The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life (12 page)

BOOK: The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life

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The Overflow

Jesus was not very fond of religious people. In Matthew 12, Jesus delivers a man from demons and some of the Pharisees accuse Him of working under the power of Satan. Needless to say, Jesus addresses their disbelief. In verses 34-35, He says, “Brood of vipers! [I’m sure He meant that in the nicest way.] How can you, being evil, speak good things? For
out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (emphasis added). Again, we can see, it’s all about our hearts and what is flowing out of them.

What is the abundance of your heart? Everybody has some good in their hearts, and everybody has a bit of creativity in terms of a bright future. But what is the abundance? Everybody can be nice to people sometimes, but what is the abundance? Everybody can have a positive attitude sometimes, but what is the abundance? You see, the key is in the
abundance
of the heart; the kinds of things that spill out when we are not purposefully trying to be on our best behavior. What is the abundance of
your
heart?

This is a tricky thing to know because we all want to believe what we want to believe about ourselves, not necessarily what is the truth. We want to think we are optimistic people, we are faith-filled believers, and we are disciplined in all our behaviors, but are we? It’s like the person who struggles with his weight. He says he doesn’t eat very much, that he never finishes an entire meal, but the fact is he is grabbing a donut here and a caramel latte there, some potato chips here and a handful of chocolate-covered almonds there. When you ask him, “How’s your diet?” he says, “I really don’t eat very much and can’t understand why the weight isn’t coming off.” If he could get a real picture of his diet, he’d see that his three meals a day and hundred-plus-calorie snacks in between were adding up to several thousand calories a day.

It’s very difficult to see yourself accurately and to recognize the true abundance of your heart. You have to really want it and be willing to get brutally honest with yourself.

It’s very difficult to see yourself accurately and to recognize the true abundance of your heart. You have to really want it and be willing to get brutally honest with yourself. But if you will humbly assess yourself, God will not only show you what the condition of your heart is, He will also give you the tools and the wisdom to discover the healing and strength needed to find healing. If you lie to yourself and never face the issues you carry around with you, then you will never be able to bring about change and recovery. But if you will have the courage to be honest about the abundance of your heart, you can do something about it! You can say, “Wow, I’ve been pessimistic. I’ve been angry, fearful, and hurt. But now I’m going after God’s healing; I’m going to make the abundance of my heart godly and good, full of faith, prosperity, and love. I’m going to bring forth a better marriage, a better job, and a better life!”

Sure, there will be bumps along the way, but as long as you have taken control of the reins of life, you will be able to overcome by steering your way through it. When disease comes along, you will rise above it. When discouragement comes, you will know how to pull yourself back up. When all the negative stuff that’s in this world tries to defeat you, you will have the strength to face it and to win. In the last chapter, we talked about some of the symptoms of a hurt and bruised heart. Now let’s talk about some practical ways to heal and to enlarge your heart, and to make the abundance of your heart godly.

The Cure

The Word of God. It’s the only cure. Big shocker, eh? When you learn the Word of God, speak the Word of God, believe the Word of God, and build your life around the Word of God, your heart will become completely healed and whole. It takes time, but it is the only remedy that will work 100 percent of the time. Yes, 12-step programs can help, and hours of counseling can bring understanding, but at the end of the day, the Word of God is the only sure-fire remedy to healing a diseased spiritual heart.

The only way you can honestly assess the condition of your heart is through the Word of God. James 1:22-25 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

The Word is a perfect mirror into our hearts, and when we spend time searching to find ourselves in God’s Word, He can reveal our strengths and weaknesses. We can come to understand what is making up the abundance of our hearts and begin to change the things we don’t want. The Word is the only standard we can trust, because unlike the world, it will never change and it will always come through. It’s not just letters on a page. It actually contains power to transform our lives and bring healing to our hearts. In Hebrews 4:12 Paul writes, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Word is a perfect mirror into our hearts, and when we spend time searching to find ourselves in God’s Word, He can reveal our strengths and weaknesses.

If we will let it, the Word will get inside our hearts, pierce through all the hurt, the junk, the image, the fears, and all that we want others to think about us. It penetrates into our souls—the thoughts and intents of our hearts—and is the only thing that can really discern right from wrong, good from bad, what will help us and what will hurt us, what will lift us up and what will pull us down. As the Word sinks down and begins to saturate our hearts, our lives naturally become bigger, healthier, and more effective. The Word of God must become a priority in our lives.

