Search God's Promise of Success

God’s Promise of Success

By Edwin Cameron

 

Preface

 

First may I ask your pardon and understanding for the way I present not just the

following acknowledgments, but the style in which “God’s Promise of Success” is

written. I have written these pages in the way where thought flows in and through most

of us. Grammar and English may not be perfect. I feel that mentioning this will help you

to better understand the presentation and to accept the thoughts that flow through these

pages. My hope for you, and with those whom you may share this, is that what I have

written may bring faith (belief + action), eternal hope and then possibly encourage you

to deliver ultimate love, salvation (the giving of THE precious gift of the knowledge of

eternal, and also abundant life while we are here on earth). This gift IS defined as

salvation and THE Gospel, not only for you, but also to those that God may put on your

heart to share such a wondrous gift.

 

Dedication

 

I dedicate this book, first to God. None of the blessings and abundance would have

happened without Him. Then to my children, Lance, Jesse, Luke & Beau. Without

them, my life & these blessings would not hold the value of any of my successes.

My most earnest hope and prayer is

that their walk with God is as wonderful and nurturing as mine.

May it continue in a stronger, fuller way, even in the challenges of understanding faith.

Beginning the size of a mustard seed, and then being planted to take firm root and

finally blossom into a huge tree of faith unshakable,

as it yields countless blessings to many.

 

Introduction

 

Is there an actual Promise – with a step by step formula - or even many Promises of

success from God? If such a claim might actually be true, several questions

immediately arise. We must first attempt to find plausible answers to these questions,

before one can get excited about what such a prospect of a “Promise” of success from

God may mean to you and me - in a mass of billions of individuals on this planet earth.

Imagine how much hope there would be for us if there really does exist a Promise from

a Real, “personal relationship oriented” God – a Promise that can be applied personally

to help us successfully reach our many goals we set throughout our life - and not just

spiritual goals, but goals in many other areas of our lives.

Is there such a true, real Promise from a god (or need we spell god with a capital G?

– we shall see) that really and truly exists. We will start with a lower case g in god until

we reach a point where we have determined that the word god deserves to be spelled

with a capital “G” - when God is no longer just a word, but a preeminent figure in your

vocabulary.

The following are some of the key questions that arise when we ponder the title of this

booklet:

“God’s Promise of Success”

The following are some of the questions. You also may add your own as you read

these questions. Does this Promise mean success for everyone that wants it? Or is this

Promise - if there exist such a Promise, conditional? If conditional, What are the

conditions to receiving and accepting this Promise from a god?

Assume with me for a moment that this Promise of success does exist: What does this

success apply to? One thing? Or many things? Our goals? Our wants? Or just our

needs? Everything? Just business? Or health too? Or what if anything at all? Or

nothing? Where does such a Promise come from? Who discovered it? Who reported

it? Can the source and report itself be trusted? What is the background and credentials

of the reporter(s)? Can the Promise be applied to ones personal life, family life,

corporate/business life and more aspects of life? All of the above? One area? What

areas if any?

If such a Promise does exist, are there conditions one must meet to receive such a

Promise(s)?

Let us wonder together and explore such a wonderful possibility. What could this mean

for you and me, our family and friends and even everyone in the universe that might

come to learn of such a Promise as this?

For there to be such a possibility of any Promise from a god, there must first be a god.

At least there must be some entity that can impart something such as this? Let us

explore the possibility of the existence of a god. And then explore the possibility of a

personal God? If there is a Promise there must first be a “Promiser”.

 

Is there a god and if so who is he (she)?

 

Does a god and does “a” one and only true God (with a capital “G”), whose name is

the Lord God, a personal God with an actual name, exist? Is this God, known by many

names, have a single personal identity like our individual identity? Does this God

actually exist as the “Lord God”? Does this one and only God exist through all time –

with no apparent beginning and no end.? Or does this, potential god, have or had he

(she) a finite existence? Did this potential, one and only creator God, create all things?

And then did he/she create a man and then even a precious woman for and from the

man?

And if so, why? What, if any, could be this potential god’s purpose(s) be in creating

man and woman – if indeed there is such a being? Did the potential, one and only true

god, create man with the hopes that man and woman would miraculously reproduce?

And did he/she create them so that they and all their descendants would live forever

and relate to Him in a very personal, loving way - and be His friend???

How could we come to think of such possibilities?

Is this the reality of creation and our existence? Is there a true story of the Lord God ?

Are most or some parts of the story true, or even entirely true, as we read in Biblical

accounts of creation in the book of Genesis? Or are there other sources and a different

reality apart from the Biblical considerations and descriptions? Lots of questions bring

endless, perhaps wonderful possibilities and even more questions!

