In a Nutshell: This presentation defines success, it proves that success is not what most people think that it is, it highlights the factors that bring success, and it reveals the part that we can play as we partner with God in pursuit of success.

With the Compliments of the ASI Media Library

Please note that this study is not exhaustive. We invite you to do further research into this important topic at www.egwwritings.org. This presentation is a compilation of passages from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. The views articulated, over and above such passages, are those of the compiler/s.

In Search of Success

What Success is Not

• “Success is not the result of chance or of destiny.” (COL353.1)

• “Success is not dependent upon talent or numbers.” (ST, August 19, 1897 par. 6)

• “The secret of success is not in our learning, not in our position, for `all ye are brethren,’ not in our numbers or entrusted talents, not in the will of man.” (21MR339.1)

What is True Success?

• “Success is the recognition of God's ownership.” (AH367.2)

• “Resistance [of evil] is success.” (1MCP24.4)

• Success = Belong to God + Shun Evil

• All else is failure unless these are in place.

Not An Easy Road

• “The road to success is not a smooth way over which we are borne in palace cars, but it is a rugged path filled with obstacles which can be surmounted only by patient toil.” (5T552.1)

A Recipe For Failure

• “The reason so many fail to have success is that they trust in themselves altogether too much, and do not feel the positive necessity of abiding in Christ as they go forth to seek and save that which is lost.

• “Until they have the mind of Christ and teach the truth as it is in Jesus, they will not accomplish much.” (TM167.2)

Attitude Towards Success• “The sincere Christian, in his

[acceptance] of grace, feels that his success is wholly dependent upon Christ.” (UL22.3)

• “To those who have thought that the only way to success is by being taught by worldly men and by pursuing a course that is sanctioned by worldly men, I would now say, put away such ideas. This is a mistake that should be corrected.” (MedEv, April 1, 1910 par. 8)

What Brings Success? - 1

• “Success is . . . the outworking of God's own

providence, the reward of faith and discretion, [the reward] of virtue and

persevering effort.” (COL353.1)

What Brings Success? - 2

• “Let it be written upon the conscience as with a pen of iron upon the rock, that real success, whether for this life or for the life to come, can be secured only by faithful adherence to the eternal principles of right.” (7T163.3)

The Part We Must Play – Part 1

• “The Lord desires us to use every gift we have; and if we do this, we shall have greater gifts to use.

• “He does not supernaturally endow us with the qualifications we lack; but while we use that which we have, He will work with us to increase and strengthen every faculty.

• “By every wholehearted, earnest sacrifice for the Master's service our powers will increase.” (COL353.1)

The Part We Must Play – Part 2

• “While we yield ourselves as instruments for the Holy Spirit's working, the grace of God works in us (1) to deny old inclinations, (2) to overcome powerful propensities, and (3) to form new habits.

• “As we cherish and obey the promptings of the Spirit, our hearts are enlarged to receive more and more of His power, and to do more and better work. Dormant energies are aroused, and palsied faculties receive new life.” (COL353.1)

The Critical Component

• “As we bring ourselves into right relationship with God we shall have success wherever we go.” (2MCP612.2)

• “The secret of success is the union of divine power with human effort.

• “Those who achieve the greatest results are those who rely most implicitly upon the Almighty Arm.” (CM106.2)

Who Gets the Credit?

• “Success is due to the working of God's angels upon the heart.” (CEv84.3)

• “The power that brings success is of God.” (RH, December 2, 1902 par. 10)

• “The secret of success is in Christ Jesus.” (ST, May 19, 1887 par. 3)

In Summary

• “In this work more than in any secular business, success is proportionate to the spirit of consecration and self-sacrifice in which the work is done.” (19MR16.2)

• “The willing and obedient will gain victory after victory.” (SpM89.5)

The following counsels are of special interest

in the context of this study

Take God as Your Partner

• “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

• “No man can succeed in the service of God unless his whole heart is in the work and he counts all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. No man who makes any reserve can be the disciple of Christ, much less can he be His colabourer.” (DA273.5)

Make It EasyFor God To Bless You

• “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7)

• “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

Put Self Aside

• “There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.” (DA250.4)

Impeccable Honesty

• “If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11)

• Thought: Do not expect God to entrust you with spiritual undertakings until you have proven faithful in temporal undertakings.

