* Spiritual Success

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate

 therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all

that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way

prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.  

Joshua 1:8

Our TRUE worth has nothing to do with the size of our bank accounts, but rather the capacity of our hearts to surrender fully to God. In other words, by who we are in God, not what we have.  Our true worth comes from who we are in God, not what we have on earth.    I know we live in a world where everyone seems preoccupied with success as if that’s the measurement of our worth; that’s worldly standards but how many of us know that we are not driven by worldly standards?  We know; and if you don’t know, if you live long enough, you’ll find out people are fickle and the standards of society are fleeting just like the wind.

But, just like Jesus' worth is fixed and doesn't change depending on the opinion of others, our worth is also fixed. Meaning, our worth never changes to God. Our worth is rooted in something much deeper than someone's opinion of us, our worth is rooted in the unwavering opinion of God.

This is important because we need to know who we are in God so that we know what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and how to do it.

Since the dawn of civilization, we humans have classified each other into two categories: the haves and the have-nots. In other words, those who have money and fancy things, and those who don’t.  Somewhere along the line, someone decided that the “haves” are worth more simply because they have more, but money has an absolute ZERO role in determining your true worth in God.  You can buy a beautiful house and fill it with countless things, but that doesn’t make you a valuable person in the eyes of God.

I’m not trying to tell anyone that money is not important because it is.  It’s how we survive in this world by obtaining what we need and it also gets us a lot of what we want.  But, again, I’ll say it has nothing to do with our true worth according to God.  A lot of knowing your true worth is knowing:

 who we are in Christ, which is complete and blessed with every 
spiritual blessing that comes from:

®     God, the Father, who LOVES us

®     God, the son, Jesus, who REDEEMS us and

®     God, the Holy Spirit, who SEALS us.   Ephesians 1:3

When we come to understand who we are in God, we understand our true worth.  So, let’s begin by understanding that a true and godly definition of our true worth is not determined by worldly success, such as fame and fortune, but by our success in God.

The world most often broadly defines the term as simply one’s ability to achieve personal goals.  That’s fine for the world, however, those of us who have placed our hands on the plow must realize that God is the focus. Our goal is to fully realize what He’s set forth for us. Therefore, 

our achievements; our victories, our successes ultimately belong to God, 

and He deserves all the praise.  True success only comes through God.

We can’t be successful if we leave God out of our life. Now, by the world’s standard, we may appear to “have it all,” but what is the eternal value of fame and fortune? Certainly, there is nothing inherently wrong with these things, but we have to overcome the notion that “Fame + Fortune = Success”.

 Money and celebrity cannot bring lasting peace, joy, love, contentment, or eternal security, which are available only through the love of God in Christ Jesus.   Does this mean that since it’s temporal, on this plain, we can take our wealth with us when we leave this world to make our peace, joy, love and contentment last?  No, of course we can’t.  Here’s the powerful truth: We don’t need to take our treasure with us, because we’ve already sent it ahead. In seeking a life motivated by godly goals, we’re already amassing a great treasure in heaven.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.   Matthew 6:20-21

So, here’s a question for you:  What is your soul really worth to you?

The bible also says:    

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  Matthew 16:26

 This lets me know that our true worth will be measured by our eternal reward, not our earthly wealth.  You may be thinking, but I thought she just said . . . “So should we or shouldn’t we avoid material wealth?”  And again, I say, no, we don’t avoid it because as long as we’re here occupying in the earthly realm, we need money to survive.  However, we have to be crystal clear on one important point: 

√         fame and fortune may be the external results of success, but they themselves are not success.  Remember, success is not about what you have, but about what you are.

In its purest sense, success is simply being the man or woman God has called you to be.   When we think of it this way, there is no doubt that God is interested in our success!  Not only is He interested, but He intentionally encourages us to be triumphant.   Scripture offers four proofs: 

           →        First, God plans for us to succeed. 

We see this in the lives of many men and women in the Bible. For example, the account of Joseph in Genesis chapters 37-50? By the world’s standards, Joseph was doomed from the start. This young man had been stripped and sold into slavery by his own brothers, and for years he lived a life of servitude and imprisonment. However, in everything Joseph did, God made him thrive.  In those stated chapters of Genesis, we see Joseph as a shepherd boy, then a slave, later as a prisoner, and ultimately as the Governor of Egypt! Surely God had planned for the faithful servant’s good fortune, even during those years when all seemed hopeless.  We see similar accounts throughout biblical history. Moses, Joshua, David, Nehemiah, and countless others.  They all demonstrate this same kind of greater divine plan for distinction. And, of course, let’s not forget the apostles—they thrived in the making of the church age and spread the good news of salvation around the world.  And no doubt, their mission must be considered a success, or we wouldn’t have churches or records of Jesus at all. 

