Gods Way To Succes

Happy New Year brothers and sisters. Not just a new year but a new decade. It seems like every new year begins with expectations. People are looking forward to starting fresh. The Newspapers and magazines know this and you will surely see headlines like Three Steps to Financial Success in 2010 Guaranteed" or How to Propser your business in 2010"

The new issue of Succes magazine gives the 5 most succesful people of 2009 and every one of them is the owner of a multi million dollar company. That is the Worlds Idea of Prosperity and success but is that God's?

About 3400 years ago there was a man named Joshua to whom God gave His recipe for Success, this is what he Told Him:

Read

In this passage God is seeking to encourage Joshua to go and Take the land that has been promised to them.

Moses is dead and so God reminds Joshua that He will not be alone in conquering the land and that He will never fail him or forsake him

God then sums up what Joshua needs to do if He will succeed in conquering and keeping the land of Caanan for the people of Israel

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Out of all things God could have said He said meditate on my word day and night, these are His words of encouragment before battle.

What would you have said? Sharpen your sword, train your men?

No! That is not Gods way.

God Gives Joshua and us 2 Keys to Success

1.Meditate on My Word

2.Obey My Word

This was God's plan to prosper Israel, Know my word hear my instruction and do it.

The Title of my message is " God's way to Success"

God keeps it really simple for us here , 2 simple steps to prosperity. 2 thijngs that will guarantee you a succesful Christian Life. 2 Things that you and I must do in order to Prosper. The first step is Meditating on His Word.

1. Meditate on His Word

God had given His servant Moses a clear explanation of what He expected from Israel His Chosen people.

In the Book of Deutoronomy Moses reminds the people of God's Law and of the cursings that will follow Disobedience and the blessings that will follow Obedience. He tells Them in Chpt 11:

Deu 11:17 And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

Deu 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

Deu 11:19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deu 11:20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

Deu 11:21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:16–21 KJV 1900

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Deut 11

God knew that as soon as the people would forget His law they would rebel against Him and serve other Gods

Notice He says if you don't keep these laws you will serve other gods and God's wrath shall be kindled against you ...

Therefore...or 'so that won't happen i want you to lay you up these my words in your heart, let them be fixed in your mind.

God's preventitive and safeguard for the Children of Israel and to Joshua here was that they would keep His Word in their hearts through Meditataion.

If God places such importance on it , What is meditation?

it's not something mystical only for monks and budhists that seems to be what most think about when they think about meditation.

Websters says: Meditate. To dwell on any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study; to turn or revolve any subject in the mind;

it is kind of like the way a cow chews it's food it chews and chews and chews and then swallows. The stomach then breaks down the food some and the cow brings it back up again and chews it some more to get every last bit of nutrition out of every bite.

A)More Than Just Reading

If I was to ask for a show of hands as to how many of you read your bibles every day most of you would probably put up your hands.

i noticed something interesting as I looked at some of the scriptures that encourage us to get into the word they rarely exhort us to just read the bible they most of the time will use words like meditate, let it dwell in you richly etc.

Now if i was to ask you how many of you meditate on the word every day like that cow chews on it's cud , there would probably be much less of you.

Anybody can read the bible but meditationn is much more time consuming and difficult, but also much more rewarding.

meditation takes concentration and contemplation and time, which is something that most of us don't take time for when we read the Bible.

to get God's word dwellling in You Richly you are going to need to do more than just read your 3 chapters a day.

Oswald Chambers says:

To concentrate is not to be absorbed or carried away with a subject; concentration is the sternest physical effort. There is nothing Spiritual about the brain. Control over associated ideas must be aquired, it is not a natural gift.

it will take practice brothers and sisters but it is worth it.

I like the way Donald Witney puts it: "Most information, even biblical information, flows through our minds like water through a sieve. There's usually so much information coming in each day and it comes in so quickly that we retain very little. But whenn we meditate, the truth remains and percolates. We can smell it's aroma more fully and taste it better. As it brews in our brain the insights come. The heart is heated by meditation and the cold truth is melted into passionate action."

A Puritan Pastor Thomas Watson said" The reason we come away so cold from reading the word, is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.

it is to be Hid in the heart, behold wondrous things out of thy law,

You can read the bible through and barely be convicted, but if you run a passage through your mind all day and ask questions about it you can't help but being convicted of duty, or sin in your life, or your lack of knowing God.

I would dare say that the reason many of you are having struggles in your life

the reason many of you are finding God's word to be dry and lifeless is not because you are not reading but rather because you are not " warming yourself at the fire of meditation"

So as God is telling Joshua and us How to Prosper I want you to notice something...