Many of us want to hear God speaking to us each day, but we don’t want to take the time to learn what He has already said. In addition, most of the time when God speaks to one of His kids, it actually is
through
His Word, as we are reading and studying our Bibles, and when His still, small voice does speak to our hearts, the message will always align with His Word. If we have not become familiar with the written Word, we may not recognize it as truth.

Spending time each day in God’s Word does not have to become a heavy burden or an unrealistic goal you are attempting to achieve. It’s simply about finding the routine that works best for you. Throughout my decades as a Christian, my life has moved through many seasons of change and, likewise, has my daily study of the Bible. Some years I have had the time to spend hours a day in the Word, and in others, not nearly that much. However, every day I have done
something
. Whether it’s a teaching series from one of my favorite Bible teachers to listen to while I drive, or inspiring Word-based praise and worship on my iPod, I consistently find ways to put God’s Word in my heart. At the very least, I read a proverb or a psalm, or I carry a card with a scripture on it that I can meditate upon throughout the day. Joshua 1:8 teaches, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Spend time in His Word. Even if it’s only one scripture a day, if you meditate on it from morning until night, then by the end of the year, you will have come to know 365 truths! You will have planted 365 life-giving seeds into your heart that will each produce healing, strength, and prosperity in your life. When God’s Word becomes more faithful and more real to us than anything else in this world, then we have opened up a pathway not only for God to speak freely into our lives but also for Him to bring us deep and complete healing in our hearts. And when our hearts are whole, vision and destiny will begin to spring forth like never before.

Vision Alignment

W
e all want to see our visions fulfilled. I don’t believe any person truly desires to make it to the end of her life only to feel regret and disappointment about all the missed opportunities she passed up along the way. We are going for the bull’s-eye for our lives. We want to be able to be like the apostle Paul and say, “I’ve fought the good fight of faith, and I’ve finished my course here on Earth.” When we get to Heaven, we want to hear our Father say, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” The
last
thing we want to hear from Him is, “Well . . . you’re done.” Let’s make sure we fulfill our visions.

Each of our lives consists of many parts: spiritual, physical, family and other relationships, and so on. All of these parts must be in alignment to experience the fulfillment of your vision.

The other day I was driving down a hill by my house, and when I applied the brakes, my car started to vibrate. Immediately I knew what was wrong: my tires had gotten out of alignment. I must have bumped a curb or something that caused them to be tweaked off their normal rotation because I had not felt the vibration before that day. I also knew I needed to take my car in to the shop right away because if I kept driving with misaligned tires, something would end up breaking. Other parts of the car could become damaged and wear out before their time.

Alignment is also crucial in our bodies. If our spine gets out of alignment, we can definitely feel it. If there’s a kink, or a vertebra is out of whack, then this will cause pain and limitations. We can’t exercise like we want to, or play with the kids like we used to, because our backs are out of alignment, and until we make a visit to the chiropractor, we are uncomfortable. We don’t sleep well, our bodies can get weak, and we become prone to sicknesses.

It’s the same way with your life. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul writes, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely [the old King James Version says “wholly”]; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In order for your life to be complete and for you to see your vision fulfilled, your spirit, soul, body, and relationships must all be in alignment with that vision. Think of your vision as the body of a car and each of these components as one of the four wheels. If all are tracking and in alignment, then your vision will effortlessly speed along the road of destiny. But if any (or all) of them are out of whack, you are going to have a difficult time steering that car in the direction you want to go.

If you look at your life today and realize you are not experiencing the kind of success you want, it’s probably because some aspect of your life is out of balance and alignment. If your marriage is not happy, or if your family is struggling, or if your business is not seeing increased profits, then ask yourself, “What’s out of alignment? Where’s the kink? What’s causing the pain and limitation? Where’s the problem that’s keeping me from winning in this area?” Once you locate the issue and make the appropriate adjustments for realignment, you will begin to see your vision become a reality.

Aligning the Four Wheels

1. Your Spirit Romans
1:9 says, “God is my witness, Whom I serve with my spirit.” Here, Paul is emphasizing that his spirit is involved with every part of his Christianity. He’s not just trying out this Christian life, just going along to see if it all pans out. He’s committed his spirit fully to the vision God placed within his heart. Likewise, your spirit must be aligned with your vision and vice versa. It is only through your spirit that God can speak to you and that the Holy Spirit can work through you.

