January 2, 2005, Selected

MAKING 2005 A TRULY SUCCESSFUL YEAR!

*** Joshua 1:8 “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” [New International Version]

GOD DEFINES SUCCESS DIFFERENTLY THAN THE WORLD DOES!

1. HOW SOCIETY SUGGESTS SUCCESS!
*** 2 Cor. 10:12 “I wouldn't dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness!” [NLT]

A. OUR APPEARANCE!
*** 1 Samuel 16:7 “The Lord said,"Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person's thoughts & intentions."

B. OUR POSSESSIONS!
*** Luke 12:15 “[Jesus] said, "Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." [New Living Translation]

SUCCESS IS NOT IN WHAT YOU HAVE!

*** Luke 9:25 “And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?” [NLT]

C. OUR PLEASURES!
*** Ecc. 2:1-2 “I said to myself, "Come now, let's give pleasure a try. Let's look for the 'good things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. "It is silly to be laughing all the time," I said. "What good does it do to seek only pleasure?" [NLT]
*** Proverbs 21:17 “The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.” [Message]

D. OUR POSITION!
*** Ecc. 2:9, 11 “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind….” [NIV]
*** Mark 10:42-43 "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around & when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.” [Msg]

A BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

2. HOW THE SCRIPTURES SPELL SUCCESS!
SENSE OF DIRECTION!
*** Eph. 1:11-12 “In Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” [Msg]

UNDERSTANDING!
***Pr. 2:2 “Turn your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding” [NLT]

Proverbs. 2:11; 3:13; 16:16; 16:22; 19:8; 23:23;

*** 2 Tim. 3:16-17 “The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. It is God's way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.” [Living Bible]

COMMITMENT!
*** Luke 9:23-24 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” [NIV]
*** Acts 20:24 “But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus….” [NLT]
*** Phil. 3:13-14 “I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize….” [NLT]

COMPASSION!
*** 1 Cor. 13:2 “If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would it do? Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love.” [LB]
***Luke 10:27 “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " [NLT]

LOVE ISN’T A CONDITION IT IS A CHOICE!

*** Col. 3:12 “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion….” [NIV]

ENTHUSIASTIC FAITH!
*** Rom. 8:31 “If God is with us, no one can defeat us….” [New Century Version]
*** Phil. 4:13 “I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.” [LB]
*** Eph. 3:20 “With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.” [NCV]

SERVICE TO OTHERS!
*** Mark 10:43 “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.” [Msg]
***John 13:14-15 “Since I, the Lord & Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I’ve given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” [NLT]

STAYING POWER!
*** 2 Cor. 4:8-9 “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” [Contemporary English Version]
*** 2 Cor. 4:16-18 “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. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” [NIV]