Success Secrets From Jesus – Day 2 – Preparation

PREPARATION

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry —Matthew 4:1–2

The Holy Spirit led into the wilderness to be tempted. It was not Satan. Indeed, for Satan to have led Jesus means that Jesus would have had to respond to the leading of Satan; it means Jesus’ actions would have been controlled by Satan! Why did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness? It was to test His faith! In other words, God wanted to know if Jesus the man was ready for His assignment.

Our faith (believe) cannot be trusted until it is first tested.

For his part, Jesus did not back down and shy away from the challenge to come. He instead prepared himself for three final big tests by starting and finishing forty-days of fasting. Jesus was not released onto His purpose until He passed the test.

Do Not Despise Your Wilderness
The wilderness can be described as our place of preparation and the place where our readiness is tested. No one likes the wilderness BUT everyone must successfully navigate it. We must prepare for our purpose just as Jesus prepared in the wilderness. Why is the wilderness important? It is because preparation is the key ingredient we need to overcome any challenge we face. We must undergo a period of preparation if we are to be ready to tackle our purpose in life. We not only have to good starters but we have to finish our preparation to ensure we do not stumble when the big tests come. There are simply no shortcuts. We must start and finish our preparation just as Jesus did.

The wilderness is the gulf between barely good enough and excellent. Preparation is what allows us to successfully navigate it.

Prior preparation prevents pitiful performance.

That Jesus was not released onto His purpose (Matt. 4:17) until He first passed the test in the wilderness lets us know this: Promotion in life requires that we pass the tests of life. Since preparation is the key to passing tests, we can say the following:

The key to promotion in life is thorough preparation.

Lastly, that Jesus was hungry after forty-days of preparation (fasting) lets us know that preparation will always cost us something. While it was food for Jesus, it may very well be our denial of daily pleasure or the sacrifice of time and resources. But while preparation can have a bitter cost, its reward of success is exceedingly sweet.

Check out Looking to Superman – The secret to success in life on superchampinc for more practical tips the life of Jesus teaches us on being successful.