Many believe that the “big bang” theory actually happened, the way scientists

theorized, simply one huge cosmic explosion began the entire process. And the series

of chemical reactions eventually led to all life forms being accidentally made or rather

“chanced” into existence? The world and life just happened in an impersonal, with no

direct, creative act from a seemingly lonely, seemingly all-caring God? And would this

God with a name, the Lord God, initiated creation with one large “big bang” (explosion)

slowly, over millions of years, by chance, “happenstanced” the wonderful creation of life

and of man into existence???

Let us look at the Bible. But why look at the Bible? The Bible is thought to be one of

the oldest books that first reports and gives us an account of creation. The Bible also

speaks that there is a “Promise” - many Promises made to various men by a god. It

also is the only book (to my knowledge) that claims to be the inspired, which, when

translated from the Greek root word “inspirito”, means “God-breathed” - hence “Word of

God”. Therefore this is evidence to each seeking person that has cried out from their

heart to a single god that there is a personal God – the “Lord God” that perhaps has

the ability to care for them in a “one to one” way – similar to the way father or mother

has cared for us.

We must examine the book, this Bible. Is it truly God’s love letter from God to man?

Does this book transcend all time? Has it been spoken from a god through the writer(s)

(this god's emissary to those that would read it)? And then his words are

spoken/written to each soul in the confines of his own time. And somehow, through

these words, this god connects souls to himself for the betterment of their lives, and

the lives of others???

Might you agree that one needs to explore first the validity and veracity of the above

statements? In other words, is the Bible – who many claim to be the inspired Word of

God – a book that gives a true and trusted account of all the above? And if so, is it also

a book whose principles can be applied to guide ones life decisions? Let us explore

this possibility?

 

Can the Bible be trusted to be partially true

or completely true?

Or is it a complete fable?

 

Is the Bible a true book? And if it is true, is it all true? Or are just selected parts of it

true? Is it a book that transcends the natural? Is it as many claim: a supernatural book?

Or is it a very old collection of tales and superstitious myths that men used to explain

happenings that they could not naturally explain? Most reject the Bible as completely

true. They dismiss it as full of errors and therefore many deem the entire volume

unreliable – not able to trust any of what is written in it. Many are not able to count on

any of its supposed, innumerable Promises. So most are not aware of, or at least do

not pay attention to its so-called messages and Promises. Many think its principles and

possible promises cannot be applied to their or anyone else’s personal life, or personal

life situations and problems. For many suppose this: how could a book, even if it were

full of trustworthy Promises, being written thousands of years ago, give helpful

Promises and solutions in the time period in which they live? And even more

incredulous is: if these personal Promises and solutions when applied are real and true,

for those in whose time they were written, how could they be true, real and applicable in

every generation? How even more improbable would the application of such principles

and Promises be in every person’s life on the planet earth?

Might there exist any evidence to support the claims: that the scriptures are true and

trustworthy personal messages and Promises from a potential personal god ? By the

word personal, I mean a God that one can relate to on a one-to-one basis? How

impossible, even preposterous can such a consideration be? When looking at such

possibilities through finite eyes this seems very impossible. What is the probability that

all of these notions are true, and if true, applicable to one’s personal, “in-the-presenttime”,

life?

To best explore such a possibility of the existence of a potential personal god, let us

enter a virtual court of law and put these presumptions and assumptions about the Bible

on trial. Let us implement the “prosecuting attorney / defense attorney” model that

works so well in our world today, and bring forth evidence to first examine and then

cross-examine, the possibility of whether the Bible is reliable and trustworthy in part or

in its entirety. If the Bible is reliable Let us therefore begin by presenting any evidence.

And, believe it or not, there are a number of pieces of evidence that can be examined.

Let us look at them below.

 

Evidence from Prophecy

 

Many of us are not aware that there exists no book, other than the Bible, that has

ever given exact predictions – exact dates and places - of future events (which are

often termed prophecies) hundreds of years in advance. These predictions were fulfilled

exactly. Far from vague generalities or general guesses like those given by

fortunetellers, the prophecies in Scripture contain explicit details which no human could

possibly devise on his own. Imagine trying to come up with the name, ancestry,

birthplace, and kind of death for a person who would be born in AD 37, some 1,750

years before this single person would be born. Would you think this not just improbable

