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.
For the past week or so, we looked at Joshua 1:8. I hope that helped you better understand how God looks at success. In addition to Joshua, the Bible is full of examples of successful people, people who found, followed, and finished their divine assignment by the grace of God. Some of them were rich, and some were not. Some of them lived long lives, while others died early. Some of them preached peace, while others were graced by God to lead warriors. Whatever the case, my point is that there is no “cookie-cutter” path to divine success. There is no blanket statement I can give you about the path we take to divine success that will apply to people at all times. I can’t tell you that everyone will have the money Solomon had, the strength Sampson had, or the challenges Paul had. I can tell you that God has given every believer the grace to complete their divine assignment, whatever that assignment is.
Each of us takes a path that is as unique as we are. But at the end of the day, divine success boils down to doing what you were born to do before you die. That’s it, and it’s that simple. While that is the “what” of success, this morning, I want to talk about the “how .” Today I will discuss hard work.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Grace does not exonerate you from the requirement to work hard and be prepared.
— Paul was called by grace, but initially, he was not prepared. It was not until after he spent three years alone with God in preparation for his assignment that he was able to be used by God for his purpose.
— While Grace is free, your preparation is not. You may be called, but have you put in the work to get prepared?
— Don’t make the mistake of thinking that if God called you to be a business owner, you won’t have to do any work. Or, if God called you to lead, you won’t need to develop your leadership. Or if God called you to preach, you won’t need to study. No, there is a calling, but the calling does not mean you can forego the preparation. And preparation requires hard work.
— When God first received Jesus and his call to preach, he tried to preach right away. But he was not ready. All he did was cause trouble for himself and all those around him. He was almost killed twice becuase of it. Why? It was because he was trying to do what he was called to do BEFORE he had put in the time, energy, and effort to get ready.
— While you can’t earn your purpose (it was given to you by grace), don’t think that you will maximize it without any effort on your part.
— Paul accomplished more than any of the other Apostles, and Paul was quick to give God credit and acknowledge His grace, but Paul also acknowledged the fact that he worked harder than the other Apostles (see 1 Cor 15:10). The message is this: don’t think that grace means you don’t have to do anything! If you look at the people God used mightily in the Bible, you will find that none of them were lazy.
2. God does not reward laziness.
In Proverbs chapter 10, Solomon said, “He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth” (v.4).
In chapter 12, he said, “Work hard, and you will be a leader; be lazy, and you will end up a slave” (v.24) and “If you are lazy, you will never get what you are after, but if you work hard, you will get a fortune” (v.27).
In chapter 13, he said, “People who refuse to work want things and get nothing. But the longings of people who work hard are completely satisfied” (v.4).
In chapter 21, Solomon says, “The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work” (v.25).
In the New Testament, Paul said, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thes 3:10). Jesus said, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17).
I have given you many scriptures this morning on this point, but believe me, there are many more I could provide you as well. My point is that God requires you to work. The Lord expects you to bind your feet to the path He has laid before you and to put your hands to work on the assignment He has given you.
3. You have to go through whatever you have to go through in order to become the man/woman you are called to be.
(2 Corinthians 11:23-27 ERV)
23 Are they serving Christ? I am serving him more. (I am crazy to talk like this.) I have worked much harder than they have. I have been in prison more often. I have been hurt more in beatings. I have been near death many times.
24 Five times the Jews have given me their punishment of 39 lashes with a whip.
25 Three different times I was beaten with rods. One time I was almost killed with rocks. Three times I was in ships that were wrecked, and one of those times I spent the night and the next day in the sea.
26 In my constant traveling I have been in danger from rivers, from thieves, from my own people, and from people who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, in places where no one lives, and on the sea. And I have been in danger from people who pretend to be believers but are not.
27 I have done hard and tiring work, and many times I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have been without food. I have been cold and without clothes.
