The Measure of True Success - Evangelical Caucus/Devotional

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1).

Our society is success oriented. We love success stories. We even have television programs that exalt the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But God's standard for success is quite different. Unimpressed by our status or wealth, He looks instead for faithfulness to His will.

Paul understood that principle and diligently pursued his calling as an apostle—one of those unique men who were foundational to the church and recipients, teachers, and writers of the New Testament.

That was a high calling, yet judging from Paul's lifestyle most people would hardly call him successful— having suffered imprisonments, beatings, death threats, shipwrecks, robberies, hatred from his theological enemies, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, and exposure to the elements (2 Cor. 11:23-27). But none of those things deterred him from obeying God's will. His final testimony was, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). That's true success! Although we're not apostles, we're to follow Paul's example of faithfulness (1 Cor. 11:1). That's possible because, like the Ephesian believers, we are “saints [holy ones] . . . who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). By God's grace we've trusted in Christ as our Lord and Savior (Eph. 2:8-9) and received His righteousness (Phil. 3:9), Spirit (Eph. 3:16), and every spiritual resource necessary for faithful, victorious Christian living (Eph. 1:3).

What remains is to cultivate greater love for Christ and more consistent obedience to His Word. Those are the hallmarks of a true disciple and God's measure of success. Make it your goal that your life today warrants the Lord's commendation, “Well done, good and faithful [servant]” (Matt. 25:21).

-Praise God for His wonderful grace, by which He granted you salvation and all the spiritual resources you need.

>> God is more interested in your faithfulness <<
>> victorious Christian living <<

"Success." "faith," "believer," "saved." "Christian." "spiritual," "love," "baptism"--these are sort of nebulous terms, which can be very slippery. To use them in trying to carry out a thought or doctrine can be like riding a wild horse, can take the hearer's mind where you don't want him to go, give him ideas you don't want him to have, and result in actions that have consequences contrary to the directive guidance you might be trying to give.

To tame these words, one has to put a bridle and reins on the word or phrase, and a saddle on it with which one can properly direct their its use. One urges "Keep the faith!", but what does that mean in Biblical terms? That phrase appears not ar all in any place in the Elizabeth English translation of KJV or DRB Bibles. Is the word "faith" to be articulated as a proper noun, making it "The Faith," a unitary entity consisting of compendium of all the attitudes, doctrines, and interpretations to be kept securely unchanged and carried out, the basis for defining the necessities for attaining regeneration, measuring ones location on the path of progressive sanctiffucation?

And "success," which appears only once in the KJV, 6 times im DRB, 14 times in ESV, but 51 timeses in the NIV! How about that?

Joshua 1:8 also occurs in ESV and NIV, but not in DRB. Here is the verse as it appears in KJV:

"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, and then thou shalt have good success."

Is this not the way The ZFaith is kept?

So what does "success" in Elizabeth English mean in the Hebrew, of which Joshua had only the five books of Torah, plus perhaps the older Job, as his "Book of the Law," first inscripturated at the beginning of a ~1,400 year period of its progressive special revelation of Jesus, Messiah and Savior, and of the Jewish history?

The Hebrew word was שָׂכַל (sâkal, pronounced saw-kal') as found in Strong's Concordance of the Hebrew word to which the KJV word in a verse points back. Each of these words has its own Strong's number assigned to it, prefixed with the letter H. In this case, the ID is H7919 and defined by its primaey meaning, followed after and separated by the punctuation marks :- as you will see. Strong's Definition is as follows:

Strong's Definition: A primitive root; to be (causeatively make or act) circumspect and hence intelligent :- consider, expert, instruct, prosper, (deal) prudent (-ly), (give) skill (-ful), have good success, teach, (have, make to) understand (-ing), wisdom, (be, behave self, consider, make) wise (-ly), guide wittingly.
Brown/Driver/Briggs Definition:
1) to be prudent, be circumspect, wisely understand, prosper
. , 1a) (Qal) to be prudent, be circumspect
. . 1b) (Hiphil)
. . . . 1b1) to look at or upon, have insight
. . . . 1b2) to give attention to, consider, ponder, be prudent
. . . . 1b3) to have insight, have comprehension
. . . . . . 1b3a) insight, comprehension (substantive) . . . . 1b4) to cause to consider, give insight, teach
. . . . . . 1b4a) the teachers, the wise
. . . . 1b5) to act circumspectly, act prudently, act wisely
. . . . 1b6) to prosper, have success
. . . . 1b7) to cause to prosper
2) (Piel) to lay crosswise, cross (hands)
Part of Speech: verb
KJV Bible occurrences: 63<

Take note: Nowhere is it indicated that the "success" in the verse Joshua 1:8 does not refer to temporal wealth, possessions, finances, or social status. What it does suggest is an internal implementation of a studied command and application of the Book pf the Law; that is, as much of God's written words as is available at any time of the progressive revelation of God's Will in His Word.

Here, "Rhe Faith" is the cumulative inscripturated pronouncements of God's Wll, Words, and Work to be understood and applied.A word of counsel not coveresd in this article is as follows:

" Let a man so account of us^{Oaul and Sosthenes}, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:1,2 AV).

Another observation found with a little research is that this Hebrew word, found in 63 verses of Hebrew OT, is translated as "success" only once in the KJV, meaning comprehension or undertainding of the Bible's contents? And what sense of "success" do you think the casual readers of the NIV think it means?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.