– but completely impossible, defying infinite odds given by a Las Vegas bookie? Only

someone, some entity, who knew all things, past, present and future, or, could

effectively change minds and situations, defy such odds and bring such an occurrence

as this into reality. I am sure a good mathematician could come up with such odds that

may be insurmountable. Suppose an entity spoke thoughts into men's minds in the

forms of future predictions about a specific, capital “P” - Promise? And then fulfilled

each and every prediction having to do with this future capital ”P” - Promise. This would

defy all mathematical odds. Would it not? And then we could at least trust in the

possibility of the personal Promises and solutions when applied within the Bible. This

could be applied and used to help each one who decides to trust and apply them to

their lives? Would you agree though, that we could never know for sure, beyond any

shadow of doubt, that the above assumption is completely true? But in a court of law,

in order to move forward in some direction, we must make a decision on what is most

probable and then take action. The Bible lists many such predictions written by an entity

it has called the “Lord God” and claims this “Lord God” made such predictions and then

caused them to see them carried out completely and then perfectly – just as the

prediction was recorded almost 2,000 years ago. After careful examination by a great

number of scholars, many have trusted in their conclusion, that this is exactly what we

have in the Bible in one man’s life: the acclaimed, “god-became-man” Jesus (Yeshua,

His Hebrew name). There is even tremendous significance in His name – such

significance that even the meaning of His name defies all odds. We will look at this a bit

later. Jesus’ identity, name, birthplace, triumphal entry into Jerusalem (then capital of

Israel), his betrayal, suffering, death, and burial – all were foretold in the Old Testament

seven hundred years before He was born.

If only 48 prophecies about a person were fulfilled in this person’s lifetime, the odds of

such an occurrence happening would be 1 chance in 10157 power.

In other words, the chance of ….

1 chance in

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chances

That’s a one (1) followed by 157 zeros! And Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies!

(See Appendix A for a complete list). So this makes the odds for this to happen in one

man’s life (10157)6

Or for all you mathematicians this equals 10 1.49761E+13 or 1 in 10 with 14,976,071,831,449

zeros after it? If we were to write this number it would take 2,269,101,792 pages of

zeros. That's over 2 billion pages of zeros. Does this improbability translate into the

probability that a potential personal God with a book called the Bible IS to be trusted

and believed in? Should the principles of His Book, then applied, i.e., acted upon, and

in order to yield “goodness” : which I define for purposes in this book as short and long

term good “happenings” and blessings in ones life? At least it gives us a reason to read

these principles in the Bible and then apply these Biblically-based principles and

solutions to our lives. May I suggest that you do this for 30 days and see if you notice a

shift to more good things happening – a level of experiencing more goodness and

blessing in your life.

God’s prophets also predicted the downfall of many nations- Ammon, Edom, Moab,

Philistia- and cities such as Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, and Sidon. And not one of them

exists today! So there are more zeros to add to the billions of zeros above, when

considering these other predictions that have come true. And therefore an even greater

possibility of personal blessing through applying Biblical principles to guide ones

actions and decision making processes in ones life. All of the above appearing even

more true, since there are even more prophecies that have come true outside of those

prophecies about the life of Jesus (Yeshua) the “god-became-man”.

About 150 years before Cyrus, king of Persia, was born, Isaiah predicted his birth,

predicted what his name would be, and told that he would release the Jews from

captivity (Isaiah 44:28) And Josiah, one of Judah’s kings, was named 300 years before

he was born (1Kings 13:2). Only God could have revealed these facts, a clear indication

of the supernatural nature of the Bible.

Prophecy itself then, stands up in court as a strong witness that the Bible is true!

The following are more than 300 prophecies that were predicted in writing, and then

fulfilled, many, hundreds of years later. Some of the prophets had no idea who or what

they were writing about – making the possibilities of these predictions even more

improbable unless some miracle working God purposely caused them to take place.

In Appendix A at the end of this book you will find a list of prophecies with scripture

references along with the verse referencing the fulfilling of this prophecies in the life of

Jesus (Yeshua).

 

The following are more web links if you wish to investigate Messianic prophecy

further:

http://www.internetpulpit.co.uk/2011/08/jesus-fulfils-prophecy.html

http://unsealedprophecy.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/truths-prophecy-timelinespreadsheet/

 

Do you love statistics and probability? What do you imagine are the possibilities of all

these predictions being fulfilled?

1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000? NO! … even more! CAN YOU BELIVE THIS?

What do you think are the probability threshold for most juries to decide true or not

true? Guilty or not guilty? Consider seriously please this rhetorical question.

 

Some Other Evidence from Archaeology

 

Many historians have questioned the validity of much of the Bible’s history as

compared with other history sources. Amazingly though, a great number of

archaeological discoveries in recent years have provided compelling evidence that have

given more support to early history as written in the Bible vs these other so-called

“reliable” non-Biblical historical sources.

Let us look at the people group of the Hittites. The Bible refers to the Hittite people 36

times. No account outside the Bible had confirmed the existence of this “people group”.

Therefore many historians said the Bible could not be trusted as completely true. And

therefore these so-called historians further concluded that if there is one error, that

there are probably many more. Interestingly enough, modern day excavations in

Turkey have now shown that the Hittite Empire not only existed but was a very

prominent culture in the days of Abraham and beyond. .

