Today we continue our series entitled, “Pursuing Grace-Based Success!”
Here are our foundational scriptures:
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
(1 Corinthians 1:30,31 NLT)
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
(2 Timothy 1:9 NKJV)
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Today we will also look at Philippians 2:13.
(Phil 2:13 NLT)
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
(Phil 2:13 ERV)
Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Life is hard, so you must ensure you are not wasting good energy on bad things.
This series is about pursuing success in God’s way. Learning how God defines success and then pursuing it in a way that pleases Him is imperative becuase we only get ONE LIFE. Let’s look at something Paul said.
(Ephesians 5:15-17 ERV)
15 So be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools.
16 I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times.
17 So don’t be foolish with your lives, but learn what the Lord wants you to do.
Paul is teaching us that:
— We have to carefully consider HOW we live our lives. This includes what we pursue and how we pursue it.
— We should use EVERY opporunity placed in front of us as an opporunity to do good.
— The statement “these are evil times” means life is hard. We live in a fallen world, with fallen people, with a devil who is constantly manipulating people to do wicked things. So while you love God and are filled with His Spirit, countless people around you are not. These people are susceptible to the devil’s schemes, and satan uses them to make your path difficult.
— Don’t be foolish, Paul says, “learn what the Lord wants you to do.” Paul is telling us that when we learn who we are and what the Lord called us to do, then we can avoid the foolish pursuits of others. We don’t have to live like those who loosely stumble their way through life.
— This also teaches us that while life is hard, we have the grace for it! We don’t have to cower from the enemy or from challenges. There is nothing you can’t do. There is no challenge too hard for you. God is ON you, IN you, WITH you, and FOR you! The only way you can lose is if you quit.
2. Despite any challenge, God wants you to know what His will is and then PUT YOUR ALL into it because you represent Him.
(Colossians 3:23 TPT)
Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.
Remember, you represent God. I strive to be the best at everything I do because I know I represent God. By doing my best, I can represent God and give Him the glory whenever the spotlight is on me. King Solomon said, “Observe people who are good at their work – skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a back seat to anyone” (22:29). That is my testimony, and I pray it to be yours as well. If you are faithful to work, God will be faithful to bless the work of your hands!
3. God wants you to be accurate (you know what to do) and effective (you know how to do it without wasting energy).
— Most people want to be successful in life. I don’t know anybody that has an innate desire to fail. But it comes down to pursuing the right things and having the discipline actually to do it. It comes down to, in my mind, accuracy and execution.
— You must be accurate in your pursuit because if you pursue the wrong thing, then it doesn’t matter how good you are at it; you will never be a success in God’s eyes because you spent your life chasing something you were not supposed to chase.
— You must also be effective in your execution because even when you are pursuing the right things, if you don’t have the discipline, diligence, and perseverance required to overcome the challenges along the way, you will never get there.
— Thankfully, God gives us the desire to pursue the right things and the power -to actually accomplish them.
— If God gave us the clarity to pursue the right things, but he did not give us the empowerment to get them done, then we would spend our entire lives dreaming dreams that will never come to pass. Thankfully God gives us the desire and the power.
4. God gives you the desire to do what He called you to do (to pursue the right things).
God gives you the desire before He gives you the manifestation of it (Phil 2:13).
By now, you should know that God came up with your divine assignment before the world began. This is one of the main points of this series, and it is major because:
a) If you came up with your own life’s purpose, it would be too small for God.
b) Since God came up with your purpose, it is always TOO BIG for you!
— This means that God has to basically convince you to WANT to do what He has called you to do. God will not force you to do anything because He made you a free-moral agent. And since He loves you with unconditional love, He goes out of His way to win you over. He puts glimpses of His purpose in your heart to the point where you WANT to do it.
— If God forced you to do what He called you to do, it would not be an act of your free will, it would not be a submission on your part, and it would not involve faith.
— God set up a system where He desires for us to desire what He wants in our lives. He works with us, by His Spirit, to build up a desire to accomplish His plans and purposes.
— One of the reasons why God does this is because He does not want us to be saved and miserable. If you are doing something you don’t want to do, you may do it, but your heart will not be in it, and you will be miserable in the process.
— Not only does God want you to do what He called you to do, but He wants you to ENJOY the process. Said another way, God wants you to make it heaven, but He also wants you to ENJOY THE RIDE!
This reminds me of something that happened back in 1999. I had just got back from Bosnia. I was stationed at Fort Hood. I served as the Pastor of the Gospel service during the deployment. I had a major desire to be a Pastor. I did not want to do what I was doing in the Army anymore. My boss at the time was (then) Major John Morrison. MAJ Morrison was moving from the Division Staff to the Battalion S-3. He had known me for years, and we were close, so he wanted me to go with him. But this meant that I needed to learn new equipment. I had no desire to do it. I was just coming up the 10-year mark of my military service, and I wanted to get out. I talked to (then) MAJ John Morrison and (then) LTC Bob Ferrell about it.
Long story short, God led me to stay in. But then I said to God, “Lord if you want me to stay in the Army for 10 more years and retire, I need you to give me the DESIRE to want it. I don’t want it anymore. I hate it. I don’t like coming to work. I just want to be a Pastor. If you want me to stay, I don’t want to be miserable for 10 years. Please put Your desire in my heart.” Since the Lord wanted me to remain in the Army, not only did God give me the desire, but He restored my love for it. I wound up serving 15 more years, and I loved every bit of it. We serve a God who loves you enough to help you DESIRE what He DESIRES for your life!
(Ecc 3:11 AMPC)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
God puts an eternal purpose in your heart and mind (in time) so that you would not be satisfied until you FIND, FOLLOW and FINISH that purpose. Once you embrace the desire God puts in your heart, you spend the rest of your life wanting what God wants for you and enjoying the process of becoming the man/woman you are birthed to be!
5. God gives you the power to do what He gave you the desire to do.
For the sake of time, I will simply introduce you to this second point and deal with it more tomorrow.
I will just share a few quick thoughts here:
— God’s instruction is always equal to His injection! This means that when God tells you to do something, it is only because He has already injected you with the grace to get it done
— God will then work in you, with you, and through you, to do what He has called you to do.
(1 Cor 15:10 KJV)
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I live in a fallen world, and I deal with fallen people every day. I used to be one of them. I know what it is like to be manipulated by satan. And I am dealing with people who are susceptible to his manipulation. So life is hard. But I declare that I have the grace for it!
I know who I am, and I know what I am called to do. Therefore, I am both accurate and effective. I am accurate in my pursuit and effective in my execution.
Living this way, I will accomplish what You sent me to this earth to accomplish, and I will ENJOY every second of every day. I am successful, and I enjoy the journey! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
