The Formula for Success

The greatest obstacle for most people is how to live their life in the fullness of joy that it was intended to be lived. Jesus stated that He came to give mankind a life of abundance.
(John 10:10) We often live our lives according to the approval of others. Of course, most folks will argue this statement by saying that they live their life to their own standards and not to others. I can tell you that we all live under the approval of someone. It could be a parent, mentor or friend. Is there something wrong with this? Of course not. However, our success or failure of living an abundant life is not determined by the approval of others. In fact, your success or failure will be determined by how you see yourself. While many will scoff at this notion it is something that is biblical. In fact, lets begin with the words of the Son of God, Jesus. 
 Mat 6:31  Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

What? Don't be worried about what to eat or drink or what to wear? Why would the Son of God say this? Aren't we all worried about these things in some form or fashion? How many times do we get dressed and ask someone else how we look? Isn't that a form of care about how we are clothed? Sure, I know there are folks who only have the clothes on their back and wonder where their next outfit will come from. However, I think we fail to see the complete picture of this. Where should we eat or what do you want to drink. We fail to see that this care that we have about these things are the very seeds that have been planted and give others the premise to believe they have place to dictate to us what they believe we should eat, drink or wear. Our insecurity with who we are has literally given place to the authority others feel they have in our lives. A perfect example is the influx of individuals from just out of college nutritionists to the Presidents wife.

I can remember through times in the past when things were said to be bad for us like eating eggs that later were determined that well it wasn't as bad as we thought. When you begin to visualize who you are and your level of success, you take back the power of creativity and success for your life and remove the power that others have been given through your own insecurity. If I could show you a proven formula of success that would guarantee you a life of abundance would you want it? A simple two step program that would insure success throughout your life? Sounds too good to be true? Understand that it is a proven formula and has been tested and tried for thousands of years without failure. Two steps that will insure abundance in your life. What is it? Jesus said it this way, Mat 6:33  But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Two steps that will guarantee success in your life. Seeking after the Kingdom of God and seeking after His righteousness. What is His kingdom and His righteousness? When I was a kid growing up in my father's house my day to day life was constructed through his kingdom and my success was determined by my rightful place in it. I never had to compete for my rightful place a son and heir to my fathers domain. It was a given. Now, what if my thoughts were that I was not good enough? What if my thoughts were that I had to prove my worth? I would be deficient in my success as an heir and would literally invite defeat into my life. My lack of understanding of what was rightfully mine would inhibit my growth all the days of my life. Also, what if my father was not successful? What if I lived in a state of poverty growing up and never knew success in my household? Would that affect my achievement of success? It could. However, there are countless stories of those who rose from rags to riches. How did they do that? It began with what they conceived in their mind.

How you see yourself is how you are. How you envision your life is where the seed of success or failure is planted within you. Success is not determined by the opposition to your goals. It is determined by the root conception of who you believe yourself to become.  To seek the Kingdom of God is basically like doing research for a thesis paper. What is the Kingdom and What is in it? There is limitless possibilities in the Kingdom of God. There is limitless power in the Kingdom of God as well. When you begin to research God and His actions, demeanor and promises, you begin to learn about the Kingdom. You cannot separate the Kingdom from the King. One of the first things you learn about God is how He envisioned things is how He spoke them.
 Gen 1:2  And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 
God created the Earth and the heavens that the Earth rested upon. God realized that the Earth was fruitless and empty and darkness was upon it. In God's mind He saw fruitfulness, abundance and success. How did it get from His mind to actual being? He spoke.

Speaking from your vision of success is a primary process of abundant living. How you bring success into being is by speaking it. If God had said well it's too bad there is no light on the Earth, then light never would have been. Why? Because, He spoke death to the vision in His mind. We usually say it like this where there is a will there is a way. In scripture we call that faith. How you speak is how you believe. Your will is the reflection of your faith. Many times we have dealt with folks that were in church that had no will or faith. They will waffle. Not only do their actions betray them but their speech as well. Life and death are in the power of your tongue. The creativity of your vision is determined by what you speak. You literally call forth the destination of what you conceive in your mind. You can change destination points as well.

