Listening to music has drastically changed in the last couple of decades. Today we stream music from an online service or listen from a massive library of downloaded music on a mobile device. If you want to listen to people discuss topics you are interested in, you download a podcast. With all this convenient and powerful technology, there is still another media that is widely used today and that is AM/FM radio. Every radio station broadcasts their content over a unique frequency and in order to listen to it, you must "tune in" to that frequency. Car radios today have scan and seek buttons that only stop on frequencies that are coming in clearly so it's easy to find what you are looking for. I remember when car radios had two big knobs ("dials"). One controlled the volume and the other was for tuning into the frequency we wanted. Many times we had to gently and carefully turn the dial until the signal became clear enough to hear the music and not just a bunch of static. It was quite the victorious moment whenever we found that "sweet spot".

It's true that finding clear signals is much easier with today's radios, but one thing remains the same no matter how new or old your radio is - the station is always broadcasting a signal and you must tune in to the correct frequency in order to hear the broadcast. Whether you tune in or not, the radio station is sending out a powerful signal. It's always there, always available, but you only hear it if you're tuned in. 

This is also true of God. He is always speaking, always transmitting His power, but it's on us to "tune in" to His frequency and receive the transmission. Jesus said in John 10:27 that His "...sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" In John 8:47 He said "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear [them] not, because ye are not of God." I don't want to be guilty of not being of God and not receiving what He's broadcasting. It would be a shame to stand in need of something and never receive the power of God that is being transmitted to meet the need because I'm not tuning in to His frequency.

God is broadcasting a powerful transmission that will bless you immensely if you tune in. You must be praying consistently and sincerely. You must be reading and studying the Scriptures daily. You need to attend church regularly and submit to a pastor. You must be kingdom minded. If you're consumed with earthly things and carnal pleasures, you are not tuned in to God and are missing out on the greatest source of power you will ever know. It will answer your questions, give you peace of mind, heal your body, and change your whole perspective. It's everything you need and want and it's available to all who will pursue it. 

Let's get on God's frequency. He's broadcasting, but are you tuned in?

Patrick Thomson

Overnight success is a misnomer, because success rarely comes in this fashion. Bill Gates is the world’s richest person, still, worth a reported $79.2 billion. It’s a list he has been on the top of for 16 years, but he didn’t magically become lucky and build up a massive fortune. He worked for it -- and experienced failure along the way. Gates’ first company, Traf-O-Data, didn’t make any money. It wasn’t successful, but it did provide a learning experience that Gates and his partner Paul Allen used for their next venture. A little business called Microsoft.

Colonel Sanders didn't found KFC until he was 56 years old. His fried chicken recipe was rejected more than 1,000 times and he held a number of odd-ball jobs, from steam-engine stoker to gas-station attendant, all before his entrepreneurial journey started. The most surprising one being founding a company that manufactured acetylene lamps. The company failed, but that didn’t stop him. He believed in his chicken recipe, starting a roadside restaurant, and later saw the opportunity that franchising presented.

It might have seemed to people of Egypt that Joseph just burst onto the scene and was an overnight success. I can see the headlines of the Egyptian Chronicle now: “From The Pit To The Palace” “Rags To Riches; The Joseph Story” From those looking in on this story it seemed all too easy, but this story was anything but easy. Here's the proof from a few highlights of his history.
• Joseph dreamed his dream of his brothers bowing down to him when he was 17 years old
• Joseph was 39 when that dream finally came to pass
• To my calculation that was 22 years of no dream in sight that he had to endure

Those who thought he was an overnight success should have been there when:
• His brothers hated him for his dream and his father’s love
• He was tossed into a pit by those same brothers
• He was sold into slavery
• His master’s wife lied about his integrity
• He landed in prison because of her lies
• He stayed in prison even after helping another man go free

22 years is much less than a overnight success. But if you just look at the end of the story, you will never see what all went into making Joseph’s success come to be. Joseph had numerous opportunities to walk away from the dream. He had numerous chances to believe it was never going to come. He could have at any moment just walked away and chalked it up to a bad dream and lived in obscurity. He could have thought that God didn't love him and that is why it had all gone awry. But instead, Joseph just let the process of the dream play out and eventually was able to stand at his place of fulfillment. If you just see the moment of success, you miss what was done to bring about that long, hard fought success. 

If you look around you might see a successful child of God, but what you don't see is:
• The many times it just didn't go right
• The numerous crossroads they could’ve made the wrong choice
• The sleepless nights spent in prayer
• The family members who critiqued every move they made

You might see a growing field of ministry, but what you don't see is:
• The burden that weighs heavy on their heart
• The occasions that no one else was there
• The naysayers that found fault with everything they did

You might see a blessed church that seems to have it all at their beck and call, but what you don't see is:
• The times that “two or three” gathering together was all they had
• The euphoria of a Sunday night, quickly followed by the reality of a Monday morning
• All the fasting, prayer, and evangelism that finally helped the needle move

If you just see the moment of success, you miss what was done to bring about that long, hard fought success. 

Five things to consider about “overnight success”
1. Runaway success doesn't happen with God
2. Big breaks don’t just come out of nowhere.
3. Failure is almost always a stepping stone to success.
4. Success takes more than talent.
5. Success is a journey, not a destination.

But is it ever going to happen for me? Am I ever going to see it break free? Will I ever get to the place that I achieve what it is that God wants me to be? Remember, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” It's not about starting that matters! It’s not whether someone knows what went into your race, or not! Don’t strive to be an overnight success! Just make sure you endure to the end, so you can be saved. 

Get right, be right, stay right and be saved!
Pastor Hoffman