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What's the True Measure of Success? · Grace for My Home | Christian Women, Growing in Faith

• 1:13
  Audrey McCracken: Hello friends, welcome back to Grace.
• 1:15
  Audrey McCracken: For my Home here in South Carolina, it is extremely hot.
• 1:20
  Audrey McCracken: As I'm recording this, it's the beginning of July and that's just how it is here.
• 1:27
  Audrey McCracken: It is stifling hot and humid, and so the last couple of weeks I have not been able to take my walks like I normally do.
• 1:36
  Audrey McCracken: And I can tell I can do and I can tell I can tell mentally, I can tell physically that I need that exercise.
• 1:42
  Audrey McCracken: Walking is my go-to exercise.
• 1:45
  Audrey McCracken: It gives me a chance to get outside and just clear my mind and, of course, get a little bit of needed exercise at the same time.
• 1:51
  Audrey McCracken: So I am looking forward to it cooling down a little bit in the next few weeks, hopefully, and I can get some walking in.
• 1:59
  Audrey McCracken: But overall it's been a great time.
• 2:03
  Audrey McCracken: It's been a great season.
• 2:05
  Audrey McCracken: We are on summer break.
• 2:06
  Audrey McCracken: Right now.
• 2:07
  Audrey McCracken: My husband is taking a few weeks off also to be with us, as we're home and I'm still working at the shop, but only a few days a week now All of my boys are home.
• 2:18
  Audrey McCracken: They, of course they're teenagers now, so they've got all kinds of things going on during the week and I don't see them as much, but we still try to take time to do some things together.
• 2:28
  Audrey McCracken: My youngest son just turned 14.
• 2:31
  Audrey McCracken: This past week we took him out to eat as a family, did some things together, but we're going to have a celebration for him.
• 2:38
  Audrey McCracken: As each of my boys have turned 14, we have tried to do something special for them on their 14th birthday, because that is just such a milestone to me.
• 2:49
  Audrey McCracken: It's that time when you're growing from a kid to a young man, and I think it's important to recognize that and to let them know hey, we see this, we recognize that you're growing, not just physically but you're maturing, and we encourage you in that.
• 3:10
  Audrey McCracken: We believe that God has good plans for you.
• 3:13
  Audrey McCracken: And so for each of my older two boys, we had a banquet, and during that banquet we had men and women from our church who came and we had a meal together and we just spoke good things over each of our boys, each of our older two boys, and the men and women of our church prayed over them, and that was just something that I have always had on my heart to do for my, my sons, as they matured.
• 3:42
  Audrey McCracken: And so Caleb, my youngest, is at that age now.
• 3:44
  Audrey McCracken: We were not able to do it on his birthday, because one of our dear friends who is he will always be my pastor.
• 3:53
  Audrey McCracken: He is out of town right now and we want him to be a part of that he will.
• 3:57
  Audrey McCracken: He's actually out of the country right now and he won't be back in the country until the middle of July, and so when he gets back we're going to do that.
• 4:05
  Audrey McCracken: And so busy summer, you know a lot going on.
• 4:08
  Audrey McCracken: My husband right now has taken my three sons to his brother's house, which is about four hours away from us, so they can spend some time with their cousins up there, and so it's given me a little time by myself, which I cherish, I love.
• 4:27
  Audrey McCracken: I'm so thankful that he's given me this opportunity to spend some time in prayer and just spend some time alone.
• 4:34
  Audrey McCracken: I've needed this, and so I'm trying to take advantage of it.
• 4:37
  Audrey McCracken: And I don't I'm not trying to make you jealous.
• 4:42
  Audrey McCracken: I know what it's like to have little ones at home and you feel like you never get a moment right but I needed this time just so I could pray through some things, because I've got some big decisions coming up.
• 4:57
  Audrey McCracken: So I could pray through some things because I've got some big decisions coming up, and so the Lord has allowed me to have this little bit of time to do that.
• 5:04
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted to talk.
• 5:04
  Audrey McCracken: First of all.
• 5:05
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted to say thank you to Addie from New Jersey.
• 5:11
  Audrey McCracken: There's a new setup on my Buzzsprout account, which is where I do my podcast, where you can actually send me fan mail, and Addie sent me a message and it so blessed me.
• 5:24
  Audrey McCracken: This week.
• 5:24
  Audrey McCracken: She told me a little bit about her and her situation and some things that she would like me to talk more about and that encouraged me so much because that's the first time I'd met Addie, and the only thing I don't like about the new fan mail is that I can't respond.
