How to define success

Hi!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Thanks for your prayers for my dad. He is going to have a heart procedure done this Thursday that hopefully will help get him back to feeling better. Please pray for the Dr’s to be able to solve this mystery of what has been going on with him. Pray for my mom as she nurses him back to help. Pray for me not to be anxious as I await the news as I am in Red Cloud. My sister Beth will be with my folks during the procedure and will help over the weekend if they need extra help.

I bought a new book when I was in Colorado a few weeks ago and I’m just getting into it but wanted to share a few things I have already gleaned from it. The book is “Following God with All Your Heart” by Elizabeth George. She is going through Joshua 1:8-9 as she defines what success is from God’s standpoint. One if the first quotes she begins with is by Martin Luther he says, “He who walks according to God’s Word acts wisely and happily, but he who goes according to his own head acts unwisely and to no profit.”

Elizabeth goes on to say “To move forward in your desire to follow God with all your heart, emulate Joshua’s devotion. He loved God, and he loved the book of the law. In Joshua is a very straight forward example of how you can achieve success God’s way. The Lord is showing you where you can find the courage and hope of victory and the wisdom necessary for fulfilling responsibilities. Joshua’s faithfulness to God’s careful instructions reveals the way. If you love God, follow Him, and obey His holy Word, you will be successful in the eyes of God—and that’s all that truly matters.

A believer grows in the knowledge of God and His word.
A believer hides God’s Word in their heart.
A believer carefully thinks on God’s word at all times and in all situations.
A believer carries out God’s word through obedience.

How can you get this success formula operating for you?

Reexamine you life according to the three key components to success; your heart for God’s word, your heart for thinking on God’s word, and your heart for obeying God’s word.

Relinquish how you may have defined success in the past and allow God to redesign your values.

Reflect on your level of obedience. Have you been as careful as you should be in doing what the Bible says?

Realign your practices and values to demonstrate the perspective and level of obedience God desires.

Realize the impact of your obedience. What is God asking you to do? Obeying makes a huge difference, beyond what you can think of or dream of.

Imagine what the world would be like if…

Noah had said, “I don’t do boats.”
David had said, “I don’t do Goliaths.”
Mary had said, “I don’t do virgin births.”
John the Baptist had said, “I don’t do baptisms.”
Paul had said, “I don’t do letters.”
Jesus had said, “I don’t do crosses.”

And what if Joshua had said, “I don’t cross Jordans.”

I pray this gives all of us much to think about as we live for Christ and that we will each be challenged to Live for Jesus more daily in every area of our lives.

Blessings,

Deb