C) Meditation is Not Optional

God gives Clear Commands Listen to them

this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth

thou shalt mediate therein

God was not giving Joshua some nice suggestions here.

God knew the people that He was going to be up against, he knew their idolatry and wickedness and strength.

God knew that unless Joshua would have His law rooted and grounded in His Heart He was going to be overcome by the enemy.

So God tells Him in This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;

it needs to be always be on the tip of your tongue.

Your mouth should always be full of The Word, you should never get to the place where you have emptied your mouth of the Word of God.

You are not going to make it unless my word is meditated on and so I command you to do it.

Brothers and sisters did you know that Meditating on God's word is a command?

Did you realize that God considers meditation on His word important enough to make it non optional for all His Children not just for joshua?

we see this even in the N.T

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

If you want to prosper in your Christian Life YOU Must Meditate on Gods Words, God commands it and that should be enough.

God knows that unless you are filled with His worrd you will live a unsuccesful Christian life, that is why He commands You to fill yourslef full of His word.

So if God commands it when should we do it?

C) Meditation should Be Continuous

Day and Night?

Notice what God tells Joshua, it shall not depart and He is to be meditating Day and Night

Whenever you can day or night meditate on this word

Don't let a day go by without getting into this book with serious mediation.

when I see that phrase mediate therein day and night I get the picture that every spare moment you and I are to be bringing up His word and chewing on it some more, bringing it up and chewing some more.

our mind needs to be full of this book brothers and sisters! God knows how easy we forget so he tells Joshua nad us that in order for us to prosper in this life we are going to have to meditate on it day and night.

you will never get too much of God's word in your heart.

So if this is something that you should be doing continually how should you do it?

D) How To Meditate on Gods Word

There are so many things in this day and age that vy for our attention and affection. So many distractions and information that we can take in to our minds. We have Internet, News papers, bill boards, T.V, Radio, etc. We have access to more info than any other generation in all of History. I have read that 1 issue of the NY Times has more information from the outside world than Jonathon Edwards would have had available to Him in His lifetime.

Before I get into all the practicals i just want to say that What you read , What you think about, what you talk about, where you place your affections, will mold who you become!

Do you believe that?

God did that is why he commands it here in this passage.

What are you meditating on through out the day?

Where does your mind default to when you have some free time?

What are you filling your mind with? How have you been occupying your thoughts? You and i need to be practicing on purpose meditation on the word to keep our minds where they ought to be.

A Christian that continually struggles, I Can pretty much guarantee it is because what He thinks on. Faith comes by hearing and if you tell your self over and over again that you can't believe God or that God could never accept me after what I have done you will begin to believe that to be true and start living a discouraged, defeated life.

On the other hand if you were to take vs 5 that we just read and meditate on where God says " I will not fail thee nor forsake thee" you would begin to become convinced of that truth. You would probably start becoming rather bold, knowing that God is with you always. You would be more careful about sin etc.

God knows that so He commanded us to Read think about and talk about His Word.

Joshua had possibly only one book we have 66 books full of promises, life giving, life directing words, what a privlege we have.

It is called the sword of the Spirit, this is one of our main weapons against the enemy

Jesus used it to overcome temptation in the widerness

this was just after Jesus was baptized and God spoke from Heaven this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased

then the devil comes at Him tempting Him , trying to get Him to doubt His sonship; "If thou be the Son of God"

This is our weapon against the lies of the devil, if you don't have This Book in your heart you will be open to the attack of Satan and probably struggle quite a bit.

How?

if this is so important How do we do it?

the first thing that i will sayis that it will take time.

This will not come naturally brothers and sisters, it is hard work

You need to have a time set aside, I believe 1st thing in the morning is the best time for most, your mind will work the best in the morning.

take a small portion from what you read, maybe a few verses that stuck out to you and stop on them

some of these are from the book Spiritual Disciplines

ask questions 1.Is there any thing I need to believe 2. is there something I should praise, thank, or trust God for? 3. Is there something I should pray about for myself or others 4. Is there a sin that i need to repent of is there a duty I need to do? 5. What does this portion teach me about Jesus , God , the Spirit.

stop on every major word and think about it, muse on it eg:

I am the Way the truth and the life

Pray through the text

Repeat it emphasizing a different word every time.

memorize it so that you can do this when your mind is free during the day.

meditating on scripture will often cause you to memorize without even realizing it. It will deal with the problem of forgetting rather quickly, how can you forget something that is on your mind all day!