• 5:41
  Audrey McCracken: I wanted to respond back and say, hey, I'm here, I've got your message, so I thought, well, I'll just I'll do a shout out this week and say thank you, thank you for the message and I will take your suggestions to heart and in the upcoming weeks I will do just that, because it's hard being a mama.
• 5:59
  Audrey McCracken: You know it's hard being a mama, especially when you're trying to raise children in a Christian way and you are trying to fight against the culture that's around us and to raise children who are countercultural, who are not like all of the other children around us Not that we don't love the other children around us, not that we don't love the other children around us, not that we don't love the other people around us but we want our children to believe in Jesus, and we do not live in a world right now who believes in Jesus, and so that's why I'm here is to encourage you in your pursuit to raise your children for the Lord and, at the same time, to grow spiritually yourself, which is no small task.
• 6:43
  Audrey McCracken: And I want to encourage anyone else.
• 6:46
  Audrey McCracken: If you'd like to send me a message, if you'd like to give me some suggestions on things you would like me to speak on, maybe some things I've touched on in the past but didn't go in depth about, or or just anything.
• 6:57
  Audrey McCracken: Anything.
• 6:58
  Audrey McCracken: If I can't and I won't, I'll let you know, but any, anything that you would like me to speak on, please message me.
• 7:06
  Audrey McCracken: You can message me through Facebook.
• 7:08
  Audrey McCracken: My email is in each podcast episode, in the notes, and also this new fan mail that you can send me a message and it comes directly to me and I will gladly take it under consideration.
• 7:22
  Audrey McCracken: And when you send me your name, I put you on a list of people who I pray for, because I see this as a ministry.
• 7:30
  Audrey McCracken: I see this as an opportunity to serve people who I may never see face to face.
• 7:36
  Audrey McCracken: To serve people who I may never see face to face.
• 7:40
  Audrey McCracken: But we have a kindred spirit and we're about our father's business, trying to do what he's asked us to do in our homes.
• 7:45
  Audrey McCracken: But this week I wanted to talk with you about success and what success is, what it looks like and what it means in the kingdom to succeed.
• 7:57
  Audrey McCracken: This is to me a very encouraging message, because I think there's a part of us, and each one of us, that knows that we're called to something, that knows that we are created for something, or at least hopes that we are created for something, that our life has meaning that we aren't just blobs that evolved and now here we are.
• 8:23
  Audrey McCracken: But we were created, we were formed, we were designed, we were molded by the hands of the master who breathed his very life into us, and he not only created us, but he gave us a purpose.
• 8:38
  Audrey McCracken: He has a master design, a master plan, and we're part of that.
• 8:42
  Audrey McCracken: And so I get excited when I think about those things, because I think, oh, he's got a place for me in there and I want to find out what that place is.
• 8:51
  Audrey McCracken: And so a lot of times in this world, people talk about success, and it's usually when they talk about success.
• 8:56
  Audrey McCracken: Or it's usually when they talk about success, or they're talking about very flashy things, right, they're talking about success in business, you know, in finances, success in being popular or being known or being famous, or, you know, in all of these areas.
• 9:16
  Audrey McCracken: When we think of a successful person, it's usually someone who has been successful in those areas where the world puts the most emphasis and everything.
• 9:25
  Audrey McCracken: But that's not how the Lord judges our success, aren't you glad?
• 9:31
  Audrey McCracken: Because we, all of us, can be successful in the calling that God has on our life.
• 9:39
  Audrey McCracken: You know we can all stand before him one day and hear those words well done, my good and faithful servant.
• 9:46
  Audrey McCracken: And nobody else has to even know our name for that to happen.
• 9:53
  Audrey McCracken: And you know I think so often about the Lord, our precious Savior, and the life that he lived.
• 10:00
  Audrey McCracken: You know he was only in ministry for three years and he died a relatively young man, he died at the age of 33 and he lived a wonderful life because he lived a life of obedience.
• 10:18
  Audrey McCracken: He saw miracles, he performed miracles, he trusted his father, he was sent and he did everything that his father asked of him.
• 10:29
  Audrey McCracken: You remember the meeting that Jesus had, or the conversation, I should say, that Jesus had with Peter?
• 10:37
  Audrey McCracken: And Jesus was telling his disciples I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to be persecuted by the leaders.
• 10:47
  Audrey McCracken: I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to be buried, and on the third day I'm going to raise from the leaders.
