Principles to Live By

Helen Keller who achieved greatness in spite of her being deaf dumb and blind once said,
"We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough."
Our great God who made man and this fascinating universe in which we live is vitally concerned
with our understanding and achieving success.

In Joshua 1:8 says: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;
but thou shall 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."

In God's Word we find principles that can bring us success.
We need to understand and have these principles in our lives.

First, we should have definite goals.

Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." (Luke 11:9)
We should focus upon this divine law.
"We only find what we seek."
When we do this, achieving our goals should not surprise us.
Goals must be set before they can ever be obtained.

Christ emphasized the importance of focusing on Biblical principles in our lives.
Jesus said, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
Blurred vision or double vision condemns the whole body to frustrating confusion.
And as it is with the eye, so it is also with life.
We must focus on a "single" object.
There must be a definite goals or ambition, or we will wander and flounder about aimlessly
until the day has ended and life is over.

There is no road to success that doesn't lead to a clear strong purpose.
A purpose underlies character, culture, position, and attainment of every nature.
God's providence has nothing good or excellent for a person who is not determined for something more.
Having a purpose is the condition of success.

There is one target that a marksman will never miss.
"Shoot at nothing and you will always hit it."

Disraeli said, "The secret of success is consciously to purpose."
This is wonderfully illustrated in one of the most dedicated followers of Christ – Paul.
Paul tells us of the most tremendous sense of purpose, of ambition, and of a definite goal of his life.

That principle is found in Philippians 3:12-14: "I press on to lay hold of and make my own,
that for which Christ Jesus, the Messiah, has laid hold of me and made me His own.
I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own (yet); but ONE THING I DO
-- it is my one aspiration: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward." (Amplified)

Caryle said, "The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder -- a waif, a nothing, no man.
Have a purpose in life, and throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work has God is giving you."

We must also have a specialized knowledge.

There is vast strength in knowledge.
We read in Proverbs 24:5: "A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength."
That is why we are told in Proverbs 2:3, 4 to cry after knowledge and seek it as silver.

Andrew Carnegie, the multi-million-dollar steel magnet, once said:
"I believe the true road to pre-imminent success in any line is to make yourself master of that line."

The Bible says, "Pride goeth before destruction."
And it is this kind of pride that causes many to be defeated in their lives.
Pride makes us prevail against studying and learning, for by doing so we admit we do not
already know enough and this causes our ego great pain.
There are some of us who would rather die and be defeated than go to a wiser person and say, "teach me."

A school teacher went to her pastor for his counsel because her home was breaking up
for no reason other than senseless quarreling.
The pastor asked her how many years she has been studying in her field of chemistry.
She replied, "Nine."

The pastor then asked, "How much research have you done on being a good wife?"
She had a surprised look at the pastor as though he would have to think that she didn't already know
all there was to know about being a successful life.
Then she answered, "I've never read anything on the subject."

Isn't it strange that a person would study for nine years on how to mix chemicals,
and yet never open a book to gain knowledge about the far more important matter of her life
as a mother and wife?
No one would think of tearing down your motor in your automobile, or disassembling your television,
or constructing your house without specialized knowledge.
This is vital in every field of endeavor.

Then there is the principle of hard work.

This principle of achieving success is the most demanding and the most important of all.
It is simply, hard work.

The Bible tells us the necessity for it.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
John 9:4, Jesus warned, "Work for the night cometh when no man can work."
Romans 12:11 says that we are not to be "slothful in business."
Proverbs 13:4 says, "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:
but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."
Galatians 6:7, 9 says, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap…
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

There's a reason that Joseph P. Day became the greatest real estate salesman of all time.
One day a big buyer came by the store in which Day work as a clerk, and wanted work done the following day.
That day was July 4 and the man asked to do the job declined.
But Day volunteered and got a promotion that was another step for him to the top.
The law of sowing and reaping was at work.

J. C. Penny, a dedicated Christian wrote in the Rotarian:
"Success in business is not dependent upon genius.
Any young man of ordinary intelligence who is morally sound and not afraid to work could succeed."

Emerson, considered by many to be the greatest American intellect, said:
"If you love and serve men, you cannot by any hiding or stratagem escape renumeration!"

Thomas Edison slept only three hours a night.
John Wesley preached six to seven sermons many days, and traveled most of his 250,000 miles on horseback
(reading his volumes on theology as he rode) and thought it a sin to sleep over five hours a night (he slept four).

Jonathan Edwards declared, "Resolved to live with all my might while I do live,
and as I shall wish I had done ten thousand ages hence."

Sydney Smith said, "There is but one method of success and that is hard labor;
and a man who will not pay that price for distinction had better at once dedicate himself to the pursuit of the fox."

The most overlooked principle of success is unwavering confidence.

In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
Someone has said, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

We will face impossible circumstances in every worthy undertaking
and only faith can carry us through.

Beethoven was deaf.
John Wesley was sickly.
Abraham Lincoln lost all his elections until the last.
Napoleon finished 46th in a class of 65 at a military academy.
John D. Rockefeller worked for six dollars a week.

The morning after the great Chicago fire, a burned-out merchant stood on State Street
and looked at the smoldering ruins and said,
"Gentlemen, on that very spot I will bill the world's greatest store,
no matter how many times it may burn down."
This famous man was Marshall Fields, a man with faith who did not recognize failure.

"If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but you think you can't
It is almost certain you won't.

Life's battles don't always go,
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can!"
-- Source unknown

Sermon adapted from several sources by Dr. Harold L. White