If you conceive a thought that is contrary to the vision of abundance that you have in your mind and speak it forth you literally have changed the destination point of travel. Your speech is important. What you say is important. Guard what you say. Say what you believe. Finally, ask God for the path of success and wait for Him to speak it to you. Then when He has given you the plan of success stick with it! God told Abram and Sarai that they would have a child. This child of promise was spoken into existence. However, Abram and Sarai, unable to stay on the path of promise spoke a different destination point by saying maybe through someone else. They never gained knowledge of who they were even after God changed their name to help them realize who they were.

 When we are walking the path of promise we normally want others to help us through affirmation. What is the problem with that? You inject their view of success or failure into your vision. Seek only God's vision and when He gives it to you keep it.  I have heard folks pray for God to send them a spouse and then go to a dating site. What is the problem with that? You are bringing someone else into your path of promise. What you conceive and believe you must walk that path of promise to achieve. If you are going to conceive the thought that if I ask God to bring me a spouse and then through belief pray to God to do just that, then do not waiver from your path of promise. Knowing the Kingdom of God and how God operates gives you great insight on how to pray and how to believe. Jesus then said to seek His righteousness. Another way of saying that is find out how God sees you. When God looks at you does He smile? Does He say this is my child of whom I am well pleased? Does God brag about you? When we choose to live a life devoted to God based through the finished works of Christ on the cross of Calvary, we walk in a new life.

The battle that most believers face is the lack of knowledge that when you are born again there are two natures alive in the individual. One is the Nature of Christ and the other is the sin nature. You can not live in both natures. You have to live to one and die to the other. The picture in your minds eye of how you are seen by God is what determines your success. A prime example of this is the story of Job. Job had great success in the Earth. But, understand that living an abundant life doesn't mean you won't have trials. It just means you will walk through the trial and come out on the other side successful. Why? Because you are not moved by what you go through but who you belong to.

 Job lost his wealth, health and children. All of his friends began to urge him to take upon himself a new vision of who they believed him to be. A sinner who had got his just reward. Understand that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Our words can be used to build or destroy. We can speak evil or good. Our faith is what defends against those words. The Apostle Paul said it this way, Eph 6:16  Above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the darts of the evil one being kindled.
Job refused this vision and held to the faith of who God said he was. It was is unwavering commitment to who he was that delivered Job from his trial. That was his faith in action. However, understand that it was his faith in his righteousness in God. Job was determined to believe that he was in right standing with God and that belief was his seed of success.What was the door to which the devil attacked Job? His righteousness. How did Job overcome the devil and come out the other side of the trial successfully? His righteousness in God!

Some statistics for you to consider, 50% of Christian Marriages end in divorce, 60% of pastors admit to viewing porn daily on the internet, 65% Christian men daily, 40% Christian women admit to viewing porn daily. 90% of teens admit to having visited a porn site. Out of the 10% of people in the U.S. confess to being Christian with only 3-5% actually attend church. All of these statistics frame one picture that the enemy wants you to behold. The sin nature rather than the righteousness found only in Christ. The path of success has to be chosen. The path of abundance has to be selected. You cannot walk both paths. One has to be chosen. If you are struggling with sin whether it is pornography, alcoholism, drug addiction, whatever the sin may be, only you can stop the cycle of madness you are currently on. You have to choose. How you see yourself is how you are. Search the scriptures. Discover what God has said.
 Mat 5:6  Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled. 
Hunger for righteousness and stop the hunger of the sin nature. 
Act 13:10  he said, O son of the devil, full of all guile and of all cunning, hostile to all righteousness, will you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

 
Understand that the sin nature is hostile to all righteousness and it will stop at nothing to pervert righteousness. You have to meet evil cunning ways of the sin nature with the same determination of maintaining your righteousness in Christ.
Rom 1:17  for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; even as it has been written, "But the just shall live by faith."
Your righteousness is maintained through the action of your faith in it. There is an act of faith that you must perform. I still do this, I look in the mirror and I talk to myself. I quote scripture. I tell myself you are the righteousness in Christ. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Understand that you live a righteous life by faith.
Faith through the righteousness through Christ. Let Christ live, dwell, have it's place in you. Give no life to the sin nature. Give life to the Christ Nature in you!

Php 1:11  being filled with fruits of righteousness through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Your righteousness is through Christ.
You are righteous and have a righteous kingdom in the earth. You maintain the righteousness of Christ by keeping in Him and in His kingdom. You defeat the nature of sin by refusing to live in it. Refusing it's identity. Having that same type of belief that Job had. Refusing the identity others try to place on you and walking in the identity of Christ. You don't have a problem all you need is faith in God!!