Everyone wants their life to be a success. But what exactly do we mean when we say we want to be successful? For many people success is defined by how much wealth one has; for others it is about popularity; and still for others, it is about respect.
Nothing is wrong with any of the above ideologies of success, and to some degree some of each will be present in the lives of truly successful people, but Success, true success can only be known in relation to one’s purpose.
To be successful has a lot to do with the purpose of your life. If, for example, Tom was created to be doctor and instead he became a banker who made lots of money, his life would not be a success. He might appear successful in the eyes of many, but the truth is Tom failed because his God-given purpose was to be a doctor not a banker. Success must be seen in relation to one’s purpose.
A truly successful person is one who has accomplished all that the Lord ordained on his/her life. That is true success. Anything short of that is actually failure.
The Lord wants his people to be successful. He wants us to accomplish all that he has created us to do. And so he actually gives us the formula for success. Look at what he says:
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8)
The Lord spoke to Joshua when he was taking over leadership after the mighty man of God - Moses. Joshua was given God’s formula for success in three steps:
Speak God’s Word
Think God’s Word
Obey God’s Word.
These three steps are the basics for being successful.
Speak God’s Word.
The first instruction Joshua was told from this verse was not to let God’s Word depart from his mouth. Joshua was to declare God’s Word at all times when he spoke. He wasn’t to speak his own thoughts or the popular worldview of his day - he was to declare God’s Word all the days of his life.
All the successful people in the Bible lived by this principle. They understood that a lot of views are present in the world, but there was only one correct view - God’s view. And they knew that God’s View as seen in His Word, was true, blameless and accurate.
God wanted Joshua to watch his words. He wanted him to realize that what he declared carried authority to direct his life and so he commanded him to declare God’s truth. Look at what the Word of God says about what comes out of our mouth:
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).
From the fruit of his lips a man will enjoy good things, but the desire of the faithless is violence (Proverbs 13:2).
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin (Proverbs 13:3).
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress
(Proverbs 21:23).
For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech (1 Peter 3:10).
Look at the power of the tongue! From God’s perspective, the tongue plays a powerful role in our success. It’s not about speaking positive words (even though that’s good), it’s about speaking God’s Word.
From God’s point of view, good success would only come after one has trained his mouth to speak His Word!
Successful people, truly successful people have a way of speaking. They watch what comes out of their mouths. They don’t declare the world’s world-views, they declare God’s truth. They don’t speak death over their lives when things are not working out - they declare God’s truth.
Watch your mouth! Watch what you allow your lips to utter!
Always declare God’s Word over your life for true success.
Think God’s Word
Sometimes we can say the right things but our hearts don’t believe the things we say. God wants our words to be a true reflection of our hearts. We believe the truth after we meditate on it. Meditation involves thinking. It’s one thing for us to hear God’s Word - it’s another thing for us to make sure we understand it and can apply it to our lives. That’s where meditation comes in. Understanding comes after meditation. And the aim of meditation is for God’s Word to control our thought life - and in effect our life.
Many people fail because of their inner thoughts. They allow negative, fearful and doubtful thoughts to dominate their thinking and the only result one can get with that type of thinking is failure.
Successful people, truly successful people train their minds to think in a particular manner. Training our minds involves immersing our minds in godly literature over and over again. Read the Bible; read good books; and think on that which is godly.
Obey God’s Word.
Successful people, truly successful people are DOERS. They don’t just speak and think - they DO. The Lord wants us to be truly successful and so he tells us to be careful to obey what He says. Without obedience, we will always be in the realm of failure. What He says we must DO.
If the Lord has placed a particular business idea upon your heart - find out all you can, speak to as many people as you can, read all you can but don’t forget - DO the business! Start it and get moving. If the Lord has placed a particular ministry idea upon your heart; Find out all you can, ask the right questions, pray about it, but don’t forget to START IT AND get moving.
All the successful people in God’s Word were DOERS. They understood that obedience to the Lord is what it takes to get God’s results.
Never lose sight of DOING what the Word Says. Don’t get caught up with speaking and not DOING; Don’t think and then stop there. DO! Yes, we ought to be careful, but the Lord says be careful to OBEY - To DO My Word!!!
As long as these three steps are present in our walk in an increasing measure, the Lord promises that we will be successful .......... truly successful.
