Keys To Success

Keys to Success (Mark 4:1-21)

The Lord Jesus gave us key principles of success in the parable of the sower and the seed. Let us ask God for wisdom in applying these timeless truths to our lives, relationships and ministries.

Illustration - Last week a Taiwanese tourist visiting Australia was so engrossed by her facebook page on her smartphone that she literally walked right off the pier plunging twenty feet into the icy waters of the ocean below. Rescue workers were called and after spending twenty-minutes treading water, while clinging to her smartphone, she was saved. Sadly, many people are distracted, to their own peril, by the worries, riches and pleasures of this life never producing the fruit that God desires for all people.

The following are some of the important principles of success taught by the Lord Jesus Christ in the parable of the sower and the seed:

1. SOWER AND THE SEED - God says to all of us, "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isa. 55:11) When we sow the seed in a contextualized manner it will always bear much fruit and prove that we are His disciples. (John 15:16) Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. (Psa. 126:5,6) Sow the seeds of love, grace, service, finances, people and the gospel. The Lord will allow you to bring forth eternal fruit that will bring greater glory to God.

7 "Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.

8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint." (Gal. 6)

Genesis 26:12-17 King James Version (KJV)

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: for he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Even during a famine God's blessing allowed Isaac to prosper. God's blessings transcend the circumstances surrounding an individual. When we obey God He blesses us regardless of the conditions in the natural sphere.

And if you offer yourself to [assist] the hungry

And satisfy the need of the afflicted,

Then your light will rise in darkness

And your gloom will become like midday.

11

“And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

12

“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste];

You will be called Repairer of the Breach,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isa. 58)

2. SUPPLY - Paul wrote, "My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19) We can be assured that the Lord will supply us with all that we need when we are doing His will in dispensing His word to a needy world. Let us remember the song, "Every need His hand supplying. Every good in Him I see. By His grace divine relying. He is all in all to me. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. And the fairest of ten thousand. In His blessed face I see.

3. SUCCESS - God told Joshua, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your ways prosperous and then you will have good success." (Josh. 1:8) Success in God's terms is always defined as being in the center of a person who meditates and applies God's word in all areas of their life, relationships, and ministries. Success is obedience to God, empowered by the Spirit of God, motivated by love for God, and directed toward the advancement of the kingdom of God.