stevecuringtonministries.com

Good Morning! I want to share with you the story of two different men. One was a young teenager in Amsterdam. He hated authority, rebelling against his parents and spending most every day in the garage playing music with his neighborhood pals. He aspired to be famous and put every bit of his free time into his music.

Eventually his practice paid off and he became a very wealthy and famous musician. The quest to acquire his fame and fortune, he later admitted, was the only joy he ever had in life. After having acquired the fame and the fortune that comes with rock star status, he was in what many think an enviable position. He would buy whatever he wanted. He had the finest of cars, the finest of homes all over the world, dated many beautiful women, even world class models would give anything to be by his side.

This man was held back from no earthly pleasure. In the midst of this sea of so called success however, he sat down in a luxurious hotel one day and penned the words to his autobiographical song, "I can't get no satisfaction", going on to cry out "though I've tried and I've tried and I've tried". This of course, is the living testament of the infamous Mick Jagger; who today is still trying to find satisfaction through instant gratification. He has learned that it just doesn't work that way, but it hasn't stopped him from still trying and trying and trying.

Enter the story of another man. He is an aged machinist. He sits next to a young apprentice in a machine shop. They boy that he is training has just finished ten hard years of addiction and is trying desperately to get his life back on track. The young man has spent every dime he ever earned on riotous living. He is lonely, broke, and looking to find a break in life.

The young man had gone the way of the world seeking instant gratification in any of life's temporal pleasures. He had lived for a decade "in the moment"; thinking nothing of the future. But the aged machinist saw this young man's potential and began to work him through some difficult decisions in life.

Sitting on their workbenches at 5am in the morning, Mel Stoddard would tell this young man, Steve little anecdotal truths that he had learned during a few of his "life lessons" over the last forty five years or so. He taught me that credit cards were a bad thing. He said "your spending money you ain't earned yet! Even a dummy knows you'll never catch up that way". I remember looking at him like he was a sage of sorts. Such wisdom coming from a man who has been nothing more than a blue collar slug his whole life. I wondered if he could even "get" a credit card!

I remember him saying that the best way to get wealthy is to "get a job and--keep it!" I was working for tenth job in 3 years at the time, but I still reasoned within myself "at these wages, I'll never get ahead". But this man knew more about life than me or Mick Jagger had ever known. He had learned the key to prosperity is a simple but consistent slow growth to prosperity in your every walk in life-God, home, family, finances. Just keep growing and growing and growing a little bit at a time. "No such thing as a quick fix", he would say. "Fix it the hard way! You won't want to ever break it again," he often quipped!

One day I visited that man's humble abode. It was a July 4^th picnic party. I followed the map out to Mel's house, way, way out into the country. There I found his humble abode. At I drove up his winding driveway I saw the most beautiful site I had ever seen. It was a beautiful, but modest size ranch home sitting among two small ponds and rolling hills. Horses and a stable, a small barn filled with vintage old cars that he had restored. Mel sat in the back yard with his three adult daughters and his wonderfully graceful wife pawning over him like he was a King. Little grandbabies ran circles all around him.

I was shocked to see what this man was able to collect and call "his life" all in 40 years work on a machine shop Bridgeport! I sat back absolutely stunned as I remembered him say, "the best way to find wealth is to find a job and keep it!"

I turned a corner in life that day, when I realized as a 28 year old recovering addict that God's plan is that good things in life are paid for first and enjoyed later, but the bad things in life are always enjoyed first and paid for later.

He knew that good things in life are paid for first, but enjoyed later and I had learned that the bad things in life are enjoyed first and paid for later.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY: "Lord, help me today to invest in my future, by thinking right thoughts about my current situations. I know Lord, from reading today's blog that if I do what is right today, I will reap the benefits of it eventually. Lord, help me to reject the temporary and immediate gratification that comes from doing what I want, my way. Give me the prompting I need in my spirit to invest in my life's work and my relationships over the long haul. I pray this is the bloodstained name of Jesus, Amen!"

A QUESTION FOR TODAY'S MEDITATION: "What specific steps am I taking to gain victory over my defeats?" If we are defeated in any area of life, we will never make progress without steps. The Bible tells us that God orders (or directs) the steps of a good man. That mean's good men take steps! But those steps are not determined by man, they are directed by God. Look for your next step in life and take it and take it and take it until you find yourself where God is wanting you.