Success
Sun, 2nd Nov 2014
Gary Iddon
Psalm 1 v 1-6
Summary:
What really matters is what God thinks, not what the world thinks. The world can measure our success. Do worldly things make us successful? As Christians how does God judge us?
1) In Joshua we learn that we need to be strong in him, his Word and what he knows.
2) We must be courageous for God "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might"
3)Meditate on Gods Word day and night. Look into his Word and spend time to get to know him better
4) We must love his Word enough to meditate on it day and night. If we do this we shall be successful.
5) Success for the believer is not just external things. The inside can also grow in grace. We must be careful of the teachings we listen to these days. Success also comes from putting his Word into practice. Are we different? Are our actions different to our past selves?
The work of the Holy Spirit will surface in our lives. God the Holy Spirit is always working and sometimes we must be patient. The work of grace in our lives can take years. We must also be patient with one another as we can all make mistakes.
Psalm 1 says that the believer leads a different life. We are not above the world but we do things differently. We shouldn't judge people on what they should be expected to do. If people know that we are Christians we can be watched by the world and so we need to live a different life.
If Jesus thought so highly of Gods Word then surely we should not think any less of it. His Word is milk for the new believer and meat for the mature Christian. Gods Word is also honey and a lamp to our feet. Do we walk anywhere without consulting his Word? If we are Christians we should trust in his Word and in its promises. If we want to know Gods direction for our lives we must look to his Word and meditate on it. The Word of God is water to our souls, it refreshes us.
The Word of God is a seed and we can plant it in good ground-God will give the increase, it is not our responsibility. We should be the sowers. God is building his church and the gates of hell will not prevail.
How much of God do we want? He has given us free will to choose. Do we want to be an evergreen or an old dry stick?
We can go through the same trials as the world but God has said he will never leave us nor forsake us. There's a time for everything in the world and there is a time for bearing fruit. Abide in him and we will produce much fruit and better fruit. God will honour the very smallest thing we do for someone. If we put him first and seek him first before anything else he will put everything in our lives into place. Our work for God is not in vain. We must ensure that we do our work for God and not for ourselves.
Let us not become weary in doing good things. We shall reap if we do not become weary. God will give us strength if we put him first.
Further Reading:
Psalm 1
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