What is success? What does it look like? Most people have a mental image of success that looks something like this: The wealth of Bill Gates, the physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger (or Cindy Crawford), the intelligence of Albert Einstein, the athletic ability of Michael Jordan, the business prowess of Donald Trump, the social grace of Princess Diana, the imagination of Walt Disney, and the heart of Mother Teresa. That definition of success sounds absurd, but it is closer to the truth than any of us are willing to admit. If success required becoming someone else none of us would ever achieve it because we are who we are. If I do not have to reinvent myself to be successful in life, then what must I do to achieve success in life?
Success or failure in life is determined by the adjustments we make along the way. All of us want to be winners. We want to experience the thrill of victory. We want to hear the applause of the crowd. We want to know the joy of a job well done. And most of all, for the child of God, we want to hear those wondrous words at the end of the race, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” Be honest, just once wouldn’t you like to know what it feels like to drive down victory lane and pull into the winner’s circle or stand atop the podium and have the gold medal placed around your neck? Why then are most of us content to settle for mediocrity?
Those of us who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives have received the ultimate promise of victory: eternal salvation. Why then, are we still here on planet earth? Why didn’t God just take us on to heaven at the moment of our conversion? The primary reason God
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left us on earth after our salvation is because God wants us to succeed right here. God wants us
to experience for ourselves, and demonstrate for those around us, the victorious life we have in Christ. He wants us to know victory here. There is a purpose for your life He not only wants you to pursue but to fulfill. Most of us are getting by, but getting by is not enough. God calls us to victorious living. Average is unacceptable in His eyes. So how can you be the winner God created you to be?
I encourage you to open your Bible’s to the Old Testament book of Joshua as we discover God’s Winning Formula: How to Succeed in the Race of Life.
The book of Joshua is a book of victory. It is the record of God’s people claiming their promise and fulfilling their destiny. It pictures victory through faith and trust in the power of another. It is also a treasure chest containing principles for achieving success in each of our lives. How can these words written 1450 years before the birth of Christ have any bearing on our daily lives?
First of all, the book of Joshua and the exploits of the Israelites are relevant to us because God said they are relevant to us. First Corinthians 10:11 tells us in reference to Egypt,
the wilderness, and the Promised land, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and
they were written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages have come.”
The victory of Joshua is a portrait of our victory in Christ. God has given us victory as a possession. Every Christian is meant to live a victorious life. You say, “But Pastor I know some Christians who are not victorious. I know some Christians who are not succeeding in the race of life.” So do I, but God intends better for our lives. While the Bible admits failure as a possibility, it never presents failure as a necessity. Here is our problem: we have dumbed down Christianity and accepted our reality as theology rather than theology as our reality. We allow reality to alter our theology instead of letting our theology affect our reality to the extent that we walk by sight and not by faith. We operate by what we see instead of operating by what God has said. Sadly, those of us who are most vocal in proclaiming Biblical truth are woefully delinquent in applying it. We end up settling for a barren dry life in the wilderness when God has a wonderful land of victory and abundance waiting for us on the other side if we would simply walk through the water and claim it. So the book of Joshua is written and recorded for all time and eternity to show us how to live victorious lives. It provides us with principles to achieve the kind of success God wants us to achieve. God has already proclaimed you a winner. The rest of life is making needed adjustments to allow that promise to be fulfilled.
Now I want to show you something very vital to our discussion. Then we will dive into this wonderful book of victory. We speak of salvation as a process. There is a beginning, there is a middle, and there is an end. We refer to these three movements as justification, sanctification, and glorification; three very churchy, very confusing words. The Bible says in Titus 3:5-7
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We have been justified by what? His grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That means when I repent of my rebellion against God and place my faith, hope, and trust in the Son of God, who paid the penalty for my rebellion by dying for me on a cruel rugged cross, I am, at that very moment, saved. I have been saved. The Bible speaks of salvation as a past event. I have been saved.
