Welcome to the blog of Pastor Alton Stone, from Simpsonville, SC. Pastor Stone is a retired Ordained Bishop of The Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee with over 45 years of pastoral ministry.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

At Your Wit's End (Part 21)

"Believe God's prophets and you will prosper," declared Jehoshaphat. To "prosper" means to "push forward, to break out, to come mightily, to be successful," but God's definition of prosperity differs from that of the world. The world focuses on possessions or performance while God is concerned with person. Character is more important than achievement in God's analysis. In the world, success is man-centered instead of God centered. Your achievements are evaluated in comparison to others instead of by the unchanging standard of God's Word. The effects of comparison are devastating:

 -Satan compared himself to God and ushered sin into the universe. 


-Jacob compared Joseph to his brothers and generated destructive sibling rivalry. 

-The people of Israel compared themselves to other nations and forsook God's unique purpose for them.  

-Saul heard the people comparing him to David and was jealous.  
 

Other people's achievements are not the standard for your life. This is why Peter's question in John 21:21, 22- "Lord, what about this man? " received the rebuke, "What is that to you? You follow me." 

Money, power, and fame are all worldly standards of success, but God's Word warns in Jeremiah 45:5 , "And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them..." Instead, believers are to be special people whose unique purpose is to proclaim God's praises:

1 Peter 2:9, 10 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."

The life of a true believer is one of stewardship, not ownership, and your success is measured in terms of fulfilling God's plans and purposes for you. It has been said that success is not what we are, but what we are compared to what we could be. Success is not measured by what we do, but by what we do compared to what we could do. 

The Bible reveals basic principles that when applied to your life guarantees you will prosper in all you do!
 

(1) True success come from God!

Nehemiah 2:20 "So I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem."

Education and self-improvement may help you get ahead in this world, but they do not make you successful in God's eyes. Wealth and fame do not guarantee success, for we witness daily the demise of many of our "super stars." True success comes from "the God of heaven Himself." This means you may be unpopular and still be successful. You may be poor in the things of this world but rich in faith. God declares over your life:

Isaiah 48:15 "I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper."

(2) Repent of your sins!

Proverbs 28:13 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."

You think nobody knows about your secret sin, but God declares, "If you cover your sin, you will not prosper." This doesn't need a great deal of explanation, for it is quite clear: Hide your sins and you won't prosper.

Repenting of sin is not a once in a lifetime act at the time of conversion to Christ. Jesus taught repentance as part of the model prayer which is to be prayed daily and the Apostle John declared:

1 John 1:8, 9 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
 

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