Success. Where's its place?

Can success and a Godly life truly be reconciled?

Absolutely - Charles Stanley

What does God say about success? Is it a contradiction to live a Godly life and pursue success? Many people think so. And that's just wrong.

I don't believe it's a coincidence that I've been attracted the past few weeks to books that include matters on this subject. This morning I had the thought "what do I think about being successful?"

A re-work of Lunch 'n Learn materials and brought to mind the roadblock matter of "the fear of success."  I ask attendees in my Guerrilla Marketing workshops why people fear success and had never gotten a good answer, though many acknowledge it's existence and some admit it's impact on their life. You can see the realization in their eyes! But, for a long time I'd never been able to really identify a cause of the problem (I hadn't really considered at the time I encountered the roadblock).

Until one participant answered "It's a Biblical thing. We've been wrongly taught things like 'a rich man can't get into Heaven' and that's subconsciously sabotaging us."

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. - Mark 10: 25

Wrongly understanding that verse and one can/will subconsciously sabotage their success. And Satan wins.

I'm seriously afraid I have a problem with success, subconsciously. Subconsciously I believe I struggle with some things Biblically about God's will in my life. I don't have a good grip on the problem, but I'm coming to realize how real it is and expect I'll uncover others also.

God made us in His image. He was successful. I want to understand and accept a truthful definition of success. This is where I'll drop anchor, search out, pray, ponder and write about here for a few weeks.

Let me know what you think of success. Let me know what you think of what I find out, my thoughts about success. I know they haven't been near accurate up until now.

To that end....Lord prepare my heart to receive Your word, THE true word about success. Help me practice Your will.

....lead a quiet life

I've been on a journey to "raise my lid" for a long time. This road has led me to places like 

- My work matters to God

- In His Glory, God conceals matters. The glory of kings is to search matters out (Proverbs 25:2)

- Staying in the box. Digging deeper to discover the real me God made in His image 

- God intends me to experience a Sabbath rest. And not just on Sundays

- That God's intended doctrine of work includes a good practice of rest

.....and then this morning, journaling my thoughts as I read "The Accidental Pharisee" I come across this scripture - 

"and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you" (1 Thessalonians 4:11 NIV)

Now that leads me to slow down for a time of pause and reflection specifically about "purpose." There's even some thoughts of validation streaming in!

To that end...

"Leadership develops daily, not in a day" - John Maxwell

In His Image...Gaining insight and being reconstructed

We are at this moment as close to God as we
really choose to be. True, there are times when we
would like to know a deeper intimacy, but when it comes to
the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved. 

- J. Oswald Sanders

Continuing from the previous post about insight, some use the think-out-of-the-box approach to stretching ourselves. I have a hang-up on the thinking-out-of-the-box "fad." My experience is it leads to lack of responsibility and fickleness. Yes, fickleness. LOL. Instead of digging into life, thinking-out-of-the-box allows one to escape the struggle of reality. Oh, and this thinking of mine isn't something new. See my profile and the "In-the-Box-Thinking" blog I started years ago (now DannyLSmith.com).

Thinking-out-of-the-box doesn't cause one to stretch. Thinking-out-of-the-box only adds to the confusion. When I want stretch myself, I stay-in-the-box and dig deeper. God made me in His image. I need to raise my lid, from within...searching for the answer inside...that causes a stretch you can't even imagine.

God tells us we are "made in His image" at least 6 times in the Old and New Testament. Wow. What does that really mean, to be made in His image? What would it have been like with sin? What would it be like live, and see ourselves "in His image?" That takes some digging through a mess of things we've piled into our "box."

How glorious that would be, to discover how glorious He made me. Proverbs 25:2 says "In His glory, God conceals matters. The glory of kings is to search matters out." I think that means from the inside-out, gaining insight and being reconstructed. And to Mr. Sanders point, am I willing to pay the price for the intimacy of the reconstruction?

To that end....