Today I want to take a few moments of your time to talk and think about success!  This will be the spring-board for what we talk about for the rest of the week.  There are a lot of things for us to think about, but most of them cannot be important, until we get comfortable with the idea of success.  Success was God’s idea!  He came up with the whole concept and then the world got a hold of it and began to warp it and make it about a lot of other stuff that God never intended.  We should be comfortable with success – not the world’s version, but with God’s version!  It is God’s desire that each one of us succeed at what He created and gifted us to do.  And we will know that we are succeeding when we begin to experience the fulfillment that comes from walking according to His plans for our lives!  Over the next several days, we will discover some of the Basics Of Success according to God’s Plan!

Success Occurs In The Lives Of Specific People For Specific Reasons!  We need to understand that success does not happen by accident.  Most of us will never wake up one morning to discover we lost twenty pounds without doing a thing!  You will not get that raise or pay off that debt by accidentally finding the money and sending it to the right people.  That promotion will not just accidentally happen – you will have to work for it and prove that you deserve it!  That’s what success is about – doing what God created and gifted you to do and finding fulfillment in it!

Some people think that success would come if they could just change their luck.  “I’m just not lucky like so and so!” you might hear someone say!  But the truth is luck has nothing to do with it!  Did Michael Jordan get to be a basket ball star because he was lucky?  No-Way!  He was a star because he worked hard, practiced continually and gave himself totally to the game!  Success is not based on luck!  Think of people that you know that are successful and think about how they got to where they are – almost every time, if you are honest, they got there because they worked hard with what God had given them and made it count!

Success is something that you make happen!  Wherever you are and whatever you want to happen in your life – if it is going to happen, it will happen, because you have made up your mind that you are going to do whatever it takes!  The Bible teaches that a man will reap whatever he sows!  In other words:  Whatever you plant – God will grow!  What are you planting with your actions or lack of action? 

Be specific!  What has God gifted you to do and what are you going to do about it?  Do more than think about it – get obedient and make something happen!