I’ve never yet met anyone whose goal in life was to be a failure. There are those who are beaten down by circumstances that may have overwhelmed them. They may have given up, but there was usually a time in their lives when they wanted to succeed at something.

Success can easily be defined in a wrong way. A manual called Success! was a best seller and established the world’s norms for success. That manual proposed three principles: Greed is acceptable, deceit is okay if it gets you what you want and honesty is not always the best policy. Those guidelines demonstrate how perverted the world’s values are.

One of my favorite humorists was Erma Bombeck. She was more than a humorist. She had great practical wisdom. Once she advised, “Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna.” That’s good advice for all of us. Know the difference between fame and success.

Jesus gave us one of the most amazing promises: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). His presence is the guarantee of our true success.

What does Jesus’ presence mean to us? It means that One who understands us and has the resources we need will be there through every situation we face. The One who loves us, who understands us and who became like us in His humanity has promised to stay with us. We come to Jesus in our brokenness because He has become one of us. We not only welcome His presence because He is God, but we also walk with Him because He is our Savior and He is the only key to our real success in life.

While living in Virginia Beach, Gwen and I went to a restaurant for an evening meal. When the time came to pay I reached for my wallet, only to find that it wasn’t there. It was still on the dresser in my bedroom at home. I could see tomorrow’s headlines in my mind: “Local Pastor Tries to Eat and Run.” I went to the phone and called a friend who came to the restaurant and loaned me the money to pay my bill. My friend’s resources saved me the embarrassment of not being able to pay for our dinner.

Here’s the good news about having the presence of Jesus with you. We don’t have to call Him, He’s already there. And, He has all the resources we will ever need.