True Success
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah 1:11
There are a lot of people that want to be successful in this life. They work hard to achieve their dreams and goals. But sadly, when they achieve the success that they worked hard for they find that their souls are still empty. It's not wrong to want to be successful. The question is what do you want to be successful at the most?
Nehemiah sought God in prayer to make him successful at accomplishing a task that he knew was of God; rebuilding the walls in Jerusalem which were in ruin. Jerusalem was the place where God in the temple made his presence known. Without the walls, they would be hard pressed to defend the city from their enemies and preserve the worship of God. Today, because of the finished work of Christ, the body of believers is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:18-19). We must build walls around our hearts to keep them from erecting idols that would take the place of God in our lives. We need to set up boundaries in our lives that guard the affections of our hearts so that they would not be given to something or somebody that would draw us away from God. As Augustine prayed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Strive for success. But make sure that the success you're striving for is bringing you closer to God and not farther away. He will be at home in your heart and your soul will be at rest when you sign over the title deed, give him the keys and say, "you run the house." When he's running your life, you will know true success and your soul will be at rest in this life and forevermore.
Blessings,
Pastor Marco
There are a lot of people that want to be successful in this life. They work hard to achieve their dreams and goals. But sadly, when they achieve the success that they worked hard for they find that their souls are still empty. It's not wrong to want to be successful. The question is what do you want to be successful at the most?
Nehemiah sought God in prayer to make him successful at accomplishing a task that he knew was of God; rebuilding the walls in Jerusalem which were in ruin. Jerusalem was the place where God in the temple made his presence known. Without the walls, they would be hard pressed to defend the city from their enemies and preserve the worship of God. Today, because of the finished work of Christ, the body of believers is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:18-19). We must build walls around our hearts to keep them from erecting idols that would take the place of God in our lives. We need to set up boundaries in our lives that guard the affections of our hearts so that they would not be given to something or somebody that would draw us away from God. As Augustine prayed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Strive for success. But make sure that the success you're striving for is bringing you closer to God and not farther away. He will be at home in your heart and your soul will be at rest when you sign over the title deed, give him the keys and say, "you run the house." When he's running your life, you will know true success and your soul will be at rest in this life and forevermore.
Blessings,
Pastor Marco