Every day, engage your spirit with your vision so you can hear from God and know the steps He has ordered for you. You can do this by praying with the Holy Spirit, taking time to quiet your mind so you can sense how the Lord is leading you, and/or reading and studying the Bible. As you dedicate this spiritual time with God, He will show you how your business should grow, who to hire, and where to go in every decision. He will reveal to you the ways you can improve your marriage, how to parent your children, and who He has for you to be in relationship with. He’ll lead you in your health, which supplements to take, and what kind of exercise is best for your body. God has more than enough wisdom for your every need, and when you seek after Him, and serve Him with your spirit, you will see clearly how to bring your vision to pass.

2. Your Soul
Your mind, will, and emotions must be in alignment with your vision. This includes your desires, your knowledge, your education, and your actions. If someone says he has a vision to become an attorney, but he has not enrolled in law school, he’s out of alignment. He doesn’t really have a vision; he just has a fantasy or a nice idea. If he
really
had a vision, he’d get his soul educated.

By your actions, you can easily determine if your soul is aligned to your vision. Have you written your vision down? Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.’ ” If you have never written your vision on a piece of paper, you do not own it and you haven’t yet fully committed to it. If you cannot simply and concisely (don’t write a book!) express the goals and the dreams you have for every area of your life, then all you have is a vague idea of a destination. Imagine if an archer’s target was just a big red, blurry blob. How could he aim the arrow to hit the bull’s-eye? When you write down your vision, you clarify it, you can locate the bull’s-eye, and you can aim your life to hit the target dead center.

Another action that aligns your soul with your vision is your confession. Do you confess ownership of your vision, or do you just casually talk about it with your friends? Confessing ownership is not “I am thinking about starting a business.” It’s “I
am
starting a business; I
am
a business owner.” The first is simply a fantasy, something you would like to accomplish some day; the second is a vision statement, something you have owned and are going to make happen. It’s having the courage to speak out of your mouth the vision you know God has breathed in your heart. Never underestimate the importance of your confession. Remember, Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Every day, speak a bold confession of life about your vision.

Throughout the world, there are many people (and I’m talking about Christians, too) who exist in a place of soul misalignment and never even realize it. If you are driving to work and hating it, wishing you could be home with your kids, or wishing you were doing something else, then every day your soul is out of alignment with your vision. Your “car” is vibrating, you’re wearing out parts, and you’re getting ready to break. Then you wonder why you got fired, or why you never get that raise, or why you have headaches all the time. You are out of alignment.

James 1:8 teaches us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. If you are always wishing you were someplace other than where you are today, then you are unstable and you will not be able to produce the life you truly desire. You cannot be thinking,
I hate my boss,
and serve him in an excellent manner. If you are constantly meditating upon how much you don’t want to be working in that cubicle, then not only will you not produce your best results, you will also not be able to move to a higher level of life. Wherever you are today in your career or in your season of life, choose to love it and operate in the best of your ability. Get committed to what God has given you today, and He will continue to bless you, open doors for you, and give you favor with man, until you experience the fulfillment of your vision.

3. Your Body
According to 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” Your body is your earth suit—what you need in order to function on this earth—and it’s the temple within which you and the Lord dwell. It is essential that your body be aligned to your vision. If you say you have a vision to be in the Ironman triathlon, but you have difficulty getting out of your La-Z-Boy, then your body is out of alignment with your vision. If you say you want to live a long life, but you are not taking care of your physical body, then again, you are out of alignment. To be here on Earth for a long time, you must keep your body healthy and in shape.

I travel throughout the world, and I see a great many people who do not truly have a vision to see their own grandchildren. I’m not trying to sound harsh, but it’s true. Their bodies are so far out of alignment, it’s obvious they aren’t going to be around for very long. The obesity, the chain smoking, the excessive alcohol consumption, or simple laziness are prevalent in their lives, and if a change does not occur, sickness and disease will take over their bodies. We need to ask ourselves if we honestly have a vision to possess a long and healthy life. Remember, if you discover you don’t, it is not too late to change your vision!

Let’s align our bodies with our visions so we can be on Earth 100, 110, or even 120 years. I want to see my grandkids
and
my great-grandkids so I can witness the prosperity and wisdom I was able to pass on to those generations. Let’s you and I have a contest to see who can live the most years on the planet. Then, whenever you want to smoke that Marlboro, you’ll think, “Nah, that doesn’t align with the vision I have for my life.” Whenever you think about super-sizing your fast food, you’ll think, “Wait a minute—this isn’t going to get me where I want to go. I think I’ll order the salad instead.” When we have a clear vision of a long and healthy future, it won’t be hard to make the kinds of decisions that help our bodies bring that vision to fulfillment.

