The Successful Christian

HoHum:

Moved from Cincinnati to Johnson in January 2022. Looking to help with Kingdom work so applied for and accepted the position here at Louisville Christian Church. When told this to friends and family they would say, “Okay, that will be a challenge, of what benefit is this going to be?” I would respond with, “I am unsure, but we will see what the Lord has in store.” See what the Lord has in store. What does this mean? Looked it up in the Bible and found this passage of Scripture: “He has success in store for the upright” Proverbs 2:7 New American Bible. “He holds victory in store for the upright” Proverbs 2:7, NIV. Great, I have victory and success guaranteed as long as I am upright, honest, righteous and one who obeys God.

WBTU:

Kurt Bubna talked about a preacher named Tom who came to Kurt extremely discouraged. Tom said, “I’ve spent my entire life trying to succeed at something, anything but the golden ring is always just out of reach. No matter what I do, my church just won’t grow.” Kurt asked him an important question, “Tell me, how do you define success?” Without blinking, Tom rattled off a list of measurables and goals that “must be met” for him to feel accomplished as a minister. Well, to be honest we often feel that way. I would love to have this place full of children and young adults. That is what we need. What if that does not happen? Have we failed or God?

The world tends to sum up success as fame and fortune. God sums up success in terms of relationship, character, and obedience. God desires for us to succeed primarily in our relationship with Him (seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness), then in our relationships with others, and then in our vocations and ministries. We can be successful in the world’s eyes but fail miserably in God’s eyes. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:24, 25, NIV.

What is success? Success is setting a goal and accomplishing it. As Christians, our goals should not be defined in terms of “my will,” but rather our goals must be rooted in what we know to be “God’s will.” David Faust defines success from a Christian perspective from Jesus’ prayer as: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:4, NIV. Jesus did the will of the Father always and as he came to the end he completed the work that God gave him to do. Charles Stanley gives this definition of success: Success is to continue desiring to be the person God has called me to be and to achieve those goals that God has helped me to set. Can an ungodly person be genuinely successful according to this definition? No, an ungodly person might achieve many things but he cannot truly be successful in life because he does not desire to be the person God has called him to be.

It can be surprising to us that God desires our success and He is committed to helping His people become successful. Nehemiah was determined to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem. When Nehemiah and the people started to rebuild, he immediately faced opposition from those who did not want him to succeed. He responded to those who opposed him by saying: ““The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” Nehemiah 2:20, NIV.

Thesis: The Bible presents four concepts that are important to grasp if we are to understand God’s commitment to our success.

For instances:

1. God desires for us to live successfully regardless of our outer circumstances.

From a worldly perspective the life of Jeremiah was a failure. Jeremiah was a prophet in Jerusalem at the time of the siege and destruction by the Babylonians. Like many prophets, Jeremiah was despised and abused. Jeremiah was told at the beginning of his ministry that the people would not listen. Jeremiah was not only ignored, but he was mistreated, persecuted. At the end of his ministry, Jeremiah gave the word of the Lord to a remnant left in Judah after the exile. They rejected his counsel and forced Jeremiah to go to Egypt with them and that is probably where Jeremiah died. By enduring suffering and not giving up the ministry, Jeremiah and other prophets foreshadowed and shared in the sufferings of Christ of whom they spoke. Another definition of success is, “To be in the center of the will of God.” Jeremiah was definitely in the center of the will of God. He faithfully performed his ministry through suffering and tears. He completed the work he was given to do by God. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7, 8, NIV.