Living a Life of Success

Is it possible to live a life of success and if so, what are the keys to that success. That is an extremely critical question, and God provides an answer for us because He doesn't desire for us to just wander through life. As Joshua was preparing to start a new phase in his life, three times God challenge Joshua to be "strong and courageous" because there would be battles to fight and struggles ahead. A life of success would not just come easily. Then God spelled out three keys that would provide success in life. These keys are found in Joshua 1:1-9.

1. Center Your Life on God's Word Consistently. Don't be looking to TV personalities, personal experience, unsaved friends, etc., for your direction. It must come from God's word.

2. Deliberate on God's Word Daily. The term that is used is to "meditate" on God's Word day and night. This is much more than a reading a Bible passage and checking it off from the Bible reading schedule. This means to keep focused on how to apply what is learned to the decisions being made each day. These decisions will be guided by God's truth whether they be regarding family, business, relationships, work, school, and any other venue of activity.

3. Obey God's Word Carefully. God challenges that we should not turn to the right or the left - no detours in following the instructions. We are not to think that it is "good enough" if we are close.

These keys come with a promise - "then you will have success and then you will be prosperous." This is the only way to bring about success in life.

Here are some suggested tools to make this possible.

Bible Reading Schedule: You will need a Bible reading program or schedule. I recently came across this schedule that is broken into an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading for each day. It makes a good option for doing a morning and evening reading. Sometimes one of the passages may be a bit difficult to find application for the day, such as the genealogies, but the other will include something that is applicable for the challenges of the day. This particular program also has only one reading for Sunday from the Psalms. You can go here (http://www.onegreatstory.com/reading.html) to download a PDF file which you can print and keep in your journal (see below) for reference. There are also some helpful hints for making your Bible reading time meaningful listed on this schedule.

Bible version you can understand. Many like King James, and that's fine or else use New International Version (NIV) or the New American Standard Bible (NASB). If you prefer to do your Bible study online, the Blue Letter Bible website will allow you to compare different versions in your reading (www.blueletterbible.org). If you prefer to take a Bible with you in an electronic format, Olivetree has some free Bibles available from their website for Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, symbian and some others (www.olivetree.com). Though it is not a strict translation, I have been using God's Word Bible from Olivetree. It is a modern read, though there are some areas where the translation is more loose than what I prefer. It is also possible to purchase the NIV from these folks as well.

Journal & Writing Instrument. You need a journal in which to record your observations and thoughts from the passage which will be a reminder to you of what you have learned - the meditating part. You can write down how you might apply a truth from this passage for a decision which you are facing, or how to respond to a situation at work. Here is a helpful link on how to journal (http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling/) and here is an example of what your journal might contain (here). You can pick up a journal at any office supply store. Some are spiral bound which mean they lie flat when opened, others are actually bound which means they won't lie as flat originally, but will be easier to store on a shelf since the spiral wire won't get in the way. My preferred size is something close to 8.5 x 5.5 with as many pages as possible so that I can have one page per day for notes and thoughts. Obviously, it may be necessary to use two journals to make it through the year which is fine. I recommend a Pilot G-2 retractable pen for writing.

I would encourage doing your Bible reading with others - perhaps husband and wife, friends, even church family. This is a neat way to have conversation over the same passage/s that has been read for the day or week. This would be a great way to start 2009 on the road to a life of success!

Devotions for Children: If you are looking for a thoughtful devotional reading with interaction for children, Key's for Kids is a great devotional which you could read after supper at the table. Someone could read the Scripture passage, another person the devotional story which also includes great discussion questions and then have closing prayer. Here is a link: http://www.cbhministries.org/kfk/home.php where you can choose to print out a month of devotional readings or have each day's emailed to you. Campus Journal was an effective tool for High School age on up, but I haven't been able to locate it any more. If you know of one for this age group, let me know and I will add it to the list.

Suggestions to Make it Work:

1. Pick a time and place where you can consistently develop a this habit. Perhaps at breakfast, pour yourself coffee and your cereal, and ask God to give you insight. Then get out your Bible and journal and begin your reading and study.

2. Partner with someone else.

3. Keep at it! If you miss a day, keep on your schedule and make it up when possible.

Tomorrow, New Years Day, begin a new habit! The reading for the day is Genesis 1-2 & Matthew 1. Isn't 20 minutes a day with a guarantee of a life of success worth the investment?!

