I guess all of us have our own opinions as to what the definition of Success is.

Today, I wish to share with you what I feel success is for all of us.

The Text today, tell us what we need to do to be a success in this world today. It is a shame that we, as Americans, have forgot or have turned out back to the godly principals that this nation was founded upon.

Here are 3 things, I feel that are needed to be a success in this world.

I. Receive Christ as the Son of God: verse 5

"Trust in the Lord, with all thine heart". Trust means to believe on or have faith in.

People today trust everything but the Lord. They trust in Education; "get an education, get a good job" was the primary motto for years. Today, we have people with college degrees who do not have a job, who have lost their jobs, or who are working at a low paying job that has nothing to do with the college degree of their field.

People trust in Finances but, our finances of this nation are in the toilet. CD's and IRA's were the rage a few years ago, now, they pay basically nothing in interest, as far as an investment is concerned. People are out of work. There are no jobs, employers are not hiring and those that are, are at minimum wage entry levels.

We are full of religions in this country but, religion is not the answer. Take a look at Nicodemas and also of Saul of Tarsus. Both of these men had "religion". They were deemed "religious" but, they were lost without Christ. I am not going to list all the religions we have in this country but, without Christ as your savior, you may be religious but, you are still lost. Over the years, I have led people to a saving knowledge of Christ and they have been members of many of the "christian denominations" we have in this country.

II. Read the Word of God.--- vs-5-6

The reason we have such weak Christians today is because they are malnutritioned. They do not know what the Bible says because they do not read it. How can you acknowledge Him, understand His ways, if you don't know what His ways are.

There are people who can tell you the player on every major baseball team or football team. They can tell you the batting average or the touch down points of many of these players yet, as professing Christians, they can not tell you 15 books of the New Testament, recite John 3: 16 or name the 12 Apostles.
If you don't read it, you can't quote it and, you can't live it. either.

III. Recognize the Hand of God: vs-6

"in all thy ways, acknowledge Him". He wants us to acknowledge Him as the Creator and the God of all.

We have regressed so far from what God should be to us, that we have placed Him in a box and we do not acknowledge Him unless we get into a crisis then, we go get this "box" off the shelf, open it and want God to help us or fix this crisis we are in. I am sorry but, God does not operate like that.

Back in the book of Daniel, there was a King by the name of Belshazzar. He did not acknowledge God. He has a big time running the kingdom, was having big parties and taking life at ease desecrating those things that were sacred and had been dedicated to the Lord, until a hand started writing on the wall. He then, turned to a man of God for an interpretation of the writing.

We are almost to that same state of social demise that Belshazzar's kingdom was. We have turned out back on God, as a nation, we pass lost that are ungodly and anti-Christian. We remove prayer, the plege of allegiance from schools. We remove baccalaurate services from school grounds. We remove or ban any nativity scenes from Federal, state and city property. We make Govt. our God and passively elect ungodly politicians to high offices then, we wonder why, America is in trouble.

For us to survive and be a success in this life as a Christian and as a nation, we must abide by our text today.
We must "Trust in the Lord, with all our heart and, lean not unto our own understanding. In ALL our ways, acknowledge HIM, and HE shall direct our paths"!!!!!!!!

Have a good week and may we all strive to be the Success God expects us to be.

Oldbiker