MEN & SUCCESS

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds GREAT DELIGHT in his commands.

Every man on the face of the earth wants or desires to be successful. And while..its right to desire to be successful, there are only two ways to get there. SUCCESS can either by FEAR-DRIVEN or FAITH-DRIVEN.

FEAR-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

Blessed is the man who wakes up early and stays up late; the man who has a life insurance; the man who has savings for a rainy day; the man who exercises and eat health; the man who knows the rules of the game etc.

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat_ for he grants sleep to those he loves.

But…something goes missing for this man….HIS HEART! No matter how sure or secure he is at his present or perceived future….HIS HEART IS ALWAYS FEARFUL. Why? Because he has no fear of the Lord in his heart.

On the other hand…the man who has the fear of the Lord in his heart walks securely. His present or future is sure…as he walks by faith.

FAITH-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

COMFORTING OTHERS

2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the FATHER OF COMPASSION and the GOD OF ALL COMFORT, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can COMFORT THOSE in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Wow! I have to say here one thing before I start. By reading this scripture verse, I understand why so many people are lost for words when it comes to comforting others! If you have never been comforted…you might not know how to comfort another in trouble. And while it is true, at one time or another you might have been on the receiving end of comfort…that still doesn’t qualify you to be a source of comfort for others.

One thing though makes all the difference: GOD….the GOD OF ALL COMFORT!

By comforting one who is in trouble…one doesn’t need to look up for the right soundly words. I learned that a little over a year ago. A friend was in trouble. BIG TROUBLE. My words…no matter how well meaning could do nothing to lighten her burden. Instead…her burden became my burden. Even though she never got to know it…I ached as much as she did. I wanted so badly to fix her situation…but I didn’t know how. I cried her tears; I asked her questions; My heart bled for her dreams; Then God showed up….to comfort her! Suddenly, my burden for her lifted. And in the most amazing way…words…WORDS OF COMFORT began flowing from my mouth. And she listened…and little by little, God began patching together her broken heart!

God made me see and understanding this:

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

Last week was a trying one for my family…because our daughter was down with a bad cough…and ear infection. She is still here with me today…missing another week of preschool. And because of that…I feel she needs my attention more at the moment. For this whole week, I am therefore going on a sabbatical and hopefully will resume my normal post on 31st May, 2010. Meanwhile I leave you with a vision of where I will be as I HANG OUT with MY SHEPHERD!

GOD IS THEIR ADVOCATE

Zechariah 7:8-10 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the WIDOW or the FATHERLESS, the ALIEN or the POOR. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

An ADVOCATE according to my Collins dictionary is defined as: to support or recommend publicly; a person who upholds or defends a cause; a person WHO INTERCEDES ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER; a person who pleads his client’s cause in the court of law etc.

Is God your advocate? Do you believe God is well able to intercede or intervene on your behalf against the injustice you are facing? You might not know this….but GOD IS A PROFESSIONAL ADVOCATE! He longs for justice more than you can ever imagine. Long before the professional advocate become a prestigious job…God had made it clear to the children of Israel that He would intercede anytime, and every time when injustice was shown to the four kinds of people in their midst: THE WIDOW, THE FATHERLESS, THE ALIEN AND THE POOR.

In the book of Deuteronomy, we see God commanding the children of Israel on how to deal with these four kinds of people. And in most cases, it was evident that how they dealt with them influenced the outcome of the future events in their lives.