.
From The Pastor’s Desk
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Bishop Randy Barnett, Oklahoma
GOD’S
EQUATION
FOR
YOUR SUCCESS
Success in life is one of those things that each of us desires. No one
sets out to be a failure. We all have hopes and dreams, and we do everything
within our power to see them fulfilled. The truth is God wants for you to be a
success even more than you want to succeed. He is a good Daddy and any good
Daddy wants his children to prosper and succeed in life. Your heavenly Father
has taken the steps to insure your success in life, and He did this by sending
His Word (Jesus His Son) to earth. In so doing He set in place the assurance of
your success in life. Look at the promise He makes to you in II Peter 1:4
“As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
That is a Daddy that loves
you a lot!
It is important, however, to understand
that your success is not totally dependent upon God to get you there. It takes
His power added to your cooperation for success to happen. In fact, all that God
needs to do on your behalf, He has already done; now, it is up to you. To
illustrate how this works, let’s do a brief study of a passage from Mark 5. Allow me to develop four keys to
success from this passage.
25 Now a certain woman had a
flow of blood for twelve years,
26 and had suffered many
things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better,
but rather grew worse.
27 When she heard about Jesus,
she came behind Him in the
crowd and touched His garment.
28 For she said, “If only I
may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
29 Immediately, the
fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
30 And Jesus, immediately
knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd
and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
31 But His
disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who
touched Me?’”
32 And He looked around
to see her who had done this thing.
33 But the woman, fearing and
trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and
told Him the whole truth.
34 And He said to her,
“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your
affliction.”
KEY #1 - YOU MUST HEAR THE TRUTH.
(Romans 10:17)
This woman heard about Jesus who did mighty miracles. What if she had
never heard of Jesus, would she have been healed? The answer is “No.” For her,
everything started the moment she heard the truth. So it is with you. When you
encounter truth (John 17:17) you encounter the power of God. The key for you is
to immerse yourself in the Word of God to the point where it conditions your
thinking to conform to the way God thinks. Hearing is a matter of choice. You
decide many times each day what you will hear. If it is truth, you are edified;
if what you hear is not truth, it has the potential of destruction.
KEY #2 - YOU MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH.
(II Corinthians 4:13)
Once this woman heard the truth about Jesus, she began to speak to
herself about what would happen once she encountered Him. In reality, she
prophesied her future. This was an important step on her road to recovery; it
is an important step on your road to success. Speaking truth is how the power
of God is released in your life. It is not enough just to believe God will help
you succeed, you must get involved with Him and your part is to speak the words
He has given to you. For example, He says you are healed by the stripes of
Jesus, (I Peter 2:24) so begin to declare what God has said about your physical
condition. He says that wealth and riches will be in the house of the righteous
man, (Psalm 112:3) so begin to declare that wealth and riches fill your house.
Remember: you are not creating something from nothing; you are creating
something that is in the heart of God that has already been created by Him for
you.
KEY #3 – YOU MUST POSITION YOURSELF TO
RECEIVE. (Matthew 6:33)
The sick woman did not remain at home once she heard Jesus was in her
town. She got up and went to where He was – she went to the Source. So it must
be with you in your pursuit of success in life. You have heard the words of God
about His desire for you to succeed. You have declared what He has promised
you. Now it is time to press in to Jesus just as the woman did because He is
still the Source. You do this by close covenant fellowship with God in prayer,
in meditation, in praise and worship, and in study of His Word. Hang out with
Him and make Him priority #1 in your life. You are positioned to receive from
God.
KEY #4 – YOU MUST ACT ON YOUR FAITH.
(James 1:22-25)
What if the woman had made it through the crowd that surrounded Jesus
but failed to reach out her hand and touch His garment, would she have been
healed? The answer is “No.” There was
that last action of faith necessary
to seal the deal for her. So is must be with you. Faith is how you receive from
God; faith is how you achieve through God. In most cases success is a process
rather than an event; you achieve success one step at a time by constantly
reaching out to touch the One who has the power to move you upward into your
destiny. Jesus is the Word incarnate; therefore, you must touch Him daily
through the Word of God. With each piece of knowledge you gain, you touch Jesus
and that moves you one step closer to the manifestation of your success in
life.
You can see throughout this discussion how vital the Word of God is to
your success. Everything starts by hearing the Word of God, and continues
through to your ultimate success in life by speaking it and acting upon it. Enjoy
your success!
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