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Scripture - Josh1:8 January, 2013 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Subject – YOU CAN MAKE IT!!!! PLAY/DOWNLOAD [MP3] Let me ask you a question. Just what is it, that you want out of life?? What do you hope to accomplish, before you leave here?? What would you hope family, friends, associates, and even, enemies would say about you?? Believe it or not, many people don't think along these lines. They just go from day to day, just trying to survive to see another day. The idea of actually setting a goal, and accomplishing it, is totally foreign to them. It has been said of most of this generation that, we have been programmed, by family, friends and some of our educational institutions, to accept the idea that, irregardless of what we may desire to do, the odds are, it will rarely happen. Some would say, you would have a better chance of being struck by lightning, than to achieve any goal that you set for yourself. Odds. What are odds?? Odds are man's way of using numbers to figure, pro and con, how things will play out, in any given situation. We usually see them used in areas of gambling, and even in politics. Every where we look, we are being informed what the future holds for us, based on factors, seen and unseen, over which we have absolutely no control, that will determine the outcome of everything we try to do. What we are then led to believe is, for us to achieve any goal that we set for ourselves, is nothing more than, luck. It is as if, we are totally at the mercy of that lady that Frank Sinatra used to sing about, 'Luck be a lady tonight!!' With a mindset like that, is it any wonder why, most of us, just don't think that far ahead?? It is one thing to set plans for the future, and another, to actually see a way to achieve them. That is, what is called success. It is interesting that, in order to achieve success, you have to have a plan. And, in order to have a plan, you have to see a way to accomplish what you want to do. Now, all of this is absolutely meaningless, if you don't first, have a vision. And that is where family, friends, and others, come in. They can either supply the fertile ground, for a vision to grow and thrive, or, kill it. And, most of them, are doing the latter. And why is that?? Because, they, themselves are failures, because they never had a vision of what they wanted to accomplish. Or, if they did, someone, killed it for them. So, visions are little more than, 'pipe dreams!!' A 'pipe dream', is when you have a very narrow focus on what you are facing, like looking through a 'pipe', where all you can see, is what is available within, and at the end of, that pipe. You are totally unaware of what is happening, outside of that 'pipe.' You know, the bible tells us, Prv 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. From the offset, we see that without a vision, the people perish [die]. However, the full meaning of that is, the people fail to move from one place to another, on the economic, business, social, scientific, or any other position, that they find themselves in. They just stand there, and become stagnate, and eventually die in those areas. This nation, wouldn't be what it is today, if people didn't have a vision, 'pipe dream' if you will. We wouldn't even be a nation, if that wasn't the case. Everything we are, and have today, came from people with 'pipe dreams.' But, unlike most of us, they didn't just have a vision, they saw a way to achieve it, and set out to do just that, despite what others may have thought about what they wanted to do. It is one thing to have a vision, or dream, and another, to see the path to achieve it. Or as we would call it, success. Yet, if we look at the subject scripture, Solomon, using the wisdom God endowed him with, gives us the key, to having the ability to accomplish anything we set our minds to do. All we have to do, simply putting it, is to be obedient to God. And, if you think about it, since He controls every thing, then, our successes, and failures, are in His hands, so why not obey Him?? Of course, obedience requires us to know just what He says we should, and should not be doing, and then, adopting those guidelines. Sounds simple, doesn't it?? So, what is the problem?? Our problem is family, friends, associates, and most people that supposedly are men/women called by God, to preach. Just because someone claims to be speaking God's Word, does not mean that they are. You have the responsibility to check up on them, to make sure they are telling you the right things to do, irregardless of who they are, or what position they hold. Too many times, visions are killed by the very ones that are supposed to be igniting the 'fire' under people to get them to move closer to God. Instead of that, they are dousing it. I can remember watching new saints, being on fire for God, and having the vision of winning their families, friends, and the world, for Christ, being turned in to, critics of everything, God says they should be doing. Why?? Because of some preacher, that, themselves, has no vision other than dollar signs, and a position of influence, and power in their community. They have completely forgotten about what God called them to do, if He called them, in the first place. Well, as people become critics and cynics, of God's Word, more and more of them begin to end up as failures. And, as such, begin to take the view that success is luck, or a 'pipe dream!' But, the good news[Gospel] is, 'you don't have to be a failure in life. You can still have success in whatever you want to do, IF, you will be willing to adhere to the Word of God.' Look at this scripture, Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Notice the terms, 'willing AND obedient', you have to be both, not one or the other. A lot of our people today, are either, one, or the other. They are willing to obey God, based on which issue it is, and how they view what the end result will be. Or, they obey God, because they are in a position of involuntary obedience. If they could, they wouldn't do it. What God wants is for us to be willing to obey Him, irregardless of what we may think will, or will not happen, irregardless of what it is. That is what is known as 'blind Faith' because you are not looking at what people say, but rather at what God says. Have you ever seen horses, pulling carriages with those pads on the sides of their heads, covering their eyes?? Do you know why people do that to them?? It is so the horse won't get distracted by what is happening on either side of them. They can only see what is in front of them. Or as I mentioned earlier, looking through a 'pipe.' In order for you to be a success, you have to be willing to ignore all of the distractions, family, friends, associates, and even preachers, and enemies may be raising, that will have the effect of killing your vision, and focus on God, and His Word. Now, not wanting to mislead anyone, your vision, has to be in line with what God says. You can't have a vision, that goes contrary to what God stands for, and that is righteousness. There are people today, covering the entire spectrum of life's possibilities, that are pursuing things, which God, doesn't want them to pursue and achieve, because they go contrary to what He says. As a result, He puts obstacles in their way, to discourage them, and get them to turn around. Their response, 'That's the devil, trying to stop me. No weapon formed against me, shall prosper. I am God's child!!' Whether or not you are God's child, if you are moving contrary to His will, He will move to stop you. Of course, if you want to be stubborn about it, He will either mount a bigger resistance to you, or, and this is what He mostly does, is allow you to think you have succeeded, just to, in the future, pull the rug out from under you, so that the end result, will be more painful, than if you had just turned around, when He first warned you. There are a lot of people out there, that are riding what they think is a wave of success, but, God is about to pull the rug out, and they will be like that person that built their house on sand. [Mat.7:26-27]. If you get a chance, read the story of Balaam, in [Numbers 22:21-34]. Here was a man of God, that embarked on a journey that God had told him not to take. But he did anyway. So God put an Angel in his path to stop/kill him, if he continued down the path, but, he didn't see Him. But his ass did, and turned away to go in a different direction, to which, Balaam's response was to beat the ass. When he finally discovered the Truth, he repented. Too bad most will not realize the error of their ways, until disaster hits. You my friend, are in line for success, 'God's Style!!!' All you have to do is, seek God first!! If He is for you, you will have nothing standing in your way. Despite what is happening around you, 'YOU CAN MAKE IT!!! |