success principles - attitudeAttitude equals altitude
As the young man grew up, he developed a seriously unhealthy attitude toward success. He had been constantly told that he was poor, his family was poor and that was just the way it was and the way that it would always be. The odds of him reaching above ‘his raisin’ were astronomical. He had been destined to be poor and to ‘just get by’ (if he was lucky). If he tried to get ahead, he was put down for trying to show up his family. The fact was that this young man was good in school. He was very studious and learned very quickly. Others could see his potential. He couldn’t see it because he had been programmed to believe that success was totally out of his reach. He was from a poor family. He started poor and he would always be poor. This young man had a preconceived notion that he was a failure. He saw himself as a failure and thus he was always facing failure, no matter how hard he tried. No one had ever told him that he could succeed. No one ever mentioned the success principles that appear in the Bible. No one ever took the time to tell him that God wanted him to succeed. No one bothered to inform him that he could have an up close and personal relationship with the creator of the universe. He was taught to listen to the world and to ignore Biblical success principles. When we study God’s word, we see that God has given us every success principle that we need for winning in life. However, if we do not believe that we can be successful, we never will be. Until we can see ourselves as successful, we can never reach it. We can either cripple ourselves with our thoughts and attitudes or we can uplift ourselves in the belief that we can and should be successful for the glory of God. If we listen to the world and our enemy who rules it, we will never be able to visualize the capabilities that dwell in us. Not only will we never learn the Biblical success principles but we never implement them. Every Christian hears the same scripture but does not take the time to really understand what is being said. Where does it say that God wants to bless only a few of His believers? Where does it say that He will not favor us with all spiritual blessings if we believe? Where does it say that He created this world with all of its beauty and bounty for the unbelievers? When God created this universe, He had you and me on His mind. When He created all of the beauty and resources on this physical world, He created them for those who believe Him. Every Christian has heard the following words that Jesus spoke. The problem is that the majority (the vast majority) does not understand what these words really mean. We have even been taught in church that we are never to seek ‘material things’. We should never seek ‘material blessings’. All of this leads to lust and sin. Some preachers remind me of the young man’s grandmother. Humble does NOT mean POOR. Meek does NOT mean Poor. Righteousness does NOT mean Impoverished. Jesus told us the secret to success in one statement: Matthew 6:31-34, “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” We’ll discuss this passage further but for the moment the first thing that we as born-again, Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ need desperately to do in order to start our journey toward success is change our attitude toward ourselves and our success! “My attitude toward myself will determine who I will become!” “My attitude toward myself will either defeat me or spur me to victory!” “The way I visualize myself in my own mind will determine my success or my failure.” YOU are a success waiting to happen! Every morning after your devotional time, reaffirm yourself. Tell yourself that through Christ you are going to succeed today. Repeat this during the day, everyday. You’ve taken the first step toward applying God's success principles.
|
