BibleOnSuccess, !!Artykuly EN

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What is Success?
Success means different things to different people.
One thing is sure - success isn’t always about
money, or about what money can buy. In fact, the
simplest definition of “success” is probably the
best. Success is most commonly defined as “the
continuous accomplishment of personal goals”.
people that I have written this manual.
Fortunately, God has a lot to say about the matter
of success. In fact, I count more than 240
passages from the Bible on this very subject (some
passages contain several verses). Most of these
verses are included in this manual.
People have many types of goals for their lives –
monetary goals, spiritual goals, physical goals,
intellectual goals, relationship goals, etc. Because
the Bible has much to say about all of these, it can
be argued that the entire Bible is a book all about
success in one form or another. When you think
about it, this is probably true. After all, God wants
us to enjoy success in our relationship with Him,
with others, with our finances, and in everything we
do. Without a doubt, the Bible is the greatest
manual on success ever written, and virtually every
popular principle of success originates from this
Book.
The Bible clearly teaches us that if knowing God is
your primary goal, then success will be the
byproduct. This is as true in the area of finances
as it is with everything else. Therefore, your
motivation should always be to seek the Giver, and
not just the gifts. However, as a true Father, God
consistently promises that if you pursue a close
and loving relationship with Him, and on His terms,
the gifts will follow.
It is my hope that this manual does more than just
help you to accomplish your personal financial
goals. My desire is to lead you into a closer
relationship with the One from whom all of these
blessings flow.
Many people’s lives and careers require them to
set financial goals for themselves. It is for these
©Soma Communications, Inc, 2002. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, mechanical or electronic, without written permission from the publisher. Requests for permission or for further
information should be addressed to gary@somacommunications.com
 Secular Success
Everyone wants to be successful at something,
and there are many books, tapes and seminars
that promise to help you accomplish this. Some of
these resources will motivate you, and help you
adjust your attitude. Some of them will give you
general lessons on developing successful habits.
Others will instruct you on how to develop specific
skills in your chosen field.
tape or seminar they purchase will be the magic pill
that will unlock “the power within”.
In reality, here is what usually occurs. Most books,
tapes and seminars will give purchasers a
momentary high. However, without any lasting
change in their beliefs or habits, they will tend to
float from one resource to the next, looking for their
next fix.
Most of these resources are valuable for Christians
and non-Christians alike. After all, there are many
capable speakers and teachers that can provide
you with a vast amount of valuable training.
Now, it should be understood that there is a vast
reservoir of energy and skills that are lying dormant
inside all of us. And there are many secular
methods for achieving success. All one needs to
do is look at the likes of Donald Trump, Michael
Dell or Bill Gates to see great examples of people
who have become “successful” with one or more
variations of these methods. And all of them
accomplished great things in the world of business.
With all of this instruction commercially available
there is very little that anyone can say that hasn’t
already been said thousands of times before. After
all, there are countless books to read and
thousands of tapes to listen to. If you purchased
only a handful of them, you could probably digest
90% of what every motivational teacher has been
drilling into us for the last 4000 years.
Unfortunately, most Christians see this secular
path as providing the sum total of what is required
to hasten them toward their
own
desired goals in
life. The only thing these Christians add to the mix
is an occasional prayer to God for help and
guidance. Apart from these few momentary
prayers, they ultimately do nothing more than
retrace the same “seven steps to success” that the
rest of the world has followed since time began.
In my opinion, the fact that any contemporary
author can still find a market for his new “success”
book is the result of a simple flaw of human nature.
Most readers
refuse to do what they learned
from
the last book they read, and virtually everyone is
looking for the latest microwave recipe for success.
Most people are hoping that the next new book,
New Age Success
Some people use more than psychology to
achieve their goals. Their methods include
reaching farther into the spiritual abyss for their
strength and power. Instead of going to their
Father in heaven for assistance, they embark on a
mystical quest which circumvents the Lord, and
they inevitably seek aid from spiritual powers
whose sole purpose is to distract unwary success-
seekers away from God. By attaching themselves
to new age methods, many of these “self-helpers”
ultimately find a very real, but invisible power,
whose sole motivation is to lure them farther and
farther away from their creator. Make no mistake
about it; the devil plays only
one
game. It is called
the
The Game of Distraction
. He doesn’t care
what you get into, just as long as it’s not Jesus.
Sad to say, many Christians are attracted by these
decoys as well.
