THE SECRET OF EASY THINGS

THE SECRET OF EASY THINGS

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because they have rejected knowledge.”  (Hosea: 4:6).  

The knowledge we need to learn and apply is really easy to do or easy not to do.  It will take me several messages to relate to you what the Lord has shown me over the years to be that “blessed” person of  Psalms 1.  It gives us a formula for spiritual  and personal success. “Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor walks in the path with sinners, nor sits around with the negative: But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law does he meditate both day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that produces its fruit in its season.  His leaf shall not dry up; and whatever he does will prosper.  (Psalms 1:1-3).  

These messages are directed to those who love God and have a relationship with Him and who have the Holy Spirit to teach them.  Many of the principles will work for Christians and those who have not found out how much the Lord loves them.  But with the Lord’s help we know: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Your philosophy is your view of life.  it is like the operating system that runs a computer.  It is something beyond your feelings and attitudes.  If it has a virus in it, nothing else will work like it is supposed to.  You can reprogram yourself and change your philosophy with the Lord’s help.

I have often wondered why some people are positive and upbeat while others are miserably negative, constantly complaining and criticizing.  Why are some people successful, and some people experience failure after failure?  Some research has shown that only about one person in twenty is achieving a significant measure of his or her goals in life.  This includes financial, professional, personal, marital, spiritual, and health goals.  That means that ninety-five percent of people are either failing or falling short of being the person they want to be.

So the very first thing that a person needs to do is to evaluate their relationship to God.  Have they truly given their lives to Him?

Then what about those people who love God and have a great relationship with the Lord and are still struggling to achieve good relationships and personal goals. 

It is not the Lord’s fault.  It is a lack of knowledge.  His desire is for you to have a happy and blessed life.   The Lord Jesus said this was His goal for you: “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  Our Lord also said: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11).

If it not the Lord’s fault, then we must be dong something wrong.  If only 5 percent of people feel they are successful, then there are some things we need to learn to be in that 5 percent and not in that 95 percent.  We need to learn some new things.  Your personal philosophy of life is either working for you or against you.  The difference that will make all the difference between success and failure, between achieving the quality of life you want and settling for less than you desire. It is wrapped up in those little, “insignificant” actions you choose to do or not to do.

The first thing I have learned is that the Lord Jesus has made it easy to follow Him and receive His blessings.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”  Matthew 11:28-30.  But it is also easy not to learn from Him and follow Him.

The first principle I would like to give you is that you can become successful by simply repeating the same positive action over and over again.  It is easy to become healthier by doing simple little disciplines consistently.  Over time, they will add up to the very biggest accomplishments.  For instance,doctors and medical research has taught us that walking 20 minutes, three times a week will help us to feel better and increase our quality of life.  It sounds easy doesn’t it?  It is!! and it is also easy not to walk 20 minutes a day, three times a week.

Another easy application to this principle is to find a “how to book” on an area you wish to change or improve in

 your life.  If you read 10 pages in a good book today aimed at improving your life, you will not change in a day or two.  But if you keep reading, over the course of a year you would have read 3,650 pages of transforming material.  But it is easy to follow the Lord's example in prayer and going to God's house.  And when Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read  (Luke 4:16).  He liked to read and pray.  And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, Jesus went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.  (Mark 1:35).  The Lord said to come to Him and learn how He does things and we can be successful.

Success is a process, not a destination.  It is something you experience gradually, over time.

What you do matters.  It is easy to eat well, and it is easy not to.  Eating too much or the wrong thing won't kill you, today.  But compounded over time it could cause you many health problems.  It is easy to exercise a little every day and get your heart rate up a little over normal for twenty minutes, three times a week.  It is also easy not to do it.  It is the same with your financial habits, your knowledge, your relationships, your marriage, and with anything and everything in your life.

The difference between success and failure is not dramatic.  In fact, the difference between success and failure is so subtle, most people miss it.  They hold to the philosophy that what they do doesn't really matter.  It is not true.  The truth is what you do matters.  What you do today matters.  What you do every day matters.  Those little things that will make you successful in life, that will secure your health, your happiness, your fulfillment, your dreams, are simple tiny things that nobody will see or even notice.  They are those things that at the time you do them, often feel like they make absolutely no difference, but they do.

The Lord Jesus will say this to those who follow Him:  Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord  ( Matthew 25:23).