The Bible also speaks of salvation as a future promise. The apostle Peter writes:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time ( 1 Peter 1:3-5)
A salvation to be revealed when? In the last time. That is a future promise. Our glorification. That day when our salvation procures for us our ultimate reward: eternity in heaven. But you and I do not live in the past, and we have not yet arrived in the future. We live where? In the present. Again, Titus helps us when he writes:
For the grace of God has appeared to us bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 3:11-13).
We have been saved. We will be saved. But whether we succeed or fail or spend our lives in the wilderness or the Promised Land - while between these two- will be determined by the adjustments we make along the way. The book of Joshua was written for our instruction in this journey between salvation proclaimed and salvation procured. How can you succeed in the race of life? Let’s find out.
Read Joshua 1:1-9
YOU WILL ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN LIFE BY PURSUING THE PURPOSE GOD HAS FOR YOUR LIFE. ( vv. 1-2)
Success or failure is not determined by the size of your bank account or the square footage of your office. It is not determined by how many awards you achieve or how many plaques adorn your wall. Success is simply finding your purpose and fulfilling it. God’s purpose for His children was that they enter the land He had promised to them. This book of victory opens with the people dwelling in the land of defeat. They are in the wilderness. They had come out of Egypt, the land of bondage and were headed toward Canaan, the land of victory, but they were dwelling in the wilderness, the land of defeat; and God said to His people, you now cross over Jordan and possess this great land, this vast land, this beautiful, bountiful land I have promised you. I have given it to you, now go and take it.
For too long we have misunderstood this wonderful book because of faulty theology in our hymnology. We have been conditioned by many of our hymns to view Canaan as a picture of heaven. We cross over Jordan, symbolizing death, into Canaan, symbolizing heaven. The hymnist writes, “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye To Canaan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie.” But Canaan was not, is not, nor will it ever be a type or picture of heaven. There was war in Canaan. There will not be war in heaven. There was sin in Canaan. There will not be sin in heaven. They went into Canaan and came back out. When we enter heaven, we are there to stay.
No! Canaan portrays victorious conquest, the kind of conquest God wants you to have in your life. God has already given us victory, but most of us do not possess it. God declared, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses” (v. 3). God says, I have given you the land. Where was Joshua standing when God made this declaration? He was standing in the wilderness. The victory was already won, but the Israelites had not yet claimed it.
The same is true for many of us. On Calvary’s cross the sinless son of God proclaimed with boldness and authority, “It is finished” (John 19:30). In the original Greek language the phrase is a single word ‘Tetelestai’ and it means paid in full. Salvation has been accomplished. Victory has been won. So we do not pray for victory we pray from victory. We already have victory through the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for us on Calvary’s cross, but how many of us are living victoriously? God has given you victory, but you have to put the foot of your faith upon the promises of God and say this is mine. I claim it! Until you operate from victory and not for victory, you cannot fulfill the purpose God has for you.
Some of you here this morning are in the wilderness, saved but defeated. You know God has more for your life. You know God has a purpose and a plan for your life. Aren’t you tired of the wilderness? Aren’t you ready to cross the Jordan this morning and into the land of victorious living? The choice is yours.
God did not drive the Israelites out of the wilderness, but He would soon part the waters and make for them a road into the land of victory. Whether or not they crossed was entirely up to them. How sad that so many of us stand in the dry, hot desert sands of the wilderness looking across at a life of victory, a life of peace, a life of satisfaction and fulfillment yet never bothering to cross over to the other side. We are so accustomed to wilderness living we do not seek anything else. You are destined for so much more than the wilderness. God wants you to have success in life. God calls you to victorious living in Him and through Him. You will find success in life when you purposefully, passionately pursue His purpose for your life.
YOU WILL ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN LIFE BY CLAIMING THE PROMISES GOD OFFERS YOU AS YOU RUN THE RACE OF LIFE. (v. 5)
A. God promises you His conquering power.
“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.”
God gives you the power to do everything He asks you to do .You say: “Pastor I don’t have the power to drive out the giants in my life.” Well, to be blunt, your power is irrelevant. It is God’s power that is relevant, and God has not yet met a foe He cannot fell. That is why Paul declared in Romans 8:37, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” The apostle John had the same sentiment in mind when he said, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” ( 1 John 4:4). John did not say greater are you than he that is in the world, he said, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” It is God’s power operating in us and through us that allows us to live victoriously in the face of overwhelming odds. One of the reasons we are not living in victory is because we are trying to tackle the giants in our own strength using our own resources, instead of relying on God’s power and applying the principles of God’s Word.
Not only do we have the promise of His conquering power:
B. God promises you His continuing presence.
“Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail or forsake you.”
God made a promise to Moses, and He reconfirmed it to Joshua. That is a promise God extends to every one of His children. Hebrews 13:5 tells us: “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said “I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.” God said it to Joshua, and He continues to say to us: I will not in any way, under any circumstances, to any degree, leave you helpless, nor will I abandon you or let you down. If you have the power of God and the presence of God you have everything you need to live a life of victory. You have everything you need to be successful in the race of life. You have everything you need to cross your Jordan and enter the land God has for you.
There is a purpose for you to pursue. There are promises for you to claim. There are also some principles for you to follow.
YOU WILL ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN LIFE BY FOLLOWING THE PRINCIPLES GOD LAYS OUT FOR YOUR LIFE. (vv. 6-9)
Be strong! Be strong! Be strong!
A. God calls you to be bold.
God gives the victory. There is nothing we can do to earn it. But we are told to be strong and courageous. How? Behind every command of God is the omnipotent power of God to carry out the command. God does not want you to be strong in your strength, He wants you to be strong in His strength. Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians? “When I am weak then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). In essence, Paul was saying: I am a simple clay pot; an earthen ware jar. But I have had such experiences in my life when the power of God exploded in my life. And if God can do that for me, Paul said, God can do that for you. You have to understand verses six and seven in light of verse five. Your courage does not rests in who you are, it rest in the trust and confidence you have in God, the God who is capable of doing exceedingly abundantly beyond anything we could ever ask or hope.
B. God commands you to apply His Word. (v.8)
It is good to study the Word of God. It is good to meditate on the Word of God. It is good to memorize the Word of God. But if you do not apply the Word of God, you do not really believe the Word of God. How can you know if you believe the Word of God? Do you obey it? Why did the Hebrews spend forty years in the wilderness? Because they did not believe God. Let me show you what I mean.
Exodus 17: 8-14 tells us:
Then Amalek came and fought against Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” And Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hand, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in a book of memorial, and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
In Exodus 23:23 we find this proclamation by the Lord: “For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.”
God continues His pronouncement in the twenty-eighth verse of chapter twenty three: “And I will send hornets ahead of you, that they may drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.”
In Exodus 33:2 we are told: “And I will send an angel before you and will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.”
Exodus 34:11 records the declaration of God: “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.”
In Numbers we find this proclamation:
When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went into the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan” (Numbers 13:25-29).
God had promised the people He would drive out the inhabitants of the land. On numerous occasions He assured the Hebrews he would take care of the people standing between them and His promise to them. The Hebrews knew what God had said, but they did not believe what God had said. The result: forty years in the land of defeat and desolation. They died in the wilderness, never seeing the land of promised victory all because they did not take God at His word.
There is no way to achieve victory in your life apart from applying the Word of God to your life. Are you willing to prepare yourself for victory? Are you ready to come to this altar today and say God I am tired of the wilderness? I am ready to cross over in to the land you have for me. I will believe what you say, and because I believe what you say I commit myself to applying your Word to every area of my life! That is God’s winning formula, and the secret to achieving success in your life. If you want success in life, if you want to find meaning and purpose in life, then apply the Word of God to your life.