• 10:51
  Audrey McCracken: I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to be buried and on the third day I'm going to raise from the dead.
• 10:54
  Audrey McCracken: He straight out told them he did not sugarcoat it, he did not hide it.
• 11:01
  Audrey McCracken: You know he wasn't talking in allegorical language.
• 11:04
  Audrey McCracken: He straight out told them this is what is going to happen.
• 11:07
  Audrey McCracken: And when Peter heard it, it says he rebuked Jesus.
• 11:12
  Audrey McCracken: He basically said no, lord, that is not going to happen.
• 11:17
  Audrey McCracken: And Jesus rebuked him and said get behind me, satan.
• 11:22
  Audrey McCracken: You do not desire the will of the father, but your own will.
• 11:27
  Audrey McCracken: And see Jesus.
• 11:29
  Audrey McCracken: His only desire was to please the Father.
• 11:33
  Audrey McCracken: He was committed to do whatever the Father asked of him.
• 11:38
  Audrey McCracken: And to him that was success.
• 12:22
  Audrey McCracken: And to Peter that was not success.
• 12:27
  Audrey McCracken: To Peter, success was being considered a success in the eyes of the world.
• 12:33
  Audrey McCracken: And we, as Christians, we have to choose what is success to us, and we have to come to that point that we will live our life not for our own will, not for our own definition of success, but for what our father calls success.
• 12:56
  Audrey McCracken: Because if we look on the life of Jesus and we measure Jesus's life by our own worldly definition of success, he would fall short.
• 13:11
  Audrey McCracken: Think about it.
• 13:11
  Audrey McCracken: He never married, he never had a big corporation, he was never financially well off.
• 13:26
  Audrey McCracken: He died at the age of 33.
• 13:43
  Audrey McCracken: He was considered a heretic by his own people.
• 13:44
  Audrey McCracken: He was rejected by the Jews his own people that he came to save those that he loved.
• 13:46
  Audrey McCracken: And he was betrayed by one of his own disciples.
• 13:52
  Audrey McCracken: He was shamed, he was found guilty in a court of law and hung on a tree and humiliated and spat upon and he died.
• 14:06
  Audrey McCracken: And he died with no friends of support.
• 14:11
  Audrey McCracken: Only a few women and only one of his disciples out of the 12 were actually there at his crucifixion.
• 14:18
  Audrey McCracken: And when you look at his life in that picture, in that way, it doesn't seem like a success.
• 14:28
  Audrey McCracken: But at the end of the day, he was the only success.
• 14:34
  Audrey McCracken: He was the only one to ever succeed, the only man born in this world to ever obey to the very end.
• 14:46
  Audrey McCracken: Because, see God, our Father, he measures success by obedience.
• 14:52
  Audrey McCracken: That's success, you know.
• 14:55
  Audrey McCracken: He gave Adam and Eve everything they could ever want and he put them in paradise and all they had to do was obey.
• 15:04
  Audrey McCracken: And they only had one thing, that was prohibited.
• 15:10
  Audrey McCracken: But that was the one thing that they did.
• 15:15
  Audrey McCracken: They didn't obey, and so that was the first Adam, and Jesus was the last Adam.
• 15:23
  Audrey McCracken: And where the first Adam did not obey, the last Adam did obey.
• 15:31
  Audrey McCracken: And because he obeyed he made a way for us.
• 15:37
  Audrey McCracken: And we too can be successful in the eyes of the Lord, in the eyes of God, by obeying in Christ.
• 15:47
  Audrey McCracken: Now we can't do it in our own strength, in our own ability.
• 15:50
  Audrey McCracken: I often say, if I could obey God, if I could please God without Jesus, then Jesus died in vain.
• 16:01
  Audrey McCracken: But God knows we can't.
• 16:03
  Audrey McCracken: That's why he sent his son to die for us.
• 16:06
  Audrey McCracken: But in him, in Christ, I can obey.
• 16:11
  Audrey McCracken: In Christ I can please the Father, not because I please him, but because Christ pleases him or pleased him, and I am in Christ.
• 16:21
  Audrey McCracken: Because of Adam's disobedience, all were brought under sin, under the rule of sin, because of Christ's obedience.
• 16:30
  Audrey McCracken: All can come under God's favor, not because we've done right, but because Christ did right.
• 16:38
  Audrey McCracken: He is the only success story, and when we hook up with him, when we come in Christ, when we receive his pardon, when we are associated with him and we die so he can live in us, then we too become a success story.
