Showering With Success

Since Sarah graduated I have thought a lot about the word, success. We want to be successful. We want our children to have success. Society reminds us how important success is! Two days after Sarah's graduation she had a birthday and I wrote, "My prayer is that God showers you with success and a humble heart to always remember to praise him!" I wrote it and now I keep thinking about it.

When Mike and I got married it was important to buy a home, have a child and have a minivan. And yes, we fell right in that trap. When we drove that minivan off the lot I knew I had arrived! SUCCESS! Our little family was successful! Or at least that is what it looked like to society. I thought about God on Sundays when I went to church or if I needed something. Then I may even talk with Him! Not with Him....to Him! It was not a two way conversation. I did all the talking. Because of my past I can easily see how people think they are successful and they do not have eternal riches!

God wants us to be successful. Jeremiah 29; 11 is probably the most popular verse. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Prosper means to make successful. Psalm 84: 11, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." God does not want to withhold any blessings from us! I believe He wants our bills paid, our needs met and our family blessed. God wants us to have an abundant life! John 10: 10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." 2 Corinthians 9: 8, "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

If things would have always gone right and I could have done it on my own I may not have looked to God or talked to Him. We are told the Bible tells us everything we need to know and I believe that. I think there is a reason Matthew 19: 24 is in there. "Again I tell you, 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.” There are dangers that come with wealth and possessions. They can become our god, our stumbling block, or our downfall if they become the thing we cannot give up to follow Jesus.

So there are reasons for the BUT in some verses. To me, that means that all we have just read is fine and good BUT you have to read the rest of the story. You have a responsibility with your success. This is explained in Luke 12: 48. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 10: 10, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Read the "but" verses to know how to be successful and live abundantly. Matthew 6: 33, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Deuteronomy 8: 18, "But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today." As long as we believe all good things come from God, we will stay humble.

We are told that when we give it will be given back. Luke 6: 38, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” You cannot out give God!

2 Corinthians 9: 6, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." When we use the incredible blessings God has poured into our lives for His glory and the blessings of other we will be blessed beyond measure! Psalm 65: 11, "You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance."

So, as I told Sarah, I pray that God showers you with success BUT with a humble heart to always remember to praise him!