MANAGING SUCCESS – THE POWER OF OUR THOUGHTS

Our mindset is a major player in managing success. It is therefore important that we check our hearts frequently to ensure that the things hidden therein are not only appropriate, but also what we intend to store. They must be right thoughts; right because they align with the word of God. It is true though, that the enemy often suggest thoughts to us which must not be retained hence the need to check our hearts frequently so that we can very quickly identify, expunge and replace such thoughts with the right one. Just expunging wrong thoughts is not enough, we must be deliberate about having them replaced with the right thoughts. It is our job to ensure that we are always in control of what we think on; no one can do it for us. It is easy to assume that it is okay to think any thoughts since no one sees them but not only is that wrong because God sees them, but we also are the product of what we think on. At the end of the day, our thoughts are made manifest in our actions. They are not hidden even from man, forever. So we must be deliberate about ensuring that our thoughts concerning every issue are thoughts that will do us good and not bring us to shame or cause us to act disgracefully. Many believers have failed just because they thought of themselves a little higher than they should have.

Philippians 4: 8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about the things that are excellent and worthy.”

Psalm 119: 9 “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.”

Romans 12: 3 “…I give each of you this warning: Don’t think of you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

It is of utmost importance that we do not wait until we become “successful” to begin to give great consideration to who we chose to be and how we desire to carry ourselves. Without a doubt, there is enough convincing revelation today that we are destined for greatness, so that success should not take us by surprise. We must therefore be prepared for it. It may be too late or cost much more to learn to manage success when you're already there. It is wise to cultivate the right attitude of mind whilst on the path to it so that what God meant for good to us remains so. We must bear in mind that all good and perfect gifts, including success, come from God. No doubt our participation is required for our God given blessings so I am by no means suggesting that we be lazy; but God sets the stage, empowers us to do what is required and then breathes upon that which we have done to make it successful. Just knowing this makes us a little more balanced helping to ensure that we return the glory to whom it rightly belongs - God. Of course there is always the other voice which always suggest that we take the glory but if we prepared our minds already, we will not be deceived or lured away by that voice. The gift actually belongs to the one who originated it and we are but stewards who will be required to give an account for the way we managed the gift. If we always remember that we are only stewards for the success, we will most likely deal correctly.

James 1: 12 “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father”

It is not wise to expend energy guarding all we have which we can never really guard. The Giver of all good gifts is the best watch man and is able to keep all that is committed to Him. We must do our part and then, let Him do His which leaves us with more strength enabling us to effectively guard our hearts which is our job to do. There is a real need for us to guard our hearts, even from ourselves, because our hearts truly determine the course of our hearts. Even our own thoughts may not be really helpful because our minds have the capacity for more evil than we know. Our propensity for evil is only tamed by the Word of God hence the need to store God’s word in our minds and think on them. What we allow to feed us will eventually determine how we end up with the success. God wants us to enjoy all the success that comes from Him so we must do all that enables us do that.

Jeremiah 17: 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is.”

Proverbs 4: 23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

MANAGING SUCCESS – THE BANE OF MANY A BELIEVER

3 John 2AMP “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health (physically), just as (I know) your health prospers (spiritually)

 

There is no doubt that every believer is called to be successful. That one ultimately fails or succeeds in life has nothing to do with God anymore because He has equipped or endowed us with all we need to succeed. Let me say, that success means many different things to different people. If however, we go by the scripture above, then it involves every area of our lives. So we are certain that God’s plan is that we prosper in every area of life. It is therefore surprising to find that success is one of the things we struggle with as believers; well, in my own area of the world. Meanwhile, it should be one of those things we walk into easily and remain well grounded. In my opinion, it is a major struggle both with the highest of believers or the smallest amongst us. It is almost as though we never thought it would happen so we live unprepared for it. It is becoming so consistent for believers to handle success badly around here that it is beginning to look like when the devil realizes he can’t stop one from succeeding, he waits for you to succeed and watches for when (i.e. if) one gets so deceived that they are lured out of the will of God. It is so easy to point at people who are failing but the struggle is real and we must bring an awareness to this seeming reality so that we better prepare ourselves for that eventuality. If God’s word is real as we know that it is it, we shall all have good success.

James 1: 14 “Temptation comes from our own desires which entices us and drag us away.”

Romans 12: 3 “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

I recall that I once heard Bishop Jakes talk about how tough it is managing success well; it was indeed an opener. As I pondered on that sermon, it became even clearer to me that since success is bound to happen to believers, we should prepare for it as we prepare for every other thing that we expect to happen to us. We do all sorts of things including making financial investments just preparing for what we often refer to as “the rainy day” which we don’t really hope for, so we ought to be deliberate about preparing ourselves for success. It is very interesting to note that success as with several other things, can be deceptive otherwise, Adam and Eve, who in my opinion are the ultimate of success, would not have fallen for the trick of the enemy. They had everything they needed and more yet they were lured away by the desire for greater success. Surely, God never meant for us to be drowned in the success so there must be a few things we could do better. Please note that success here is not limited to money, success is success even if it is “success as a preacher” which is particularly interesting because the work is in truth, done by the Holy Spirit but if we are misled, we tend of think of ourselves a little higher than we should.

Ecclesiastes 5: 19 “And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life-this is indeed a gift from God,”

Ecclesiastes 1: 9 - 10 “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say ‘here is something new! But actually it is old, nothing is ever truly new.

In preparing ourselves, we have a host of witness, even in the bible, to look to. Some who failed because they were successful; and others who remained successful to the end. Maybe also those who never succeeded; perchance we may learn from them, some things we should never do. We shall together look at some such people from the scriptures in the next few blogs. Please remember, there is no height of success that has never been experienced before now. Whatever we see today, was; and will also be. There is indeed nothing new under the sun so we really ought to be calm but more often than not, we aren’t. Also, if we truly believe that all we are and have belong to God, which is something we say often, then it is easy to remain unmoved by all that God allows us enjoy because we are well aware of the fact that we remain stewards because we own nothing. Of course, a good steward is first partaker of the fruits but they don’t get carried away with them. The effort that God puts into preparing us to be good stewards for all He places in our care reveals the importance He attaches to good stewardship. It is important that we do not fail.