Tag Archives: bible

Are You Successful?

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This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8, NKJV

Success: When you take a glance back over your life, would you describe it at this point in time as successful? If so, what are the criteria you are using to make that assessment? What, exactly, is success, and what, exactly, are the determining factors which define clearly the distinction between success and failure?

Some might suggest that success is determined by how much money you have stored away. Others might say that success is determined by the house you live in, or the community in which you live, or the car you drive, or the clothes you wear, or any of a multitude of other outward factors that would cause you, or others, to view yourself as being a success.

Still others might think of success in terms of the job you have, or the status you have attained on the job. Then there are those who might think of success as being determined by the number of diplomas/degrees you have displayed prominently on the walls of your office.

The list of definitive factors one might use in determining personal success is veritably endless. What are the factors you use to determine your own level of success? Do any of the ones I have mentioned resonate with you, or would you add others to your list? How do you go about determining your own level of success or failure?

The Bible offers only one definitive, determining factor. Read again the verse quoted at the beginning of this post. For a believer in Jesus Christ who is striving to live his/her life for the Lord, the foundational principle upon which we should determine success or failure is how we live. Our lives should be lived by meditating on the Word of God day and night, and by living true to the principles, precepts, statutes, and directives we find in that Word.

All of those outward factors mentioned earlier in this post are simply man-made factors which have nothing to do with true, Biblical success. So I will pose my original question again: Do you view yourself as being successful at this point in your life? Are you meditating on the Word of God daily? Are you striving to live by the teachings of that Word? When you look at yourself in the mirror of God’s Word do you see the reflection of someone who is striving to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you apply the teachings of His Word to your daily life? Do others see the reality of a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ in your demeanor, your actions, your attitude, or do they see one who professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but whose life bears no testimony to that profession?

True success is based on that one factor, and that alone. We should weigh our personal level of success on the scales of commitment to the Bible’s assessment, and not any man-made factors which can change with the shifting of the winds of life. A steady diet of God’s Word, and the commitment to never deviate from the teachings of that Word, will give the only sure assessment of our success.

Our world today desperately needs to see that kind of commitment. Will you commit yourself to being a success in God’s eyes, or will you live your life seeking success as determined by others?

Until next time:

Blessings

Family – God’s Design

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Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 5:22, 25; 6:1

These verses describe in beautiful detail God’s intent for the family (take time to read the entire passage, Ephesians 5:22-6:4, to see how majestic His design for the family truly is.) In our present day these verses have been maligned and abused, misinterpreted and viciously attacked by those who misunderstand God’s original intent for the family structure.

The family is God’s very first institution among the human family. As a matter of fact, all other human institutions are built on the foundation of the family structure as designed by God. When the family is strong, as designed by God, all other institutions will be strong. However, when the family structure begins to erode and crumble, all other institutions follow along.

In the verses quoted above, the apostle Paul speaks about the different members of the family: wife, husband, and children. The proper understanding and implementation of the guidelines given in this passage are imperative for the family to operate successfully. And, in the opinion of this writer, if they are understood and obeyed, the family will be strong and successful.

Let’s briefly visit each of the three family members mentioned in this passage. Paul first addresses the wife by saying that she should be submissive to her husband. He then gives an explanatory word by stating that “the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church.” The wife is called upon to submit to her husband’s authority because this is God’s design. This design was thwarted somewhat in the Garden of Eden when Eve was deceived by the serpent, which ultimately led to her setting her sights on being head of Adam. The perfect design of God was damaged by the sinful disobedience, first of Eve, and followed by Adam.

Paul is thus calling us back to God’s original design: husband is head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. Therefore, wives are called upon to submit to the headship of their husbands. However, there is a precursor to this command to the wife. Let’s look back at the verses leading up to this command:

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:17-21, NKJV (emphasis added)

Before Paul admonishes the wife to be submissive to her husband, he instructs us to be submitted to one another. It should be a spirit of mutual submissiveness. Then, in that state of mutual respect Paul instructs the wife to submit to the headship of the husband because this is God’s design.

But wait! Before we allow ourselves to get bent out of shape because of this heavy burden placed upon the wife, let’s look at the command given to the husband: “Love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.” I have said this in every marriage retreat Teresa and I have led through the past quarter of a century: husbands, if you love your wife like that you will never have a disrespectful wife. Wives relish that kind of love and will respond to it with willing submission.

The husband/wife relationship should be one with mutual respect for one another in the love of Christ. The only way that is possible is for both to be in a state of submission to the Lord over them as individuals as well as a couple.

