Focus: Good Success

Text: Josh.1:8

"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."

Man was built and destined to succeed in all fields of endeavor. Failure is unacceptable. It is a sign that something is not right somewhere.

God gave Joshua a job to do, and it is in doing that job that success is achieved. Failure only happens when the God-given job is not done.

Eugene Peterson expresses it well enough where he said that everyone has been given something to do that shows who God is. The question each of us should ask ourselves is: what is God calling me to do for Him on earth? What is my divine vocation? 

We all have our individual occupations, but until we find our divinely designed vocation, our occupations are eternally meaningless.

Indeed, we are to use our occupations to serve and fulfill our calling or vocation, not the other way round.

God charted Joshua's course of destiny. He marked him out for a good cause and a great work. He gave his life's blueprint and his job description. Joshua had his job well cut out for him by his God. Interestingly, God has done the same for all of us. He has cut out each person's job for Him. We all have a job to do with God and for God, and if we fail to do it, we are doomed. Paul declares, "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1Cor.6:20). In the next chapter, he says, "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men" (1Cor.7:23). 

God owns us both by creation and redemption. He bought us from the slave market of sin, and as our maker and master, God dictates what we do and how we should live.

In Ephesians 4:1 Paul exhorts us, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." We hear the voice of God calling us, and we embrace and respond to it by walking in line and in tune with God. We align ourselves with His heartbeat and do His behests. We walk to God, walk in His paths, walk with Him, and work together with Him.

We achieve good success by doing what God says, not by public opinion or societal norms. True success is defined by God. If God doesn't approve of your success, then you are a failure. We must succeed God's way, not the world's way. We must tread the path of the Word and stay on track to achieve good success.

Achievers of good success begin, continue, and end with God. Achievers of good success are goal-setters and go-getters. They set goals and passionately pursue them until good success is achieved. Also, achievers of good success develop guts. In this world, we need great guts to succeed, because there are odds to conquer and obstacles to overcome. In this world, determination is the language of success.

I say to you today: embrace God, set goals, and develop guts. With God, goals and guts, good success is achievable, and with them, possibilities abound. The Scripture of truth is the bedrock of true success. Good success is success according to God - success according to Scripture. I pray for you to experience good success in this life - success that is guided by the Word, inspired and stirred by the Spirit, and motivated by eternity.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter