SECRETS TO SUCCESS, Pt 1, No. 507
SECRETS TO SUCCESS
Part 1
“’As for Me, this is My covenant with them,’ says the LORD:
‘My Spirit who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth,
will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children,
or from the mouth of your children’s children,
from now on and forever,’ says the LORD.”
(Isaiah 59:21 HCSB).
Does God want us to prosper? Yes. And He shows us the principles.
I found three different Hebrew words for the word success and prosper.
- Tsalach meaning “to press forward, to break out.”
- Sakal meaning “to have good success, to be wise, intelligent, have intellectual comprehension, to act in a prosperous manner, skill, understanding, and insight.
- Shalah meaning “to be successful.’
I know it’s your desire to prosper in life. Even more, you long for your children to prosper. Let’s look at the principles God gives us to live a successful life.
1. MEDITATE IN GOD’S WORD DAY AND NIGHT
Joshua 1:8: “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 (tsalach), and then thou shalt have good success (sakal).” Both Hebrew words are used here.
Our immediate thought about prospering is to send our children to college to get a degree so they are prepared to prosper in life. But God gives us a different plan. He tells us to meditate in His Word day and night. God’s Word should be our life. Our daily guide. Our counsellors for every question and need we have. Our wisdom and knowledge rather than the humanistic wisdom of this world.
Hosea 8:12 says: “I have written to him the GREAT things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.” God has given to us His great and amazing Word, filled with the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And yet to many Christians today His Word is a strange thing. It’s unrelated to their lives. They are not familiar with it. Many young people know more about the latest movies and actors than they do of God’s word.
The other evening we had some boys from a Christian family around our table. As we enjoyed Family Devotions together at the end of our evening meal, my husband began to read John 3:16 and asked the boys to finish the Scripture. To our chagrin, they did not even know it! And they came from a “Christian” home. And one was a teenager. How can God’s Word be strange to someone growing up in a Christian home?
How much time do you and your children spend in God’s Word?
2. KEEP GOD’S WORDS IN YOUR MOUTHS
Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law SHALL NOT DEPART OUT OF THY MOUTH . . . for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
When will you have good success? When God’s Word is IN YOUR MOUTH. Not only in your heart but in your mouth! In your mouth, ready to speak out at any time and in any situation.
What about your children? Do you really want them to be successful in life? Then begin NOW to get Gods Word into their mouths. Read it together. Talk about it together. Memorize it together.
When you and your children have God’s word in your hearts and in your mouths, you are on the way to success. God always prospers His Word. Therefore, when you speak His Word from your mouth, that Word of God you speak will prosper in the situation or person into which you speak.
Isaiah 55:11 states: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall ACCOMPLISH that which I please, and it shall PROSPER in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Did you read the Scripture at the top? Can I ask you to read Isaiah 59:21 again? These words are a mandate from God for parents. Take hold of them for you and your family. Put them into practice.
Continuing next week.
PRAYER:
“Dear Father, I confess before You that You precious Word has not been preeminent in our home life. Please give to me, my husband, and our children a renewed love for Your Word. Help us to be faithful to get into our hearts and into our mouths. We want Your Word to be the most preeminent treasure in our home. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
God’s Word is going to be the foremost and most celebrated, distinguished, eminent, grandest, greatest, highest, important, matchless, outstanding, predominant, unrivaled, unequaled, and incomparable feature in our home!
P.S. Do you want to be inspired about getting God’s Word into your children. I would encourage you to read TEN Ps IN A POD.
TEN P’S IN A POD
A Million-Mile Journal of the Arnold Pent Family
By Arnold Pent III
This book is one of my favorites. It has always been a challenge to me of the impact of reading God’s Word to our children. The author of this book wrote it when he was 21 years old and it is still popular today. Recently my husband I enjoyed meeting this wonderful couple in our home and he testified of not only the impact of the Word in his own life as a young person but in the following generations. This habit is now continuing with his grandchildren.
It is the story of the million-mile journey of Arnold Pent, Jr. and his wife and eight children as they travelled through US and Canada together. The father preached along the way. But no matter where they were, or whoever they stayed with, they never gave up their practice of daily Bible reading and memorization.
Go to: https://tinyurl.com/10PsBook
WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY?
“TEN P’S IN A POD should be required reading. I still count it among one of the handful of most important books I have ever read.”
~ Andrée Seu Peterson, World Magazine Columnist
“Your book is a breath of fresh air.”
“In a society where the Bible is rarely read, even in Christian homes, this book should be necessary (but enjoyable) reading for EVERY Christian family.
“How this husband and wife were able to take a family of eight children across both the United States and Canada throughout the 1950s and early 1960s in various old cars is a story worth reading.”
—
“I read this book out loud to my husband while we were on a long trip. Reading it out loud made the Scriptures and stories come alive. I’ve been greatly affected by the book.”
This book is also available on Audio.
TEN P’S IN A POD AUDIO CD BOOK
A Million Mile Journal of the Arnold Pent Family
Read by the author.
Join a family of ten on a million-mile journey of evangelism, home education, and discipleship. Journaling his family’s travels, experiences, and ministry, Arnold Pent III (the third of eight children) first published this story in 1965 at the age of 21. You’ll learn of his father’s commitment to family Bible reading, Scripture memory, and singing together, as well as enjoy all the antics one might expect from piling eight children into two old cars and hitting the road to take the gospel message anywhere they found a group willing to listen.
Gather the family around and hear the story read by the author himself (now 75) and enjoy this heart-warming story. You and your family will be inspired.
Also contains music and Scripture recitations from the Pent Family Archives. Seven discs.
Go to: https://tinyurl.com/10PsAudioBook
What do people say?
“We have so enjoyed your print book and the audio version that we play several times a year in the car.”
—
“My husband and I listened to your book with our children during a road trip from South Carolina to Maine. Then on our way from Maine to Ohio, we listened to it again. The last CD we listened to three times, repeating track 13 eight times.”