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In this world that we're living in, we are constantly being told what
being a success really means. We're told those who want to be successful
in life must graduate college, have a great paying job, be married with
children and then you can be called a success. I disagree with that
notion because to me to be a success simply means achieving and fulfilling
your life's destiny. Every person in this world has a different mission.
My calling may not be your calling and your calling may not be someone
else's calling in life. We are all on this Earth to accomplish and
fulfill different things. We should never get down on ourselves simply
because we are not on the same “level” as someone else. We shouldn't
question our path because of what others are doing, but rather we should
run our own race with a renewed determination knowing that nobody else can
fulfill what we are meant to accomplish. (Romans 12:4-8) (Jeremiah 29:11)
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith.” He wasn't worried about what
everyone else was doing. He was determined to finish his own course and
be pleasing to God. That's what each of us must do. Let us run our race
with patience and determination knowing that our life is meant for
greatness. We don't have to reach the same goals as everyone else, we
just have to reach our own goals. Doing what we know in our hearts is
right for us is all that should matter. Our hearts should be filled with
the same joy because we are doing what we are meant to do. Be encouraged
to focus on the goals in your heart and know that you are well-equipped to
reach every one of them. (Hebrews 12:1-3) (Jeremiah 31:3-5)
I hope this message encourages and inspires your heart to believe in
yourself again. Believe that your life is meant to accomplish great
things and you will see miracles take place.
LEANING YOUR LADDER RIGHT
Rabbi Harold Kushner tells a wonderful story about a bright young man who
was a sophomore Stanford pre-med student. To reward him for having done so
well in school, his parents gave him a trip to Asia for the summer.
While there he met a guru who said to him, “Don't you see how you are
poisoning your soul with this success-oriented way of life? Your idea of
happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a
better grade than your best friend. Your idea of a good marriage is not to
find the woman who will make you whole, but to win the girl that everyone
else wants.”
“That's not how people are supposed to live,” the sage admonished. "Give
it up; come join us in an atmosphere where we all share and love each other.”
The young man had completed four years at a competitive high school to get
into Stanford, plus two years of pre-med courses at the university. He was
ripe for this sort of approach. He called his parents from Tokyo and told
them he would not be coming home. He was dropping out of school to live in
an ashram (a spiritual retreat).
Six months later, his parents got this letter from him:
“Dear Mom and Dad, I know you weren't happy with the decision I made last
summer, but I want to tell you how happy it has made me. For the first
time in my life, I am at peace. Here there is no competing, no hustling,
no trying to get ahead of anyone else. Here we are all equal and we all
share. This way of life is so much in harmony with the inner essence of my
soul that in only six months I've become the number two disciple in the
entire ashram, and I think I can be number one by June!”
You can take the boy out of the rat race, but can you take the rat race out
of the boy?
I am concerned about some people's narrow and dangerous ideas about
success. Achieving more, getting more, becoming number one. Not that there
is anything wrong with healthy achievement. It's just that there is a
difference between earning well and living well.
A successful life is not always a high-achieving life. Sometimes it is
about accomplishing a worthwhile goal, even a private, personal victory.
Sometimes it is about improving one's character. Sometimes success is best
defined by living into one's own personal mission, or finding a meaningful
purpose to organize one's life around. And sometimes it is about learning
how to live in peace, happiness, generosity and love.
Someone put it like this: “I spent my life frantically climbing the ladder
of success. When I got to the top I realized it was leaning against the
wrong building.” Even if she got to the top first, it made no difference.
There is no merit in being first to arrive at the wrong place in life.
You can be successful in ways that matter. And your life can be truly
meaningful. If you're leaning your ladder against the right building, it
doesn't even matter if you make it to the top. Any life spent going after
things that count, will count as a life well spent.
By Steve Goodier
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Psalm 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of
the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law
doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf
also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be
not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest.”
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure
in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us.”
Psalm 100:1-4 “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the
LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that
the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we
are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and
bless His name.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: YOU ARE IMPORTANT
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem134.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: THE WANDERER
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony181.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
