Marked for Success!

By Viola Marufu

Every human being has the mark of God upon their life: Jeremiah 1 v 5.
God has already determined that every individual should succeed in life, for no one is born without a purpose. You have the potential to make it in life, if you believe and stop doubting yourself. You have it in you to realize every dream that you have ever had and to affect positively the generations to come. Dare to dream but dont stop there; do something about your dream. Step out and act.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468556001

Viola Marufu

Marked for Success! Started in 2008 at a time I sought to challenge the Word of God and see if it really worked. After witnessing many prayers answered, I felt qualified to share what I had discovered by accident. I discovered that the Word of God guides those who are obedient to it towards assured success. This is stated in Joshua 1 v 8 and Jeremiah 29 v 11. I am a mother of 3 and a trained accountant who is currently working as a Consultant across Africa. I have been a Christian since 2006 and currently fellowship at United Family International (U.F.I.) Zimbabwe under Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa. My passion is encouraging people to see the relevance of God’s Word in everyday life applications. Through the grace of God I have also written 5 other books.

Book preview

MARKED for

SUCCESS!

VIOLA MARUFU

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© 2012 by Viola Marufu. All rights reserved.

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First Edition

Published by AuthorHouse 02/21/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-5601-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-5600-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903482

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Contents

CHAPTER 1 WHAT DRIVES YOU?

CHAPTER 2 DEFINING YOUR DESTINY

CHAPTER 3 STEP OUT AND ACT

CHAPTER 4 PERSISTENCE PAYS

CHAPTER 5 IMAGINARY LIMITATIONS

CHAPTER 6 THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION

CHAPTER 7 YOU ARE LOADED

CHAPTER 8 UNDERSTAND WHAT DEFINES YOU

CHAPTER 1

WHAT DRIVES YOU?

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 26 v 3

In the pursuit of happiness or wealth, everyone is driven by something. There is always an underlying motive to seeking success or wealth. This drive is a force. It is a force that compels you to seek for an improvement in your life. Many pursue success and wealth and their lives are filled with a relentless pursuit for riches. If one becomes so consumed by their need, it becomes their god and many times it breeds many unworthy desires. This deep need can also be the very thing that limits our own progress in life. We should be careful of what drives us to excel in life. The Bible in 1 Timothy 6 v 9-10 says:

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Perhaps this is why the bible encourages us to seek first the kingdom of God. No one wants poverty or lack in whatever form. The deep desire for riches can be so consuming as to corrupt. Gehazi, Elisha’s assistant, was consumed by an all consuming desire to have the presents that Prophet Elisha had refused. He did this to take care of his material needs by lying and cunning. He imagined all the things that he could do given the chance to have all those riches. We are all like Gehazi at some point in life. We imagine what we can do if we were to win the lotto or fortune where to smile on us one day. Gehazi ended up affecting not only his life but, the lives of every other family member. The pursuit for success can trap someone into temptation or compromising their values.

Always use caution and tone down your desire to prosper with godly wisdom. Check your motive for your requirement for money. Many are driven by a negative force and a few by positive ambition. Are you driven by pressure, show-off, pride, pain, anger, a deadline or a problem? Some problems are not really problems; it all depends on the outlook. Are you driven by the ones who hurt you in order to prove something to them or even desperation? Don’t allow the deep seated resentment to push you because it will corrupt your character to the point where the gain will not be worthwhile.

Is your situation so desperate that you just know money will address it for you? Many times when you are out of a job and you have no money in your pocket, you envy those who go about their business. This a desperate time in any person’s life where self respect goes low. Just seeing someone busy about their work, no matter the type of job, feels you with envy. To the unemployed, these people have self respect, independence and manhood. Those who are employed or who have money have a voice. Somehow, when you are down and out, you always encounter those who want to take advantage of you while giving you a low salary. They may also want you to be eternally grateful to them. Money becomes the driving force that motivates you to seek more in life. However, it is not necessarily true that money will resolve every problem. It may not. Money is also not necessarily success. An improvement in circumstances can come about in any way which may not necessarily be financial.

Are you being driven to pursue wealth by a hidden fear of poverty or failure? Maybe it is a painful memory of your past when you didn’t have enough. Some are driven by the urge to fit in or fear of failure. The emotions that drive people to pursue happiness, wealth or advancement are varied:

1. Some are driven by guilt. Perhaps people of your age have done it and you feel guilty for lagging behind.

2. Some are driven by resentment and anger. You don’t like the way you were treated by someone who was well off and you want to show them you can also do it.

3. Some are driven by the lack they suffered in their lives at one point or another. This is most common reason for seeking success.

4. Others are driven by fear and a sense of desperation.

5. While others are driven by materialism.

6. Yet others are driven by the need for approval or a need to be respected.

7. Others are driven by a competitive spirit, a desire to be always on top.

8. Others are driven by jealousy or greed.

9. A few are driven by the simple knowledge that as a child of God you don’t belong to any level at the bottom of the line. You are driven to aim high. This is what happened to Jacob when he served Laban. He knew he was being short changed and he implored God to intervene.

When your life is driven by guilt, you live a life of running away from regrets and hiding your shame. Guilt driven people are manipulated by memories. They never seem to let go of their past. Their past haunts them and their focus becomes stunted. Such people are affected by criticism because they always take it personally. Such people may dislike an encounter with their school friends or those who knew them in the past because they may be ashamed of the little achievement they have made in life. Their past controls their present and future. They unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their future. The guilt driven wander through life aimlessly like Cain. They live a life of Back then, in those days I used to… but, where it not for… . I would have done… Such a life is never truly satisfying because one never learns to enjoy the moment. Success that is centered on covering up for the past is not truly fulfilling. It is also not good to always focus on the past as an excuse for failing today.

