I remember hearing a story not long ago about a young, up-and-coming stockbroker who dreamed of making it big one day. He adjusted everything in his life to enhance his career and realize his dreams.

One day this young stockbroker had a chance encounter with a friend from school and during their conversation about their lives since graduation, the young stockbroker decided to impress his schoolmate with the potential success he was hoping to achieve.

He took his friend on a drive to the local marina and began to point out the huge yachts at the dock. He pointed to one and said, “That one belongs to the senior partner at Merrill Lynch. That one over there is owned by the CEO of Goldman Sachs. And look at that yacht over there; that is the pride and joy of the top seller at Prudential-Bache.”

The young stockbroker glanced at his friend expecting to see a look of wonder and awe but instead, he saw a pained look accompanied by silence. The young stockbroker was taken aback and asked his friend what was wrong. The friend responded, “I was just wondering, are there any customer’s yachts you can show me?”

That cuts right to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it? The fact is that God defines success much differently than the world does. As businesspersons, professionals, ministry leaders, and more importantly, disciples of Jesus Christ, we understand that God has a different road for us to travel to be successful in the assignments He gives us.

The foundation for success in God’s eyes is found in who we are in Christ. Our identity is not tethered to this world but is instead found in our relationship with our heavenly Father through saving faith in Jesus. What this means is that who we are is who the Father says we are. Success for the Christian is defined by God.

In order to hear clearly what the Father says to us, we are exhorted to renew our minds daily. Paul writing to the believers in Rome said:

¹ Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

The Apostle Peter has this to say in his 2^nd epistle.

² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³ seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. ⁴ For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4

Peter tells us that God has granted to us everything that relates to godly living through the true knowledge of who the Father is. Paul tells us that in order to rightly understand God’s good intentions toward us, we must renew our thinking in order to “prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In other words, we must come to an agreement with what God says about who we are. We must grasp and apply God’s perspective on what success looks like. This is true for every other subject of living, whether it is significance, fulfillment, happiness, security, or peace.

God wants us to prosper. In today’s religious climate, the word prosper has been misused and misapplied and almost always steers people’s thinking to material possessions. Let’s allow God’s Word to tell us what God views as prosperity. Continuing in 2 Peter 1:5-10 we read this:

⁵ Now for this very reason also (escaping the corrupting influence of the world by His divine power), applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, ⁶ and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, ⁷ and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.

God’s pathway to success starts with understanding who you are on the basis of what He has done for you already. He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness (1:3). We have been justified and sanctified. We are already a partaker of His divine nature and the power of sin over us has been defeated (1:4)

Peter has described the characteristics that every Christian should be pursuing. Once again, those characteristics are diligence, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. When these characteristics are present and increasing Peter says that we are useful and fruitful to God.

There are things that one might expect Peter to have listed but did not. Peter doesn’t mention our own talents, our own intelligence, or our own giftings. God certainly endows us with individual things like these but the core of who we are and who God desires us to be is focused on what He gives to His children equally. If we focus on the wrong things and lack the qualities Peter mentions here, we will become “blind or short-sighted, having forgotten (our) purification from former sins.” We are therefore to be diligent to make certain His calling and choosing us.

We also find a key to success in the Hebrew Scriptures. Joshua 1:7-8 says this:

⁷ Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

We all know that Joshua led the Hebrew people into the Promised Land after Moses went to be with the LORD. These two verses mention success and prosperity. Notice that there is no mention of favorable circumstances or the need for cooperation from the people living in the land for the Hebrews to be successful and enjoy prosperity.

What would determine the success and prosperity of the Hebrew people? Their success would hinge on their understanding of and faith in God and His Word, and their obedience to the same. We don’t need big yachts or homes to declare to the world we are successful. God says success is knowing Him and His ways.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us this.

²³ Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Success in the eyes of the world is often failure in the Kingdom of God. The apostle Paul is an example of this truth. This is what he said to the Philippians in 3:4-11.

⁴ although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; ¹¹ in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Paul is telling us that achieving the applause of men, of attaining all the accolades the world can bestow, are all a failure when compared to the goals of the Kingdom of God. The most devastating discovery for many professionals is having arrived at the top rung of the ladder in their world and discover they have scaled the wrong wall.

Mark’s Gospel records Jesus saying:

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:34-37

There is no record in heaven kept concerning the material possessions of this world. Bumper sticker theology that says, “he who dies with the most toys wins,” is a lie. The thing that causes heaven to shout for joy is stated in Luke 15:10 – “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

We are designed by God to seek not the world’s riches, but His kingdom riches. Jesus said during His famous Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Nothing in this world satisfies our soul like the loving relationship with our Father through faith in Jesus Christ.

As Christians and men and women committed to the Gospel proclamation, we are singularly focused and pressing onward and upward. The Apostle Paul exhorted the Philippians in his day and by extension us today to stay the course.

¹² Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

Over the many years of ministry, the Father has allowed me to serve Him in, I’ve never met one person who has told me as their life was winding down, that they wished they would have spent more time at work for an employer or building their business. I have heard many testimonies of people who regret not having spent more time serving the Master. One author states it this way:

We may not have enough time to accomplish what we want in life, but we have precisely enough time to do God’s will. We may not be able to reach the position we wanted, but what position is higher than being seated with Christ in the heavenlies? We can try to make a name for ourselves in the world, but what name could we make for ourselves that remotely compares to being called children of God?[1]

The third principle of success God’s way is being a good steward of God’s blessings, favor, and provision that He has given to us. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Paul wrote this to the Corinthian believers:

¹ Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2

God counts success as being faithful, as being trustworthy toward Him and in our use of the resources He provides to us. That is what Jesus was saying as Matthew recorded in 25:21 – “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” A life well lived yearns to hear those words from our Lord.

I’m not a fan of Hollywood and my wife Kathy and I do not have a television in our home. But I do see and hear things occasionally that Hollywood promotes that has a ring of truth to it. One example that comes to mind is a line from the Russell Crowe film Gladiator. Before a battle that would seal the fate of Gaul and bring peace to the Roman Empire, General Maximus played by Crowe, motivated his troops by telling them that “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

That, friends, is true. What is remembered in eternity is what is done for Christ in this life. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-14 Paul writes:

¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

To young pastor Timothy Paul said:

⁷ But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; ⁸ for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8

The Ephesian believers received this admonition – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

The world we live in is constantly trumpeting bigger, better, and newer as the answer to discontentment and dissatisfaction. The pitch line can be boiled down to this – life can be so much better if you buy our products.

This is another piece to the puzzle of godliness, namely satisfaction in and with your life. Happiness comes when you want what you have. Said another way, believers who are constantly focused on what they do not have will find it very difficult to achieve and possess the joy of the Lord.

The Apostle Paul once again provides the Scriptural basis for understanding this important topic. In 1 Timothy 6:6-10 we read:

⁶ But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. ⁷ For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. ⁹ But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

An old hymn comes to mind here. You may recall the lyrics of Count Your Blessings.

First Stanza

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Second Stanza

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Third Stanza

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

And of course, the chorus encourages us to:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.[2]

Steadfastness is a necessary and enduring trait Christians seek to achieve. However, the most crucial truth…is not the degree of our efforts, but how our spiritual growth attests to the constancy of God and His marvelous plan to use His Word to share Jesus with the world.

Pastor Mike

[1] Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over Darkness: Realize the Power of Your Identity in Christ, (Bethany House: Bloomington, MN, 2020), p. 144. Neil devotes a whole chapter to this subject. This article is a short synopsis of a few of those points.

[2] Lyrics found here – https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Count_Your_Blessings/