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Have that attitude

You and I need to be filling oursleves full of Gods thoughts! His ways, His Glory revealed to us in this book. We need to be immerrsed and washed in this book completley!

meditation upon God's words will cause us to start thinking like He does, acting like He does and start looking like Christ.

don't give up, you will reap if you give yourself to meditating on this book

(As important as Meditation upon God's word is to finding success, meditation is not an end just a means to an end. So what is God's intention?)

2. Obey

.... that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein.

Be Strong and very courageous in vs 7 and 8 why and how?

Why was God so adamant on reminding Joshua to be of good courage and to be strong. Because it was going to take a lot of courage and strength to obey God and His Laws in such a wicked land. For Him to compromise would blaspheme God's name and lead the children of Israel into Idolatry.

It was going to take great courage to fight and cionquer their enemies, remember , they were giants.

We too will need courage and strength if we will obey God in the land that we live in.

The reason that God gives Joshua for meditating in the law is not so that He would become more knowledgeable, or so that he would be a better teacher, or so that people would think he was spiritual. It was so that He would obey it!

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

notice what this blessed man does. He looks into this law of liberty, continues in it, meditates on it day and night, therefore He doesn't forget and there fore He does it, he obeys it. This is the purpose

A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

what you treasure in your heart will come out

the word of God is good treasure if you keep it in your heart it will come out in obedience to it.

God knew that if Joshua would Obey the 1st part ( Meditation) the second would follow. The more you think on something the more it becomes a part of you and the more likely that you will act on it.

Meditation is not an end Obedience is

God wanted an obedient people and meditation on His law He knew would produce results

But we are not under the Law! No we are not that's right but we are required to Obey, listen to Jesus...

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

What were they to teach their disciples to observe? What did Jesus command them?

I think I have shared this here before but There are 1050 commands in the New Testament that we are to obey. But don't feel burdened now remember these are not for salvation but rather because of Salvation.

If you are saved here this morning it will be your earnest desire to meditate on these and do them with all your heart and remember....

His commands are not grievous!

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

When I say New Testament Commands it probably puts Law into your mind

how about calling them New Testament Blessings!

If you keep them you will be blessed, you will find success as we will see a little later.

God wants a people that will Obey Him so that all will look on and glorify HIM!

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

So what are some of those 1050?

Read them:

1. Be exceeding glad ()

2. Be reconciled to a brother ()

3. Be perfect (; )

4. Be wise as serpents ()

5. Be harmless as doves ()

6. Be ready for Christ's coming (; )

7. Be content with your wages (

1. Ask and ye shall receive ()

1. Do good to them that hate you (; )

2. Do to others what you expect of them (; )

3. Do violence to no man ()

try meditating on some of these all day and see what happens.

Imagine meditating on Soul winning for a week, every free moment your mind goes to soul winning, your meditating on how they did it in Acts, the future home of the sinner, the rewards in winning a soul, it is on your mind all day every day for a week, how can I speak to a muslim? How can I speak to people more Christlike, your asking questions from every angle. What do you think would happen?

I think you might win some souls. At the very least you would be starting conversations at every opportunity, you would probably start to become more bold etc.

Imagine doing the same thing in for husbands and wives.

my wife and I have both been reading books on husbands and wives that are obviously full of verses pertaining to husbands and wives and it makes you conscious of the way that you act toward each other and is really helping us.

Bring up your childrren in thenuture and admonition of the Lord.

you know this is exavtly what happen when we have a week of meetings, we get motivated to obedience in a certain area because of what we have been hearing from the pulpit for a week and then 2 weeks later we begin to slack because we haven't allowed it to sink deep enough into the treasure of our hearts so it stops coming out.

i) Choose an Area That You need to Work on Obey Until it Becomes a Holy Habit

Where is your struggle? What is your battle?

Lack of Self Control and Discipline?

Lack of burden for the lost?

Lack of Prayer

Lack of Zeal , Joy and Love for the Lord?

Find some passages on that and mediate on them every day all day, memorize them be consumed in them , believe, them , obey them, pray about them and watch as God gives you the victory!

being a husband? Child training? Soul winning?

I dare you to mediate on all the bible says about one of these and seek to obey what you meditate on and you will begin to prosper.

Practical:

Pick one thing that stick out in your reading time and seek to obey that today.

1 Specific thing you will do to apply the scripture that you read, or from the message you heard.

Let me give you an example : Let's say you read Pray without ceasing.

well you meditate on that verse and commit to the Lord and say today you asked me to pray without ceasing so that is what I will do!

And so you go about your day continually bringing yourself have an attitude of prayer throughout the day. You pray about everything, little 5 second prayers in your head all day long.

or let's say you read rejoice evermore, Lord! I will obey that verse today, I will rejoice!

choose a theme for a month or a few weeks until that new obedience becomes a habit.

