How bad do you want to succeed in life? Most people want to experience success in their endeavors but they are really unsure of how to achieve the success they desire. According to the world's system, success is achieved by how hard you work, whether you have the right connections and whether or not you are willing to compromise at times. But God's formula for success is different. In the kingdom of God system, success is determined by three things: 1) keeping the Word of God in your mouth, 2) meditating on it and 3) acting out on what He says. When you follow His three-part formula for success, you can't fail.
The first key to supernatural success-keeping the Word in your mouth-is vital. People may call you "deep" or super-spiritual when they hear you constantly speaking the Word, but don't pay them any attention. Remind yourself and others that you are working on something and going somewhere! If you want success then you have to talk it, and the only way to talk up true success is to constantly confess the Word. It will take planning, scheduling and discipline, but when you consistently speak the Word, you create a successful life.
Second, you must meditate on the Word. To meditate is to ponder, mutter and consider something. When you meditate in the Word of God, you "juice" the scriptures until you get a revelation of what they mean. God wants to speak to you about His Word, and by meditating in it, you position yourself to hear a specific Word from God for you and your situation. The Holy Spirit will make your victory sweatless by speaking a breakthrough word to your spirit. This can only happen when you spend time in meditation.
Finally, you must act as though the Word you have been speaking and meditating is true, even when your circumstances say otherwise. You have to believe that you receive the promises of God and then act on what you believe. Put corresponding action to your faith and success will be inevitable.
Joshua was a man who experienced supernatural success. The nation of Israel was on the line and God needed Joshua to take over where Moses left off. In Joshua 1:5, He lets this great leader know, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." How would you like to experience the same ability that Joshua did? You can, when you realize that what matters least is who you are or what you've been through. What matters most is that God is with you.
Real supernatural success is not something that just falls out of heaven. It takes courage, faith and God's ability working in your life in order for you to be truly successful. When God is with you, you can't fail. The key, however, is to make sure that you are intimately connected with the Father. You maintain this connection by obeying His Word and turning away from worldly ideas and beliefs.
Success in the world's system comes with a price tag of misery, but the blessing of God will make you rich and has no sorrow attached to it (Proverbs 10:22). The Holy Spirit will save you time, money and energy when you stay vitally connected to God and His Word. Once you put God's formula for success into operation, you will begin to see the breakthrough you've been believing God for.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
True Success Begins In The Heart
All success begins with establishing deep-seated values. One of the most noticeable characteristics among leaders who have achieved some sense of wholeness is that they know who they are, what they believe, and for what they stand.
The poison of moral relativism and situational ethics continues to infect today’s global culture. As a result, we have witnessed an alarming deterioration in business and personal ethics. Over the years, the lines of right and wrong have diminished from black and white into various shades of muted and indistinguishable grey. This flawed belief system has materialized so persuasively that, for many in our world, there is no longer any absolute right or wrong. No longer do values have any meaningful definition. They are oftentimes seen as a disadvantage.
I was talking with a guy in the gym the other day and this is what he said; "A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to accept a major deal that would greatly increase our company's profits and generate a lot of money over the course of just a few years. I turned it down. Many didn't understand why I would do such a thing and miss out on a great opportunity to make so much money. But I made a commitment many years ago that I would never negotiate my integrity for anything or anyone. That is one of the very first values I established within my company--to always prize integrity above profit, relationships, or short-term success. I am not interested in any short-term benefits that would cause me to compromise my values."
Your values are what make you the person you are. The same is true with the organization you lead. The values of that organization make it what it is. You may not realize it now, but the future of your company is linked to the values you establish within and throughout it. The reason for this is simple; values guide each and every decision, which then shapes our destiny. Without clear and established values by which your company filters every decision, the lifespan of your company greatly diminishes.
So what values govern your life? What values govern your company's decisions, policies, and protocol? Do you believe in the values of integrity, hard work, honesty, dependability, creativity, initiative, and teamwork? Do your employees know the top three values of your organization?
After years of experience and working with hundreds of leaders, I can tell you that one value overshadows and outshines all others. The neglect of this value is the reason nearly 90% of all organizations fail.
INTEGRITY! It remains the foundation of all success and wholeness. It has been argued that being a person or company that prizes integrity puts you at a disadvantage in today's corporate world. Those who take this position are blind to both the pragmatic and long-term ramifications of their ideology.
Any unethical action can appear to be advantageous for the moment, but wisdom and history prove those who value integrity always come out on top in the end. Just ask Enron.
Let me leave you with a few vital questions that will help you identify whether or not you have established the values necessary to experience wholeness in this life:
• Which principles define you as a person?• What unseen ideals guide your life?• What are the non-negotiable issues for you as a person - the principles you will not break?• Are your ethics guided by moral principles, or by the convenience of the moment?• On a scale of 1-10, what character rating would you give yourself, and why?• What do you need to change in order to achieve a higher rating?• Is God pleased with your character? Why, or why not?
"Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither." - C.S. Lewis
The poison of moral relativism and situational ethics continues to infect today’s global culture. As a result, we have witnessed an alarming deterioration in business and personal ethics. Over the years, the lines of right and wrong have diminished from black and white into various shades of muted and indistinguishable grey. This flawed belief system has materialized so persuasively that, for many in our world, there is no longer any absolute right or wrong. No longer do values have any meaningful definition. They are oftentimes seen as a disadvantage.
