Cedric Moss
01-01-04, - 03:09 AM
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True Success in 2004
By Apostle Cedric Moss
Today as we stand on the threshold of a new year, I offer some previously shared thoughts on success.
What is Success?
One of life’s greatest tragedies is to get to the end of a venture or worse… our life, and discover we wrongly defined success. I have come to learn that it is possible to achieve the things you set out to do and still not truly succeed. The reason is that true success is more than achievement. Therefore, the first step to true success is to properly define it. As you prepare to embark upon the journey of 2004 in pursuit of success, have you defined it? If you have, is your definition a dependable one? To help accurately answer this question, let’s consider the advice contained in Psalm 127:1-2:
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves. NIV
Advice for Success
Solomon summarizes human pursuit of success by likening it to how we build or accomplish things, how we seek to watch over or protect what we have built and how we work unendingly for money to meet our needs. He then goes on to give a sober piece of advice summarized as follows: “Whatever you are doing, if God is not involved in it you are wasting your time. You will not truly succeed.” Although not directly stated by Solomon, the opposite of this is also true: When God is involved with what you are doing you experience true success. Considering Solomon’s advice, is God involved in your plans?
Consider the Source
Our confidence in advice is directly linked to our confidence in its source. Such being the case, we can have confidence in Psalm 127:1-2 because it is the advice of King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. At the time that Solomon wrote these words, he had already proven them to be true. No doubt he had seen that God’s approval of and involvement with the things he did resulted in success. He had also experienced the tragedy of failure by going at it alone without God. However, although Solomon wrote these Words, we must look beyond his pen and see the eternal and wise God who by His Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to give us this advice. Therefore, we can easily trust the source of this advice coming from both the wisest man who every lived and from the God of the universe.
Consider the Implications
What exactly is Solomon saying? His words are both a warning and a promise with implications. These words warn us of the futility of working without God. Empty achievement will be our best hope for 2004 if God is not involved in what we do. However, the same words also offer us a promise: If we will allow God to work with us in our endeavours in 2004, they will be worthwhile and truly successful.
Solomon uses the word “vain” three times to describe achievement with which God is not involved. The word “vain” comes from the Hebrew word “show” which properly understood means at the end of the day the things we achieve without God’s involvement are just a “show”. No doubt, like me, you desire true success and not just the “show” of achievement. So let’s be intentional about involving God in whatever we do in 2004.
2004 & Beyond
If you want true success for 2004 and beyond, here are 3 easy steps to follow. First of all, submit all of your plans to God. Proverbs 16:3 says commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. The second step is to be open to input from God and be willing to make changes as He directs. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust God in all things and not our own understanding. The third and last step is this: Commit unswervingly to building with God and don’t change the arrangement! This, my friend, will ensure success in 2004 and beyond!
Apostle Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org (apostle@kingdom-life.org).
True Success in 2004
By Apostle Cedric Moss
Today as we stand on the threshold of a new year, I offer some previously shared thoughts on success.
What is Success?
One of life’s greatest tragedies is to get to the end of a venture or worse… our life, and discover we wrongly defined success. I have come to learn that it is possible to achieve the things you set out to do and still not truly succeed. The reason is that true success is more than achievement. Therefore, the first step to true success is to properly define it. As you prepare to embark upon the journey of 2004 in pursuit of success, have you defined it? If you have, is your definition a dependable one? To help accurately answer this question, let’s consider the advice contained in Psalm 127:1-2:
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves. NIV
Advice for Success
Solomon summarizes human pursuit of success by likening it to how we build or accomplish things, how we seek to watch over or protect what we have built and how we work unendingly for money to meet our needs. He then goes on to give a sober piece of advice summarized as follows: “Whatever you are doing, if God is not involved in it you are wasting your time. You will not truly succeed.” Although not directly stated by Solomon, the opposite of this is also true: When God is involved with what you are doing you experience true success. Considering Solomon’s advice, is God involved in your plans?
Consider the Source
Our confidence in advice is directly linked to our confidence in its source. Such being the case, we can have confidence in Psalm 127:1-2 because it is the advice of King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. At the time that Solomon wrote these words, he had already proven them to be true. No doubt he had seen that God’s approval of and involvement with the things he did resulted in success. He had also experienced the tragedy of failure by going at it alone without God. However, although Solomon wrote these Words, we must look beyond his pen and see the eternal and wise God who by His Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to give us this advice. Therefore, we can easily trust the source of this advice coming from both the wisest man who every lived and from the God of the universe.
Consider the Implications
What exactly is Solomon saying? His words are both a warning and a promise with implications. These words warn us of the futility of working without God. Empty achievement will be our best hope for 2004 if God is not involved in what we do. However, the same words also offer us a promise: If we will allow God to work with us in our endeavours in 2004, they will be worthwhile and truly successful.
Solomon uses the word “vain” three times to describe achievement with which God is not involved. The word “vain” comes from the Hebrew word “show” which properly understood means at the end of the day the things we achieve without God’s involvement are just a “show”. No doubt, like me, you desire true success and not just the “show” of achievement. So let’s be intentional about involving God in whatever we do in 2004.
2004 & Beyond
If you want true success for 2004 and beyond, here are 3 easy steps to follow. First of all, submit all of your plans to God. Proverbs 16:3 says commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. The second step is to be open to input from God and be willing to make changes as He directs. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust God in all things and not our own understanding. The third and last step is this: Commit unswervingly to building with God and don’t change the arrangement! This, my friend, will ensure success in 2004 and beyond!
Apostle Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org (apostle@kingdom-life.org).