Get Money In Its Right Perspective • “Win friends for yourselves by the right

use of your money, which so easily tends to wrongdoing.”  (Luke 16:9 Wms)

• “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” (Eccl 5:10)

• “No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Be Worthy Of Trust

• “If you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own.” (Luke 16:12)

Eyes off Self - Eyes on Jesus

• “Why are so many of us so weak and inefficient? It is because we look to self, studying our own temperaments and wondering how we can make a place for ourselves, our individuality, and our peculiarities, in the place of studying Christ and His character.” (9T187.2)

Eyes Off Your Problems

• “Instead of strengthening their faith by prayer and meditation on the words of Christ, they had been dwelling on their discouragements and personal grievances.” (DA431.1)

Think Big

• “The time has come when we must expect the Lord to do great things for us. Our efforts must not flag or weaken.” (1SM111.3)

Think Big About Your Plans• “When we give ourselves wholly to God

and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. He would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavours. Not once should we even think of failure. We are to co-operate with One who knows no failure.” (COL363.1)

• “With Him there can be no such thing as failure, loss, impossibility, or defeat; we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.” (DA490.5)

Think Big About Yourself• “The Lord is disappointed when His people

place a low estimate upon themselves. He desires His chosen heritage to value themselves according to the price He has placed upon them. God wanted them, else He would not have sent His Son on such an expensive errand to redeem them. He has a use for them, and He is well pleased when they make the very highest demands upon Him, that they may glorify His name. They may expect large things if they have faith in His promises.” (DA668.1)

Think Big About Yourself• “He who loves Christ the most will do the

greatest amount of good. If men will endure the necessary discipline, without complaining or fainting by the way, God will teach them hour by hour, and day by day. He longs to reveal His grace.

• “If His people will remove the obstructions, He will pour forth the waters of salvation in abundant streams through the human channels. If men in humble life were encouraged to do all the good they could do, if restraining hands were not laid upon them to repress their zeal, there would be a hundred workers for Christ where now there is one.” (DA250.4)

Attention To Small Things

• Every big success is only ever the result of a multitude of small things well done.

• “In order to accomplish this work we must follow His example of faithful, conscientious attention to the little things. This is the secret of success in every line of Christian effort and influence.” (COL358.1)

Small Things are BigThings - 1

• “The secret of life's success is in a careful, conscientious attention to the little things.” (4T572.1)

• “In the little matters some do not think it necessary to be so very exact, but this is the deception of Satan.” (TMK325.2)

• “Life is not made up of great sacrifices and wonderful achievements, but of little things.” (HP226.4)

• “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10)

• “Every act of life, however small, has its bearing for good or for evil. Faithfulness or neglect in what are apparently the smallest duties may open the door for life's richest blessings or its greatest calamities. It is little things that test the character.” (PP158.2)

Small Things are BigThings - 2

• “The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” (John 20:7)

• “In His sight who guides alike the star and the atom, there is nothing unimportant. Order and perfection are seen in all His work.” (DA789.3)

• “In the life of the true Christian there are no non-essentials; in the sight of Omnipotence every duty is important.” (PK488.1)

Jesus' Example

How To DO It . . .• “Let all that you do be done with

love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)• “Whatever your hand finds to do, do

it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

• “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17)

• “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” (Colossians 3:23)

The Vital Key• “Obedience to every word of God is

another condition of success. Victories are not gained by ceremonies or display, but by simple obedience to the highest General, the Lord God of heaven.

• “He who trusts in this Leader will never know defeat. Defeat comes in depending on human methods, human inventions, and placing the divine secondary. Obedience was the lesson that the Captain of the Lord's host sought to teach the vast armies of Israel - obedience in things in which they could see no success.” (6T140.1)

Remember Therefore

• You can do nothing without Jesus• You will not accomplish big unless

you think big• Until you are performing the small

things perfectly, how can God entrust you with more important matters?

• God’s way – with God - is the ONLY way.

Deuteronomy 8:181 Kings 2:3Psalm 1:3Psalm 5:12Psalm 31:19Psalm 34:9,10Psalm 35:27Psalm 37:4, 25Psalm 58:11Psalm 84:11Psalm 91:14Proverbs 3:16Proverbs 3:9, 10

Proverbs 3:32Proverbs 8:21, 35Proverbs 10:4Proverbs 10:22Proverbs 11:25Proverbs 11:18Proverbs 12:2Proverbs 13:22Proverbs 14:24Proverbs 21:5Proverbs 22:4Ecclesiastes 2:26Ecclesiastes 7:14

Ecclesiastes 8:12Jeremiah 5:25Jeremiah 17:7-10Malachi 3:10Malachi 4:2John 15:16Romans 11:222 Corinthians 9:61 Tim 6:5Hebrews 11:61 John 3:22

Does God Want to Prosper Your Efforts?

The End

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This document was compiled by the study committee of

The Life Guidance Foundation

www.lifeguidance.info