Encouragement

One of the most famous sermon titles was penned in the 18^th century by Jonathan Edwards: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The sermon title is obviously provocative – as was intended. This sermon is actively discussed and analyzed today, not just in seminaries or Bible classes, but also in writing classes. You will find tens of thousands of references to this sermon when you conduct an Internet search using the title. One such reference was written by Edward Gallagher.[1] Here is a quote from his writing:

I want people to see another dimension of God: His unconditional, uncompromising, unconquerable, and undiminished love. God loves us so much that His only Son died for us to bring us to Himself. In His Sovereignty, God has chosen to love us. I would like for us to think deeply about that love. We don’t have to pay for this love. We can never earn that love. We will never fall out of God’s love to become unloved. We just need to believe that God loves us. As we keep God’s everlasting love toward us in mind, we can see how He is working everyday to encourage us in our life. This work is intended to encourage you within the context of God’s love directed to us.

This work is not an autobiography; rather it identifies ways that I see God working in our lives. The autobiographical material is used for illustration and to establish parallels between you (as the reader) and me. I was separated from God, but God brought me to Himself. I want to share something of how this worked in my life. Readers will determine if this material has relevancy in their life.

This work is not about following a set of rules. Rules show us our shortcomings, which is good, but no human is ever able to consistently follow a set of rules. Everyone that I have ever met has broken rules. Maybe you touched the “wet paint” sign or drove faster than the posted speed limit. You get the point. We have rules, but we don’t follow them closely all of the time.

The Bible does give us rules to live by, but it is also very clear that only One was ever able to follow every rule. That One was Jesus, God in the flesh. We need to know the rules that God has established, but this work is not going to help you to learn those rules. The only rule I will dwell on is the one that says we must come to God in faith. When we come to God in faith, we then have access to His forgiveness from breaking the rest of the rules.

I do not intend to demean anyone’s faith. Each of us is free to be faithful to what we believe. However, my faith in Christ also encourages me to share the reasons for why I believe as I do. I plan to share my faith with you in a gentle and respectful way.

^{1Pe 3:15} But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…

What do I expect will happen when people read this work? Some (hopefully most) will be encouraged. Some will evaluate the material and seek to establish their own relationship with God. Some will reject the material presented. Some will do nothing. Others might offer their insights and opinions on how to “correct” what I have written.

I don’t want to argue with anyone, so if you disagree with my opinions, fine, but I don’t plan on spending time justifying what I have written. I once received a lengthy email from someone that had created their own image of god apart from the Bible. The person was obviously very smart and wanted to prove me wrong. Why argue? People are entitled to their own opinion and I doubt that I will be able to argue anyone away from their opinion. I will present the material as I see it and understand it. I will let others do the debating. I have never “argued” anyone into the kingdom of God. I will make my “sales pitch”, but I am not the “Closer”, as that is in God’s purview.

I plan to make my case for what I consider to be God’s Truth. Please take it or leave it. You are just as entitled to your beliefs as I am entitled to mine. Your truth may be right and mine wrong. We each stake our eternal future on what we believe. Depending on which version of truth is correct, our eternal future might be “nothingness”, playing harps or enjoying the Presence of God forever. I have made my choice in the one life that I believe I have and look forward to the heavenly “consequences” of my expected eternal life with God.

Let me begin my “sales pitch” with my understanding of the experience of Helen Keller, a woman born blind. It is said that when she heard about Jesus she said that God had placed a knowledge of a Savior in her heart. My point is that I believe that God calls us to Himself. However, God also wants us to call out to Him. This is not a contradiction as both are true. Water can exist in three forms: liquid, solid and vapor – all are still H₂O. God calls us, but we must respond to that call.

Why should we call out to God? Why should we be interested in God? Consider the benefits that God offers to His children.

^{Ps 103:1} Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

^{Ps 103:4} who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

^{Ps 103:5} who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Benefits are a key word in this passage from the Old Testament. Benefits can be defined as anything that promotes or enhances well-being.[2] I want to focus our attention on the benefits that God provides to anyone that comes to Him in faith. There are costs as well, but those will be addressed later. The first and foremost benefit is to understand that God will forgive us of our sins. Once forgiven, God will then help us through every aspect of our life. This isn’t to say that our life will go exactly as we would like all the time, but we can be assured that God will always be with us and help us through everything that He allows to happen in our life. When our life on earth ends, forgiven sinners will spend eternity with God in heaven. Why is this important? There are no tears, no pain, no unfulfilled needs in heaven. Heaven is nearly the opposite of our life on earth.

^{2Pe 1:2} Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

I want to encourage people, particularly my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, yet I would also like for those that are not followers of Jesus to have a more positive and complete view of our faith in God. I plan to use terms like “follower of Jesus” and “brothers and sisters in Christ” instead of the term “Christian”. Some people who called themselves “Christians” have done horrible things (the crusades, for example) in the past. Some people group those that are politically conservative into a category which they refer to as “Christians”. Perhaps some or many conservatives are followers of Jesus, but certainly not all. The term “follower of Jesus” implies agreement with what Jesus taught, knowledge of what God expects from us, the benefits of being a child of God, and the fact that Jesus/God is our Leader. Followers of Jesus rejoice in Jesus’ completed work of bringing us to God. I desire that this work be a light to draw people to Jesus – either for the first time or in a way that their faith is strengthened. I hope that this light shines brightly on Jesus’ completed work rather than a harsh spotlight focusing on the sin in others. Jesus is our Beacon, calling us to come to Him in faith.

The passage above from Psalms 103 speaks of God forgiving us of our sin and it is necessary to state that all of us are sinners (mistake makers). All of us do things that we shouldn’t. Jesus was the only One that ever lived a life without making a mistake. Can you grasp that concept? One of the greatest New Testament missionaries of all time, Paul, admitted to his own sinfulness. He spoke with obvious pain when he wrote:

^{Ro 7:15} I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

If we are honest with ourselves, doesn’t Paul’s lament resonate with us? We all sin and we all need redemption, which I believe is only available through Jesus. I generally don’t need people to point out my sin. I am an awful sinner and not a bit proud of it. The Holy Spirit does a perfect job of reminding me of my sin as well as my need to confess it, although there are times when I admit to ignoring the Spirit’s call to seek forgiveness. There are times when I need correction from others, and when it is provided in a humble way, I receive it gratefully. Yet when someone points out my failings in a way that belittles me, I don’t feel love much love for that person. My typical first reaction is to think about the log that I can see in the eye of my accuser.

