Notes fm Stanley's Success God's Way" - 3

What Jesus Taught About Money, page 106

3. Jesus taught that those who give generously to the Lord will receive generously. 

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over into your lap. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38

DLS - I struggle here mentally, even emotionally. My thoughts and feelings (really? both? Double note-to-self to ponder that)....my thoughts and feelings get wrapped up around "tit-for-tat," I do this and God does that, prosperity theology....

"...For the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38

....Measure. Same measure. A givers gain thing?

Notes fm Stanley's Success God's Way" - 2

What Jesus Taught About Money, page 104

2. Jesus taught that we err greatly when we hoard our wealth and fail to give generously.

Luke 12: 16-21

Matthew 6:19-21

Malachi 3:8-12

DLS - well, that sits differently this fine morning that when I first read these pages a few months ago. Much more to consider!

Ponder this - Giving...is all about money, or time also?

Notes fm Stanley's "Success God's Way" - 1

What Jesus Taught About Money, page 103

1. Jesus taught that the pursuit of wealth must never be our #1 priority.

"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26

Page 104 - Jesus was never really concerned with how much money a person might have or not. Rather, He was concerned with the attitude toward money.

DLS - this attitude goes for an abundance or lack of; money in general. The right attitude can only come from God, through Jesus Christ, with the urgings of the Holy Spirit.

Note: during the past 6 months, in addition to Stanley's book, I've read some books on "thinking," including "Physcho-Cybernenics," "As A Man Thinketh," Piper's "Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God," Maxwell's "How Successful People Think" and currently reading "The Science of Getting Rich."

Praying for a much deeper awareness of success, money and the glorification of God. What does He want me to believe, to know?

To that end.....

Success, wealth and seeking....

The more wealth one has, the more he should be spending time in prayer and the study of scripture, seeking to know God and His purpose - Charles Stanley

Profound.

Why haven't I grasped this before now? Have I heard it? Have I ignored it?

Or was I not asking the right questions?

Not digging deep enough?

Pondering Stanley's statement.

Pondering these words....Fear and Wisdom

Where God is, there exists the fear of God, 

which is the beginning of wisdom

- Tertullian of Carthage, c. 197

Fear and wisdom. Connected to success? One morning this week I prayed for "good conversations." That day was a good day, but only because I ended up in some tough conversations that went well. It was a successful day and I'm glad I listened to that nudge. Praying for good conversations are becoming another norm.

Fear and wisdom, success. The thinker reads Proverbs 1:7 and wonders about the meaning of "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." The second part makes sense, the first..not-so-much.

Thinking about recent success and failures this morning I was drawn to Proverbs in "Ancient Christian Commentary." It's always interesting to read what these guys wrote 1500 to 2000 years ago about scripture; more evidence there's nothing new under the sun.

Fear and wisdom, success. I'm not sure why I was so drawn to Proverbs 1 and these readings, but like the nudge about having good conversations, I'm paying attention. And praying.

Bede the Venerable (c. 480) said there were two things that constitute the fear of the Lord;

1. the servanthood which is called the beginning of knowledge or wisdom and,

2. the friendship which accompanies the perfection of wisdom.

To that end........make it a great day

Unlikely Success word - Weakness

After asking for the thorn to be removed, God said to Paul "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in your weakness."

These ponderings on success have been good. I'm not sure I had any expectations and not entirely surprise about connecting this word "weakness" to success.

Andy Stanley makes the following points about weakness I tie to my thoughts on success -

"- God is going to showcase himself in my weakness if I'm willing to take NO for an answer

- His strength will overcomes my weakness

- Some things may not be healed, or worked out, or get better, or come back together...but God will showcase His power if we allow Him

- I can't experience God's sustaining grace while resisting His will"

Lord, give me the strength to be weak, to wait on your Grace. I pray for the strength of experiencing the success that comes from the grace of Your will in my weakness.

Great SUCCESS word - "Authenticity"

Danny L. Smith
512-773-6528

"One cannot long out perform their own self-image" - Maxwell Maltz

"You'll be the same five years from today, as you are today, except for what you listen, what you watch, who you associate with, and what you read" - Zig Ziglar

F I D O (forget it, drive on)

Well done, good and faithful servant

Dreaming for me this week. Or I thought about them differently. My "big" dream is to hear those words "well done good and faithful servant." Those words could come in the next second or years from now, but it wasn't until this week that it came to mind the process of another event. The "event" was a conversation and I wanted to react with a "are-you-kidding-me," or even harsher response. Instead, I thought about that dream of hearing those words, asked a few questions and the end was much more amiable.

Another event occured that was more "goal" oriented and if it wasn't for another Big Dream I have, I would have likely felt a bit defeated, let-down and thinking about how to re-group. If I were goal oriented I would have gone through the process of resetting the goal, its date and a host of other factors that seem to surround "good-goal-setting."

Instead, the dream is in place and looking back I realize my "FIDO" (forget-it-drive-on) style worked well. The missed "goal" was barely a bump.

