The Test: I Want To Be Boss

THE TEST: I WANT TO BE BOSS

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

TEXT:

Luke 15: 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, and he heard music and dancing.

26. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant?

Why didn’t the elder brother ask the Father?

Why did he seek a second hand source?

Mark 9:35 And Jesus sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them,

IF ANY MAN DESIRE TO BE FIRST, THE SAME SHALL BE LAST OF ALL, AND A SERVANT OF ALL.

Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the

furnace of affliction.

Ponder Failure and Perseverance.

So you have failed?

You are in some mighty good company.

David was a big failure and yet the Bible says he was a

man after God’s own heart.

David disappointed many people, sin disgraced the

King’s family ... yet Psalms 51, the greatest chapter in the Bible on repentance was written because of a failed moment.

David clearly was penitent.

David was not just sorry he got caught, he was very sorry he had broken the very heart of God.

David came home to God.

David was an example of changing a heart.

David failed, but he was not a failure!

Peter often wore his foot in his mouth.

Peter had the nerve to rebuke the Son of God, along with many other stupid things, yet a change came over him in the book of Acts, he delivered the first message to the church after the resurrection... "What meaneth this?"

Peter failed, yet he was not a failure.

Ponder this: When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of

their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them.

At age nine, his mother died.

At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk.

He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn’t good enough.

At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.

At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay.

At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him.

She said no.

At 37, on his third try he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he

failed to be reelected.

At 41, his four-year-old son died.

At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost.

At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.

At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost.

At 51, he was elected president of the United States.

His name was Abraham Lincoln, a man many consider the

greatest leader the country ever had. Some people get all the breaks.

Unknown --

What is success and failure? Salary? Increase? Fame?

How do I measure success?

I have never found it!

But I ponder success...

I think life has taught me success is much more than position,

square footage in the house, or the type of car that you drive.

We long for a life of great ease, and the ability to order others to

meet our demands. God’s system varies much from

what we expect and think ---

"HE WHO WOULD BE GREAT NEEDS TO BE A SERVANT OF ALL."

Now come on... ???

Failure comes when we quit overcoming obstacles.

Why can we not see obstacles are opportunities?

Real success is learned by approaching every problem as a chance to

lose God, by patient waiting and persistence we overcome.

Most of us seek paths left by big crowds, not realizing the path

so popular to the crowd might not be God’s plan for us.

Success is simply overcoming obstacles big and small.

Perhaps God leads you to cut a new path and leave a trail to the hurting and the dying.

How can we discover great areas of ministry sitting on a padded pew, as

the minister quietly rubs our belly until we have a satisfactory burp?

We can take ordinary talents, and bury them ---

or we can take extraordinary

perseverance teamed with our ordinary talents, and reach new levels, and minister to hurting and lost neighbors.

If not you --- then who?

If not now --- then when?

If not here --- then where?

Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I

shall come forth as gold.

Job had many questions of God, his body had suffered

beyond the means of acceptable lines, his coworkers had inflicted serious

mental pain, his wife said, "Curse God and die!"

Job continued his questioning, saying that his suffering would be more bearable if only he knew why it was happening. If there was sin for which he could repent, he would! He knew about the wicked and the fact that they would be punished; he knew