How do those that don’t follow Jesus react when we confront them and continually remind them that they are awful sinners? I suspect that the typical reaction is one of hatred directed towards all Christ-followers, not just those that are pointing out their sin. While their sin is awful, what could it hurt if we changed our strategy to focus initially on the benefits of redemption?

The primary benefit of redemption that I see is a permanent relationship with God. When I first came to Jesus, admitted my sin and then asked Him for forgiveness; He granted my request. God then began a process of raising me up: from a child in Christ to a mature believer. I know that this is a life-long process. My eternal relationship began about 25 years ago. The first phase will continue until my death and then the second phase will continue on for eternity! What a grand and glorious benefit of having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

There are other benefits as well, including guidance, wisdom, encouragement, direction, blessing, discernment, knowledge, and understanding. The benefits far outweigh the cost, which entailed me admitting to, and giving up my sin. Is that a great trade or what?

I understand that followers of Christ will always be criticized for our belief in unchangeable standards of right and wrong, as well as our insistence that there is only one “Door” to God in heaven and that is through Jesus. We will be persecuted for our faith in Jesus as God, one with the Holy Spirit and God the Father in heaven. Yet I believe that we are called to love those that are apart from Christ. I believe that loving them means showing them the benefits of a relationship with God. People want to be shown love rather than condemnation. There is no antidote to love. There is no resistance to love. We might be rejected or scorned or hated, but our love will touch those that disrespect us.

Chuck Colson recently commented on research from the highly respected Barna Group regarding perceptions of people who do not follow Jesus. [3] These people view followers of Jesus as “judgmental, hypocritical, anti-homosexual, too political, insensitive – and boring. Ouch!” Furthermore “these people reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians.” Colson’s closing comment on the book says: “UnChristian providentially challenges us with the need to clean our own house. Once we do this, we will be able to reach out to those outside the faith and – in a loving, nonjudgmental way – offer them the glorious Truth.”

So our mission is clear. We must relearn lessons of how to reach out to those that don’t see faith as we do. Yet as we reach out, we must not begin by simply telling people that they are wrong and on the road to hell. This approach doesn’t work today. We must become more like the woman in Proverbs 31 that earns respect from her family through her acts of love and compassion directed towards her people.

This work is intended to be encouraging to all that read it, not just those that believe in Jesus as God. I plan to show how standards of right and wrong can provide all people with encouragement. I will address the importance of understanding God’s definition of success in order to see our true fulfillment in life. This work will also explain how discipline and death, when considered in their proper context, can be seen as encouragement. Lastly, I plan to review the process of becoming a child of God and how our focus in life changes after we are redeemed by Christ.

This work is also intended to rally support for Christ-followers to think about our approaches to evangelism in the United States. In our contemporary society people are conditioned to react to the benefits of a product or service. Cosmetic advertisements often begin by showing a face after application of the product. Delivery service advertisements make promises about getting packages delivered on time. There are many examples that we could use, but the point is that benefits are stressed in the initial sales contact. The costs and downside risks of not using a product or service are typically included in a complete “sales presentation”, yet the emphasis is always on the benefits. What would happen if we tried using a “benefits-first” evangelism approach?

^{2Co 13:14} May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Have you ever noticed what a kind smile does to others? I am not talking about a forced smile or one with impure intentions, just a simple smile when you are happy to see someone. Some folks have mentioned that I almost always have a smile on my face. Why do I smile? I am a child of God and my heavenly future is established. Shouldn’t that certain knowledge be enough reason to smile? I hope that my smile is encouraging to those around me.

We all want encouragement. I have never met anyone that said that they hated encouragement. We should encourage others and we enjoy the encouragement that we receive from others.

If you are familiar with the Book of Job, you know that Job had “friends” that focused on Job’s sin rather than encouraging their friend when he encountered devastating problems. Do you think that their attitude helped Job during his time of intense pain and discomfort? Of course not. There are a number of exchanges between Job and his “friends”. At one point Job becomes frustrated with the three men and his words follow:

^{Job 16:2} “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all!

^{Job 16:3} Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?

^{Job 16:4} I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you.

^{Job 16:5} But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

If the situation was reversed, Job would offer comfort and encouragement to his friends. He wouldn’t point out the sin in the life of his friends.

Jesus was a model of encouragement. He acted with compassion, kindness and mercy to those who expressed a need for help. Imagine how many people were encouraged when they received a healing touch from Jesus. When Jesus pointed out sin, He was gentle and respectful. He pointed the way to forgiveness of sin rather than dwelling on an individual’s sinfulness. How well do we measure up to this model? Do we attack the sin in a person or point the way to the Forgiver? There are times to point out sin in others, but sometimes it seems that pointing out sin is a national pastime. More will be said about this later.

I see the “Big Picture” of sin as follows. First and foremost, we need to get past the sin of unbelief in God. It is this sin that could ultimately separate us from God. Second, let’s be honest with our own self-assessment. We sin. We make mistakes all of the time, or at least I do (and I am not proud of it). The penalty for sin is death, yet Jesus offers to pay our debt for sin if we will believe that He is God.

Once we get past the sin of unbelief we realize that we make mistakes in many ways – we are sinful people. These sins can weigh us down and become burdensome. When we add these problems to life’s challenges that are unrelated to sin we can become discouraged.

Are you carrying around a burden? Do you ever feel wounded and that others are making your life worse? Do you ever feel that you don’t measure up? Have you ever been discouraged or discriminated against? Have you ever failed? Are you a young person trying to figure out how you will fit into the world around you? Are you trying to make a career decision? Are you raising a child? Are you considering a job change? Are you aging and in need of understanding life from your vantage? Are you trying to figure out how your resources will make ends meet today?

We could develop a much longer list of items that present challenges, make us uncomfortable, feel unfulfilled or unwanted, angry, burdened, discouraged, and more. My intention isn’t to make us feel worse, but to offer encouragement. I don’t want to dwell on the negative, rather on things that could (and I hope should) encourage us.

