This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.- Joshua 1:8

Success means something different to God than it does to the secular world. It simply means KNOWING and DOING God's will for your life. It's that Simple! For Joshua, success meant entering the Promised Land, conquering it, living there and enjoying all it's blessings every day. Read what God told him in our Old Testament reading today. God gives him instructions to follow, why? That he may PROSPER!

True success involves these 3 things:

1. Becoming what God wants you to be.
2. Doing what God wants you to do.
3. Having what God wants you to have.

As you achieve the goals that God has set for your life, you become successful. As the reknowned author/lecturer Dale Carnegie once observed:

Success is getting what you want, Happiness is wanting what you get.

The old adage, 'Be careful what you ask for, you might get it', I have found comes from a place of truth. You also have to be careful because some people in their endless quest for achievement become so greedy and grasping that they are never satisfied. Just think how long does the glow of receiving that new toy on Christmas morning last with a child....some adults never grow up, they are always wanting that new toy....the satisfaction of getting it however doesn't last long and they start looking for the next one. This is even worse when the new toy is a new relationship. Because they are wanting more and never satisfied they fail to enjoy what God has already given them.

Just as happiness should not be a goal but a means of traveling to a goal, real success isn't a destination; it's a journey. It's joy created by progress. It's knowing that you're 'on schedule' when it comes to God's assignment for your life.