Succeeding at Necessities

“You must succeed at doing what is necessary.” – Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill stands out as a prominent figure due to what history has made out of his accomplishments as part of Great Britain’s wartime stance against the air raids of the German Lufthansa during World War II.  However, Churchill’s many quotes should also provide today’s business leaders with some stirring words to ponder.

How many of us view success as “doing what is necessary?” That is not a common perspective for most people, especially those trying to run a business on their own in the hopes of growing and increasing revenue or the pastor of a storefront church who has aspirations of growth and expansion.  Necessary things seem to fall right into the mix with all of the other unexpected fires that have to be put out as one makes it day by day and step by step. Yet, Churchill offers such words to cause us to ponder if what we are tinkering with here and there is really leading towards true success.

Ask yourself if you have done “what is necessary” in order to keep the doors open and the lights on.  Develop a list of fundamentals that have to be in place before you move to bigger things.  Utilize this list as a check-in point for yourself before you get started on your daily grind.  I guarantee that such a checklist is exactly what will come in handy as you work on getting to that crucial point that we all seek so desperately and tirelessly that we tend to call success.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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God is Available

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 

¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

-Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

God is available to us.  We do not have to await a mediator in the form of a priest or anyone else.  Jesus serves as our “great high priest” who “did not sin.” He is our mediator, seated at the right hand of the throne of God and advocating for us before God.  

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 

– Mark 15:38 (NKJV)

He makes our access to God available to us.  The work of Jesus upon the cross brought about the torn veil that led to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple where access to God was limited to those of the priestly order.  That was destroyed and torn in two by the sacrifice of Jesus.  We, as believers through His shed blood, now have access to God.

Take some time and spend it with God, meditating on the sacrifice of Jesus.

Read my article Finding Time to Spend with God Daily. 

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Start from Your Heart

Commit your works to Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.
-Proverbs 16:3

A man’s heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

– Proverbs 16:9

I don’t care if it’s a business or a ministry, even a small group or just some friends getting together to do some good work within the community, you need to start from your heart.  That’s where you get the commitment that you will need to endure any such work.  It will have to come from deep within you.  It will have to start in and come from the heart.

The Bible says so in Proverbs as we see in the verses above.  It comes up in other places in both the Old Testament and New Testament.  Don’t get it wrong.  The Bible is certain to cover such a matter as this due to its importance to success of any such venture in faith.  After all, the Lord’s name is on the line any time that we step out there with the blood of Jesus Christ covering us.  Other folks are looking.

Other writers have shared the importance of a leader having a heart for his or her work.  Check out how Ken Blanchard and John Maxwell deal with matters of the heart.  Steve Marr used Proverbs to publish a daily devotional for business professionals called Business Proverbs.

No matter how much you may try to rationalize otherwise, if your heart isn’t in it, you can bet the rest of you isn’t too into it either. Get your heart into it or get out of it. 

God doesn’t want you giving Him a half-hearted effort.  What He did that towards us? Would we praise Him with our whole hearts still? Would we still sing songs of Zion to His glory? Think on that.

Get your heart into before you even get started.  Let God have your best by putting your whole heart into it.  He has already give you His best in Jesus Christ.  Go on and get your heart into whatever you will do in His name.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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Proverbs as a Daily Bible Reading

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. – Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)

Start your day in devotion with the Lord.  Pray and seek God’s face earnestly, seeking to hear from Him before you dare venture out beyond your abode.  Take in His Holy Word, the Scriptures.  Let the words from the Most High sink into your heart and ponder them as you go about your day.

Read from the Book of Proverbs daily.  Soak in the wisdom and knowledge that God has to offer us through these words written by Solomon.  Let them guide you through daily activities and interactions.  See how they speak of the things of this life.  Use them as daily meditations as you deal with the things that happen at work and home, even on the highways and byways.

Seek to take them in daily.  Read a chapter for each day of the month.  Study them and reflect on them.  Jot down your thoughts and reflections day by day.  When trouble comes, revisit them.  When you feel down, take a moment to see what God has already shared with you.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and

hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your

hearts to the Lord.

– Colossians 3:16 (KJV)

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Live Wisely Day by Day

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

-Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)

Look into God’s Word daily.  Look in it and learn from it.  Let it lead you through your daily activities.  Let it nurture you throughout your day. 

