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 this series, I have been teaching a great deal about your divine purpose and how your success/prosperity is connected to it. Today I will use the life of Jesus to highlight the importance of being driven by your purpose vs. being driven by need. I will also highlight a person who was making a bunch of excuses.
We know Jesus lived in complete harmony with the Father. He was led by the Holy Spirit every day. Jesus only said what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19,30, 8:26-28, 30). Jesus made it clear that it was the Father living in Him who gave Him the words He spoke and performed the work He did (John 14:10). With this in mind, let me bring up an example of a time when Jesus was surrounded by sick people, but He only healed one.
In John 5, Jesus entered Jerusalem through the Sheep Gate, and He visited the pool of Bethesda. It is a pool with five covered porches. The Bible says, “Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.” There were sick people everywhere Jesus looked. However, Jesus was drawn to one man, a man who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus healed him. That’s it. After healing this man, Jesus moved on.
But wait! There were more sick people. There was more NEED. Others could have benefitted from the power flowing through Jesus. But Jesus was only driven by purpose, not need. Jesus went to places where there was a lot of need, but Jesus did not allow the need to drive His ministry. Jesus was successful because He allowed the Father’s purpose to drive his actions. We would do well in learning from Him.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. You have to WANT to be successful. You must truly WANT IT down in your heart.
— Some people are going through the motions, but they don’t really want to change.
— The man Jesus healed in John 5 was at the place where people were getting healed. He saw people get healed right in front of his eyes every time the water was stirred, but he never got healed. He was there, acting like he wanted it, but some people just put up a facade. They act like they want to be successful, but when called on it, all they have is a bunch of excuses.
— This man had become comfortable in his infirmity. They act like they want to get out of their situation, but they really don’t.
— There are some people who are always angry. They have become accustomed to arguing and being bitter. They say they want to be happy, but they don’t know how to be happy. All they know is how they have been. They say they want something differently, but they are not doing what is required to change.
— If you want to be a success and you want to move forward, you will have to develop a disdain for your current situation. Because if you don’t, you won’t ever truly move forward.
— It is dangerous to get comfortable in mediocrity. Because if you do, you may never really want to get better. You may say you do, and you may go through the motions, but when the opportunity is there, what you do is make excuses.
Jesus asked the man something you would think you should never have to ask a person who has been in a bad situation for 38 years: “Do you want to be well?“
The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water when it starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”
He was saying:
— No one is helping me.
— It’s other people’s fault.
— If I had the help, I would be better.
— The other people keep beating me to it.
— I try, but other people keep taking my blessing.
— I am trying my best, but my best is just not good enough.
Jesus did not even respond to any of this mess. Jesus said, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and started walking.
Jesus was like, “If you ever want to leave here, you are going to have to carry the thing that has been carrying you. Get up and GO! No more excuses!“
I don’t know who this point is for this morning, but if you want to make progress, you are going to have to STOP making excuses!
2. To be a success with God, you must be driven by purpose and not need.
— God is driving us to the place where we will be driven by purpose and not by need.
— If you are driven by need and not by purpose, it will be: a) difficult for your to put God first and b) easy for satan to manipulate you.
— When you are focused on need, the only thing on your mind is YOU and what you need. Living this way makes you too selfish to hear from God. And living this way, you will never maximize the purpose and potential God placed in you.
— Needy people are quick to point out what they cannot do because of what they are facing. They are driven by circumstance instead of being driven by purpose. They need all the conditions to be right in order to make progress. In contrast, purpose-driven people set the conditions for their own success!
— Through this series, my prayer is that God is putting a desire in your to FIND, FOLLOW and attempt to FINISH your divine purpose by His grace. This is the only way to find true success.
— God is not moved by need; He is moved by purpose. If God allowed Himself to be moved by need, then satan could create need all over the world and basically dictate God’s actions. While God does not allow Himself to be driven by need, unfortunately, many of His children do.
— A needy person who does not strive to find their divine purpose will always remain needy and need-focused. They live their lives from episode to episode, trying to get their needs met. God did not bring you into the world to live so focused on meeting your own needs that you fail to fulfill your purpose. God wants you to be blessed so you can BE a blessing to others.
— Jesus was not moved by need. He was only moved by God’s divine purpose. He only did what the Holy Spirit led Him to do.
— Jesus went to a place where there were sick people everywhere, and He only healed one. He was not moved by the need. He was only moved by the purpose the Father sent Him there to accomplish!
— To be successful, your NOT TO DO list will be more important than your TO DO list.
— If you run a business, you know every company is doing great things. The successful ones know what things NOT TO DO!
— You cannot be moved by need. To be successful, you must only be moved by God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead you to accomplish God’s divine purpose! And when people ask you, “Well, why are you not helping this person? Why are you not helping these people? Why are you not doing this? Or that?” You can respond, “I only do what I am led to do. It’s that simple.” If you have the courage and confidence to live like that, you will become a success in God’s eyes!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I open my heart to hear from You. You reveal Your Kingdom plans and purposes for me, TO ME, so that I can maximize the purpose and potential You placed down inside me.
From this day forward, I declare that I shall not be driven by need. I shall only be driven by Your divine purpose for my life.
When I was driven by need, I was too focused on myself to hear from You. I die to self. I pick up my cross and follow You.
I embrace my divine assignment, and I don’t worry about my needs. As I pursue Your divine purpose, I know You will give me more than I need.
Your Word says that You are able to make all grace abound towards me so that I will always have more than enough to meet the needs of any situation, and I will also have enough to contribute to every charitable work.
By Your grace and with my faith, I am confident that You will make the impact You desire to make IN, WITH, and THROUGH me; because I will live my life purpose-driven and not need-driven. And as I live this way, I will enjoy true success by Your amazing grace. 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.