I was talking with a guy in the gym the other day and this is what he said; "A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to accept a major deal that would greatly increase our company's profits and generate a lot of money over the course of just a few years. I turned it down. Many didn't understand why I would do such a thing and miss out on a great opportunity to make so much money. But I made a commitment many years ago that I would never negotiate my integrity for anything or anyone. That is one of the very first values I established within my company--to always prize integrity above profit, relationships, or short-term success. I am not interested in any short-term benefits that would cause me to compromise my values."
Your values are what make you the person you are. The same is true with the organization you lead. The values of that organization make it what it is. You may not realize it now, but the future of your company is linked to the values you establish within and throughout it. The reason for this is simple; values guide each and every decision, which then shapes our destiny. Without clear and established values by which your company filters every decision, the lifespan of your company greatly diminishes.
So what values govern your life? What values govern your company's decisions, policies, and protocol? Do you believe in the values of integrity, hard work, honesty, dependability, creativity, initiative, and teamwork? Do your employees know the top three values of your organization?
After years of experience and working with hundreds of leaders, I can tell you that one value overshadows and outshines all others. The neglect of this value is the reason nearly 90% of all organizations fail.
INTEGRITY! It remains the foundation of all success and wholeness. It has been argued that being a person or company that prizes integrity puts you at a disadvantage in today's corporate world. Those who take this position are blind to both the pragmatic and long-term ramifications of their ideology.
Any unethical action can appear to be advantageous for the moment, but wisdom and history prove those who value integrity always come out on top in the end. Just ask Enron.
Let me leave you with a few vital questions that will help you identify whether or not you have established the values necessary to experience wholeness in this life:
• Which principles define you as a person?• What unseen ideals guide your life?• What are the non-negotiable issues for you as a person - the principles you will not break?• Are your ethics guided by moral principles, or by the convenience of the moment?• On a scale of 1-10, what character rating would you give yourself, and why?• What do you need to change in order to achieve a higher rating?• Is God pleased with your character? Why, or why not?
"Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither." - C.S. Lewis
Monday, June 23, 2008
Real Success
One of my favorite movies of all time is a picture called "Mr Holland's Opus." I know it's an old one. It's a good movie in and of itself, but I will always have a soft spot for this movie because when I saw it for the first time in the theater, it delivered a powerful message to my heart that I really needed to hear."Mr Holland's Opus" is sort of a modern version of "It's a Wonderful Life." In the film, Mr. Holland (played by Richard Dreyfus) is a musician with dreams of making it big as a composer. To make ends meet and to put food on the table, he takes a job as a music teacher in a school. He enjoys interacting with the students and teaching them music, but he still dreams of success, fame and adulation as a composer. He tells his wife he will just teach for a year or so to get them back on their feet financially. That one year turns into two, those two years into ten, those ten years into twenty, and before you know it, it is time for him to retire.As he reaches the end of his teaching career, Mr. Holland is dejected and feels like a total failure. He has wasted his life teaching school and never made it big. He cleans out his desk and heads home for the last time. One of his fellow teachers uses some excuse to get him to come into the school's auditorium and he is shocked by what he finds. The auditorium is filled with thousands of his former students, all of whom have come to let Mr. Holland know how much he affected their lives. Each one of the students has a story to tell how they were touched, inspired, motivated, challenged, or encouraged by this man who was much, much more than just a music teacher to them.Mr. Holland looked around the room and realized that he was not a failure. He saw all these people who had been impacted by his life and he realized that while he didn't make it big in the way he wanted to, there was no way around the fact that he had been a success in his career.
If we are not careful, we can buy into the world's definition of success and that becomes the yardstick by which we measure our lives. But that is not the measure that God uses! He is much more concerned with how you lived your life than the stuff that you accumulate. He is more interested in how many people you are bringing to heaven with you than with the size of your 401K. He is more impressed by the people you invest your time, effort and love into, than your investmen portfolio. It is those things that are eternal that touch the heart of God.
Do you sometimes feel like a failure in the world's eyes? If so, think about the lives that you have touched, and think about the heavenly version of Mr. Holland's surprise party in the school auditorium! Think about all of the people whose lives you have touched by acts of kindness, or service. Think about those who you have shared Christ with who will be in heaven because of you. Imagine all of those people gathered together in heaven to welcome you home and to thank you for touching their lives.
If we are not careful, we can buy into the world's definition of success and that becomes the yardstick by which we measure our lives. But that is not the measure that God uses! He is much more concerned with how you lived your life than the stuff that you accumulate. He is more interested in how many people you are bringing to heaven with you than with the size of your 401K. He is more impressed by the people you invest your time, effort and love into, than your investmen portfolio. It is those things that are eternal that touch the heart of God.
Do you sometimes feel like a failure in the world's eyes? If so, think about the lives that you have touched, and think about the heavenly version of Mr. Holland's surprise party in the school auditorium! Think about all of the people whose lives you have touched by acts of kindness, or service. Think about those who you have shared Christ with who will be in heaven because of you. Imagine all of those people gathered together in heaven to welcome you home and to thank you for touching their lives.
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