We each have a way of dealing with the challenges and troubles of life. Some people try to ignore things, I guess hoping that their troubles or challenges will just go away. Some people are complainers, right? Some try to deal with the situation with their own strength, without ever seeking help. Some people bring their issues before God and ask Him for help. Does the last strategy always work? Yes, but what God guarantees is that He will always be with us. He might not change our situation, but He will always be with us.

We should also recognize that something that one person considers a trouble, challenge or problem may not be a problem to someone else. My wife used to worry a lot, but I rarely do. What is the difference? We have different perspectives on how we should deal with life’s problems. My way isn’t superior, just different. I have some bad habits, but my wife does not share those habits (and seems to have far fewer bad habits to begin with). We are different and must deal with our unique issues in the most appropriate way that we can.

How can I expect to encourage you? What do I know about your situation? What do I know about your value system?

I know that I may not be able to help everyone. I do not know your specific situation. The encouragement offered may not be compatible with every value system. If you are completely self-sufficient, self-centered, self-assured, self-confident, focused on “self”, then what I write may be of little interest to you. However, I believe that most people will find something here that could be of interest, and perhaps something that could even help them in their present situation.

I need to make sure that you understand my biases. I have made many mistakes. This should tell you three things about me. I do not claim to be perfect. I have a value system that enables me to determine when I make a mistake. I am a person of faith.

I have never met a person that could seriously say that they never made a mistake. This would be especially true if we defined a mistake as one either in the mental or physical realm. I may never have physically accosted someone that cut in line in front of me, but when I thought ill of them in my mind, I believe that was wrong. Let me take this illustration a bit further. How could I know the motivation of someone that cut in front of me? Perhaps there was an emergency and every second was important to them. I shouldn’t judge someone badly based on my one-sided assessment.

My value system works for me. Would my value system work for you? That is for you to determine. My value system is also tied to my faith tradition. I am a follower of Jesus, but I don’t want you to hold that against me until you have read to the end of this work. After all, everyone has faith in something. We all have a system of belief. Some have faith/belief in a god or gods, some have faith/belief in themselves and others have faith/belief in the God of the Bible. My purpose isn’t to convince you to adopt my faith tradition, rather I would like for you to evaluate your faith tradition to be certain that you are comfortable with and in it. We will reap the rewards and suffer the consequences depending on which faith tradition turns out to be true.

My faith tradition encourages me to encourage others. I believe that I should attempt to be kind, caring and compassionate to others. I admit to being imperfect, so I don’t always succeed in this as Jesus always did. I will identify ways in which Jesus demonstrated these characteristics and how that is a model for us to follow. The abridged version of these remarks is that Jesus focused mostly on the remedy for mistakes (Biblical term is sin) rather than on telling someone that they sinned.

I want to share something about standards of right and wrong. I suspect that many if not most of the readers of this material will find great encouragement from this material. You may be thinking that I will develop a list of 600 +/- “You shall not do thus-and-so”, but that is not my plan. We have standards to follow and we should meet them, yet we do not. While there are consequences for lack of adherence, there is encouragement from understanding our condition and choosing to follow our faith.

The word “discipline” should bring many emotions to mind, perhaps most of them unpleasant. Yet there is a form of discipline that is not only necessary, but useful in our development. Discipline is one form of guidance and as such, is a blessing to us. Did you ever have a great coach? The term “discipline” is actually a form of coaching. Effective coaching requires much encouragement and sometimes a little punishment. We shall see that there are wonderfully good things that come from this form of discipline.

Success is a word that can generate turmoil, envy, fear, sadness, joy, satisfaction, and a host of other feelings. The primary issue with using the word is to be certain that we understand the context of success. In sports, success means winning. In business, success is making a profit. In life we need to decide what definition of success we will choose. When we understand the context, we can become greatly encouraged. For the follower of Christ, success means completing our “race” (a relay, not a race with one winner).

I am somewhere between middle and old age. I am closer to death today that I was 20 years ago. All of us will eventually die, yet there can be great encouragement from understanding the nature of our flesh versus what might be in store for us after death. If we focus only on the things and pleasures of life we will eventually be disappointed. There was a man in the Bible named Solomon that I believe would attest to this principle.

Finally, some of you might be like more information on our faith tradition. It is really very simple: Jesus came from heaven to earth taking on human flesh, lived a life without sin, died for our sin, was buried, and was raised from death to life in heaven with God the Father. Followers of Christ believe that our trust in Jesus assures us of a place in heaven when we die. There is ultimate encouragement in being confident of life after our death.

In a sort of postscript, I would like for you to consider how you might encourage others in your life. Who has been the most encouraging for you to be around? Why do find you them encouraging? What are you prepared to do to encourage others? How can you encourage others?

^{Gal 2:16} know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

^{Ro 8:1} Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

^{Ro 8:2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

^{Mk 12:28} One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

^{Mk 12:29} “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

^{Mk 12:30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

^{Mk 12:31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

As I indicated earlier, I am a sinner. I admit that I make mistakes (at least I admit it to God, although not as often as I should to others). I believe that there is a difference between right and wrong – a difference that is knowable. I am a person with a faith tradition. People that have no faith tradition may have a difficult time consistently differentiating between right and wrong. A faith tradition helps us focus on knowing what is right, even if we don’t always do what is right. Christ-followers believe that what is right is called Truth and it was given to us by the Truth-Giver.

Yet we don’t consistently follow the admonitions of our Truth-Giver. Who can claim that they always love God with all that is within them? Who can claim that they always love their neighbor? Sometimes I hate my “neighbor” (not the ones that live next door to our home). Some “neighbors” hurt us, disappoint us, lie to us, and more. Yet we are to love them. So what do we do when we admit that we have failed this test?