Finally, Paul instructs the children to obey their parents. The fall in the garden affected all of humanity. In my opinion this is seen graphically in the modern state of the family. Children are disrespectful to parents, which leads them to be disrespectful to everyone else. They don’t respect teachers, or law enforcement, or employers, or, well, anyone. This is mainly because they are not taught to be respectful in the home, by their parents. Rather, in many cases, they are taught just the opposite.

But Paul says that it is right for children to obey their parents. This is God’s design. And parents should go to extreme measures to teach their children the importance of being respectful of others.

Sadly, in our modern world, we are seeing the majesty of God’s design for the family turned on its head. Often, we see marriages in which there is no mutual submission, there is no making melody in our hearts, because their is no song in the relationship. Husbands and wives go their own ways, moving further and further apart because of the demands of life. Children are oftentimes left to fend for themselves because the parents are too busy to invest time and energy in them. The family structure is deteriorating due to the lack of respect for God’s design and instruction.

And now, to show how the attacks of Satan are still aimed largely at the family structure, he has called into question everything the Bible teaches about God’s design for the family. Men and women living together outside of marriage; premarital sex; men living with men; women living with women. God’s intent and purpose for the family is being eroded more and more by the moment. Why? Because as a society we have given ourselves over to the desires of the flesh rather than to the teachings of Scripture.

For those of us who are striving to live by the teachings of God’s word, let’s be quick to share His amazing love, grace and forgiveness to those who are living outside the parameters of His instruction. Let’s remember where God has brought us from, so that we might be able to be God’s vehicle of grace to others. As we have received, let us be quick to give.

Until next time:

Blessings!

Passing a New Way

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There shall be a space between you and it [the Ark of the Covenant], about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.

Joshua 3:4, NKJV, emphasis added

This passage of Scripture amazes me every time I read it. The scene is the banks of the Jordan river. The characters of the story are Joshua and the masses of Israel. They have just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness of Sinai. Moses, their leader for all those 40 years, is now dead. Joshua has been commissioned to be Moses’ successor, and his first major assignment is to lead the masses across the Jordan, which, by the way, is at flood stage.

So what does Joshua instruct the people to do? Stay back! Keep the Ark in clear sight, and don’t do anything until you see what the priests carrying the Ark do. In essence, wait for God’s guidance. Wait for God to show the way. Wait for clear direction from God. Don’t act presumptuously.

Earlier in the book of Joshua, God had given Joshua the following instructions:

This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8, NKJV

Joshua was instructed to stay in the Word of God – to meditate in it day and night. It would result in Joshua and the people experiencing prosperity and success. Their source of instruction, which would lead to their experiencing God’s best, would be found in God’s Word.

As we move into a new year, we are passing a way that we have never been before. We are like the Israelites preparing to go across the Jordan into the promised land, having no idea what awaited them there. They would soon discover that in passing this new way they would encounter blessing and prosperity, but they would also encounter hardship and adversity. Enemies were on the other side of the river. Obstacles of varying degrees of difficulty would be their lot. They were facing uncertainty on every hand.

So how were they to know what to do? They were to keep their eyes on the Ark, which represented the very presence of God. As we pass from 2023 into 2024, in this present cultural climate of discarding the teachings of Scripture and embracing the shifting sands of cultural relativism, we need to constantly remind ourselves that we need, we MUST, keep our eyes on the Word of God. It is only then that we will have the necessary instructions in how to face the uncertainties that lie ahead, and to maneuver through the morass of the current liberal fight against the truths of Scripture.

Joshua and the Israelites were about to enter a land where the people worshiped other gods. They were not to embrace the teachings of those religious systems, nor were they to try to synchronize the worship of God with the worship of those false gods. So how are they to know the difference? They were to keep their eyes on the teachings of God. They were to meditate in His Word day and night. Then they would experience the manifold blessings of God.

And, one final word, we must remember that success and prosperity from the Biblical standpoint is not about good health and financial prosperity. It is about submitting ourselves to the will of the Father, and accepting whatever comes our way as His plan for us. He will lead us, just as He did the Israelites as they crossed the Jordan into the promised land. It would be a land flowing with milk and honey, but it would also be a land filled with obstacles that stood in the way of attaining those blessings. All of it was part of God’s plan.

As we prepare to enter 2024, as we prepare to pass a way we have never been before, let’s keep God’s word, and a desire for God’s will, ever before us. And let us embrace every eventuality in the coming year as opportunities to bear witness to His glory. Let’s let our light shine before others so that God might receive the glory. And let us seek His will above and beyond all else. It is then that we will prosper and have good success. I pray that each of us will experience His grace, His goodness, and His endurance for the adventures and the challenges that lie ahead in this new year.

Until next time:

Blessings!