Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Give Your 101% Percent to Be Successful in Life

The Bible says that “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8a). But do you also know that the Bible tells us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8b)? This is our assurance from God to be successful in life because love never fails.

You’ve heard of the phrase, “Always give your 100%.” Lately, this phrase has been extended to, “Give your 101% to be successful” and has given a new meaning to the word “perfect” by emphasizing on giving more than what “you think” you can give. Now what does it really mean to give 101% when this is not mathematically correct?

Today, let’s take things lightly and make a quasi-mathematical hypothesis, one that you’ve probably already received in your emails.

Let’s say that the English alphabet and numbers have a one-on-one relationship which goes this way: A=1, B=2, C=3...X=24, Y=25 and Z=26. What would be the results of knowledge, hard work and attitude in relation to success?

The sum of KNOWLEDGE is 96%.
The sum or result of HARD WORK is 98%.
The sum of ATTITUDE is 100%.

This tells us that knowledge can give you 96% success, while hard work can achieve 98% success but attitude can really get you there. This means, attitude is the most important key to achieving success in this world.

But wait! How can one go beyond this and give 101%? Let’s look at what “love of God” can do.

The sum of LOVE OF GOD equals 101%!

If attitude can get you there, only the love of God (firstly, God towards you and then you towards Him) can push you to greater heights and achieve what man thinks is impossible. Now that’s true success!


May you achieve true success!

Bryan

PS. No go out there and give your 101%! How? Remember the Love of God!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Success or Failure: Where is Love in the Equation?

If you ask any person what his or her ambition in life is, he or she will always start with, “To be successful in...” or “To be a successful...” or something about achieving his goals in life...which is how this world defines success.

So, what is the opposite of success? It’s the word “failure”. No one wants to fail in life. No one wants to be a loser. On the contrary, every single person on earth (yes, even children), want to get what he wants... because once he has this, he equates this with success. What does someone who recently got promoted in his company say? Does he feel bad and say “I’m sorry I have climbed up the ladder of success.” Or does he say, “Finally, I have achieved my goal!”? However, many times, in my experience as well as in what we read and see every day, success can never be achieved by worldly wealth and pleasures.

How can one truly be successful in life? I believe that excellence can achieve you success but satisfaction and contentment in what the Lord has given you are two of the most important attitudes of true success. The apostle Paul tells us about something that can guarantee success. He says that it is “...the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31b NIV), that it “...never fails” and “...knowledge...will pass away” in its presence (1 Corinthians 13:8). So what was Paul talking about in these verses from the Bible? It is the word LOVE!

If you want to have true success in areas of your life, then there is only one key: LOVE.

May you achieve true success!

Bryan

PS. Show your love to everyone around. Start with your spouse, kids, siblings, relatives, church, community, work and your emnemies, too!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Are You Building a Righteous Family?


Matthew 1:17 says, ‘Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.’ 

Jesus, the Christ, came from a family of righteous men.

His ancestors included Abraham whose faith in God was credited to him as righteousness, David, who was a man after God’s own heart, Solomon, the wisest king who ever lived and King Jehoshaphat, one of the greatest kings of Judah who ordered his people to sing praises to the Lord which resulted in a great victory. 

The success of Jesus’ forefathers came from their trust and faith in God Almighty. These people were not without sin. King David was a murderer and adulterer. King Solomon was devoured by excessive sensualities and King Jehoshaphat formed alliances with wicked kings. But through it all, these men expressed their utmost love to their one true King! 

Are you building a family line of righteous men by living a righteous life today? The Name above all names, Jesus, and many other great names of today and of old, comes from a lineage of righteous men. Let righteousness reign in your life. This is your legacy to your long line of descendants. 

Now, what does this have to do with godly wealth? Well, have you noticed that all of these men are wealthy? Makes you think again, doesn’t it?