David Wilkerson wrote a wonderful newsletter recently asking the question: “Are you a merciful person?” He provides examples of individual and group behavior that is not encouraging to those who have not trusted in Jesus. He suggests that each of us consider our own prejudices and biases. Are we loving in our approach to those that are apart from Christ? We should be loving, for this is the approach that Jesus consistently used as He met and ministered to people.[4]

Thankfully our relationship with God is not determined by either what we do or don’t do. The apostle Paul teaches that we have been set free from the law of sin and death through the Perfect work of Jesus. Our faith in Him sets us free. How many of us feel free? How many would acknowledge feelings of guilt because of our sin – and perhaps because of a persistent habitual sin?

I admit to feelings of guilt over sins that persist. I have asked God for help. I have used all of my will power to stop sinning. Yet I still sin. Can you relate to this? If you can’t relate, then God bless you for such extreme holiness. I am not there yet. Beth Moore, in her wonderful book, Jesus: the One and Only, says this about our sin:

“Jesus came as the Son of Man to rescue us from the plight of man. We have a sin problem. We are powerless to help ourselves. Given the right set of circumstances and the wrong state of mind, each of us is capable of just about anything. Even if we could get our external lives under perfect and legalistic control, we’d probably rot on the inside with the heinous sin of pride. Let’s face it, we’re all hopeless – except that Jesus came as the Son of Man.”[5]

We can train ourselves, to a point, to avoid situations where we might be tempted to sin. We can even condition ourselves to respond to stimuli in a predetermined way, yet this is an imperfect process. I once heard a pastor say that we should just stop sinning – period! It sounded simple enough, but I was unable to properly implement this concept. On a later date I observed this same pastor dressing down an employee in an ungodly way in public. Why couldn’t the pastor just stop sinning? If it is so easy to eliminate sin in our lives, why couldn’t the pastor follow their own advice?

Dr. John MacArthur has written many thought-provoking books and articles. I have always been blessed by his insights. Dr. MacArthur wrote an article for Decision Magazine, published in 2007, that discussed society’s lack of interest in and complete dismissal of the word “sin”. I have extracted some of the salient points of that article below:

“When God completed His perfect creation, it was ‘very good.’ There was no evil, no disorder, no chaos, no conflict, no pain, no discord, no disease, no decline, no death. But now we live our whole lives in a perpetual struggle with all of these things.”

“When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered into our world, and everything went from being very good to being very bad.”

“We’ve all come from Adam and Eve, so we inherited what theologians call original sin. When Adam sinned, he brought death on himself and everybody else.”

“Our culture doesn’t want anything defined as sin. Everything is simply a lifestyle choice. The idea of guilt is considered medieval, obsolete and unhealthy.”

“All humanity has a vile, rebellious, corrupt nature. Our thought-life is corrupt; our emotions are corrupt; our will is corrupt; our behavior is corrupt.”[6]

Dr. MacArthur goes on to define sin, the nature of sin and our consequent need of a Savior. As followers of Jesus, we have standards of right and wrong. There are dire consequences accruing to those that sin and don’t admit their wrong-doing to God. We are all blessed to have access to a Savior that can redeem us from this decaying world.

There are times, however, when it seems that the community of Christ-followers goes out of its way to develop lists of sins and to call attention to the world’s sinfulness. If it is so easy to follow these standards, why don’t we do it? If followers of Jesus didn’t sin very often would others be drawn to us? Probably not. The main issue for me is to continue struggling to reduce the sin in my life rather than pointing out the sin in someone else’s life. When someone points our another sin in my life does this cause me to repent? Generally not, as there are already too many sins. My real need is to draw closer to the Sin-Forgiver (Jesus).

I have decided that until my habitual sins diminish in frequency that I will endeavor to not point out the sin in others. The Spirit of God makes me sensitive to my sin and I know that God is working in me to get past my bad habits. I know what I should do. I desire to see progress in my life so that I sin less. Perhaps when I experience a breakthrough in this area I will share a story or two of what God did. How about you? Would you like to focus more on cleaning up your own life rather than criticizing others for their inadequacies? Isn’t this a part of loving our neighbor? Yet God uses me in spite of my sin. This doesn’t give me a license to sin more, but God doesn’t require that I be sinless to accomplish His work. God is all-powerful so that He can use me in my very imperfect condition.

I realize that there are times when we must confront sin either inside or outside of the body of believers. The Bible provides a prescription for dealing with those that sin blatantly inside of the church. I am not talking about that type of situation. I am talking about the attitude that looks down upon those people inside of the church that smoke or gamble or dance or drink alcohol or ___ (you fill in the blank). Sure, moderation in these things is important. Perhaps we could all be better off if we didn’t do any of these things, yet who are we to judge?

^{1Co 2:14} The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

^{1Co 2:15} The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

^{1Co 2:16} “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

^{1Th 5:18} give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

An issue that needs to be addressed when we discuss standards and our failure to adhere to them is discipline. Does God discipline us? Very clearly, yes He does (see Hebrews 12). Does God discipline us every time that we make a mistake? I don’t believe so. Both the Old and New Testaments use the same concept of the word discipline, and we need to understand what this means. When I ask a child if discipline is good or bad, they invariably say “bad”. Yet if I ask a child if they like to be coached in their favorite sport, they mostly say “yes”. Most of us like to be coached and very few like to be disciplined.

The Old and New Testament concept of discipline is to correct, train, instruct, educate, chastise, and to punish. You are probably comfortable with the words correct, train, instruct, and educate. You might be less comfortable with the words chastise and punish. Most coaches do more of the former and less of the later (at least coaches that we like). If a coach always berates us, we can get discouraged. Most people respond better to a coach that encourages us – even to do better when we do wrong. When we try hard to do what the coach asks, we appreciate feedback and encouragement. This is the concept of Biblical discipline. God, the Holy Spirit, will coach us. When we try hard, we will be encouraged. If we ignore the Holy Spirit and continually do wrong, God might need to punish or chastise us. I believe that our Loving Father seeks to find ways to get us to conform more to the image of Jesus by coaching us. By the way, I believe that God only coaches His children, so in fact, God’s coaching is a wonderful expression of His love for us.

John Wooden is considered by many to be the best basketball coach ever – at any level of sports (even the best coach in any sport). I have read some of his quotes and they speak volumes to me about his perspective in life. He demonstrated to his players what he wanted them to do. He didn’t just give instructions – he showed them. It seems to me that he had very high standards (of physical as well as moral conduct) and enforced those standards, yet the emphasis was not on punishment. Players worked hard to please coach Wooden and that must have been very rewarding to him. He was joyful in the victories of his players.

