The Secret to Spiritual Succcess
You may have heard me refer to the spiritual checkup quiz; now allow me to explain its meaning.
If you call a repairman to your home to analyze a problem with your air conditioner, he usually brings a series of tools and a thick owner’s manual and begins to go through a manufacturer’s checklist, making sure that the unit is in mechanical order before he can discern the problem.
If there is something amiss within the unit, he aligns what is off and thereby solves the problem. If all is in order within the unit, he then checks outside sources for the cause of the problem so he can repair the air conditioner.
The same principle applies to the believer. Father God is our Creator—our Manufacturer, so to say. He knows how we were made and with what potentials. He knows what He put into each one of us to solve the problems that life brings. If He created us, then shouldn’t there be a book of instructions that guides us through life and its obstacles? Yes, and that guidebook is called the Bible. Take note of what the Manufacturer’s Guide has to say about you:
When you are in the midst of the problem, it is vital to go through your spiritual checkup within the Manufacturer’s Operating Manual to make sure you are not the source of the problem.
God presented Joshua a checklist as he was about to lead the children of Israel into their inheritance. It came down to three simple items: think, speak, and act on God’s Word:
We will be using others verses, but this verse from Joshua are true Secrets to Spiritual Success
Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) 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.
#1 – Are you reading the Word of God?
Joshua 1:7-8 (NKJV) Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 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.
#2 – Are you standing in obedience on the promise?
Joshua 1:8 (NIV) Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
#3 – Are you proclaiming God’s promises of faith?
(Joshua 1:8)
#4 – Have you repented of all known sin in your life?
Isaiah 55:7 (KJV)
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
#5 – Have you forgiven everyone who may have offended you?
Matthew 6:14-15 (TEV)
“If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
#6 – Are you tithing (10%) on your first fruits?
Proverbs 3:9 (KJV) Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.
#7 – Have you asked God for what you need?
1 Timothy 5:5 (TEV) A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day.
James 4:2b (NKJV)
….. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
#8 – Do you trust God to take you through the problem and into your provision?
Psalms 78:7 (TEV)
In this way they also will put their trust in God and not forget what he has done, but always obey his commandments.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
#9 – Are you praising Him while you are in the problem?
Exodus 15:2 (NLT) The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my victory. He is my God, and I will praise him; he is my father’s God, and I will exalt him!
#10 – Are you ready to let God choose what His best is for you?
Psalms 47:2-4 (TEV)
The Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; he is a great king, ruling over all the world. He gave us victory over the peoples; he made us rule over the nations. He chose for us the land where we live, the proud possession of his people, whom he loves.
#11 – Are you rebellious and a complainer?
Psalms 106:7 (TEV)
Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God’s wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea.
Exodus 16:2 (TEV)
There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron
1 Samuel 15:23 (NKJV)
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
#12 – Are you reading and looking at things you should not?
Matthew 6:22-24 (NKJV) “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
#13 – Have you learned to submit and honor those over you? We Honor the Position & We Respect the Person
“Honor is given, Respect is earned.”
– Pastor James Greer
1 Peter 2:17 (NKJV)
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
*Honor * Value – treat as precious – special:
When we don’t have Honor we have Dishonor & when we have Dishonor we have Disorder.
#14 – Husbands: are you loving your wife like Christ loved the Church? Wives: are you showing respect and honor to your husband?
Ephesians 5:33 (NKJV)
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
#15 – Is there fruit in your life? (How’s your fruit life?)
Matthew 7:18-20 (NKJV)
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
When you answer these questions, you can usually determine whether you are part of the problem. If so, God, through His Word or His delegated authority will direct you back on the right path. If you find that you’re in alignment to God’s Word, then you will know that the problem is not within but comes from outside sources. Therefore, put your trust in God, and wait on Him, knowing that He will deliver you from your problem and take you into your provision.
There is only one catch to your “spiritual checklist”—you must be honest and true before the Lord no matter what the cause or purpose.
REMEMBER THIS TRUTH
The person going through the problem is the person next in line for the promotion. Joseph was in prison one day, and the next day he was prime minister of Egypt, living in the palace! He went from the pit to the palace!
Your future is just as bright as the promises of God!
Remember every problem has a promise. Let’s find that special promise for you and stand on it until God leads you into your promised land until the provision comes!