The Key To Becoming A Success Story -- God's Way

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uccess leaves clues…Look at those who are successful and you will find clues

related to what they have been successful at, and how they have become successful.  We can find an abundance of resources to better understand someone else’s success story, which just means we don’t need to necessarily recreate the wheel in understanding mainstream success tactics for ourselves.  Most people consider setting their own goals, as well executing strategies to achieve those goals.  For many, success defined is accomplishing a single or set of goals – period.  This type of success serves mankind, however it is temporal with very limited benefits.

                However, God measures our success a bit differently.  God measures our success by looking at our obedience to His will and His ways.  I like how Charles Stanley defines Godly success in the following manner “Genuine success – from God’s point of view – is rooted in what God calls us to be.  It is rooted in what God sets as the goals for our lives.  It is rooted in our relationship with God, who enables us to become the people He created us to be and to do the works He has authorized us to do.”  Clearly by his definition we must have an understanding of the purpose for which we exist and the work God has set before us and called us to do.  We can only understand this truth through the study of God’s word and having a consistent prayer life.  

                Our own success will transcend this life.  Indeed, the work we do here and now has immediate and eternal benefits when we are lead by God.  Not only do others benefit from the work we do, but we also benefit from the work we do.  Studying the word of God enables us to understand the importance of our obedience.  It tests and stretches our faith both at the same time, and ensures we have what we need to make the tough, but right decisions.  Understanding God’s word as well as having the ability to live by it, will undoubtedly impact our daily decision making process and outcomes.  Furthermore God is pleased, and promises us that the blessings are here for us to enjoy right now.  Obedience to our Lord is a success story and becomes our blessing.

                I know many people who pray generally to God.   However, I admonish anyone who may not have thought to include God in your goal planning and strategizing to plan to ask for His help in all you plan to do.  We can’t be successful in God’s eyes (with immediate and eternal benefits), if we don’t include him as the source of all we set out to do.  We can’t think as big as God can.  As far as the heaven is from the earth are his thoughts above ours.  He can enable us to think the unthinkable, and then see to it that we are equipped to do the impossible!  We need to ensure our goals are aligned correctly having proper vision seeing it the way God see's it.  Now that’s success in a way none of us could have ever imagined.  This is how we live our destiny planning and eventually yielding Godly success!

Blog Author:  DMC

Reference Scripture:  See Josuha 1:7-8

Transforming Your Dreams Into Your Reality

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 hat are you dreaming of? I have said it before...dreams are important and once we have made the connection to the purpose for which we exist, they are powerful motivators that help to propel us forward to accomplish great things in the earth. 

I see my dreams through what I call a "dream lens" somewhat like a camera lens. Sometimes I can see my dream very clearly, however there are more times than not, that my dream is out of focus at first. When my dream is out of focus, time is all that is needed to bring the dream into clarity that I see it brightly through my dream lens.  Most of my dreams take some time to mature into a clear focused image. Additionally once the dream is in focus; it may take some time for me to see my dream develop into my reality. This is what I call the development stage of my dream...much like developing a picture as the process takes time and should not be rushed.

I remember back when I had a lot of passion about a dream that was yet still maturing and not at all developed. In my elation to get started and forge ahead, I thought to myself I'll start the development now and I'll just get the details along the way.   You know what occurs when you began to develop a picture that is out of focus? Well, the work you put into producing the picture is under-appreciated, because proper time was not taken to ensure a quality product and now not even the photographer can make out the fine details with assurance.  What good is a picture without details?  Details provide clarity and distinction.  So it should be no surprise to find out that my outcome produced a failed attempt to see my dream transform into reality as things never actually fell in place like I thought it would.  I attributed my failure to not having a clear picture of my dream initially to plan appropriately. I should have waited to plan based on a fully mature dream. This is a lesson now learned and currently implemented on every dream to reality journey I launch, with a much better success rate.