We may be products of our past but not prisoners of it. Focusing on the past will limit your advancement into the future. God’s purpose is not limited by our past. Gideon was a coward yet he was used by God and became a courageous hero. Moses was a murderer yet he was the leader who led a nation out of oppression. If God did it for them, He can do it for your life and mine. God usually uses the rejected and seemingly useless, to advance His purpose. He does it to show that in weakness, He is our strength. Your past is history. It should never be allowed to affect the present and the future negatively. The past will always be there as a lesson of where you came from. Success should be centered on the future and never the past.

Do not be trapped in the past like Lot’s wife who could not let go of where she was coming from. She never reached her destination because she looked back. She obeyed the voice of God to leave Sodom, but only for a while. She just had to have a last look of the city she loved to her downfall. Let your past be a platform for tomorrow’s greatness. Thank God for yesterday’s errors and their lessons. Resolve to utilize the knowledge gained, but refuse to be limited by it. Never try to avoid the past. You can learn a lot from your mistakes. Many people avoid talking about their past failures. Make peace with that past and it will never haunt you. Live life in the present and not the past.

The bible says:

What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven. What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.

Some people are driven to achieve by resentment and anger. They hold on to pain and never get over it. Instead of letting go through forgiveness, they hold on to the pain of past hurts and let it play over and over again in their mind. Some resentment driven people internalize their hurt, while others explode. They are pushed by the inner anger and resentment to achieve something that will cause the ones who mistreated them to regret. They are driven by a need to show them all that they can make it. Unfortunately, one never truly knows when enough is enough. These reactions are damaging and obstructive. You will never truly appreciate your success when you are driven by resentment or anger.

Resentment hurts you more than the person you hurt. Your offender may have long forgotten the offense and carried on with their life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past. It is frustrating when you want to hurt someone and they continue not to be affected by your actions. Some people are just insensitive to others, especially those they hurt. Some cause hurt deliberately, but some cause pain through disregard of other’s feelings or even insensitivity. Motivation to achieve something that is based on resentment never lasts. When you make peace with that person eventually, it will take the wind out of your sails. A few realize how negative resentment is and stop.

Those who hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. The past is past and cannot be redeemed. Bitterness will only cause you more pain than good. If you look close enough, were it not for that hurt, you would never have known that you are capable of saying the things you say now. You would never have known that your thoughts are not so perfect. Were it not for that pain you would never have known your true strength. You have the ability to keep pushing and striving to succeed because of the negative push someone gave you. Many people do things to hurt us, but this should only be taken as something to push us in the right direction. You should never change your position because of problems you encounter. That is not good enough reason to give up. Let every challenge in life push you in the right direction; towards your dream not away from it. You should also not wait to be pushed by the calamities of life into making a decision that will affect your life. Cultivate the habit of acting not reacting.

Thank God for that person who caused you pain because they motivated you into action. Negative motivation is necessary to clear your view and to face reality. Life is not all rosy and workable. It can have major limitations which may stop you before you achieve your goal. Such limitations can be the time it takes for you to secure what you want o achieve. However, if you truly want something in life a delay does not necessarily mean the death of your dream. It can be a test of how much you want it. It forces you to strive harder because you know that you have no option. Sometimes when you are between a rock and a hard place you force your way up faster because you fear being pressed in. This is the fastest way to check a person’s maturity; how they withstand the storms of life. Resentment causes bitterness and bitterness causes hardness in character. It can be seen in the face when a person harbors bitterness. It becomes tight lipped and hardened. It’s not worth it.

Resentment affects your relationship with God because it is an expression of rebellion against God. It is another way of telling Him that you are not too sure He knows what He is doing, because He keeps letting people hurt you. Many times the ones who hurt us, force us to use our inner strength to cope. They force us to stand up and be strong, to look for the inner strength within. Have you ever noticed that most people make life changing resolves when they are angry or in pain? Did you also know that most times they would never have made that decision except when they were pushed towards it? Though we may be crushed and humiliated for a while, many times it works for our good. Not all difficult situations are meant to humiliate or stop you; it is meant to force your strength out. You won’t realize you can defend yourself if you are not forced in a defensive position. Channel all your energy towards the achievement of your goal; even negative energy.

It is not worth corrupting your walk with God, to walk in disfavor. Anger wastes your time. It eats on your stomach lining; it causes ulcers, which will affect your health and your ability to work and make a positive contribution to your life. If there had been no Penninah in Hannah’s life she would never have received her Samuel. If there had not been a Saul in David’s life, he would never have known how to truly stand on God’s promises until the time he sat on the throne. He withstood many storms and many hardships; many of which came through the hands of Saul.

Personally, I have always worked for bosses who were not very accommodating and would treat me like a second rate idiot. This would anger me so much to be treated like a child, being given responsibility without authority and being suspected when I knew I was honest. Eventually I realized that God was allowing it so that I would never find a comfortable niche while working for someone else. It forced me to realize that I could make it on my own without a boss lording it over me. If I had worked with loving and considerate bosses, I would never have known that I had it within me to make it. At times these people are meant to provoke the potential inside us. You will never know what true love is like unless it is tested by hate. Ask anyone who has ever been imprisoned; you can only appreciate true freedom when it is withdrawn. You can never appreciate the significance of wisdom unless you see others who are foolish.

Ephesians 4 v 31 then says:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger.

Maybe you are driven