The reason many of you are not growing in grace and Christian maturity is because you are not applying the scripture to your life.The reason many don't come to more truth is because God won't reveal more until they Obey what they know.

Mediate and Obey even when it is difficult, persevere in this don't give up, you will eventually prosper, God promises!

Doing this will make you a fanatic

you will stick out like a sore thumb if you obey this book

I never said Obedience would be easy, sometimes it is uncomfortable, talking to that muslim clerk behind the till can be fearful and awkward but it is a lot better than a seared conscience.

So what will happen if you and I will take God seriously and actually start to meditate on His word and Obey it?

3. You Will Find Good Success

.....for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

A) More than Physical Prosperity

B) You are as Prosperous as you want to be

i) THOU shalt MAKE THY WAY prosperous

C) Your "Way" will Become properous

The Path that you walk , the life that you live will be marked by prosperity

D) Let Prosperity Motivate You

God here promises Joshua prosperity and good success under 2 conditions, meditation and obedience to the book of the Law

for Joshua God had promised all the land of Caanan as their possesion if he would keep before him and the people of Israel His Law.

This prosperity and good succes were mainly physical in the Old Testament law like if they would obey God would bless their crop, their women would have lots of healthy children, they would be healthy it truly was a prosperity gospel in the O.T.

Of course God did give the obedient spiritual blessings also in the O.T as we see even in the next verse wher He promises Joshua His presence, and as we see in David who truly Loved God and to be in His presence. but for the most part they were physical in the Old Covenant!

Your prosperity is in your hands!

God says "then THOU shalt make thy way prosperous" Joshua meditating and doing the word of God would make His way prosperous!

You are as Spiritual as you wan't to be.

your marriage is as strong as you want it to be, your children are as trained as you want them to be, you are as compassionate as you choose to be

you are making your ownn way!

Only You will decide how Holy you become, nothing or no one else. And it will all depend on where you place your affectionn and what you do with it.

What Kind of Prosperity?

The Charasmatics love verses like this they claim health weath and prosperity is promised to them here

the problem is that the condition for getting this prosperity is obedience to the word, so if they want prosperity they will have to give to Him that asks, and give to needy saints

the bible also calls husbands to lay down their lives for their wives, and us to do the same for each other

also we are commanded to be content with food and clothing

Physical prosperity is not the promise for the N.T Believer.

Prosperity in the New Testment is Christ likeness.

basically we could retranslate the verse and say This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt be conformed into the image of Christ

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Jesus was the most prosperous man that ever lived!

Why?

Because He was the most obedient man that ever lived.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Obedient Christians are prosperous Christians

Obedient Christians will be conformed into the image of Christ, now that is prosperity! That is good success

meditating on and obeying the commands that you read will make you prosper spiritually!

Do you wonder sometimes why you are not growing as quickly as you would like?

This is why?

How will this make our way prosperous?

By giving Wisdom when we need it. Everyday difficulties and problems will be easy to overcome if you are full of His word

Notice it says way, that means life, the path you walk will become prosperous.

You will be more and more conformed into the image of Christ

this is God ultimate goal and where true success is found for the Christian

He shall be like a tree

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

fruitful in all you do

a meditating on the word obedient Christian will be a fruitful Christian

But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

The doer of the word is happy and blessed!

It is not wrong to be motivated to obey God because of what you will recieve in return

God constantly uses reward as initiative in the Bible, is an example of this

There are many opportunities that we have to get success and properity in this world, you see it on the magazine covers... 10 ways to ensure success in your buisness, How Bill Gates became a billionaire, and How you can to.

Cast those things aside, those are not true success

True success is when people start noticing that you are becoming more Christ Like.

Conclusion

Are You Prospering?

We all have need and we will until Christ returns, my question is what are you doing about them?

Brothers and sisters where are you lacking?

Where is your struggle?

Where do you need succes and victory?

What area of your life has God been speaking to you about?

Fill yourself full of His Word and Obey it and God says that you WILL PROSPER!!

You will get the victory!

You will be filled with faith

You will find strength.

You will Overcome!

Joshua was up against armies and Giants in Caanan Land and by the promise of God and Obedience to this command He got the victory!

The Battle is a sure victory if you will fill your self full of God's Word and Do it.

Whatever your battle, whatever your besetting sin, God has answers for you in here, meditate on it and do it and you will get the victory!

Illustration

That man was convinced of His need for God's word.

Are You?

Brothers and sisters, listen...

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. "

Pray