Success God's Way

Success God's Way
Dr. Charles Stanley

Joshua 1:5-9

A meaningful study of success must start with a proper definition. The world uses words like wealth, fame, and position to describe the good life. While those are types of achievement, true success means becoming the person God has called you to be and reaching the goals He helps you set.

God wrote the Book on triumphant living. He has woven His principles into the lives of saints, laid them out in Proverbs, and placed them on the lips of prophets and apostles. He is so thorough on this subject that no one has ever devised a better system. Plenty of people have tried to sell their own brand of success. But if you read their books, you'll notice something interesting: many of those authors have borrowed biblical standards, often unknowingly.

Even if a person reads every success book available, results are not guaranteed. In fact, the only sure way to live victoriously is God's way. The Lord stressed to Joshua the importance of remaining within His will. As long as Israel's new leader was abiding by scriptural precepts, he would be triumphant, as God intended. We can read a lot of books about living well, eating healthy, getting out of debt, climbing the corporate ladder, raising responsible kids, etc. Or we can follow the one Book that provides principles for success in all of those areas.

Some people look as if they're doing well on their own, but underneath is soul-deep turmoil. In contrast, God not only sets up believers for success; He holds them safely in His hand. When we are obedient to Him, even if we fail in the world's eyes,
we still have joy, peace, and contentment.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.





Regaining Your Cutting Edge
with Bayless Conley

Over the next several devotionals, I want to focus your attention on something that affects every Christian at one time or another: Losing our spiritual edge.

God wants us to stay spiritually sharp. Consider Ecclesiastes 10:10,

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success.

God is using this analogy to illustrate a very important truth: If you lose your edge spiritually, you lose your effectiveness as well.

Maybe you feel that way today. Though you are exerting strenuous effort, you are making little progress in your spiritual life. God wants you to go forward. He wants you to progress and not become stagnant in your spiritual life.

I have a friend whose father was a logger many years ago. It was a time when they cut all the timber by hand with just an ax.

One day his father shared about the way he would operate. After he chopped down a tree, he would sit on the stump of the tree he had just chopped down, take out a file he kept on his belt, and he would sharpen the edge of the ax. He would sit there until the ax was very sharp again, then he would go after the next tree.

Each time he chopped down a tree he would do exactly the same thing. But he said most of the other guys didt do that. They just wanted to keep going, never stopping to sharpen their axes.

Without fail, he said, he always got more done than they did, and he used a lot less effort. They had to exercise more strength, yet they got less done.

Over the next several days, we will look at what it takes to regain that spiritual edge.

Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to Connect with God.

All Things Work Together for Good
Pastor Adrian Rogers

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

I read about a farmer who had a big brush pile of debris that he was going to burn. He noticed that a little bird had built a nest in that brush pile, so he destroyed the nest. When he came back days later, he found the bird rebuilding the nest. The farmer destroyed the nest again. But the bird built again, and again the farmer destroyed it. Finally, the little bird gave up.

I can just imagine that little bird going home and saying to his family, "I just don't know why all our good plans of building a home are not working."

Well, there was an unseen hand that was doing something that the bird may have thought was bad, but was really good.

Read Romans 8:28 again. Notice that the verse doesn't say all things are good. All things are not good. There are some terrible things in this world. The point is that only God is good! He alone can work all things together for your good.

For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org.




Steven Curtis Chapman - I will trust You