Defining Success

We are a foolish people. I can't think of a better word for us considering what we put ourselves through. We have this wonderful heavenly Father who loves us beyond our imagining. He is so much on our side that everything else pales in comparison to his love and support. He has told us that he has plans for us; plans to build us up, not destroy us. He wants us to succeed on our spiritual walk, and he has told us that he uses everything we go through to benefit us so that nothing is a waste.

Yet, we are determined to destroy ourselves with worry, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, depression. We insist on fighting our "own" battles. We rarely check with Father about anything and then, when we do end up in trouble, we insist on telling him how to help us, refusing to accept anything else. We walk around with these perceptions of life and when they don't match up with Father's will we get angry at him; as if we get to tell him what to do.

We need a better glimpse of Father's heart for us:

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1)

What did Jesus say?

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14)

But don't miss this part. In fact, I suggest you underline it, commit it to memory, and remind yourself of it every day:

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:2)

Jesus asked the simple question:

 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36)

As long as we try to live by the values, priorities and system of this world we will struggle with contentment and peace. When we accept that we belong to a different place, that Jesus is constantly present with us, and that Father is fully committed to our success, we will know peace and contentment.

Some of you are facing pressures at work, school and home to be great successes but the only success that matters for all eternity is your relationship with Jesus Christ. Make sure that you are living Father`s will and he will equip you to succeed at what he has called you to do. Insist on your own will and you will have to succeed in your own strength but it will come at a great cost. Jesus wants you to have life in great abundance. Learn to trust, obey and relax in him.