• 17:01
  Audrey McCracken: I love that.
• 17:03
  Audrey McCracken: There's hope in that.
• 17:04
  Audrey McCracken: There's hope in that that, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how ugly things look, I can still be considered successful in my God.
• 17:19
  Audrey McCracken: To my Lord, my father is pleased, not by the amount of money I make, or not by even the number of souls that I win, but because I obeyed to the end.
• 17:32
  Audrey McCracken: You know, in ministry I've been in ministry for many years in some capacity, whether full time or part time or, you know, whatever that means.
• 17:43
  Audrey McCracken: And you know ministry we sometimes it feels people think it's.
• 17:49
  Audrey McCracken: You know there's just this holiness that comes with it.
• 17:52
  Audrey McCracken: There's not.
• 17:54
  Audrey McCracken: I mean there's a reverence for people.
• 17:57
  Audrey McCracken: I have a great respect for people who give up their life for ministry, but people in ministry struggle with the same issues as people who have a nine to five job, who work for a corporation or who own a business and work for themselves.
• 18:14
  Audrey McCracken: We all struggle with competition, we all struggle with significance, we all struggle with wondering if we're doing the right things, if we're doing them right.
• 18:25
  Audrey McCracken: And if we're doing them right, what is the proof, what are the signs of success?
• 18:31
  Audrey McCracken: And we have to find our success in Jesus.
• 18:39
  Audrey McCracken: We have to find our well done in our father, because the world will pat us on the back but that doesn't mean that we're doing the right things.
• 18:51
  Audrey McCracken: So we have to draw near to our father so we can hear when we are doing the right things and when we aren't, so that when we aren't, we know it before.
• 19:00
  Audrey McCracken: We stand before him so we can get it right before that time.
• 19:04
  Audrey McCracken: And he loves us, he wants us to succeed, he wants us to do those things that he's called us to do and he doesn't just plop us down here on the earth and say, ok, now you figure it out.
• 19:17
  Audrey McCracken: He gives us his Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us into all truth.
• 19:23
  Audrey McCracken: We can be successful in this world, in this life, because Jesus Christ lives, because he did it and because we draw along with him, we talk with him, we fellowship with him, we find out what he's doing, what he wants us to do.
• 19:41
  Audrey McCracken: You know, jesus said I do what I see my father doing, that's what I do.
• 19:44
  Audrey McCracken: And so we have to get along with him and say Lord, what are you doing?
• 19:48
  Audrey McCracken: You know what are you doing right now on the earth.
• 19:50
  Audrey McCracken: Where do you need me?
• 19:51
  Audrey McCracken: What should I be doing?
• 19:52
  Audrey McCracken: Where should I put my hands to work that is being successful in the kingdom?
• 19:59
  Audrey McCracken: I read a book years ago by Richard Wurmbrand, who I love.
• 20:05
  Audrey McCracken: He was a Romanian pastor during the Soviet takeover of many communist countries and what are now communist countries in Europe, and he spent years in prison, in jail, for his beliefs, because he refused to bow the knee to the Soviet regimes that came in and he refused to preach their watered-down gospel.
• 20:30
  Audrey McCracken: He held on to the truth and he was persecuted because of it.
• 20:35
  Audrey McCracken: And many years later he was able to come to the United States and he and his wife were actually at a church, ministering at a church, and this pastor was a young pastor and this pastor was very proud of his church, of his new church, and he was showing him the buildings and he was showing Richard Wurmbrand the buildings, the new building they had for the church and the classrooms, and you know, just showing them the facilities.
• 21:04
  Audrey McCracken: And they said, oh, it was very nice, very nice.
• 21:08
  Audrey McCracken: And he said, yes, you know, we hope to build a large congregation and be very successful.
• 21:16
  Audrey McCracken: And Richard Wurmbrand stopped him and said son, building a large congregation does not make you successful.
• 21:25
  Audrey McCracken: Obedience makes you successful.
• 21:30
  Audrey McCracken: He said, when I was in communist countries, I could have had large congregations had I gone along with the narrative that the communists gave me, but I refused to do that, and so, therefore, my success was my chains, and that really stuck with me.
• 22:00
  Audrey McCracken: We should only define success in God's terms, not our own.
• 22:05
  Audrey McCracken: So many times when I have been home with my children and I haven't had time to brush my hair, and I haven't even had time to brush my teeth, and every time I walk by a mirror I say, oh, I hope nobody shows up unexpectedly and I have three children crying at one time and their toys all over the floor.
