January 2, 2022
Winners don’t usually win by accident. They don’t throw their time and effort randomly at anything that comes along. They set and meet goals. Successful people have in their minds what they want to do, how they are going to do it, and some idea of both the risks and rewards of their efforts.
(Winning at Work Without Losing at Love, Stephen Arterburn, p.66)
3 Big Takeaways
from this book that changed my life:
I needed to choose a LIFE VERSE to help me stay focused on God.
I needed to write a PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT.
I needed to set ANNUAL GOALS.
My Life Verse
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
A Successful Christian Life
... is a growing personal relationship with God characterized by the fruit of righteousness and demonstrated by my dependance and obedience to Him as I discover His best for my life.
How can I achieve the successful Christian life?
First, I develop habits that grow my personal relationship with God.
Examples: Read Bible, Pray, Go to Church, Connect to a Group, Give, Serve.
But there’s something else we can do to help us succeed at living the Christian life:
You and I can learn how to
Minimize Three Mistakes Made by Mankind.
1. We Mistake Man for God
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
What does this look or sound like today in our lives?
How often do we decide what the Bible means to us?
Or, when we don’t like what it says, we decide it’s old and not applicable today.
When you and I choose our own way of life we are you mistaking man for God?
2. We Mistake Body for Soul
Sin and the Struggle Between Physical and Spiritual - Genesis 3:6-24 (NIV)
No one can deny that our human bodies have needs and require attention.
· Physical needs like food, drink, sleep, and health.
· Mental and Emotional needs like love, purpose, fulfillment, and belonging.
We focus a lot of time and energy on the physical needs. And we should. There’s nothing wrong with that.
HOWEVER…
Being made in the image of God, “clothed in skin” following our creation, reminds us that we are an eternal soul within a human body.
That soul is the real you and it is complete only in relationship with God.
The soul needs food – the Word of God
The soul needs water – the Spirit of God
The soul needs love – Acceptance, Care, Communication through Prayer w/ God
In the past few years, when we found ourselves with more time at home, did you consider this an opportunity to grow closer to God?
Just as we spend time caring for your temporary body, how much time do you spend caring for your eternal soul?
3. We Mistake Time for Eternity
It is difficult to comprehend ETERNITY since everything in our lives relates to time.
If all you see is what is seen, then you do not see all there is to be seen. An eternal perspective gives the believer the ability to handle the struggles of this life.
We must not disconnect time living now from eternity. Eternity is not something you’re waiting for; it began the day you were conceived. The decisions we make, the life we live, will impact eternity.
Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The Successful Christian life is up to you and me. It’s a day to day, moment by moment, choice to live in relationship with God.
8 Principles To Live My Life By
1. I will do all things as unto the Lord.
For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
2. I will live in light of the judgment seat of Christ.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:
“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
3. I will consider my weaker brother in all I do.
Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
4. I will do nothing unless I’m sure that it’s right to do.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
5. I will do all things to the glory of my God.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
6. I will avoid what may appear wrong even if I know it’s not.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind (or form, or appearance) of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
7. I will abstain from things which could enslave me.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” – but I will not be mastered by anything.
8. I will seek always to do what I believe Jesus would do.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
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