This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing with our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”. I like to teach by both precept and example. In the last few messages I have used the lives of Gideon, Mary, David, Joseph, Jeremiah and Paul as examples of people who tapped into the grace to succeed in life when they found their life’s purpose. This morning I will share a more modern day example: Ricardo Piña jr. (a.k.a. Riko), my 21 year old son.
As Riko was growing up I told him that I wanted him to attend West Point and become a U.S. Army officer. He always agreed, but I did not know he was just appeasing me. When he was 13 years old I was in prayer one morning and the Holy Spirit told me to ask him where he wanted to go to school. Being the awesome Man of God that I am, I told the Holy Spirit that he wanted to go to West Point. The Holy Spirit was consistent, so I asked my son. Sure enough, Riko’s initial response was “West Point.” To which I gave the Holy Spirit a nice, “I told you so.” Of course, God would not let me off that easy. So I went back and asked him again. This time he told me the truth. He said he did not want to go to West Point, but rather the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America. I had no idea what that was, and that was the beginning of Riko’s God-ordained journey to become a chef.
The more we learned about the CIA and the culinary world, the more Riko blossomed and the more I realized God had called him to this field. When he was 14 years old the Lord gave me favor with someone I knew and I got Riko an opportunity to work in a real kitchen, at a four-star level restaurant. I dropped my 14 yr. old son off at 10am and picked him up at midnight. After working 14 hours for free, I thought he would be tired and maybe even discouraged. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Riko was excited and exhilarated. He was not tired at all and it was like he was on a natural high.
Knowing what his purpose was, the Lord blessed us to expose him to some of the best restaurants around the country. As a teenager he dined in NYC, Nashville, St. Louis, Montana, Idaho, Seattle, and DC. When we arrived in the DC area Riko got a job at the best restaurant in Woodbridge, VA by offering to work for free. He worked diligently for free for four months before a position opened up and he was offered a job.
When the time came to put his packet together to apply to the CIA, Riko had a well rounded résumé at the tender age of 17. Although most of the CIA’s students are adults, Riko was accepted on his first try to the CIA. He is now 21 years old, he graduates with his Bachelor’s degree in a few months, and since entering the CIA he has dined and worked at some of the best restaurants in NYC, San Francisco, the Napa Valley, and Chicago.
This leads us to the testimony my son gave me yesterday. He is currently in the middle of a six-week break in between semesters. For the break he chose to work as a personal chef for an affluent couple he met in the Napa Valley, where he worked as their personal chef off-and-on. Things are going very well for him there and a friend of his ‘somehow’ got tickets to eat at a restaurant called NEXT in Chicago. This restaurant does not take reservations. So many people want to eat there that they perform a lottery and sell tickets. My son ate there last week and he met a person who was in Chicago to do a stage (an unpaid internship when a cook or a chef works briefly, for free, in another chef’s kitchen) at restaurant Alinea. Alinea is considered by some to be the best restaurant in the WORLD! Some lists have it as #1 in the world, others have it as far down as #9, but either way, it is one of the best restaurants in the world, if not THE best. Riko decided to accompany the guy he just met to the stage, in hopes of getting in to stage himself. Now, normally you have to submit your résumé me at least six weeks in advance and you have to stage for two or more days to before they can evaluate you well enough to make an assessment. But nonetheless, Riko went and by the grace of God he got in. The chef at Alinea is Grant Achatz, one of the best in the world, and my son go to work side-by-side with him on his first day. This normally does not happen.
At at the end of the night, after working 16 hours for free, Riko was offered a job at Alinea. When he got back to Indiana and he told the couple he is working for about the experience, they celebrated with him and then told him that he will not be able to afford to live in Chicago on an entry-level salary, but not to worry, they own a mansion in Hinsdale (an affluent suburb), and he can live there for free, and just become the caretaker of the property. Do you know what that is? It’s the favor of God and it is freely flowing in my son’s life by grace.
Here are some of the things my son told me over the phone:
— “God has been with me every single day of my life. I went from getting into one of the hardest restaurants in Chicago (NEXT) get into, to doing a stage at Alinea, to getting offered a job at one of the best restaurants in the world, to getting offered the opportunity to live in a mansion for free. The Favor of God is all over my life.”
— “I worked side-by-side with Chef Grant Achatz, plating his food for him. Normally they don’t let anyone plate during a stage. They don’t normally let people do this until they are working there for a while. That was nothing but God.”
— “At the end of the night I thought to myself, ‘Oh My God! I just did 16 hours at the best restaurant in the world and it was awesome. I was not tried or anything.’ ”
— “The whole thing felt like God had already ordered my steps before I took them. It was like I was just living it out. Like it had nothing to do with me. Only God could have done it. And not only that, I will be living in a mansion. I have to pinch myself all the time. It is sometimes hard for me to accept how awesome my life is.”
At 21 years old my son is walking in his purpose and he is experiencing grace based success. He has done more at 21 than some in the culinary world will do all their lives. And the best part is that he acknowledges the grace of God.
So what does this mean to you today? Since today’s message was longer than normal, I will just give you a few quick points.
1. When you find your purpose you will also find the key that unlocks the door to your prosperity.
2. God has a vision for your life and He has already setup the provision by His grace. Your job is to find out what it is and then make an alignment with your divine assignment.
3. If you pursue the wrong thing you will need things God did not set up for you to have and your life will be full of frustration, weariness and unnecessary toil.
4. When you pursue your divine purpose you will need things God has already set up for you to have, so they freely come to you by grace, and you experience success that is sweatless, tireless and enjoyable. You can work hard and not be tired, frustrated or stressed. You can say like Paul, “For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace” (1 Cor 15:10).
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me the value of hard work and the difference between working hard on my own and working hard by Your grace. I know what it is to work hard without Your grace. I have worked hard and I have pursued things with my own blood, sweat and tears. I have been able to get many things done by my own strength, with my own power, through grit, determination and tireless effort. While that was good, the message of Your grace is much better. The more You teach me about Your amazing grace and the plans You made for me before the world began, the more I realize that I could never accomplish Your assignment for my life without Your involvement. Your dreams for me are TOO BIG for me to realize on my own. Your plans for me are SO BIG that they force me to rely on You and Your grace. Now that I pursue Your dreams for my life by Your grace, You are teaching me that I still need to work hard. The difference is that I am now working by Your grace, with the knowledge that You are actually working through me. As I live this way I know I will work harder, accomplish more, and make a greater impact in this world than I could have ever made on my own, because it’s not me, but You working through me, by Your grace. As I pursue my purpose You opens doors for me that no man can close, You close doors for me that no man can open, and You favor me to experience supernatural success, by Your grace, every day of my life. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
