Success God's Way

Mostly on this blog, I’ve been just looking at and writing about particular verses, and that’s great, but I’m also going to start writing about what I’ve learned in sermons and Bible studies as well. It helps me cement it all in my brain and my heart. (And it’s neater than my scribbled sermon notes, so it’ll be easier to re-read later!)

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Success God’s way = faithfully fulfilling God’s will for your life.

How can we achieve this kind of success?
How can we faithfully fulfill God’s will for our lives?

• Success begins by being a servant of the Lord. (Joshua 1:1) In this passage, Joshua has been named as the new leader of the Israelites, after Moses died. God reminds Joshua that Moses was great because he was a servant of God. Although Joshua has big shoes to fill, he would be great if he was willing first and foremost to serve the Lord. Leaders will come and go, but God is eternally in control.
• Be clear in your mission. (Joshua 1:2-4) God clearly defined Joshua’s mission: to lead the people into the promised land. What is your life’s mission? We are all called to glorify God, to love Him, and to reach out to others in His name. Our mission must be in context of our role as part of the church, aka the body of Christ; we mustn’t get caught up in the individualistic “all about me” mentality so prevalent in our society.
• Be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:5-6) God reassures Joshua numerous times, and urges him to be strong and courageous. He knows we will face difficulties, but He will not fail us. Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is doing what is right and having faith in spite of the fear we feel.
• Obey the Word of God. (Joshua 1:7-8) We must know the Word of God before we can obey it. We must meditate on it, soak it in. When a sudden heavy rain comes upon land that has been drought-stricken, the land cannot absorb much of that rain, but a slow and steady rain soaks in to the parched ground. It is the same way with our hearts: we must soak in the word a little at a time on a regular (daily) basis.
• Know that God will be with us every step of the way. (Joshua 1:9) He is bigger than any challenge we will ever face, and we CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

If we obey God, he promises prosperity. But the definition for the Hebrew word used for prosperity means "succeeding in life’s proper endeavors through obedience to God."