustrated because the things you are doing to keep up with them is not working as it should, and you are wondering what they are doing that makes them so successful;
Hold on a sec,
What Is Success?
According to Merriam-Webster, success is "the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame.
In conclusion, it is all about what you have(houses, cars, money, gadgets, etc), typically being a celebrity means you are successful.
Fear not! I didn't write all these to tell you how far you are from success, because probably you may not have much, but there is a different and more durable kind of success i want to show you!
Ways To Success
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There are actually two ways to success; God's way and the World's way
Success is all about dependence; Who are you depending on? your self efforts? meaning, you are depending on your smarts, skills, qualifications (if any) family background, etc.(The world's way)
Or on Jesus,(i.e all He has done for you on the cross)(God's way)
Depending on yourself and all you can do always leaves you stresed, worried, restless and empty, no matter what you do, it is never enough.
Besides, Having money and riches doesn't mean you are successful;
you can ask all those who have money, houses, cars, etc, if they are satisfied now? or at least if they are at rest and without worries because now they can afford anything they want?
You can have a house guarded with lots of security but it doesn't guarantee you are secured.
You can have the best bedroom and the best bed money can buy but it doesn't guarantee a sound sleep.
I know many people who have lots of money but they are flat on their backs with one chronic disease or another, some i know have to take drugs to have apetite for food.
It gets so depressing when you see celebrities committing suicide, divorcing their wives, sad, alone and without love; because you would have thought, "now they have money and can buy whatsoever they want, they should be happy and not empty and sorrowful!"
Think about it for a while.
Now, God has a better way for you and it is through The cross of His Son Jesus. for He said;
The blessing of the Lord — it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].
Prov 10:22 AMP (bold face mine)
God's way will most certainly make you truly rich and the advantage it has over the world's way is that it adds no sorrow with it (no pain, no sickness or disease, no stress, no regret).
It gives you peace, rest and fulfillment, because it is not dependent on you (i.e who you are, your failures, mistakes, family background, race, tribe, nationality, etc) or what you have done or accomplished (i.e your qualifications, merits, skills, awards, etc) it is solely dependent on Jesus, who He is and His finished work on the cross for you.
Really? so how do i succeed God's way? what is this better way?
Succeeding God's Way
AND JOSEPH was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain and chief executioner of the [royal] guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2 But the Lord was with Joseph, and he [though a slave] was a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand.
Gen 39:1-3 AMP (boldface mine)
Joseph was sold as a slave in the Egyptian market to Potiphar.
As a slave he probably had nothing(no cloth, no cattle, no houses, no money), yet the bible says he was a successful and prosperous man, because you see, God's definition of success is different from the World's definition.
The world says you are successful if you have this and that, or that and that.
God says what makes you a success, no matter where you are, no matter who are you, no matter what you have done; what makes you a success is "If I AM with you" (based on WHO you have not WHAT you have).
Ex 33:14.
...the lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand.
hmmm... what about being hard working?
It is NOT his hard work or labour that made ALL that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand. IT IS THE LORD who was with him that made him successful (who he had).
Don't get me wrong, am not saying hardwork is not good but You can be very hardworking and yet still struggle to succeed and flourish in all that you do.
Let's take a closer look at Joseph's life; he had no training as a slave, he was a daddy's boy, so definitely i submit to you even as a slave in Egypt he didn't know what he was doing or never did anything properly. That means he prospered solely because THE LORD WAS WITH HIM.
And even his master saw that it was not his hardwork or skill that prospered him or made everything he did to succeed that it was because The Lord was with him, because the scriptures says;
...And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand.
Pause and think about it for a while.
Just as Joseph prospered you can also prosper and be successful in all that you do, all you need is the presence of the Lord.
The Lord knows you perfectly (all your flaws, mistakes, etc), yet he wrote in the scriptures saying,
... I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not,[I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down
Heb 13:5 AMP
What this means is that, He will not in any way fail you;
He will not in any way give you up, maybe because you failed or made a mistake; He will not in any way leave you without support.
