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.
In yesterday’s message, I also mentioned these two scriptures, and I will speak to them again today:
(1 John 4:16 ERV)
So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.
(Gal 5:16 KJV)
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Yesterday I preached the celebration of life ceremony (a funeral) for a friend of mine, Pastor Chris Jordan, of Rocky Mount, NC. This man was a Pastor of Pastors, a leader in his community, a tremendous husband and father, and the personification of what it means to be a child of God. He was God’s son, for sure. He loved everyone he met and sought to find the best in them.
Preaching the eulogy for someone like that is not easy, but you want to do your best to honor the investment God made in the world through them. I believe God used me to do just that. Today’s message will be influenced by the fact that I just had to deal with the harsh reality of death. When that happens, you are reminded that:
— tomorrow is not promised
— life is a vapor
— our time on this planet is limited
— God never promised us a number of days
— we must do all we can, while we can, to complete God’s assignment BEFORE WE DIE!
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. True success in life can only be found in your divine purpose.
While I was preaching the eulogy yesterday, I said, “This is how I spell success as a believer: P U R P O S E.” My point (which is one I make all the time) is that with God, success is not measured in houses, money, titles, or fame. For God, success is measured in PURPOSE.
When you get to heaven, God is going to want to know, what did you do with the ONE LIFE I gave you? Did you spend it pursuing selfish desires? Or did you spend it FINDING, FOLLOWING, and FINISHING the purpose I made for you before the world began?
2. Embracing the grace of God takes the spotlight and the pressure to perform off of you.
I keep saying this because the Lord wants you to get this down in your heart. God wants to bless you because He loves you. But not because you are perfect, not because you have earned it, and not because you necessarily deserve it. God wants to bless you becuase God wants to bless you becuase God is good!
When you settle the issue of God’s love in your heart, you will be able to take the focus of your life off of you, your abilities (or lack thereof), and your performance (or your failure to perform). It is then and only then that you can put the entire focus of your life squarely on God, His goodness, and His grace!
Pastor Chris Jordan, the man (and life) I was honored yesterday, is a man who relied on God and His grace for all things. During the funeral, one of his friends got up to speak. The friend talked about how different they were. The friend talked about how Pastor Chris trusted God for everything.
The friend said, “Chris did not care about money. He did whatever he thought God wanted him to do, and he believed that God would supply all his need, according to His riches in glory. Well, I believe God helps those who help themselves!” While his statement got a lot of laughs, it also drives home the point of what I’ve been teaching you for a long time. They’re primarily two ways to live. You can either live your life based on God’s goodness, grace, and love, trusting God the entire way. Or you can live your life based on your own power, ability, and strength, trust in your ability to perform.
The funeral was packed. People came from CA, NY, NJ, VA, GA, and many other places, to honor Pastor Chris Jordan. Pastor Chris preached the gospel for over 40 years, he impacted countless lives, and he personified the love of God in the process, becuase he was a man who trusted God. For Pastor Chris, success was not a matter of the size of his bank account (even though God made sure he did not lack). But for him, success was a matter of simply doing what God sent you to this planet to do. Life is simple when you know who you are and when you embrace the grace to do it before you die!
I have told you many times that when people read the book of your life’s story, God wants to be the STAR on every page. If you live your life to glorify God, then not only will God use you mightily while you are on the earth, but when you get to heaven, you will hear Him say, “WELL DONE!”
The celebration of the LIFE of Pastor Chris Jordan was really a celebration of JESUS! There was no separation between the LIFE OF CHRIS and the LIFE OF JESUS! In my message, I said, “Pastor Chris can say what Jesus said in John 14. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father! The words that I speak are not my words. The works that I perform is not my work. The Father gives me the words and He performs the work.”
Pastor Chris personified 1 John 4:17. He was able to say, “As Jesus is, so am I, in this world.” I pray we all live our lives the same way. May the celebration of our lives be a celebration of Jesus!
I started this point with this statement, “Embracing the grace of God takes the spotlight and the pressure to perform off of you.” The life of Pastor Chris Jordan is a great example of this. He ventured into projects he knew nothing about, simply by faith. He launched projects he did not have the money for, simply by faith. And he did not take on the pressure to perform. Why? Because the spotlight was NOT on him or what he was doing for God. The spotlight was on God and whatever God was leading him to do. When you live this way, you take on no pressure to perform, and once the burden is off of you, the grace of God can do what you could never do without Him!
3. You limit God when you focus too much on yourself.
As we celebrated the life of Pastor Chris Jordan yesterday, it was a blessing to hear how many “hats” he wore in Rocky Mount, NC, and the surrounding areas. He was the Pastor of this and the Chaplain for that. He was the Chair of this and on the Board of that. He was the President of this and Overseer of that. He did SO many things, and it is because (I believe) he yielded to the grace of God.
People ask me how Isabella and I are involved in SO many things. I tell them that we only seek to do whatever the Lord leads us to do, and we do what we do by the grace of God. Here are some thoughts on this:
— If you ever get to the point where you die to self and embrace the grace of God, then you will also have to die to your limits.
— God’s plans are so big that we often feel unworthy of them. God is limitless, but we (in our flesh) are limited. This is why it is sometimes difficult for us to receive what God wants to do in our lives. But if we die to our limits and open our hearts to God’s grace, God will live THROUGH us, and the results will be far beyond anything we ever imagined.
— When it comes to purpose: if you come with it, it will be too small for God, but when God comes up with it, it will be too big for you! God’s plans often exceed your bank account, education, position, rank, social status, and connections. This is where the love of God comes in. If you are not convinced that God loves you and wants to do what He said He would do in your life because He loves you and not because you have earned it, you will feel unworthy of the task and disqualify yourself from it in your own mind.
— God did not give you His divine assignment because you are so good. He gave it to you because He is so good. So when you are convinced that He loves you and wants to bless you by grace, and not because you are worthy, you will then be in a position to do the only thing He requires you to do: BELIEVE and RECEIVE!
— Believe in God’s plans for your life, accept His best by grace, and pursue His purpose by faith, trusting God the entire way. This is how my friend, Pastor Chris Jordan, lived. And I pray it is the way we all live. I call it #TheGraceLife.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
You are a great God. You made plans for me before the foundations of the world, and the more You reveal those plans to me, the more I realize how big they are.
Your plans are far too big for me to accomplish without You. Your plans for my life cause me to rely on You and Your supernatural power.
Without You, I cannot. Without my cooperation, You will not! Therefore, I am committed to providing FAITH where You have already provided GRACE!
My faith works because I am fully persuaded that You love me, and I trust in Your love. My faith works because it is rooted and grounded in Your unyielding love for me!
I am convinced that I will succeed in life. Not because of me, but because of You! My confidence is in You and in Your dedication to me. This is how I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
