Secrets of a Successful Christian
The secrets of a successful Christian life aren’t all that hard to figure out. Why? You’re a victory seeker waiting for success to happen. This keys-to-success sermon teaches you the basics of achieving success. Likewise, my book, “Book of Ephesians Bible Study” includes 55 rules of life to help Christians succeed.
So, how can you, a Christian, achieve success?
A deep-down conviction to succeed lies at the heart of every human being. You’re destined for greatness but don’t know why. When you become a believer, you get closer to knowing why. When you live the will of God for your life, you know why.
John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
Matthew 5:19 “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Psalm 71:21 “Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.”
The “greater things” is a promise to anyone who accepts Jesus as Savior. You don’t pass up your chance to succeed in life to pastors, evangelists, and anyone else you consider, more favored. There are no elite Christians, just ones that are more seasoned (salty) by living in the presence of God.
Living a Christian life in a sinful world is hard. You take a few tumbles. I won’t kid you, they hurt.
Secrets of a Successful Christian: Fall Down
Knocked to the ground by life is never pleasant. In fact, while you’re down there you probably grovel in self-pity. That’s understandable. God uses valleys as training grounds to change your heart, so you can succeed in life. You ask God, “How much longer? Will you give me a gold medal for passing this test?”
Not that long ago, I assumed Satan was always behind every discomfort. Many times he is, but sometimes God allows you and me to go through heated trials. In many instances, we bring it on ourselves. God forewarns us when trouble is on its way and provides a way out.
We ignore His warning. Here’s an example from my life.
I worked for a very unpleasant, very dishonest individual. My job was to bill clients for completed work. My boss would ask me to send a statement when he didn’t complete the work. Here’s the unpleasant part. I would stay in this man’s face until He said. “You’re right. Do not send the bill.”
When someone has this character flaw, they’re dishonest about other things as well. His dishonesty affected me personally which, after 4+ years, took a toll on my health. Guess what? One day, God clearly said to leave. What did I do? I worked for another 18 months. One morning I went to work at about 4 a.m., got everything in order, left keys, and never returned.
That’s a bad ending to what could have been a smoother transition. After my departure, I spent another 2 years putting my nerves back together. Since I was disobedient, I couldn’t blame God.
The end result—now, I obey God much quicker. What’s almost as hard as falling down? Learning how to get up and go on.
Secrets of a Successful Christian: Get Up
As a child, did you ever fall hard enough to knock the wind out of your lungs? You didn’t get up right away because you couldn’t breathe.
Life is like that. It delivers whacks and blows of discouragement. You can’t see spiritual scars, but they are there, nonetheless.
King David was a man after God’s heart, except he fell down more than once.
He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then plotted the death of her husband to cover the pregnancy. The Prophet Nathan delivers God’s punishment to David.
2 Samuel 12: 11-14 “I am bringing trouble to you from your own family. While you watch, I will take your wives from you and give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have sexual relations with your wives, and everyone will know it. You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will do this so all the people of Israel can see it.”
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You will not die. 14 But what you did caused the Lord’s enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason the son who was born to you will die.”
David pleaded for his son’s life by fasting and praying for 7 days. When David learned of his son’s death, he got up, washed, changed his clothes, ate a meal, and worshipped God. David knew how to succeed in life by getting up from a bed of anguish and moving on. His secret? He looked upward.
Secrets of a Successful Christian: Don’t Quit
In recent years I’ve learned to cast my care. I’ve wanted to give up on the goals and dreams that God put in my heart. Satan planted seeds of doubt and used my emotions to do it. This is how I recovered.
- Fell in love with Jesus all over again. My heart had become dull to God’s voice as issues in life were in control instead of Him.
- Overcame feelings of anxiety and fear. Now, I visualize giving doubts and unbelief to Jesus (remember He already carried them) and ask Him to fling them out into the universe. Every time stress and related feelings start to come back, I repeat this exercise.
- Entered God’s rest. You and I can escape from the fatigue that life brings. Jeremiah 31:25 – “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Here’s another welcoming scripture. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I’m learning to recognize the difference between when God leads and I take charge. I “pause, refresh, and reset” when that happens.
- Believed in answered prayer. Once I prayed for 17 years before a loved one came to Christ.
- Wore the faith shield. Ephesians 6:16 – “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” I’m not diminishing the rest of the armor, but putting faith to words was especially important for me.
- Realized life as a Christian is hard, especially when you don’t see any harvest. Galatians 6:9 – “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. “
“Quitting is Sure Defeat”
Those words came to my mind years ago when life was harder than usual. When learning how to succeed in life, especially as a Christian, your greatest strength comes from daily communion with God. Staying close to Him is one of the major keys to divine success and staying on God’s path for you.