Today we continue our series entitled, “Pursuing Grace-Based Success!”
Here are our foundational scriptures:
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
(1 Corinthians 1:30,31 NLT)
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
(2 Timothy 1:9 NKJV)
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
(Joshua 1:8 KJV)
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.
I needed to provide you with the context for Joshua 1:8. I believe I’ve done that. You now know the timing. Moses was dead, and Joshua was in charge. You now know the setting. God wanted to lead a new generation into the Promised Land, a land promised to Abraham 440 years earlier. You also know the enormity of the task assigned to Joshua. He had to lead millions of people to take possession of millions of acres that were already inhabited.
The inhabitants were not going to give up the land without a fight. Many of the inhabitants had fortified cities and tested armies. Joshua had a nation of young and untested people. So the bottom line is: if God was not with them, they would fail miserably. But with God ON them, WITH them, and FOR them, there was no way they could lose.
Can you identify with Joshua? Here are some modern-day situations that may help you identify with him.
a) You have an unproven team, and you are expected to lead them to produce uncommon results.
b) You believe God is leading you to finally do something you have been dreaming about for years, maybe even decades, but now that the time is finally here for you to do it, the reality of it is sinking in. Now your faith is being tested. You think to yourself, “Can we really do this? Dreaming about it was one thing. But now I have to DO it! Do I truly believe God will come through me for me? Will God do what He said? Becuase if He doesn’t, we will fail miserably!” Have you ever been there?
c) It’s finally your season. It’s your time. It’s your turn. But what is ahead of you is SO huge that you are doing all your can to remain in faith and not cross over into fear. You are meditating on God’s promise. You are spending time in His presence. You keep reminding yourself of what He said. Because you know if you don’t, it will be easy to doubt God, yourself, and your future. But if you keep your heart set on Him, you also know that the success of what you are about to take on will impact the rest of your life! Have you ever been there?
That’s the setting Joshua was in. Now that you have a good picture of it, let’s go back to the key instruction God gave Joshua. He said, “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.” (Joshua 1:8).
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You must remain faithful and focused while waiting for “your time” to come.
— For Joshua, it took 40 years. The delay was caused by no fault of his own. But Joshua remained focused for those 40 years until his time came. Make no mistake, we all have to wait on God for things and HOW you wait is critically important.
— HOW you wait can impact HOW LONG you wait. This is why it is important to get God’s Word down in your heart. The more you think like God, the stronger your endurance will be while you wait on Him to manifest what He promised.
— Remember, you must add patience to your faith (Hebrews 6:12) in order to see the manifestation of the promises of God.
— If you want to be successful, you must be a person of faith, but you must also be patient.
2. When the time comes for you to walk in God’s promise for your life, you must keep the Word of God on your lips! Speak the Word only!
— I have done a great deal of teaching around the point that our words matter. Good or bad, you will have whatsoever you say!
— The Lord said to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips.” In the New Testament, James taught us that if we can control our tongue, we can control our life (1:26).
— Keeping the Word of God on your lips is critical to Godly success. Speaking words from a believing heart was how you released your faith for salvation (Rom 10:9,10). You opened your mouth and spoke words that lined up with heaven, you believed those words in your heart, and you were saved from hell. When you speak words that you believe, you can quite literally tap into either the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. That’s why Solomon said that both death and life are released through the tongue (Prov 18:21).
— You will have what you say. You will experience what you declare. So you can’t speak death and expect life. You can’t speak failure and expect success. Joshua had an enormous task before him, and if he was going to succeed, he needed to speak the Word of God continually. Guess what? If you want to succeed you will have to do the same! Keep the Word of God on your lips. Speak the Word only!
— If you want to walk in the level of success you believe God has called you to walk in, then a key for you is speaking the language of faith. When you speak God’s language (words that align with His plans and purposes), your words and your heart will help you experience God’s best on this planet.
3. When the time comes for you to walk in God’s promise for your life, you must meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night.
— You can use use the Word of God to help Master Your Mind. The Lord instructed Joshua to “meditate on it day and night.” The “it” God was referring to was His Word. If Joshua was going to be successful, he had to take control of his thought life.
— It’s hard to experience success if you see yourself as a failure.
— Your legs will never take you where your soul has never been.
— Your soul needs to see yourself doing it WELL BEFORE you get to experience it in this world.
— God gives you success on the inside well before He manifests it on the outside.
— Your life prosperity will never exceed your soul prosperity (3 John 2).
— In many ways, you are WHO you think you are, and you can DO or NOT DO what you think you can or can’t (Prov 23:7).
— If Joshua was going to be successful, he needed to bring every wayward thought captive. The best way to do so is to meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night.
— The more Joshua kept God’s Word on his mind, the more he would SEE himself successful. The more he would believe what God believed about him. This was absolutely critical to both his success and the success of the nation of Israel.
— What was true for Joshua back then is true for us today. If we meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night, we will think Godly thoughts. We will see ourselves the way God sees us. We will believe what God believes about us. Our Godly thoughts will produce Godly actions, and we will experience God’s best. Success starts in your mind.
4. When the time comes for you to walk in God’s promise for your life, the Word of God must be the standard for your conduct and actions.
— The Lord told Joshua to keep His Word on his mind and his mouth, but not so he could simply “look” the part. The Lord wanted Joshua to “live” the part. The Lord said, “be careful to do everything written in it.”
— The Bible is not a textbook to study. It is a life-book to LIVE! Your learning must turn into LIVING!
— God told Joshua to keep the Word of God in his MOUTH. That’s good. He told him to keep His Word on His MIND. That’s good too. But if Joshua’s MOUTH and MIND did not eventually manifest in his METHODS (meaning that faith is an action word), then Joshua was going to miss out on God’s best!
— You can’t just give God lip service. Your thinking, speaking, praying, and worshipping, must also lead you to your DOING!
— The purpose of speaking Godly words and thinking Godly thoughts is to produce Godly actions. Anything less is merely a façade.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I know I was not born to fail. And for sure, I was Born-again to succeed!
I am SUCCESS, going somewhere to SUCCEED daily!
In this season, I take control of my thought life. I bring every thought captive. I master my mind with Your Word. I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night.
I also master my mouth. I speak Your Word continually. When people listen to me, they actually hear You because my speech is seasoned with the grace found in Your Word.
And Father, the purpose of me mastering my mind and mastering my mouth is so that I can master my methods and actions. I don’t give you lip service. I am not a hearer only. I am a DOER of the Word of God.
My learning turns into LIVING. My studying turns into DOING! Therefore, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
