Text: Joshua 1:8-9
8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Topic: Success
Title: The Truths of Success
1. Success is knowing and doing God’s will (v.8). Verse 8 speaks to us directly that success can be achieved by knowing God’s word and applying it. This is a promise that we see in the passage.
- It is important to know God’s will. The Bible says, we have to meditate on it day and night. Many of us were not successful because the first step for success has been neglected. We never had a time meditating the Bible. If meditating is undone, how then can we work on the things written in it?
- Remember that having a full grip in the word of God is having a sword of the Spirit?
- How can we become successful without God?
- God is the giver and provider of every money in our pocket. God is the owner of every business transactions that we do. That is why I urged every one of us to honor God above all. Meditate on His word and do what it says.
- If we can spend time for recreation, we can definitely spend time with God. If we can spend time with “workout” we can definitely spend time with God. If we can spend time with our businesses, we can definitely spend time with God.
- Brothers and sisters true success, is honoring God first and above all else in our lives.
- But why is it that there are people who were successful but not sons and daughters of God? The next point will answer that.
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SIDEBAR
How do we know God’s will? _________________________________
The 5 Spiritual Disciplines will help you know God’s will.
1. Prayer
2. Fasting
3. Meditation
4. Solitude
5. Journaling
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2. Success is putting human standard to God’s standard (v.8). Human standard is different from God’s standard; this is the answer to the question that we left in the first point. It is a common belief that good people become successful and bad people cannot be successful. But if we will try to see our world today, this is not true at all times. Even Solomon with all his wisdom and accomplishments, admitted that everything is meaningless when it is apart from God (Ecclesiastes 1).
- True success is not measured by how much we’ve got in our lives but how we lived in the eyes of God. Becoming righteous is not an insurance to have a beautiful and wonderful life, but an insurance that we are pleasing God.
- Successful worship is not measured on how well we play the instruments; it is how well we are in the eyes of God. For what we are doing is all meaningless unless our hearts is not inclined with God. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (Luke 9:25).
- This is the reason why is it necessary to follow God’s standard. So that later we will not be like Solomon the greatest and wisest king who ever lived in Israel, looking back in his life which is full of accomplishments, saying, “Everything is meaningless”.
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SIDEBAR
The story of Solomon tells us lots things. And of one its lessons is the idea of success. Success is not measured by things that we see, but it is measured by things that God sees.
The Lighthouse Christian Ministry tries its best to help you achieve true success.
We aim to be a guiding light towards the lost and help them bring nearer to God.
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3. Success is motivated by God’s standard and not by human standard (v.8). Following God’s standard is the true motivation of success. Many Christians nowadays work hard for them to gain things and be called successful. Some work for their prospective husbands and wives. Some work so that they may have things that others don’t have, maybe MP4, Plasma Display TV, Digital Camera, Video Camera, Laptops, Palm Pilot (PDA), Lazy boy, chair, car, etc. Name anything you want and I’m sure almost everybody wants them.
- We are not saying having all of them is wrong, but having them as your motivation is wrong. They will be useless when time comes in your eyes. Your eyes will never be satisfied having them, maybe for a while, but not forever.
- How much did it cost you upgrading your cell phones while others never had it? I’m not saying its wrong, but what I want you to do is pause for a while and rethink where did your money go after continues upgrades of your cell phones while other people never experienced to see the so-called telephone?
- The idea is, most of the time we become selfish always thinking of our own, sealing our mind with the phrase “I need that!” without even thinking on how to please God with that equipment. Many people want to go abroad leaving for them to have a better life but never thought how they can help in the ministry. Some thought of that for a while, but when they started receiving salary, they forgot all the promises they made for mission support.
- Mark 9:33-37 talks about the argument of the disciples about who is the greatest among them. They have been caught up of thinking about their own personal success, but they were embarrassed when Jesus answered them who is the greatest.
- Is there anyone here who can ever say he is the greatest?
- All of these things are reminders that we have to put God above all things, including our goals and plans.
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SIDEBAR
The Lighthouse Christian Ministry is located in Ormoc City, Leyte
Things that we do:
1. Need meeting - Evangelism.
2. Counseling
3. Conducting Seminars concerning different issues like Love, Parenting, Exposition of what hell looks like etc. and many more to come.
4. We also train leaders. Currently we are supporting and training pastors in their pastoral ministries.
I encourage you who are reading this mini-ebook to become a part of our ministries. “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.” How to be a part of our ministries
Fact: Region 8 –Leyte, Samar and Biliran – is the LEAST Evangelize province in the Philippines. We are left alone for a long time fighting the spiritual war in this area. I believe it is now the time for you to join us and all together win the war in Leyte. Be with us! Join us!!!
For additional information please email me: v_olaer@yahoo.com
Your acceptance to the call matters a lot!
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4. Success is defined by our faithfulness to God (v.8) – Our true success is in our faithfulness to God. Are we faithful to God after giving us all our needs in life?
- Many of us are unfaithful to God
- We can never claim to be successful while we are a failure in God’s eyes.
- The true measurement of success is how well we are in God’s eyes.
- Prophet Jeremiah speaks about the plans of God to people. He warned even those ruling government during his time. They did not believe him. But his faithfulness in God’s assignment for Him made him successful.
- Success should never be measured by popularity or fame, or even fortunes, for all of these are temporal.
Can we really say we are successful?