Mature dreams come with details. I think we must have a good understanding of the fine details, which will have a huge impact on the success of any project, goal, or endeavor.  I would even venture to say that most times it is the fine details that will ruin a project or goal if underestimated or missed entirely. Here's my point...please don't try to rush your dreams into focus moving ahead before you have the complete picture.  Seek to gain and treasure patience permitting things happening at its appointed time.  As always, I encourage prayer along the way to help guide your steps and also to keep your focus on what matters most...which is the assignment the Lord has specifically given each one of us.  Seek...Explore...Find...LIVE YOUR DESTINY to the fullest and see your dreams transform into your reality!

Daphne’s Top 10 List To ‘Live Your Destiny’

Each one of us is called to greatness and destiny is about choice and does not just happen by chance.  I encourage each person to begin exploring life that is greatly connected to purpose.  Purpose that is fueled by passion and passion that is contagious impacting the lives of others on a major level…even in the small things having a massive impact on the world around you.  The result yields that GREATNESS IN YOU that I just mentioned.

I have created my own top ten list to Live Your Destiny.  These are points that I personally consider valid and vital that have changed my life tremendously.  After reading these, please feel free to adopt any of my points listed or you may want to come up with your own list to live by that propels you to Live Your Destiny in truth:

1. Ensure that your life is guided by making the right decisions…Understanding that good and right are two different things.  They don’t always yield the same or similar positive long term results.  Always choose right over good.
2. Endeavor to have a consistent prayer life.  My life I owe to my Lord and Savior, in Him I will trust to lead and guide me daily.   
3. Forgetting those things behind me:  Never look back unless you plan on going that way.  My past negative life experiences only serve me in a positive way when I have been given the insight to learn from them, and the foresight to know how I can now use what I have learned as a tool moving forward.
4. Have a strong resolve to move forward no matter what.  Life is about choice, and I choose to live life in the greatest way possible to the best of my ability.
5. Seek out your own purpose in life.
6. Don’t be lead astray: Understand your purpose in Christ and then own your destiny.  Purpose is important, but without purpose and God to provide direction what would life be about?
7. Learn to be yourself and love who you are.  Let others you admire inspire you to greatness, but please be yourself. NOTE: Don’t insult God by trying to be someone he did not create you to be.  Love who you are.  You are perfect in every way.
8. Live your dreams connected to your purpose and have a passion in achieving them. Dreams are the motivators behind vision.  Vision eventually produces goals.  Capture that dream…that vision, and turn it into reality through prayer and having a plan to achieve the goals connected to your purpose.
9. We can achieve our dreams in part, by mastering our skills.  Improving what we already know or don’t know is always a plus.
10. Giving back – Sharing, caring and encouraging:  Now that I understand things better, I share my truth with others and encourage them as I have been encouraged by others along the way.

I hope you have enjoyed my list.  Please speak life by encouraging others to share knowledge and truth with one another to Live Your Destiny…one day at a time…one step at a time producing GREATNESS many times over…Peace unto you!


Blog Author:  DMC

Destiny---Getting To The Heart of The Matter.

   
Out of your heart flows the issues of life holding what matters most to you that ultimately determines your destiny.

Your feelings--turned to thoughts.

Your thoughts--turned to words.

Your words--framed your actions.

Your actions--formed your habits.

Your habits--shaped your character.

Your character--becomes your destiny.

Is your heart right or do you need a change of heart?

My heart is ready to receive a make over.

Blog Author:  DMC

Forget The Things Behind You

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here is no end to learning new things and new methodologies to get our tasks done.  We read and engage one another in conversation yielding some of the most interesting opportunities to gain different perspectives.  In this we have allowed our scope of learning, understanding, and knowledge to be varied outside of the traditional learning environment.  At times we have also considered our past lessons learned allowing ourselves to be lead down familiar paths of yesterday.  Our yesterdays are mere reflections of life replaying itself mirroring events that we deem as a success or a failure on some level.  Here is the caution--when we allow our experiences and what we think we know to be our ONLY GUIDE or SOURCE for making decisions we have just fallen prey to leaning on our own understanding, (which is self-satisfying) and failing to seek the one who has the roadmap to our next destination point.  God ensures all things working together for our good and will direct us in how our past will be utilized for His glory moving forward; however we must stay close to the Commander-In-Chief so that He can direct our path.

