Truth Powers Success
What a great life! As he looked over
all that had been given to him by God, he gave praise. He trusted God for
everything he enjoyed. It never crossed his mind that any other should receive
thanks for what he had. The oxen, the donkeys, the sheep and all of his wealth
were blessings because of his faithfulness to God. He was absolutely successful
in everything he did. There was no aspect of his life that could have been
construed as failure. Yet, failure was to come; failure that was beyond
imagination; failure that would shake anyone to the core. He was to fail in
such a way that anyone would ask God, “What have I done?” It was to be a
failure that would have the normal person to question his life. Nevertheless,
Job still trusted God. Even though everyone in his life accused him of being
unrighteous he persevered. Even though his wife told him, “Curse God and die.”
Job had something that many did not
have. He had the truth. He was upright before God and knew that he had not sinned
against God as his “friends” accused him of doing. Job’s major “sin” was that
he obeyed God. In that obedience, God allowed him to be tested. Why would God
do that? God knew he would undergo the test and come out even stronger than
before. Of course, God was right.
Maybe you are undergoing a test
right now. If you have chosen to step out from the pack and take a risk, your “friends”
will resent you for it; you are sure to meet with opposition. You are sure to
face struggles that others who remain in their safe environment will not face.
However, God wants you to succeed. Look at your struggle as a test; a test of
your faith; a test of your perseverance and trust for the promises of God’s
success in your life.
Truth is a powerful tool for
success. God has given us the Truth, Jesus Christ, to show the true meaning of
success. The world is seeking the truth. They follow a political candidate who
claims truth only to find out he is a liar and are disappointed. They follow a
popular star who claims to know the truth only to be lied to by his or her
lifestyle. The truth is elusive to the world because they follow the Prince of
Liars; Satan.
There
was a popular movie with the quote, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the
truth!” That is the scenario many Americans are living today. They seek the
truth, but when the truth is presented to them, it is rejected, because the
truth does not always feel good. The truth requires some sort of discipline.
Ephesians
2:1-10 says:
As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, in
which you used to live when you followed
the ways of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is
rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when
we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you
have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ
and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in
Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in
Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For
we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to
do.
What is going on in your life today? Are you rich? Are you poor? Are you dead? There are many walking the streets of America who are dead. They don’t know they are dead. They portray themselves as living great lives. You see the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Perhaps you dream of being one of those who live the luxurious lifestyle, but to what end?
Michael
Jackson was so disturbed that he couldn’t sleep. He was so restless that he
required drugs to sleep; powerful drugs that ultimately killed him. If you look
at the lifestyles of the rich and famous you will see that it is a very long
list of people who are searching for what they are missing. They are searching
for something that will fill the hole in their heart. They buy cars and houses
and wives and husbands and when they do not get satisfied they get rid of those
same cars, houses and wives and/or husbands and get new ones. They continue to
go through life looking for something to fulfill them. Hollywood is a great
example of the failures of a sinful lifestyle.
What
is your need today? If you are trying to fill that hole, how are you doing? Perhaps
you have tried materialism or yoga or some other type of religious experience
only to find out that what you sought after was a lie. It was a lie from the
pit of Hell that will continue to suck the life out of you if you do not find
what will fill that hole that you are experiencing in your life.
All
of the symptoms I have described are because many Americans are the walking
dead. They have fooled themselves into thinking they are happy; fooled, because
they chase after the things of this world rather than the things of God. When
they achieve what they thought would make them happy, they experience the
hopelessness that accompanies the emptiness of material objects rather than the
fulfillment of God’s promises. They are convinced that life can’t get any
better. It is the proverbial beer commercial that says, “Life doesn’t get any
better than this.” If you are without Jesus, a truer statement has never been
made.
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