Success

God’s Program for Success

Joshua 1:6-8

Introduction: Success is a promise. Success is conditional. God has outlined the conditions for success.

I. Strength – Be Strong

A. (Ephesians 6:10) "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

B. An oak is not felled at one stroke

C. (2 Samuel 22:33) "God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way perfect."

D. (Psalms 62:7) "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God."

E. (Psalms 73:26) "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

F. (Psalms 84:5-7) "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. {6} Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. {7} They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God."

G. (Isaiah 40:31) "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

II. Courage – and of a Good Courage

A. (Psalms 31:24) "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."

B. (Psalms 27:14) "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

C. (2 Samuel 10:12) "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good."

D. The editor of Parade magazine, Walter Anderson, has written a book called Courage Is a Three Letter Word. His message is clear and simple. Real courage means saying "yes" to life instead of backing down when we face adversity. He says that courage is acting with fear, not without it. Furthermore, in a recent interview in the Grand Rapids Press, he said, "Of all the successful people I’ve known and written about in the book, it’s not just that they’ve learned to live with anxiety or to cope with anxiety, they’ve learned to live better because of anxiety." Then he described a public figure he felt had shown great character and courage because he had said "yes" to life after being humiliated and embarrassed before the entire country.

E. No one could say that George Smith didn’t have courage. A daring jet test pilot in the 1950’s, back when the sound barrier was first being broken, he could face anything -- until he had to bail out of a jet going 805 miles per hour (Guideposts 1958). Though he survived, he was afraid of ever flying again. Then, during his hospital stay, a nurse gave him an antidote to fear. He took her words to heart: "Courage," she said, "is knowing the worst -- and discovering that, in God’s world, the very worst can’t really hurt you."

III. Obedience – observe to do all

A. (Deuteronomy 11:26-28) "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; {27} A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: {28} And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known."

B. (John 14:15) "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

C. The Master’s will, for this I pray, Whatever it may be!

I do not want to miss Your best; Reveal it, Lord, to me.

My own desires may lead me wrong, I must consult my God;

His counsel will be justified, When all the way I’ve trod.

O soul of mine, delight in Him! His Word discern, obey!

The plan you seek to know will then unfold from day to day.

We do not live our lives alone: If I am in God’s will,

The lives of others will be helped, His purpose to fulfill!

My all, O Lord, I give to You, My body, mind and soul;

May all the days that lie ahead, be under Your control.

IV. Consistency – turn not from it

A. (Proverbs 4:27) "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."

B. E. Stanley Jones in The Way to Power and Poise states it graphically, "If you don’t make up your mind, then your unmade mind will unmake you. Here is the place where there must be no dallying. For any dallying will be the Trojan horse that will get on the inside and open the gates to the enemy. God can do anything for the man who has made up his mind; he can do little or nothing for the double-minded."