When you raise a child, you impart standards to your child and watch whether your child adheres to the standards. Do you punish your child every time they don’t measure up? My guess is that you provide discipline occasionally, but probably not for every infraction. You never overlook infractions, but probably provide guidance, feedback or suggestions rather than continual punishment.

When you raise a child you consider the “Big Picture.” You want your child to embrace your moral code – to know the difference between right and wrong. You want them to learn to choose the right way more often than not. You want to train your child in ways that are right. A hand that is applied too often or too heavily can drive your child away from what you believe.

^{Eph 6:4} Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Let’s return to the sports analogy. Serious athletes commit themselves to a purpose. They train hard and look to their coach for help, guidance, direction, advice, and encouragement. They anticipate and plan for their athletic contest. They enjoy the satisfaction of competing because not everyone gets into every athletic event. They try hard to win and express their joy when they succeed. Smart athletes give credit to their coach. Do you see the picture?

Effective coaches look for athletes with potential, as not everyone is ready or able to compete or accept discipline from a coach. Coaches want their athletes to succeed and to improve. A coach carefully observes the athlete to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The coach then creates a plan specific for that athlete to capitalize on their strengths and to overcome their weaknesses. Good coaches provide the optimal mix of correction and encouragement. Coaches enjoy the satisfaction that comes when one of their athletes enters an athletic event, and shares the joy when their athlete wins. Using this sports analogy, we are an athlete and God is our Coach.

Let me add one additional element to this analogy because in Hebrews 12 the concept of “race” is used. The type of “race” in view is a relay race, not an event with a single winner. This is an important distinction because if there were only one winner in a race that God designed, then almost all of us would be losers! However, with a relay race we can see a completely different picture.

Consider our relay race as one where we carry a baton (our salvation from Christ). God trains us in how to compete in the relay race. In effect our “competition” is our sinful self. God trains us in how to allow Him to overcome our sinful nature and to use the strength that He provides. Our leg of the race is unique and will have its challenges and blessings. God will encourage us throughout our race and we are assured that He will bring us to the finish line successfully.

^{Phil 1:6} … that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

^{Ps 138:8} The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.

Our race is not a sprint, rather an endurance event. Along the way in our race we may be given the opportunity to encourage a follower of Christ. Since we are not competing against them, we have every reason to offer them an encouraging word (which God might give to us through the work of the Holy Spirit). We should expect that part of our race will include suffering, but we should be assured that God will bring us through regardless of the obstacles He allows to be in our race path. We when do the best we can in our “race”, we bring glory and honor to God. When we die, our “race” is over, and assuming that we are a child of God, we enter heaven victoriously! Meanwhile, others carry their baton in their “race”. Eventually all of us will be able to rejoice together in heaven – our races will be over and all children of God will be united as one.

My guess is that most everyone has had a good coach at least once in their life. There are coaches in areas besides athletics, for example in music, spelling, language, art, etc. – in every endeavor in life. Hopefully your experiences with a coach(s) were beneficial. Hopefully they taught you how to perform certain actions, observed how well you did them, and then encouraged you to excel.

In my experience in athletics the coaches also did more than just try to improve my physical abilities. Most of my coaches also established rules of conduct and explained the consequences of not following those rules. The coaches enforced those rules. The coaches’ intention was that I learn to follow the rules, not to discipline me. The coaches used discipline, in varying degrees, depending on the nature of my inappropriate action. Sometimes the discipline was simply a word or glance in my direction, but was stronger when warranted. Perhaps you have had coaches like this too.

When we consider the example of Jesus, we see Him training His disciples. He acted like a coach. He told them and reminded them. He told them again and again because they were slow to embrace the concepts that Jesus was teaching (including the concept that Jesus was God in the flesh). Yet we don’t find examples of Jesus punishing His disciples. Jesus pointed out sin to people, yet He didn’t do this in an unkind way. It seems to me that He wanted people to understand for themselves when they did wrong and then to have them ask God for forgiveness.

The people that Jesus spoke consistently against were those that thought that they were without sin. Most of the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) believed that their actions gave them favor with God. They changed the definition of how a person finds peace with God. The Pharisees elevated following the law to a position above faith in God, that is, they believed that if a person did good works, they were righteous in God’s sight. They chose to ignore their sin or believed that their good works outweighed their mistakes. They weren’t interested in a Savior, saving them from their sin, because they didn’t think that they needed saving. Jesus warned these people of the consequence of their system of belief, yet they remained unmoved. I would not have been able to restrain myself if I were in Jesus’ shoes. I would have asked God to send down a dose of “holy lightning” to get their attention.

The apostle Paul informed the churches when he heard that they were doing wrong. It appears that these admonitions often helped the church get back on track. Paul acted like a coach to attempt to get the people to do what is right consistently. Paul also wrote down many rules of conduct for us to follow. We should strive to follow these rules because they are God’s directives to us. Since we have been set apart by God as His children, we should do the right things in the right way to the best of our ability and strength.

I believe that God is coaching us. The Holy Spirit encourages us, teaches us, guides us, helps us, intercedes for us, counsels us, and will rebuke us when necessary. God’s objective is that we increasingly conform to the image (and actions) of Christ. God doesn’t overlook our sin, yet if He disciplined me every time that I sinned, I would keep God pretty busy every day. How about you? I suspect that our sin disappoints God because it means that we have chosen to go our own way rather than follow God’s Perfect way.

Perhaps we should consider God’s discipline as coming from our Coach. He will tell us when we do wrong, but will rejoice when we do right. I think that God’s discipline (punishment) is a spot-treatment and always administered with a strong dose of His everlasting love. The relationship that we have with God is one of love and care. We love and care for God. In a much greater way, God loves and cares for us.

Sometimes what we take as discipline may be an attack from Satan and his forces. Satan would like for us to turn away from God. Satan may be given permission by God to kill our family members or friends, to destroy something that is dear to us, and more. Remember how severely Job was afflicted (for a season) as he lost his children and livelihood. Satan would be happy if all of God’s children would begin to distrust or be angry with God. We need to resist Satan and stay close to God.

^{Jas 4:7} Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

^{Jas 4:8} Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

I believe that everyone is vulnerable to succumb to a temptation from Satan. We need to resist his advances as best we can. Sometimes I ask for God’s help to resist. When I do this I feel blessed because God will always provide this help. It seems crazy to me, yet I don’t always ask for God’s help to resist. Sometimes I really don’t want to resist. There are times when I choose to sin and I am not a bit proud of this attitude. I know that God is faithful. He will continue to coach me and I look forward to times ahead when I am able to make better choices more consistently.

^{1Pe 2:12} Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

The way we measure success is critical to our discussion. Let’s identify some potential measures of success.

Do you see potential problems with these possible measures of success? The biggest problem I see is that none of them provide for a lasting measure of success. Those that focus on the most (or least) of “things” will continue to look for confirmation of their success (for example, the list of the world’s richest people). When conditions change, the one considered to be successful will suddenly no longer be a success.

Thankfully, God has a much different way of measuring success. We are made in God’s image and should measure success by His standard. If we follow God, we will love Him first and foremost. We will seek to follow His plan for our life. Our objective should be obedience to God – to do what He asks of us, regardless of the consequences. Our model of obedience is Jesus going to the cross. That was a tremendous success that we benefit from when we place our trust in Christ.

Therefore, we should measure our success by how well we follow the Spirit of God as He speaks to our hearts. As children of God, we have God’s assurance that we will spend eternity with Him in heaven. God provides us with encouragement to look past the troubles of today in order to concentrate on the wonder and beauty of our heavenly future “tomorrow”. We therefore have total rest and peace that is independent of others. This peace comes from God – totally and completely. Nothing in the world can take away from our “success” in being a child of God.

I need to add that God doesn’t hate material “things” (although there are some things that God does hate[7]). God made Solomon the world’s richest man, yet Solomon eventually realized that “things” were only temporary. God has given great wealth to some of His children, but the wealth is simply a tool that should be used to further God’s purposes. I know some wealthy Christians and every one that I know is interested in learning how God would have them use their resources for the kingdom of God. I see these people “loving” their neighbors by using their wealth for God’s purposes.

Let’s also examine what happens when you add an unexpected development to the success measures of the world. Look how the encouragement that the person received from their “success” can turn to discouragement very quickly.

You can see the problems with the world’s measures of success. The only measure of success that is unassailable is becoming a child of God. Remember that EVERYTHING that we see will eventually disappear. It is only what we can’t see that will remain – things like love, relationships, memories, etc. One hundred percent of the world’s riches (what is seen) times zero is zero! Nothing that we see will remain.

^{2Co 4:18} So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I find tremendous encouragement from these verses. I realize that God should be central to my focus and vision. God has always been and will always be – eternal. He is worthy of our attention. My “success” comes from listening to God and turning to Him for redemption (salvation). Somehow my will and God’s will are joined together. The real success lies with God rather than me because He drew me to Himself.

I suspect that some readers may be howling about their good works and how they “count” when God determines “success”, but God does not consider our works when He evaluates our relationship with God. However, good works that God directs and empowers are important, but only for the furtherance of the kingdom of God (and which may affect the characteristics of own heavenly crown and reward).[8] Good works in and of themselves are nice to do, but have no direct bearing on eternal life. Do you believe that Jesus came from heaven to earth, took on flesh, lived without sin, was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead to sit at the Right Hand of God in heaven? If so, you have eternal life – period.

Doing these things, and others as well, affects our so-called “treasure in heaven.” We can’t access it on earth, but it awaits our arrival in heaven. Can you lose your heavenly treasure? Only if you have no faith in the One that offers to bring you there. The only sin that keeps us out of heaven is the sin of unbelief in Jesus as God and Savior.

I suspect that some people may feel discouraged by their lack of worldly success. Perhaps you are young and trying to find your way and purpose in the world. Perhaps you are a single parent trying to make ends meet. Maybe you are looking for a job or career change or promotion. Perhaps you are older and reevaluating your direction in life. Perhaps you have a disability, are considered less than perfect by our society, are homeless, drug-affected, in prison, bankrupt, lonely, or just disappointed with how life has turned out. Can I suggest that you carefully consider how you define success?

This won’t add money to your pocketbook, change your job, or disability, yet it could change your attitude. Remember that the people in Jesus’ hometown didn’t believe Him. He was not considered to be successful by their standard and so they rejected His claims. They rejected Him because they thought that He had nothing to offer them.

Why should you listen to me? Perhaps you should because I am not successful by the world’s standards. I can relate to many of you and you can relate to me. I could harbor an attitude that says I didn’t get a fair deal somewhere along the line, but to what purpose? Since I believe that God is all-powerful (Omnipotent), what do I have to complain about? I am exactly where God expected me to be at this time. Any changes in my situation will be brought about by God’s direction, will and power.

While my successes by worldly standards is meager, I find great encouragement from work that God empowered me to do. I fondly remember homeless, helpless, drug-affected, and incarcerated people that were encouraged by God. I remember mission trips and evangelistic outreaches. I remember Bible studies, both as teacher and student. I remember students that found encouragement from God through me. As I recount these experiences I realize that I have been successful in God’s eyes. Anything productive from these activities was enabled by God and to Him be the glory. Yet God allowed me to be a part of some special events. That is all the success a person really needs!

^{Ro 8:16} The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

^{Ro 8:17} Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

^{1Jn 2:17} The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

What is the will of God? I believe it is to believe on the Lord Christ and be rescued from the clutches of this evil world. I believe that I became a Christian about 25 years ago. The exact timing is unimportant, and I really do not know for sure. God knows. The important thing is that I have grown spiritually from an infant to an adult. As I have matured in Christ I can clearly see that the desires of this world are passing away within me. While I once craved money and what it could bring (even as a follower of Jesus), I now crave to hear God speaking to me. I know that God does speak to me. Sometimes I get a very distinct impression regarding a subject and sometimes I have a dream with a clear meaning. Occasionally I get a hunch that needs to be incubated before I see that God was speaking to me.

