Success

Success

Joshua 1:8

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

We as a people and a society are very success oriented.  There are different ideas and definitions of success.   The one most prevalent, in the world’s view, has to do more with materialism, riches, fame, houses, cars and social position.  If we are to be successful as Christians then it only makes sense for us to ask the question, “What is God’s definition of success?”  It is interesting you should ask, because the word “success” only occurs one time in the Word of God.  That is in our passage for today.  I don’t think that there are any of us who don’t want to prosper and have good success.  Here is God’s formula for having it. 

Now whether God’s ideas for success are those of the world’s, I think not, but I do believe that God created all things for our enjoyment and pleasure if they are used in the context of His will and purpose.  God is telling us today that our key to success lies between two covers that we call the Bible.  It is not just the words on a page that bring success in our lives it is what we do with those words that is life and blessing.  Notice where that Word has to be.  It “shall not depart out of thy mouth.”  Remember Proverbs 18:21 that says, “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”  Our words are powerful instruments of both death and life.  We know that the Word of God perpetuates Life.  John 1:1-4 tells us whom this Word is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”  God wants that Word to never depart from our mouths.  What we speak reflects what is in our heart, ” for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Is the Word of God prevalent in our speech and conversation?   What we are speaking is what we believe; it is faith in that which we hope for but may not yet see.

               What is in our mouth, is the fruit of what is in our heart, which is what brings us to the second part of success.  What is the meditation of our heart?  Is it our work, our hobbies, our sports, our earthly desires or is it the Word of God?  If we want to succeed and prosper in the kingdom of God, His Word must prevail as the primary source of our meditation and contemplation.  As we eat of His Word and slowly ingest and digest it, as we pray to fully pursue understanding and revelation, the Holy Spirit is little by little making it alive in us and then through us.   It is the staple of our spiritual life that carries over into every aspect of our natural life. 

               David had the revelation that He gives in the beginning of the Psalms in Psalm 1:1-3 he says essentially the same thing, “Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

               If you and I want to prosper and have good success then it begins and ends in the Word of God.  It is the source of Life and Blessing to us.  It is our guide and counselor through the instruction of the Holy Spirit to bring us into the mind and will of God.  Through it we will experience the prosperity and sweet success of a godly life because His Word fills us with divine life, eternal hope and the riches and treasures that can only be found in Christ.  Jesus said it when He said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”   When our priority lines up with what God is speaking to us today we will experience the abundant life that is in Him tomorrow. 

               “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (3 John 1:2).”

Blessings,

#kent

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