In the eyes of God, they were all successful; their true worth was found in God, not in man.  But let me go back to Joseph for just a moment.  We look at Joseph and we see a down in the dumps story emerge into a success story by worldly standards – we say that because he was obedient to God; went through his suffering in a Godly way, God blessed him with wealth and stature.  But, if you read the account of Joseph carefully, we find that his ultimate success was not the riches he amassed nor his stature; these things were not for his sake but for the saving of the nation of Israel.   And Joseph knew it; he told his brothers –

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God . . .  Genesis 45:7-8

The wealth, the status, the position was secondary to God’s plan.  All that he had gone through; the bad and then the good was to test him, to prove him so that ultimately, he knew his worth in God and he was able to successfully carry out his assignment.  In this account of Joseph and each of the others mentioned, people

          ¨      discovered what the Lord wanted them to do, they

          ¨      committed their lives to it, they

          ¨      followed godly principles, and they

          ¨      achieved their God-given goals.

     →        Second, God provides for our success. 

The Bible contains every fundamental concept on success than found in any other book. Different authors may pluck an idea out of the Scriptures and write a book about it, but they didn’t create the principle.  Something often mentioned in these books is the utter need for faith.  Now, some authors may say success depends on faith in one’s self, while others point to belief in some “higher power.” But as followers of Jesus Christ, we can name that source of our strength:  almighty God, who cares for us. God alone is the author of success. Without Him, a person will ultimately know only failure—and in the meantime, perishable fame and fortune at best.   I’ll site you Nebuchadnezzar as an example of having it all and losing it all.   

     →        Third, God equips us for success.    

Because He calls us to be shining lights in a dark world, God has provided what we need in order to be successful men and women. 

For example, every believer has been given certain abilities, or spiritual gifts.  We find these gifts and abilities in:

I Corinthians 12 including vs 28, Romans 12:6-8, and Ephesians 4:8-11    

Which tells us of our – Spiritual, ministry and administrative gifts

These are amazing endowments that enable us to do the things that God calls us to do.   The Lord has also equipped us by giving every believer the presence of His indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings us into intimate contact with the heavenly Father, empowers our daily lives, teaches us the things of God, and gives us His discernment.   In the power of the Holy Spirit, we have access to supernatural decision-making processes. You see, the Lord doesn’t set people up to fail. He would get no glory from that. Instead, He gives us what we need to be successful in what He has called us to do.  

     →        Lastly, God promises us success. 

You may argue, “Well, if God has promised me success, then somewhere along the way, He messed up.”  No, He hasn’t.  If we’re struggling to find any areas of accomplishment in our lives, it may be that we ourselves have gotten off course.  What did God tell Joshua?   He told him to be strong and courageous, to meditate on His Word, and to be careful to keep His commandments.  And if he did that:

 . . .then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success   Joshua 1:7-8

 Do you see? The formula for success is right there in black and white recorded in the inspired word of God.

 Because God is contractual, there are some things that we, as followers of Jesus must do as God works with us.  Here is what we must not miss: God may have planned, provided, equipped, and promised, but our personal success has some conditions. After all, God will not make us victorious in spite of ourselves!  Therefore, we must pay attention to three specific conditions: We are to . . .

 →        Establish God-given goals.

Search the Lord’s will and set measurable goals for what He wants you to accomplish. His will does not happen by accident; we must make a decision to seek after Him.

→        Walk obediently before the Father.

In the process of achieving these goals be obedient to God.   How can we expect God to help us succeed in life when we choose to disobey the Principles of His Word? Scripture tells us how to live; we are to abide by its guidelines as we pursue our goals.

 →       Rely fully upon the Holy Spirit . . .

as we practice godly principles of success.  We cannot go about the journey with God as though we were acting in a one-man show. We can be successful in Christ only when we submit completely to the leading, direction, and empowerment of God’s Spirit.  The Lord is intimately concerned with our success. Since He determines our goals and equips us to meet them, we should never be too ashamed to claim the blessings He gives for that purpose. Therefore, we must often stop to take an honest look at how we define success, and then measure our understanding against Scripture. There is truly only one way we’ll ever achieve success; only one way to measure our true worth in God —that is by doing things God’s way.  It is only in this manner that we have good success.

Sermonette