He goes on to say He will not in any degree (whether 20o or 30o) leave you helpless (that is to say, He will always be there to help you in anything you are doing);
He will not in any degree (whether 25o or 38o) Forsake you; He will not in any degree (whether 10o or 5o) let you down.
What all these means is that, He will never leave you no matter what happens, no matter what you do, so you can be sure that the Lord is with you, even right now.
Take some time and let this truths resonate with your spirit!
Now Believe this with all your heart and say this verbally:
The Lord is with me and i am a successful person.
Jesus is with me, everything i touch to do will prosper.
Repeat this and feel assured in your heart, and even before you embark on a project know that it is the Lord that will make it prosper.
God's Presence
For Moses had said, If you aren't going with us, don't let us move a step from this place.
Ex 33:15TLB
Moses didn't want to go anyway or do anything if the Lord wasn't going to be with him.
There was a time the Israelites were pinned down in battle, they did not go back to look for a better strategy or get more men so they could have victory, all they did was to go get the Ark of the Covenant (which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord in the old testament), because they understood that the lord being with them alone will assure their victory.
hmmm... well that was just for battle i think i understand that bit, but what about other areas of life
Well, A man named Obed-Edom had the ark had the ark of the Lord in his house, and guess what, He prospered in all that he did, he and his household, because of the ark of the Lord(which is a symbol of the presence of the Lord).
The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. 12 Now it was told King David, saying, "The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God."
2 Sam 6:11-12 NKJV (bold face mine)
Well, Now i believe that all i need to succeed in everything i do is the presence of the Lord but what about when i fail? what is the assurance that He won't leave?
Good question! To fully answer this question will take a lot of time but i will try to make the truths come true in a short while.
Firstly, I want you to know that Jesus loves you so much, and there is nothing you are going to do that will make him ever stop loving you, i mean nothing.
He is not like some friends that love you because of what you are giving them or doing for them, then when you make a mistake they leave you and abuse you for failing.
Jesus Loves you when you are good and even as if to say, He loves you even more when you are bad, and He will never leave you even when you fail because He loves you.
This may sound like heresy, but just hold on let me explain:
The greatest love story ever written in blood happened over 2000 years ago on Calvary hill, when Jesus bore our sins and Judgement and cried it is finished.
Jesus said at the cross,
...with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? — that is, My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?
Matt 27:46 AMP
So we would know that God left him. why? Because at the cross Jesus bore all your failures and sins (past, present and future) and God's presence cannot be with a sinner neither can He answer the prayer of a sinner.
However, it doesn't end there, He gave you His righteousness as a gift and because of this God will never leave you, because you have the righteousness of Jesus. So that you can cry my God my God, thank you for staying with me even when i do not deserve it
What? how can you say that God will still be with me even when i fail?
Now, you answer me this; why did God leave Jesus at the cross even when He never failed or sinned?
Or better still answer me this; how did Jesus, who knew no sin, did no sin, and in Him was no sin become sin?
Jesus became sin apart from His performance, God left Him regardless of what He did or did not do because He received our sins. By the same token, we are righteous regardless of our performance because we have received His righteousness and the Lord will never leave us or forsake us regardless of what we have done or not done because we have received Jesus' righteousness. It is a divine exchange.
The scriptures says it this way,
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Cor 5:21 NKJV (bold face mine)
You are righteous not because of what you are doing or not doing but because of what Jesus has done for you because of His endless and reckless love for you.
The presence of the Lord in your Life is a gift because of what Jesus has done. In the days to come be conscious of this truth; The Lord is with you, in you and always for you and He will make you to prosper in everything you set your hands to do. BE AT PEACE AND REST, YOU ARE NOT ALONE; THE LORD IS WITH YOU.
He loves you Just the way you are.
Do not be afraid that this truth will cause licentiousness, however believing this truth will cause you to live holy for the glory of God!
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