I desire to grow spiritually and God is working in me toward that end. I can see that part of my Christian development has occurred because of my effort and part by God’s grace. I don’t say this in a prideful way; rather this is what I see in the Bible. I can testify that this dual process is at work in me. It seems to me that all of the process is God-inspired and directed, so there is no room for any self-satisfaction on my part.

^{Phil 2:12} Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

^{Phil 2:13} for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

I know that God will continue working in me until the day I die (Philippians 1:4-6) as He increasingly conforms me into the image of Christ. I am comforted and encouraged by these thoughts and I trust that you will be as well.

^{Ro 8:29} For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

I am closer to death and heaven today than ever before. I have no idea when I will make the transition, but I believe that I am ready. Are you ready for that transition? If you are rich, famous, powerful, beautiful, and/or successful, then you might want to put off your transition for a time. That is understandable, yet are you ready now? If you are handicapped, poor, addicted, unsuccessful, oppressed, afflicted, terminally ill, or worse, you are probably looking forward to a heavenly future. You might even ask God to take you today. The important point is to be certain that we are ready to meet God because we do not know when He will require us to make that transition. If you aren’t certain that you are ready to make that transition from earth to heaven, then the next section of material might help you understand the process.

Everyone has faith in something. There are many faith traditions. Some have complete faith in themselves and their way of thinking. Others have some notion that God exists, but they have a bit more faith in themselves than they do in God. Each faith tradition makes its own exclusive claims. All of these claims are mutually exclusive, that is, they all can’t be true. For example, Jesus claims to be God in my faith tradition. Other traditions don’t agree with this claim. Both cannot be true at the same time – either Jesus is God or not. Secular society claims that exclusive claims to truth are hurtful, wrong and lead to problems in society. Yet this claim is also exclusive. Some people claim that all faith traditions lead to the same end, yet most faith traditions would disagree with that notion. Finally, some would claim that no system of exclusive claims can be true, yet that in itself is an exclusive claim. Do you see the dilemma? We believe in something and when we die we will find out which of these belief systems is true.

If you have complete faith in yourself and there is no God, then you have chosen wisely. However, if there is a God, then you will make an account of yourself before God. If you trust in the generic concept of God and it turns out that all “gods” are equal, then you have also chosen wisely. However, if all “gods” are not equal, then you also must make account of yourself before God. A follower of Jesus understands that their complete faith must be in Jesus as their Savior: He who came from heaven to earth, lived without sin, died, buried, and rose from the dead. Jesus said that He was the only way to heaven and eternal life with the Father.

^{Jn 14:6} Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

^{Ac 13:38} “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

^{Ac 13:39} Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Most people progress through various stages of unbelief prior to coming to faith in Jesus as God. I see this in Jesus ministry to the masses. Consider The following passage from the Book of Matthew:

^{Mt 5:1} Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

^{Mt 5:3} “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^{Mt 5:6} Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

^{Mt 5:10} Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

^{Mt 5:11} “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

^{Mt 5:12} Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

A very dear friend of mine, Ruben Vanian, was studying these verses and pointed out some interesting things to me. He called attention to the hopelessness of the people mentioned in verses 3-6 (poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness). He contrasted the hopelessness in those verses with the comforting terms in the next three verses (7-9: merciful, pure, peacemakers). Finally, he added that the next two verses identify trouble for followers of God (10-11: persecution, insulting, etc.). I looked at Ruben’s teaching and added a flavor of my own that comes from years of engineering education and experience.

I noted that this material is broken into three parts. Three is the number that the Bible associates with God, that is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The first section, verses 3-6, contains four concepts. Four is the number of associated with God’s creation (things that God created). The second section (verses 7-9) contains three elements. The third section (verses 10-11) contains two elements, with two being the number associated with God and man together.

The first section deals with where we are before we come to Christ. God created us to be poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness. I believe that we have been created this way so that we will cry out to God for help. We cry out to God for change in our life – for God to come into our life and change us. The more we have of God in us, the clearer will be our insight of our life’s purpose. Our life’s purpose is to serve God and enjoy Him forever.

The second section in the Matthew 5 scripture bestows blessings on the merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers. I believe that we can only truly do these things in God’s perfect way if He has changed us. This section describes a transition then from the first four verses. We see that we have a need for God, cry out to Him, and He subsequently transforms us into people that are able to carry out the work of the kingdom of God. My nature, before God changed me, did not include an interest in being any of these positive things. I can see that God, though the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in my life, is changing me by conforming me more and more into the image of Jesus. By the way, I am a long way from being close to the image of Christ, but I am closer to that image than I was 25 years ago!

The third section of Matthew 5 is a warning to all who choose to follow Christ. There is a cost to becoming a child of God. We will be persecuted for righteousness, insulted and falsely accused. When these things happen to us, we can more closely identify with Jesus’ sufferings. Children of God should not be surprised by tragic or difficult events in their life. This is a cost of being a follower of God. Yet Jesus modeled for us the way to persevere and endure to the end – to draw close and remain close to God. Yes, suffering will enter (and sometimes remain) in our lives, yet God will always be with us, He will never forsake us, and He will bring us to heaven when we die.

Every child of God goes through these three stages, although each journey is unique. Consider bricks in a wall. Have you ever looked carefully at a brick wall? There are noticeable imperfections in the bricks although most are uniform in height, weight and depth. Every brick is placed in a certain spot and each is permanently positioned. The bricks toward the top of the wall are only there because there are bricks below them. There is mortar between the bricks which adds strength as well as visual appeal to the wall.

We are like the bricks in God’s wall: we have imperfections which are mostly noticeable to others, yet we are still useful in being an integral part of the wall. We are uniform in a sense that no child of God is any more important than another. The order in which we came into God’s kingdom is not important – just being there counts for everything. Once we are in the kingdom of God, we cannot be removed. The mortar is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit keeps us in place. The Holy Spirit working in the life of a child of God is generally noticeable and is certainly very attractive.

All of God’s children are “bricks” in God’s hall of faith (Hebrews 11). One “brick” that I admire is Franklin Graham. Have you ever noticed that he always strives to share the gospel in his media appearances? It seems to me that Franklin tries to get the interviewer to think about Jesus as God. This is a wonderful and proper focus. I wish I did this more often, but I am happy to have a good role model in Franklin.