4. Your Relationships
This one is the most important, because the people you decide to partner with in life will absolutely determine the level of success you will experience. Your relationships include your marriage, family, and your friends. It is vital for every one of us to ask, “Are my relationships in alignment with my vision?” Psalm 1:1-3 reads:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

“
Whatever
he does shall prosper”! Are your relationships causing you to prosper? Who do you stand with? Who do you sit with? Who do you share your dreams and desires with? Jesus was very careful about who He spent time with and who He allowed to know His most intimate thoughts. He made sure his relationships were in alignment with His vision. We must do the same.

First, never talk about your vision to people who are incapable of embracing the full extent of your dream. These people can bring discouragement, talk about all the reasons why it won’t work, and sow seeds of doubt in your heart. If you continue walking arm in arm with these types of people, you will eventually shrink your vision down to what they believe you can handle, rather than what
God
believes you can handle. You’ll settle for a mediocre life and experience only a shadow of your original vision.

Instead, discuss your vision with faith people—people who know the Word of God, who live the Word, and who are growing and changing according to the Word. These are the kinds of people who will be able to agree with your vision, who will encourage you to go for your destiny, and maybe even challenge you to dream bigger. In addition, as you talk with these friends, your vision will become clearer in your own heart and mind. When you talk through the dreams God has placed in your heart, it’s like focusing the lens on a camera. The more you share, what might have started out as a foggy or vague idea will soon become an outline and will eventually transform into a sharp, full-color picture. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” As they give their input and add their faith to yours, you will continue to clarify and put that vision into life.

Second, find a role model. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus told the disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He knew if these men would live with him, travel with him, and do ministry with him, they would soon be able to become like Him. Then in 1 Corinthians 4:17, the apostle Paul told Timothy to follow him as he followed Christ. Paul understood all Christians would need an example, someone to look to as a role model, and who could help them learn how to become happy, successful Christians. He encouraged Timothy to be an example for the believers in his sphere of influence (1 Timothy 4:12) so they would know how to develop and to live their lives.

In whatever area you are growing your vision, look for an example to follow. If you are a young mother, find a wise older woman who has raised successful children or who is in the process of building a family that appears happy and positive. Learn from her; ask her questions; allow her to speak into your life. If you are a businessperson, find a role model who is experiencing prosperity in your field. How does he negotiate? How does he lead his staff? How does he make decisions? If you will do what he is doing, you will also prosper. I’m not suggesting you just copy or emulate someone; you have to stay true to your own personality and to your own specifics as God has given you, but you will be able to learn and glean from someone else’s example.

When Wendy and I were expecting our first child, Caleb, I realized I needed some practical experience, so I volunteered in the day care we had at the church. I went in to learn how to change diapers and various other things related to caring for an infant. I wanted to learn to handle a baby safely. We took a course in parenting and as our kids were growing we asked for advice from successful parents as to how to handle certain situations and gleaned knowledge from them.

A good father can help you understand how to become a good father. Likewise, a prosperous woman can show you how to become prosperous. A great teacher can help you become an influential instructor. Get a picture and a strong role model, and you will be able to stand on their shoulders as you go for your vision.

Take some time to ensure every area of your life is in alignment with the vision God has given you. If you find one of your wheels is a bit wobbly, then get out your tools and straighten it. Don’t ignore the vibrations warning you that something in your life might be out of balance, because if you keep driving forward in misalignment, there’s eventually going to be a breakdown. God is committed to you for the long haul, and He’s ready to bless you beyond what you could ever ask or imagine, but you must be in alignment to be able to handle the journey.

Vision is the second of “the 3.” Faith comes first, as without it an eternal vision is impossible, but the two are so intricately intertwined. Strong faith is great, focused vision is motivating, but it is only when the two intersect that we begin to operate in the supernatural. Again, my desire is not merely to give you scripture and stories about vision; I want to leave you with tools to build and to clarify a faith-filled vision for your life. The Vision Manual, which follows, will provide you a dynamic, step-by-step process that you can use to encourage yourself, focus your life, and enlarge your present vision and goals. Let’s begin to see ourselves as the true world changers God created us to be!