What is Success?

"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}

The other day I was reading this passage; I had already been contemplating the question, 'What is success?' and this started me thinking even more. I mean we can all figure out the world's definition of being successful. If we have a good job [and we're on top of the corporate ladder], we drive a Caddy or a BMW [or a Ferrari], we have lots of investments and a huge house. But what I was wondering is, what is success supposed to look like for the Christian.

Unconsciously, before I starting really thinking about all this, my view of success was finishing what you've begun. And although in some cases that can be true, I can think of some circumstances where that idea held me back from doing what I was supposed to be doing. At one point last spring, I felt the need to quit a job that I had only been working at for less than two months. For a while before I quit, and even after, I struggled with the fact that I didn't finish what I'd started. I came to the conclusion that success doesn't always mean that you have to finish it. So if that's not success, and neither is money, or a job, or a car and house, than what is?

Even the definition of success leaves you hanging:

"a degree of measure of succeeding / A favorable termination of a venture / one who succeeds / obtaining wealth, favor or eminence." [Websters Dictionary]

So basically, success is measured by what *you* think is a favorable termination of a venture. [Or by what our culture thinks]

So is success by God's standards physical things? Is it spiritual gifts? Is it the amount of people that you win for the Lord? Is it the amount of work you do?

Is it being rich? Is it being smart? Is it helping lots of people? Is it just plain doing exactly what the Lord tells you?

The Hebrew meaning of the word is:

To be intelligent, consider, expert, instruct, prosper, deal prudently. give skillful, teach, to have and make to understand[ing], wisdom,  behave self wisely, make wise, guide wittingly.

In the other parts of the bible where this word is used the word is translated wisdom. Maybe success doesn't have a tangible form, and maybe it looks different for each person that is following the will of God for their life.I think it's more like wisdom, behaving wisely, teaching, instructing, to make wise, to make to understand.

"Only may the Lord give you wisdom [success] and understanding." {1 Chronicles 22:12}

"The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel... to receive the instruction of wisdom [success], justice, judgement and equity." {Proverbs 1:3} 

"A man will be commended according to his wisdom [success]." {Proverbs 12:8} 

I guess, though, regardless of what success looks like, the way to get there is laid out in the first verse that we read....

"The book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, that you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe what is written...."

I wish you all much success, in God's terms!

~Kelley

"Offensive Wrestling"

"Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." -Numbers 13:30

"But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it." -Numbers 14:24

When the Israelites came to the Promise Land for the first time they sent spies into the land; The 12 came back saying that the land was great but the people in it were too many, too strong and the children of Israel would never be able to take over. All 12, except for two. Joshua and Caleb.

God was displeased with the peoples' lack of faith, and he punished them by keeping them in the wilderness for forty more years , saying that they would never see the promise land, only their children would be allowed in. Except for Caleb and Joshua. He was pleased with these two because they had a different spirit.

My Dad talks about being an over comer, and that the over comers are going to be the ones who inherit the earth. In Caleb's case it was a small part of the earth, but eventually when the Lord comes back the over comers will reign over the whole earth.

Caleb's "different spirit" was that of an overcomer ["for we are well able to overcome it."]. A few nights ago I was shooting a wrestling meet for work; I later started thinking about what it is that makes a good wrestler. You can survive a wrestling match by being a defensive wrestler, defending your opponents moves, but you will never pin or overcome your opponent fighting this way. Until you switch to offense and start making the first move will you come away with a pin.

I've realized that this is the way that I've "wrestled". Too often I am in defensive mode, ready to defend the take down attempts from this world, but until I switch to attacking I will never really be an over comer.This is scary for me, because when I am defending I am doing it out of necessity, the need to survive, if we don't defend we will be overtaken. But when you turn to offense make the move out of your comfort zone by choice, this is no longer a necessity but a decision. The decision to overcome the world. A book I was reading told teenagers, "Don't be known by the things you don't do but be known by the things you do." *

Don't be known as a defensive fighter, but go on offense, because to these "offensive wrestlers" Jesus writes amazing promises, ones that I want to be a part of!

To him who overcomes:

"I will give to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7) "He shall not be hurt by the second death." (verse 11) "To him I will give power over the nations, He shall rule them with a rod of iron." (verse 27) "He shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." (3:5)

And:
"I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (3:21)