How Many Kings? - Christmas Thought

I recently came across this song and video clip from song entitled "How Many Kings" which reminds us of what Jesus did for each of us. The song is performed by Downhere. Here is a clip from Youtube and you can download the individual song from Amazon.com (much better audio quality - plus helps support this group). It is a song that keeps running through my head. Trust you enjoy it.

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

Angie Wyand and Josh Hoy Engaged!

Angie and Josh have announced their engagement. Their wedding is scheduled for July 18, 2009. Please keep these two young people in your prayers as they plan to commit their lives together before the Lord. Dave & Phyllis Wyand and Dave & Jane Hoy are the parents.

Seeing the Miracle of Developing Preborn Infant

The ultrasound picture on the left is of preborn infant with normal Week 14 development. GE Health Care has images and facts about the developing life of a preborn infant. You can click through each week, beginning with Week 6 and follow the development of the preborn infant. The site also lists important developments in each week. Absolutely amazing what God has done and worth sharing with your children. The link is here.

Josh Miller & Lindsay Hicks Wedding

Please keep Josh & Lindsay in your prayers as they begin their lives together

The Untold Story: Muslims Converting Worldwide

David Dunlap in his newsletter of Sept. 1, 2008 writes that the main news media has missed one of the more important stories to come out of the Arab world. "Firsthand reports are indicating that Muslims are converting to Christ in large numbers in Arab lands. The news media continues to report that Islam is the world's fastest growing religion." There certainly are statistics to demonstrate this and one of the main reasons is because of a high birthrate among Muslim families. But Dunlap goes on to write, "the truth is, however, that Islam as a religion, when measured by conversion increase, is not growing but rather decreasing.

More and more Muslims than ever before are becoming disillusioned with Islam. An increasing number of Muslims are questioning the validity of the Qur'an and the extremist teaching of Islamic teachers. Many are finding that the mechanistic rituals of praying five times per day, reciting verses that they do not understand, and frequent fasting are not a means to becoming more spiritual, and are taking a serious look at Christianity. Every day thousands of Muslim intellectuals are leaving Islam."

What I found to be very informative were the reasons that Muslims were drawn to the Christ of Christianity. Here are the three major reasons as listed from the research of Dr. J. Dudley Woodberry, professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Seminary in California.

1. The Number One Reason why Muslims chose to become Christians was the lifestyle of the Christians living among the Muslims. Muslim converts noted that "there was no gap between the moral profession and the practice of Christians" they knew. There was a significant contrast between the love demonstrated by the followers of Christ with the unloving treatment among Muslims. Other converts were impressed that in Christianity women were treated as equals and enjoy loving marriages. They also noted that Christian workers chose to live a simple lifestyle and not to intentionally offend their Muslim neighbors.

2. The Second Reason why Muslims chose to become Christians was that they saw the "power of God in answered prayer." Christians prayed for their neighbors even though they were Muslim and God had intervened in situations. Many converts mentioned an unhappiness with Islam itself with the uncertainty of salvation. Most of the emphasis in Islam was upon punishment and Christianity told of a God who loved them and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for sins. Obviously the picture of Christ in the Qur'an and that found in Scripture is very different.

3. The Third Reason (and identified as the most important) why Muslims were choosing to follow Christ is that "when Christ's love transforms committed Christians into a loving community, many Muslims (identified) a desire to join such a fellowship." Woodberry writes, "When the church is being the church, testifying of the love of Christ and his transforming power, then Muslims are drawn to salvation in Christ" (J. Dudley Woodberry, Russell G. Shubin, and G. Marks, "Why Muslims Follow Jesus," Christianity Today, 24 October 2007, pp. 80-85)

What can we learn from this in order to reach our own neighborhoods, regardless of religious background for Christ? We see the importance of living out Christ's desire for His church to be a caring community. We see the importance of living out our Christian beliefs in the world -- that we truly are followers of Christ and His teachings which affects every dimension of our lives. We also see the importance of demonstrating care through prayer for our neighbors, coworkers and their needs -- even if they are not followers of Christ, but asking if we might have the privilege to pray for their need. Included in that is looking for opportunities to tell people of God's love for them as demonstrated through the Christ. Christianity is designed to be attractive to any people, in any culture, when it is truly lived out. May God help us to do that for Him!