Another Week.
Another post.
I hope you are all well.
So woke up this morning feeling a little funny. I was in bed. In deep thought about life. And the cure for those types of mornings, tends to be reading, and learning.
So I read an article titled:
Three biblical rules for success.
I actually did not end up finishing the article, because as I began to read it, my mind took me somewhere else.
But let’s get started.
Joshua 1:8 says,
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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.
Hold onto that verse. It will be very important as we go along.
Wait. What about the article?
Was getting to that.
So…the three biblical rules of success.
Here’s a quote from the article: “God views success as simple to achieve, and equally simple for Him to measure. If we are going to succeed in things that really matter, we must follow the instructions for life found in Scripture.”
Interesting. Okay. So what are these three rules or instructions?
Okay. So, you know how I said I did not finish the article?
Yes…
I only got to the first rule.
Wow. Okay so what is it?
The first rule was… look it up.
Hmm. What does that mean?
‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth.’
Maybe it would be better if I said: ‘Don’t leave home without it!’
The first rule suggests that success means making the study of God’s Word a constant part of your life. And for a lot of us this may mean a massive change.
Take a look at this!
There was a survey commissioned by the Church of England in 2017, and it found that 55 per cent of people who identify as Christian never read the Bible. 55 per cent! But there’s more. 29 per cent never pray. And a whole 33 per cent never go to church.
I am not actually surprised. I remember reading that only 6 per cent of adults in Britain said they were ‘practising’ Christians.
We often use that hospital analogy when describing a church, so imagine going to a doctor when you’re sick and getting a prescription that can make you well.
Don’t really have to imagine that. Isn’t that fairly typical?
Okay, but what if you only take it once a week, or when you feel like it, or never at all. Would you blame the doctor for not getting well?
Surely not.
Some of us do that with God: ‘Lord, why is this happening to me? I’m a good person. I try to keep to myself. I don’t understand it.’
They can’t say that the medicine doesn’t work, because they have not been taking it.
That reminds me of Hosea! What was it? Hosea 4:6
‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’
Okay, so let me get this straight! From the first rule, we can say that we need to get into God’s Word and get it into us!
Yes!
One other thing.
Do you remember the verse from earlier?
Joshua 1:8.
We all love some context. Here we find God Himself addressing Joshua because Israel’s leader Moses has died and the mantle of leadership is being passed to this new leader. Joshua is to lead Israel into the “promised land” filled with adversaries and pagan idolatry. Temptation and Warfare are guaranteed to occur.
So what does God tell Joshua he must do? Does He tell him to make sure the soldiers have their weapons and are in good shape? No. God tells Joshua to make sure that the “Sword of the Word of God” is to be his focus and will provide all that he needs to assure success.
Before we wrap up this part, yes I said this part, because I want to know the other rules, what does it really mean to have the words never depart?
Okay we will end with this.
Shall not depart from your mouth means that this book of the law should be the constant topic of your conversation. And I know that sounds really hard. But our first question shouldn’t be how, but it should be why?
“Because you shall meditate on it day and night.”
Let’s just talk about that. Whatever you’re thinking about all day and thinking about all night will show up in your conversation. So Jehovah (the Author of this Word) is saying Joshua should basically soak himself with the Word of God. It was to be the dominant thing in him life. He meditates on it, talks about it and naturally (or I guess can say supernaturally) begins to live it out.
There are many of us who cannot do according to all that is written in the word because we do not understand all that is written. And so it is mandatory that believers diligently study the Scripture so that they can understand it. So that they can obey it.
So that they can be blessed and prosperous and have good success!
I guess the verse did say that. But the idea is that the law of God (the Word of God) soaks a person, to the point that it exerts a controlling influence on our thoughts and actions.
That’s it!
Hold on…we need a title!
A Biblical rule for success!
Great!
My Sunday Skl 
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