Meditate on the Word.  Memorize a verse or two.  Let it sink into your soul and take root.

Gain from the Word daily. 

Get into a daily routine of reading God’s Word.  Take your Bible with you on your lunch break and read on a bench for half an hour.  Listen to the Bible on CD or your iPod on your daily commute to and from work.  Read a daily dose of the Scriptures through an email or text message service.

Let the Word speak to you and guide you through your day.  Let the Scriptures set the tone for your day.  Let the Bible teach you daily.

*Daily Bible Reading Resources:

• Wisdom for Each Day (Billy Graham)
• Morning and Evening (Oswald Chambers)
• Daily in His Presence (Andrew Murray)
• A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

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Pursuing the Promises of God

7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

– Joshua 1:7-8 (NIV)

Joshua was the newly-appointed leader of God’s people.  He had a monumental task at hand.  He was facing some serious shoes to fill by replacing Moses.  He needed some guidance.

Moses was dead and gone now.  He was of no help to Joshua anymore.

The people were looking at Joshua as the leader, expecting him to have the plan necessary to get them into the Promised Land.  He couldn’t ask any of them.  They were no help to him either.

Joshua got a visit from God.  Sometimes that’s all that you need.  God speaks with him and shares some vital words of encouragement for him.  He was in need of those words from God.

Be strong and very courageous . . .

God offers Joshua words of encouragement and shares how he should stick with His Word dailky.  This would help Joshua as a leader.  Let the same be said of you as a Christian leader.  The Word can serve as your support when you have no other help in sight.  Let the Word lead you daily. 

• Learn from the Word daily. 
• Live by the Word daily.
• Lead by the Word daily.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night . . .

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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Developed by Daily Devotion

Daily devotionals can keep a believer grounded.  Believe me.  I know that from personal experience.

Some years back, when i really started taking my Christian walk seriously, I got wind of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  It changed my entire approach to my daily encounters and interactions as a Christian.  I began to have Chambers’ words mixed with tidbits of the Scriptures on my heart and mind as well as on the tip of my tongue as I went through my day.  It made a major difference in how I dealt with people.  I began to have a different experience with others as I continued my daily readings and reflections.

Visit Crosswalk’s devotional section and see what it has to offer.  I also like C.H. Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook as another option for devotional reading.

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Devoted to Daily Devotion

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” -Mark 1:35-37

“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”  Psalm 5:3

What is your morning ritual?

Do you rise up early and find your own personal time with the Lord?

How do you start your day?

Seek the Lord’s face early.  Find a way to find time to spend time with God.  Place an emphasis on making your personal time with God a special time that kicks off your day.  Make it special.  Seek a special time with the Lord.  Do it daily.

Rise up early.  Get to a place that allows you to have some privacy.  Talk openly with the Lord.  Share the burdens of your heart with Him.  Be both open and honest.  Pour out your heart to Him and with Him.  Let your tears run down your face.  Hear yourself crying out for mercy.  Listen closely as the Lord whispers comfort into your soul.

Find the time and you will find a new level of Christian experience.

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>Simply Positive

>Be positive.

It may sound corny or just too simple, but Norman Vincent Peale said so in The Power of Positive Thinking. Imagine if you could just keep things positive.  Simply alter your outlook on things and see if you can remain positive.

Life got you down? Don’t stay in the depths of depression.  Work on working off the blues.  Shake that off.

Live a little more.  Love a little bit more.  The Blues Brothers may have been full of buffoonery, but they had a good point when they said that everybody needs someone to love.

You can be positive.  You have to work at it a bit, but it is worth the work.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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>True Bread Test

>Manna Doesn’t Pass the True Bread Test [John 6:26-58]

Jesus shared that manna doesn’t pass the true bread test because their forefathers ate manna and still died (vv. 31, 49, 58).

The Master fulfills more than manna.

Manna cannot pass the true bread test.

Manna can fill your stomach, but it cannot satisfy and save your soul.

It can keep you alive, but it cannot give you life or eternal life.

Manna can only sustain, but it cannot save you.

There is only one “bread of life” that:

 Comes from heaven (vv. 33, 38, 50-51, 58)

 Does the will of the Father (vv. 38-40)

Gives life to the world (vv. 33, 40, 47, 50-51, 54, 57-58)

This is the bread that passes the true bread test.

 

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