Understand that if something does not lead you
closer to Jesus, it will always lead you away from
Him. Anyone who thinks that he has accomplished
something using new age methods will usually
wake up to discover that he has purchased 1000
square acres of quicksand. Satan’s only goal is to
make sure that every person on earth dies without
a Savior. He will continue playing
The Game of
Distraction
throughout your lifetime, approaching
you constantly from different angles, and with
different lures. As a result, you may end up
perpetually chasing his bait until the day you die. It
is a game of which the devil never tires.
2
 The Limitations of “Success” Training
There you have it – the two modern schools of
success motivation. On the one hand there is
secular psychology. On the other hand, there is
new age mysticism. Occasionally, those who
pursue one of these two methods will find
themselves successful in one particular area of
their lives, while experiencing the degeneration of
several others. Though their finances may
increase, their marriages may fail, their children
might rebel, and their heath could easily suffer. In
other words, it is possible to succeed in business,
but to fail in life.
of your life will go un-enjoyed if other areas of your
life are in a state of disintegration.
It cannot be denied that some secular and new
age methods for success are very effective. And,
quite understandably, they also work for most
people who call themselves “evangelical
Christians”. Unfortunately, both of these methods
are based on the same common tactic. With
secular success motivation, you dig deeper and
deeper into your mind to summons the power and
motivation you seek. With new age mysticism, you
dig deeper into the spiritual underworld for the
same thing. In my opinion, both are equally
dangerous, because they are like any addictive
drug. With secular and new age success
motivation, you may temporarily find what you are
looking for. However, before you come to your
senses, you may also fall prey to a host of other
effects that you will ultimately regret.
The Bible has a warning for anyone who would
search after knowledge from the teachings of those
who have little or no regard for God’s counsel.
Psalms 40:4 says, “How blessed is the man who
has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to
the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”
Total success must accompany a general attitude
of well being. The fact is that success in one area
“Successful Servanthood”
There is, however, another completely different
system of success training. Like the two fore-
mentioned methods, this one also achieves results.
Unfortunately, most Christians are never exposed
to it. This is strange, considering the fact that the
Bible heavily endorses this alternative method for
success. I call it ””Successful Servanthood””. In
fact, if you were to discard every book and tape
that you have on the subject of success motivation,
and use the Bible solely as your “motivation
manual”, you will discover a complete and
exclusive repository of success training without the
requirement of any elective materials. (And this will
certainly save you money on books, tapes and
seminars.) It is from this perspective that this
manual was written.
“Successful Servanthood” is the only system of
success training that I endorse. The reason for
this is simple. It is the only method taught and
endorsed by God Himself. It is important to
remember that “Successful Servanthood” is not a
method. Otherwise it could be manipulated, and
you could potentially fail at it. Moreover, it could
bring you as much stress as any other method.
“Successful Servanthood” is based entirely on your
relationship to your Father in heaven.
Manipulation is not only unnecessary, but it is not
possible.
As a Christian, you are given the liberty to choose
any success program you wish. What’s more, you
are free to eclectically choose various ingredients
from several different schools of thought. But be
warned – when you use either secular or new age
methods to plot your course toward your personal
goals,
you are on your own
. Understand that your
Father in heaven will only help you do
what He
promised to help you do
– nothing more.
Therefore, your choice of motivational teachers is
simple – God, or this year’s best selling author.
The person who navigates their way through life
using the concepts of “Successful Servanthood”
may, in fact, end up in the same socio/economic
strata as their secular and new age
contemporaries, but they will arrive with every area
of their life strengthened and intact.
3
 The Difference in Methodologies
Whereas both secular and new age success
methods are very similar, “Successful
Servanthood” is, by itself, very different. In fact,
from the world’s standpoint, “Successful
Servanthood” is a rather illogical concept. There is
very little about it that can make sense to the
natural mind. Consider the following differences:
Û
With secular success training, you are taught to master something.
With “Successful Servanthood”, you are not the master. Instead you rely on the Master.
Û
With secular success training, you learn to control your destiny.
With “Successful Servanthood”, you control nothing. God alone controls everything.
Û
With secular success training, you strive for financial independence.
With “Successful Servanthood” there is no such thing as financial independence. You
will forever be dependent on God.
Û
With secular success training, the most successful person is the one who has the most.
With “Successful Servanthood”, the most successful person is the one who needs the least.
Û
With secular success training, you learn to do things for yourself.
With “Successful Servanthood”, you remain a child, perpetually needing your Father’s assistance.