• 22:28
  Audrey McCracken: I can't walk in the living room and there's a mound of clothes that haven't been fold on the chair.
• 22:35
  Audrey McCracken: And then, at that very moment, when I don't feel like I can take any more and I feel like a complete failure.
• 22:41
  Audrey McCracken: Somebody drops their bowl of Cheerios on the floor milk and all.
• 22:46
  Audrey McCracken: It's at that moment that I need to know that success is not about my position in this world, that success to Jesus is obeying him, that at that moment success means cleaning up the Cheerios without yelling, that at that moment success means putting up the toys again, knowing that in just a few minutes I'll have to put them up again and submitting to the life that I now have, and not being angry about it, but understanding there's a purpose.
• 23:36
  Audrey McCracken: There's a greater purpose here.
• 23:38
  Audrey McCracken: I'm not just taking care of children.
• 23:42
  Audrey McCracken: I'm raising men and women of God to love him, to trust him, to believe in him, and that's a slow but worthy process.
• 23:53
  Audrey McCracken: That's when we have to know what success really is, that it's not flashy, that nobody else may understand it, nobody else may choose it, but our hearts are to please our father in whatever capacity he calls us in.
• 24:14
  Audrey McCracken: I have nothing.
• 24:14
  Audrey McCracken: I have no problem with money.
• 24:16
  Audrey McCracken: I just want you to know that.
• 24:17
  Audrey McCracken: You know a lot of times people think you know money is evil.
• 24:20
  Audrey McCracken: It's not money.
• 24:21
  Audrey McCracken: Money is not evil, it's the love of money that is the root of all evil.
• 24:25
  Audrey McCracken: You can have money and it not have you.
• 24:28
  Audrey McCracken: I have no problems with people building empires and building successful businesses.
• 24:34
  Audrey McCracken: I think that's awesome.
• 24:35
  Audrey McCracken: I think that's a God-given talent.
• 24:37
  Audrey McCracken: I have no problem with people being famous and people looking up to them.
• 24:44
  Audrey McCracken: That's wonderful, especially if they're people of great character.
• 24:48
  Audrey McCracken: I'm like, yes, we need some good role models in this world.
• 24:53
  Audrey McCracken: We need some people of character.
• 24:55
  Audrey McCracken: I'm all for that, but that's a very limited view of what a successful person is, especially when it comes to the kingdom of God, because he sees our daily successes and he cheers us on, because he knows how hard it was for you to clean up that mess.
• 25:18
  Audrey McCracken: It was for you to clean up that mess when you really just wanted to sit on the floor and cry, or when you really just wanted to yell, or when you really just wanted to go drown your feelings in something else Maybe your phone, maybe something else but you were there, but you were attentive, but you were awake, but you were in the moment with those little ones because they need you.
• 25:43
  Audrey McCracken: That is success today and I encourage you start seeing yourself as a success, not because you're perfect, not because people in the world look at you and think, oh, I want to be just like that.
• 25:58
  Audrey McCracken: But because you're obeying your father, even when it doesn't look like you hoped it would or you thought it would, I hope this has been an encouraging word for you today, because your father is proud of you for trying, and you need to know that he is cheering us on.
• 26:17
  Audrey McCracken: He wants us to be successful.
• 26:20
  Audrey McCracken: He wants us to be successful, he wants us to make it.
• 26:21
  Audrey McCracken: He wants us to do the good things that he prepared for us to do before the foundation of the world.
• 26:29
  Audrey McCracken: Father, I thank you for my sisters today who are out there in the trenches raising up men and women of God who right now are just children.
• 26:36
  Audrey McCracken: Men and women of God who right now are just children, lord, even grandchildren, lord.
• 26:42
  Audrey McCracken: They're being that example that their grandchildren need and, lord, you're doing a work in them, even as they are serving these little ones.
• 26:53
  Audrey McCracken: You are doing a work in them.
• 26:55
  Audrey McCracken: You're making us into the image of Christ and that is success.
• 27:00
  Audrey McCracken: And I pray today that you would help us to change our mindset, that, lord, you would help us to see ourselves through your eyes.
• 27:07
  Audrey McCracken: Give us more and more grace, lord.
• 27:10
  Audrey McCracken: Help us to have grace with ourselves and we thank you for your goodness.
• 27:14
  Audrey McCracken: We thank you for your grace In Jesus name Amen.