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Welcome back, have you examined the difference between having success and
being successful? Remember being successful has more to do with character
and less to do with performance. We need to focus on accomplishing the right
goal. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We can be so focused on success that we forget who we have to push aside
to attain it. I guess some of us don’t concern ourselves with who we leave
in our wake as long as we come out on top. I don’t consider those types of
people successful. They may accumulate all kinds of awards but one day they
will be found sitting alone in their trophy room surrounded by their success
without anyone to share it with.
Remember that guy that asked to use your hauler as a pulpit? He thanked
you by giving you advice on how to set up your racecar. You were skeptical
but followed his advice. As it turned out he knew what he was talking about.
Therein lies the one of the most important elements of being successful,
following someone who knows.
We spent some time last week looking into a passage from Luke's Gospel.
Here's the passage again so that we can make reference to it.
Luke5:1-11; One day as Jesus was standing by
the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to
the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the
fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the
one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then
he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished
speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets
for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and
haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their
nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to
come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they
began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said,
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions
were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon,
"Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their
boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
In this passage we find the record of how Peter
came to follow Jesus. Peter had a choice, he could have remained a fisherman
or he could become a fisher of men. To demonstrate the difference to Peter,
Jesus demonstrated His ability to catch fish. After seeing this
demonstration the passage says Peter left his nets and boats and followed
Jesus. That must have been one awesome catch of fish to impress a fisherman
so much that he determined his life would be better if he followed Jesus
instead of remaining a fisherman.
I find it amazing that Peter walked away from everything he had
accomplished, everything he had built, his entire business and followed
Jesus. What would it take for you to leave everything at the track and
follow Jesus? Can you even imagine what it would take for you to just leave
everything and follow Jesus?
That's exactly what Peter did. Peter came to the realization that with
Jesus failure was not an option. Look at the situation; Peter and his
associates had been out fishing all night. They caught nothing. They went
back out during the day and caught so many fish their boats were sinking.
They had never seen so many fish. Imagine the question that ran through
their minds, "Who is this man that knows where all these fish were?" Then
Peter decided he was worth following and his associates, James and John,
followed along.
Determining who to follow can be the most difficult step in becoming
successful. We have to understand what the true goal is. We think the goal
is winning, being first, top of the ladder. The fact remains it is lonely at
the top.
Being successful is having those who are important to you along for the
ride. Even more so those who are around you taking part. The most successful
athletes are those that make their teammates better also. Larry Bird comes
to mind. Not only was he an amazing basketball player, he elevated the
performance of the team and they achieved success. Other player are great
players but do not have the same effect on those around them. We need to
choose the right person to follow! That person is Jesus.
The three steps we discussed last week lead us to three conclusions;
1) The first step to being successful is including Jesus. He must be a
part of our life.
2) We must allow Jesus to have control of the direction and decisions in
our life.
3) Jesus will guide us to people, places and things that we wouldn't have
met, gone or done if we didn't follow Him.
If we follow those steps we come to the understanding that;
1) Failure is not an option when we follow Jesus, He will not fail.
2) Jesus will do great things. He will amaze us with His blessings.
3) We must be all in, we must follow Jesus with all we have.
If being successful is more important to us than having success than we
need to follow Jesus. These steps that guide us only serve as reminders that
we do not have control over what happens in life. We need to follow
someone's direction, someone's example. Who we follow determines if we will
be successful.
Phil 4:13; I can do everything through
him who gives me strength.
Luke 1:37; For nothing is impossible with God.
When all is said and done by whose standard
will you be judged, the standard of the world or the Biblical standard? With
Jesus you cannot fail and nothing is too big to overcome. I encourage you to
let Jesus into your life, give him control, follow him with everything you
have. You cannot and will not fail. Amen!
Until next time, be a witness for our Lord with the ministry decals and
apparel. See them at the Show Your Faith Apparel Store at
www.rwjm.com. Send us
your prayer and counseling needs no matter what part of our racing family
you are in, or give us a call. Remember that God loves you, we love you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing. GOD BLESS.
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Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace."
May God always Bless you, everyday in everyway. Rev. Don
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