-Pursuit of Success-

                       By Pastor Sam Adeyemi

Success is a word which makes many Christians uncomfortable because nowadays, the word is often used by advocates of self-reliance and self-help. The challenge, however, is that when the church finds that people are going to extremes on a particular subject, it runs away from it. When that happens, Satan moves in, occupies the space, gets people’s attention and influences the culture. Satan manipulates everything God created-money, sex, power and politics. When the church refrained from money, Satan moved in and took control of the economy. Today, money is one thing that control people’s thinking. When Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon, He placed the demon that controls money on the same pedestal with God. Thankfully, we have recovered that space; even though it looks like we are going to the other extreme. Money is not everything. The church has resources which are more powerful than money (Acts 3:6). Peter healed a lame man without money and Jesus fed the crowd without money. When you have God’s perspective, your emotions will not fluctuate with the availability or non-availability of money.

Success is simply defined as the achievement of goals, objectives and aims. Man was designed to achieve goals- to be fruitful, productive, subdue, have dominion over, and control the earth(genesis 1:26-28). We derive fulfilment from the achievement of goals. When man does not achieve goals, he becomes frustrated. People who have no gaols have no motivation or hope. Not setting goals is like playing soccer match without goal posts. There is power in goal setting. Write down your goals and break them down into simple steps. Jesus told a story about a farmer who was covetous and did not remember God. So, when you are setting goals, you need to define whose goals you are achieving.

You were born for God’s purpose(Romans 8:28). In all your succeeding and endeavours, you need to know what God is saying. There is too much to your life for you to be an accident. Do not make your life an experiment. Read the story of Solomon who experimented with money, 1000 women, sex, power, comedy; he said that he did not deny himself of anything that his eyes loved. Yet, at the end of it all, he summarised all as vanity. Jesus met a woman by the well of Samaria whose longing was marriage. She felt she couldn’t do it without men when, in fact, she just needed God (John 4). Heremiah’s life was determined ahead of time. Since God has designed our lives from the beginning to the end, don’t pursue success with anxiety(Hebrews 4:1-3). When you align with God’s purpose, heaven’s resources are behind you. He declares the end from the beginning and no one can stop it in between. What God has purposed, He, not you, will do it (Isiah 46:9-11). Your purpose is in your design and it is too big to be only about you. Ultimate success is leadership and influence