The Apostle Paul spoke about forgetting the things in our past.  Paul addressed how he handled his past, both his successes and his failures.  Have you heard the old cliché that “a little knowledge is dangerous”?  Well precisely what I believe Paul revealed when he urged the church to forget the things behind them.  He wasn’t just talking about the negative life occurrences.  He was talking about even our past success and all things learned through experience.  If we are comfortable with what we know based on a little knowledge, a little notoriety, a little recognition we won’t be able to receive God’s direction because we have already determined ourselves which way to go.

We must understand that in this life there is so much more for us to learn and experience that we can’t depend on our past as the barometer in how to handle our present or future endeavors.  We learn in many ways that provide us knowledge and this is good, however we must never forget that we are doing the work of the Lord and rely on His direction.  Likewise, we are successful when we seek and follow his direction, resulting in his children being more than conquerors and victorious in Christ Jesus!

GOD GUIDES AND HE ALSO PROVIDES WHAT YOU NEED EACH AND EVERY STEP OF THE WAY AS YOU LIVE YOUR DESTINY!

Blog Author:  DMC

Resource:  Philippians 3:14

My Secret is Now My Confession

We take credit without any hesitation… Proudly admitting to the things that put us in a positive light as we eagerly step up to receive all the accolades.  People are talking.  I can hear it now…all the applause for all the good you’ve done, and all the hard work you’ve put in, and all your sacrifice.  You perceive it was all worth the cause. 

But flip the situation, and now we have taken a back seat to our acknowledgments.  What about stepping up to confess those things that are not worthy of an accolade?  What about getting to the heart of the matter in dealing with the thing that we know has gone wrong in our life?  We willingly participate in the cover up citing that no one has to know, and even if they do no one is owed an explanation.  So with our lips tight our confession has now become our obsession, to keep the “wrong stuff” a secret.  No one including God will intervene on our behalf, until we acknowledge our own wrong doing.  As long as we are willing to ignore “the stuff gone wrong” in our life, we willingly allow ourselves to be held captive as a hostage.   

That’s just what sin does when we choose to delay our confession.  We are held captive in sin’s prison cell and the only way to be free is for us to open our mouth and begin to confess the mess that has been keeping us bound and heavily burdened.  On the contrary, confessing “our wrong stuff” humbles us that we see our own weakness and dependence on the Lord, but as equally important it cleanses us from the stain of sin, and then relieves us of the guilt that steals our witness for Christ.  You can trust God with your secret.  God can navigate you to freedom. 

It doesn’t matter how long we’ve had or kept the confession a secret.  What matters most is regaining freedom.   We can’t be all that God has called us to be, or do all God have called us to do, if we are imprisoned spiritually of our own accord.   

GOD WANTS HIS CHILDREN FREE SO THAT YOU CAN LIVE YOUR DESTINY VICTORIOUSLY!

Blog Author:  DMC

Reference Scripture:  See Psalms 51 & Psalm 32

Feature of the Month: Focus Being My Ace by Lamont Dynce

My son wrote this poem and I was so encouraged by his resolve to reach higher.  Although he has had a rough beginning in starting his photography business he still has pushed on.   I thought others may also be encouraged by his contributing thoughts.   In life everything may not always be perfect, none-the-less we must still focus and press on - Enjoy!

Neck above the sky, but chin at comfort level.  Not to high, not to lie...just right.

Blinking my eyes with no hesitation.

Making dreams into visions. 

Putting 1 foot in front of another, no leaning. Ending all doubt.

Trashing these 4 letters CAN'T... with these I am only hindering me.

Plans bigger than Microsoft.  I'm knocking off all the doubt in my mind.

The "Lil Engine That Could" and that is a fairy tale, but who said fairy tales don't come true.

Fingers move with confidence. Mind is on a level of achievement trying to reach the next level.

Beveled in my mind is Success. No more walking in mess got to keep on that vest of confidence for all this bullish. 

No more missing the point the purpose of why HE gave me these limbs that function.  No more options of letting these go to waste. 

But Focus will be my Ace.

Author: LamontDnyce