...........Writing this and I'm thinking back through other conversations and events this week and I'm coming to realize how much success I had due to my dreams.

Dreams.

To that end.....dream well

Words to ponder

These thoughts about success have dug into areas of wisdom. Not the earthly type.

Wisdom that comes from above to believers.

Wisdom that comes from asking "is this a wise decision" and listening to the Holy Spirit.

Words to ponder - Success. Wisdom. Asking. Patience. Listening. Margins.


To that end....

Danny L. Smith
512-773-6528

"One cannot long outperform their own self-image" - Maxwell Maltz

"You'll be the same five years from today, as you are today, except for what you listen, what you watch, who you associate with, and what you read" - Zig Ziglar

Do you not give thought to wisdom...the state of your soul?

Good sir, you are an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city with the greatest reputation for both wisdom and power; are you not ashamed of your eagerness to possess as much wealth, reputation, and honors as possible, while you do not care for nor give thought to wisdom or truth, or the best possible state of your soul? - Socrates
 
 

Philosopher Tom Morris writes, "Socrates' firm belief was that wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence brings about wealth and all other public and private blessings known to man. It was the state of our soul that was important to Socrates. The inner life of each Person. Greatness of spirit. Wisdom. Inner excellence. When you give precedence to the inner, both inner and outer fall into place."

The beginning of this journey to find success' right place in my head and heart has been refreshing. Three reads specific to this subject I'm in are...

- Success God's Way, by Charles Stanley
- True Success, by Tom Morris
- Celebrate Recovery Bible

I've also found myself deep into some good reads about "thinking." These might be the most important stop-offs.

To that end.....Success!

Success, thinking on it

I also came to see the importance at the present time of thinking

clearly about what success is and about how we can attain the

most satisfying and sustainable forms of it in our lives. I came

to realize that we all need to philosophize about success.

- Tom Morris, PH.D., Public Philosopher, Advisor

Success, thinking on it. I think I don't really get the whole meaning of success. But....I pray that changes. I want to think success is

- a process
- a journey, not a destination (I hate cliches)
- glorifying God (what does that really mean?)
- being happy (?)...that is dependent on so many things (right?)
- well done good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21) - this is my ultimate desire, the final success

You, I, get the point. So what about the THINKING? Thinking on success?

I think God

- has built into me (us) a deep desire for success
- has given me his Work to call and challenge me to obtain success
- wants me to depend upon Him
- has equipped me for success with gifts and talents
- has given me the desire to acquire the knowledge to renew my mind and be transformed
- has given me the Holy Spirit to enable my success

I think I'm struggling with achieving the success God has available for me because I

- have still have a distorted Biblical view of work and success
- have self-limiting beliefs that are negatively impacting my success
- have self-imposed "lids" that keep me from rising up to challenges
- have miss-managed and even wasted bad experiences
- am carrying unnecessary baggage
- should stop waiting for the "right time"

To that end....Lord, thank you for continuing to love me. I believe you've built a desire for your success in me so I'll act. Thank you for being patient with me as I keep trying to do this on my own. I give my success to you, pray I move forward in your power and glory. I give you my thinking about success. In your Son Jesus' name,

Amen



 

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....

The Fine Art of Insight

Vast knowledge of Bible facts won't make anyone more insightful

- Charles R. Swindoll in Hand Me Another Brick.

My friend Charles Middlebrooks gave me Swindoll's book in 1996. Cathy, Austen, Bear and I were moving back to Austin. We weren't sure about a lot of things, including where to live, job stabililty  and little insight. A travel trailer at the South Austin KOA ended up being our home for 21 months.

Insight increased during this time. 15 years later, a lot of living and I don't have the fine art part down, but it's a clearer picture. Paul Martinelli on the subject of will (God's vs mine), says, "the more time I spend with God, the time I invest with Him, the more I recognize His voice, His will." Yes, absolutely.

The more time I invest with Him....That's getting into the fine art Swindoll's talking about, the reinstruction of the people he labels the last seven chapters of the "Book of Nehemiah." What happens when we invest time with Him? Insight, and we become reconstructed.

Insight.....is it attainable? I believe it is, and in abundance. Having good insight can take time and more than a little extra pause, prayer and pondering will help. Taking time to remove the clutter (another Martinelli lesson) helps me to be more creative (what God wants...us to expand His creation, to dig...and clutter stops that digging like a limestone in the Texas Hill Country).

Reinstruction...how much? As much as it takes. There are some days where I wake up and think.."ug...I didn't go to Heaven. Now I have to do this all over again!" But every so often, and they're happening more and more, I seem to get-it. That restful feeling describe in Hebrews. That's powerful and I know the reconstruction is working from the inside-out....I'm learning to use what's "in-the-box" first.

Swindol ends his insight chapter, The Fine Art of Insight, with

...insightful leadership is attainable..but no one has a corner on the virtue. It is available to all who are willing to pay the price. Insight not lonly gives you good perspective on the past and the ability to face the future with confidence and vision, it will also give you an honest appraisal of yourself...

To that end...have a great Sunday