Where are you in processing the concept of Jesus is God? Is the issue completely settled in your mind? If not, I encourage you to dig further. Perhaps you have a friend or acquaintance who follows Jesus who could help you wrestle with the concepts. You could call or visit a gathering (church or small group fellowship) of Jesus-followers and ask to speak to a pastor, counselor or leader. There are many books available in secular and Christian bookstores that can provide additional information. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a fantastic array of resources. The point is to choose wisely. If the Bible is true, then you need Jesus in your heart before you die.

^{Heb 7:25} Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Can we trust what is written in the Bible? I believe so and I believe that our trust is called faith. If we believe that God has spoken to us through the Bible then we are called to believe it. I believe that God will bring me to Him in heaven one day. I don’t believe that I deserve this treatment, but salvation has been granted to me by God since He gave me the faith to believe in Him.

^{2Ti 1:12} That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

^{Jn 10:28} I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

^{Jn 10:29} My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

^{Ro 8:38} For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

^{Ro 8:39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A verse that provides me with great comfort addresses the certain nature of God’s promises of bringing me to heaven. Notice that the focus is on God and His ability to follow through on His promises, yet God’s focus is on us. I hope that you are encouraged by this verse as well.

^{2Ti 4:18} The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

^{Ps 121:7} The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life;

^{Ps 121:8} the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

I pray that every reader will come to see and trust Jesus as God – sooner rather than later. Blessings to all and thank you for reading this work!

Life was good – very good! It could only get better, right? I was at the apex of my business career: no cares or concerns. I had money, recognition and respect. I was living a life of self-indulgence. I was making and spending lots of money. I thought mostly of myself and how to best meet my needs. I don’t recall having any positive thoughts about God, although I do recall mocking God-followers. I was quite happy to think that I was in control of my life and destiny. My life in business was flourishing. I was focused on the world’s definition of success and wanted to get my share. And then disaster struck! I was laid off from my job when my employer ran into financial difficulty. This was a turning point in my life.

I had focused all of my physical and intellectual strength on accumulating “things”. You know the phrase: “The ones with the most toys wins.” The job loss meant that at least temporarily, my energies needed to be redirected. My lifestyle had to change immediately because I had never saved any money. I had no income for several months, but as I learned later, God helped me through those times. The lack of income caused me to completely reevaluate my life and priorities. I wasn’t looking for a relationship with God. I viewed Jesus-followers as needing a crutch, feeble-minded and judgmental. I came to learn that most are really smart, strong and desirous of following their Savior wherever He leads. I came too see that God’s Truth, which is unseen, is more important than all of the treasures of this life which can be seen.

In hindsight, I can see at least part of God’s plan for my life. First, God got my attention. Second, God showed me something of Himself. Third, God called me to become His child. Fourth, God helped me to develop supportive personal relationships rather than destructive ones. Fifth, God coached me from the time I became His child and He is still coaching me today!

One very important factor in my journey toward God was a woman that I ended up marrying. Janet was a follower of Jesus when I met her. She would attend church regularly, but never forced her beliefs on me. I could sense that she had a peace in her life that I didn’t have – and peace was very attractive to me at that juncture of my life. It seemed that a relationship with God could be an antidote to the turmoil in my life. As time went on I started to attend church with Janet, met others who followed Jesus, and soon answered God’s call on my life.

It has been over 20 years since these events transpired. My relationship with both God and Janet have deepened and matured with time (and work). I wouldn’t trade these relationships for all of the world’s treasure. I have been blessed by God in many ways, some of which may seem unusual to some readers of this material.

One unusual way that God has blessed me is through a mostly “unsuccessful” span of 20 years as an entrepreneur. I have worked with others as well as on my own, but no business ever proved to be a long-lasting hit. I have had several “near-misses”, as others have become successful in the market segments that I worked. I never would have examined the definition of “success” if it were not for my experiences. If I were a successful businessman, I probably would have had a lukewarm relationship with God rather than the vibrant one that I enjoy today.

So the question that you need to answer is whether or not my insights might have value to you. I expect that some people will never get past my “unsuccesses”. However, I expect that many more people will be able to relate to someone that has persevered despite lackluster worldly results. Is my experience unique? No. Is my lack of worldly success a calamity? No. Is my experience abnormal? No. So read on and let’s see how I can claim to be a success in the Eyes of God.

In my view, our highest priority in life is our relationship with God. I believe that everyone has a relationship with God: some are His children and others are not. God does the sorting out when we die. I believe that God called me, He changed me and continues to change me, and He will never, ever forsake me. My relationship with God will last for eternity. My body will wear out and die, my “things” will pass into the hands of others and eventually return to dust, but my soul will live with God forever!

My life experience enables me to write about success from first-hand knowledge. Perhaps I can encourage someone who has, is, or will wrestle with similar issues. Maybe God will use me to comfort someone that is experiencing difficulties. Yet this work is not meant to be focused on me. These background remarks could help you to understand something about my life experience, priorities and perspectives. I pray that you have been encouraged by reading this material. If you are encouraged by something that you found here, then let both of us thank God for such a blessing.

^{2Co 1:3} Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

^{2Co 1:4} who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

^{2Co 1:5} For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. [9]

^{Gal 6:2} Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

[2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

[3] From Prison Fellowship Ministries Jubilee Newsletter (February 2008). The Barna Group work published as a book entitled: UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why It Matters.

[4] David Wilkerson, World Challenge, July 2, 2007, World Challenge Pulpit Series.

[5] Beth Moore, Jesus: The One and Only, page 101.

[6] Dr. John MacArthur, Decision Magazine, January 2007, pages 17-18.

[7] For example, read Psalms 5:5, 45:7, Proverbs 6:16-19, Isaiah 61:8, Amos 5:21, Zechariah 8:16-17, Malachi 2:16.

[8] ^{Eph 2:10} For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

[9] The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM. All Bible verses use this source.

Feel free to direct your encouraging comments to me at AgAttack@comcast.net
Every blessing to all of you, Warren Sargent

Copyright © 2000-2006 Last modified:04/01/2008

Copyright © 2000-2006
Last modified:04/01/2008