— The Apostle Paul Went on four missionary journeys. He started churches all over Asia Minor. He became a Pastor of Pastors. He wrote half the New Testament. Outside of Jesus, Paul was the MOST influential person in the 1st Century church. But that does not mean Paul did not face challenges. Paul faced more challenges than most. He faced things that would have crippled the average person. But he never gave up. He never caved in. Paul never quit. He was determined to PUT IN THT WORK to fulfill His divine assignment. This is the mindset you must have.
— God has given you the grace to do what He called you to do, but if you don’t have the mindset required to PUT IN THE WORK, then the grace of God on your life will be in vain!
(James 5:10,11 Message Bible)
Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end.
— If you want to be successful, you must set your mind on God’s course and never allow anything to sway you from it.
— James teaches us that life is literally “a gift” for those who “stay the course.” It’s not that you won’t find challenges on the course that is leading you to your destiny. But if you want to be successful during the ONE LIFE God has given you, you must develop the resolve and resiliency to STAY THE COURSE!
— It’s not that successful people have had the benefit of living challenge-free lives. If they are successful, it is because they developed the grit and determination to press through everything they had to press through on the road to their destiny. They did this by the grace of God!
4. You have specific WORK to do, and God will favor the work of your hands, but you have to PUT IN THE WORK!
(Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
There are “good works” that God destined in advance for you to do. He gave you the grace to perform these “good works,” but you will never tap into that grace in its fullness if you are too lazy to PUT IN THE WORK.
I grew up in a family where hard work is part of our DNA. The men were taught to work hard to support their families. The women were taught to work hard to make a home that was peaceful and practical. I have been working (paid jobs) since the age of 13. My wife started working in the banana fields when she was 7. While this is not optimal (I get it), it is part of our story, and I am thankful for the work ethic it created in us.
My mother could only afford to buy me one pair of sneakers every year. I understood that, so I took care of my sneakers. I ensured they were properly maintained and always looked good (by the way, I still clean my sneakers today).
When I was 11 years old, I was robbed at gunpoint. I had a .357 magnum placed to my temple on a NYC public bus, and my blue-and-white suede Adidas were stolen. While the event was traumatic and humiliating (because I still had one more bus to take to get home, and people saw me trying to get home in socks), what hurt the most for me was that I knew my mother paid $23 for those sneakers. I knew she did not have the money for another pair. While she somehow found a way to get me another pair for that school year, I vowed to myself that as soon as I could work, I would buy my own clothes and shoes, so my mother would not have that burden.
When I was 14 yrs old, I worked 72hr—work weeks during the summer. Once I did that, my mother never had to buy me clothes again. By the time I joined the U.S. Army at 17, I was so accustomed to working hard that the Army was a breeze. While other Privates had a hard time with what they were asked to do, I was quickly promoted through the Enlisted ranks, from Private to Staff Sergeant, in less than 5 years. I was a 22yrs. old Staff Sergeant, and many of my Soldiers were older than me. I did not know it then because I had not yet accepted Jesus as Lord yet, but the Lord was favoring my work even before I became a Christian. All these years later, I can say with certainty that He continues to favor the work of my hands. Here’s my point: the Lord cannot favor or bless the work of your hands if you do not put your hands to work. If you want God to bless what you are doing, then you have to DO something. Stop talking about your dreams and pursue them!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I want to maximize my purpose and potential while I am in the land of the living. I want to arrive at Your desired destination for my life. I want to die empty, getting out of me everything You placed in me.
I want to leave a mark in this world that will not be erased. I want to leave a legacy of righteousness for my children and my children’s children. I want to be the person I am called to be, and in order to do it, I know I will need to put my hands to WORK!
You don’t bless laziness. I am Your child, I represent You every day, and I declare that I shall represent You well. I enter each day with a determination to do my best, by Your grace, with a full expectation that You will bless the work of my hands. I declare what You have already decreed in Psalm 1: “Everything I DO prospers!”
I am faithful to work, and You are faithful to bless the work of my hands. My work is always in demand because my work brings glory to Your name! Living this way, 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.
