Insight 7 - how to

Does God want you to be successful in pursuing Him?
First, let us affirm that God does want you to succeed in your pursuit of Him. As Paul says in Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." God has the fullest intention and plan to have His children succeed. It is no small secret that the one who defines his target can often hit it. God has defined success, and He is ready to apply all His divine power into the enterprise of assuring the success of His people. If life is all about God and He is all about relationships then success would be defined by simply relating to God in a way that pleases Him since He is their joyous prize.

What has God provided us to be successful?
God does not expect us to become successful in our pursuit of Him as our joyous prize in our own effort. He knows we cannot lovingly serve, as He wants us to based upon our own devices and ideas. Look at these seven Scriptures. What is the common denominator in these promises that revolve around Christian success?

You will have good success Joshua 1:8
Whatever you do will prosper Psalm 1:2,3
You will excel in wisdom and understanding Psalm 119:97-100
You will have new power over sin Psalm 119:9,11
You will discover how to live Proverbs 4:4
Your success will be obvious to all 1 Timothy 4:15
You will glorify the Father with your fruit John 15:7-8

The common factor in all of these promises is our dependence, study, and meditation upon the Word of God. As Jesus simply says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Now take note that you have some responsibility in this effort to be successful. God wants you to succeed by bearing good fruit. He will keep His promises. However, we have something to do that is within human power and capabilities.

The Fountain of true success is the Word of God. Like an artesian well that is ready to gush out water when tapped, the Word will pour out living water into our souls if we take the effort and work to study it and meditate upon it. Meditation on the Word of God demands daily discipline. Seriously read and think through what these Scriptures say about our responsibility to the Word.

Deuteronomy 8:3
Proverbs 8:34
Isaiah 50:4-5
Psalm 5:3
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Since this is so significant you may want to consider making a vow to abide in God's Word daily. Vows are very important because they cause us to keep to what we say or we will suffer for it. Consider what Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 says about the serious nature of a vow. Yet, the commands to order your day around the Word of God are equally serious. We want to be successful for the Lord. The price to do so, is the daily routine study and meditation upon His Word so we may be careful to obey all that is in it. If we do so, we will have success.

Learning the Word can be fun. There are several sources, like Focus on the Family, who can give you good ideas on how to make Bible study and memorization enjoyable. Make the effort to think through how to help your children to desire and look forward to times together in the Word.