Û
With secular success training, you seek out what you need and want out of life.
With “Successful Servanthood”, you seek God, and He supplies your needs.
Û
The result of secular success training is that the world will honor you.
With “Successful Servanthood”, you honor God. What the world thinks of you is irrelevant.
Is God just interested in your eternal salvation?
To be precise, God is interested in every aspect of
your life. If He weren’t, there wouldn’t be so much
written in the Bible about how to conduct your
affairs from moment to moment. In reality, God is
big enough to be interested in the smallest details
of everyday living. While your eternal destiny may
be the most important consideration, it is certainly
not the only thing you have to think about. God
both knows and cares about this.
are happy to see them make close friendships, and
to be part of a healthy social environment. You
would like them to develop productive habits.
Ultimately, it is your hope to see them successfully
emancipated from your home at the proper time.
Subsequently, you want them to develop
successful marriages, with healthy, functional
families of their own.
Don’t think that God is interested in any less when
it comes to you. After all, He is infinite. This
means that He has the capacity to focus His
attention on both very great and very small details.
While He is interested in the very large scheme of
the universe, He is also concerned with the very
small aspects of your humble life. To suggest
otherwise is to deny the very definition of His
omnipotent and omnipresent nature.
To begin, let us examine the nature of parenthood.
As a Christian parent, your first desire is for your
children to have a personal relationship with the
Lord. Beyond that, you probably have a very great
interest in many other aspects of their lives.
It is your desire for them to do well in school. You
enjoy watching them earn awards. You are thrilled
when they excel in sports or other activities. You
4
 Our Earthly Fathers
Throughout this study I am going to use as our
cornerstone the picture of a human father and
child. I have always believed that this model
provides a very tangible and concrete depiction of
the nature of the relationship between our
heavenly Father and us. Moreover, I believe that
there are countless parallels between God’s divine
Fatherhood, and the institution of human
fatherhood that He created on earth.
born
into this household. From that point on, we
must
remain
as children inhabiting this household.
Jesus said:
“Let the children alone, and do not hinder them
from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14.
While this passage is often recited to children in
order to help them visualize their own place in
God’s Kingdom, this is not what Jesus is teaching
here. He is not trying to tell us that the kingdom of
heaven belongs to children, but rather to those
who are
like
children; in other words, “to such
as
these (or
like
these)”.
By looking at the subject in this way, you will soon
discover that success in the Kingdom of God is as
simple as success in the home of the ideal earthly
father. However, inasmuch as there are many
similarities, there are two major differences:
1. Your Father in heaven is perfect. He is
much more powerful than your earthly father
was, and He is infinitely wealthier.
In fact, what Jesus meant is explained perfectly by
His statement in the previous chapter of Matthew’s
Gospel.
2. Your Father in heaven always knows what
is best for you, whereas your earthly father
didn’t. This means that your earthly father
probably made a few mistakes in the process
of raising you. Your heavenly Father won’t.
"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted
and become like children, you shall not enter
the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3.
There it is. This very simple truth provides the
foundation for you to understand the dynamics of
how things should work in God’s scheme of life.
From this moment forward, you must assume the
role of a child. If you start to develop the idea of
what it means to be a child in any healthy and
functional household, you will develop a very clear
understanding of what it means to be a child in the
household of your heavenly Father.
Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more shall your Father who is in heaven give what
is good to those who ask Him!” If God is the
creator of all fatherhood on earth, then you can
expect earthly fathers to be a replica of His own
Fatherhood. If it is the nature of our earthly fathers
to help us, and to desire the best for us, we can
expect our heavenly Father to want even better
things for us.
While many of us refer to ourselves as “children of
God”, we have, in fact, totally forgotten what it
means to even be a child, totally vulnerable and
entirely dependent on someone else.
Unfortunately, this very natural concept is one that
must be relearned by most adults, and reassuming
this role may not come easily for some.
Why do you think that He is called “Father”? Why
not just “God”? It is because He is a father
in
every way
. If it helps you to understand, picture
God in the same way that you would imagine an
ideal father, with all of the love, help, discipline and
guidance that would come from such a
relationship. Develop that concept in your mind,
and you will better understand more about the
nature of God’s divine Fatherhood.
As we progress, keep this model of the archetypal
father and child relationship at the top of your mind
as I develop the concept of “Successful
Servanthood”, because I will be constantly
referring back to it throughout this study.
Another very important principle to learn is that to
be part of the household of God, we must first be
5
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