A recent discovery of the Ebla tablets, found in Syria in the 1960s, include the names of

Ur, Sodom, and Gomorrah. Prior to this find, most historians said that since there was

no record of Ur, Sodom, and Gomorrah outside of the Bible references that these cities

therefore did not exist. These fantastic tablets also dispel the notion that since writing

was not practiced in the 14th century B.C., that Moses could not have been the author of

the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Since these tablets were written around

a thousand years before Moses, the historians in this case were also wrong. And the

Bible references have now been upheld as the true record of this era. The Bible’s

references to the many Assyrian kings are accurate as well. Recently, archaeologists

have uncovered Assyrian artifacts that record the names of all these kings. Certain

customs recorded in Genesis are also noted in the Nuzi tablets found in present-day

Iraq. Archeology continues to give strong support in our virtual court hearing of

evidence that disproves the claims of the plaintiffs of our “Bible trust or not” case.

As we read the Muslim Koran, the scriptures of Hinduism, and the writings of

Buddhism, we find no satisfactory answers to the following questions:

1. Where did the universe come from?

2. How did the human race originate?

3. What is wrong with the world? How can the world be made a better place to live?

4. Why is there suffering in the world?

5. What is the cause of and remedy for people’s sense of guilt?

6. How can people live upright lives?

7. What will eventually happen to our world?

And even more important…..

8. What will happen to me when I die? Is this the end of my existence?

9. What is the reason for me living?

10. What is the purpose of life?

We see that only the Bible offers feasible, believable answers to these questions.

And only the Bible offers a possible answer to people’s grief, loneliness, sadness,

bitterness, and hatred. And it is the Bible that not only says what is wrong with the

human heart and gives a solution to these heart problems. Unlike any book written by

humans, the Bible offers the hope of transforming a person’s life from bad to good,

from sad to happy, and can make people feel good inside, and give them peace and

purpose through forgiveness, from a personal God.

There are many accounts of Biblical characters through thousands of years being

rescued from hopelessness, despondency, self destructive and even suicidal acts.

Their lives have been transformed in many cases through basic messages found in the

Bible. This book has given hope to the hopeless, life to the people destined for spiritual

death, and deliverance to many in spiritual slavery that would lead ultimately to spiritual

death. It appears that there is to date no other book in the world that offers such truths

and countless “helps”. The Bible also at the least appears to be giving great support by

leading more to finding it as credible and RELIABLE though archaeological finds, more

and more, especially as advances in science provide more accurate ways of proving

these happenings as true.

But how does the Bible measure up when it addresses science. Let us look at

water. Water evaporates from the ocean, collects in clouds, and falls on the earth as

rain or snow. For centuries scientists did not understand and therefore could not offer

an explanation for this process. But the Bible told exactly how this happened in Job

26:8; 36:27-28; and Ecclesiastes 1:7, many years before scientists moved from skeptic

to feasible to credible and, in many cases, finally gave in and decided to agree with

some Biblical accounts.

It was not until the 16th century that people finally accepted the Biblical account

that the earth was round rather than flat. Several hundred years before Christ, Isaiah

wrote of the circular shape of the earth (Isaiah 40:22). And centuries before that, Job

had said that the earth is suspended on nothing (Job 26:7) – floating in an orbit around

the sun as we know today. In 1628 William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood in

the body. Yet long before that, the Bible recorded the fact that the life of living beings is

sustained by their blood (Leviticus 17:11). Here stands yet more evidence for the

defense of the Biblical accounts predating scientific confirmations that indeed the

Biblical accounts were and still are true.

In conclusion prophecy, archaeology, and science supports much more than it

disproves, with its huge body of evidence, that the Bible is God’s reliable truth. If the

Bible has mistakes in history, science, or geography, we might wonder if it is reliable

when it discusses spiritual subjects. But because it is trustworthy in physical matters

that predate science, it is also dependable in matters of the human heart and spiritual

considerations.

So what might be a way one can test further whether it might be profitable to act for a

test time of say 30 days? May I recommend one read portions of the Bible on a daily

basis and apply its principles to decisions one needs to make throughout each day. At

the end of 30 days, let us make a determination if one’s life and his relationships with

other people is more peaceful and prosperous during this time. We can use a longer

trial period if we wish. But the “FREE 30 day trial period” has worked well when applied

to other methods in the past by many others. Therefore, perhaps this window of time

may be a good one for our test purposes? We all know how quickly 30 days, one

month, flies by. So such a small amount of effort to gain abundance in all areas of

one's life, seems a rather simple decision to make. Isn't it more difficult staying “stuck”

where you are, unsure of how to create this spiritual shift in your life? You decide...

To begin such a trial, may I suggest that we first take a step that the Bible says is

necessary in order that this trial offers any chance to maximize peace and prosperity,

and perhaps so much more that is mentioned above?

The Bible’s central message focuses on the problem of sin, the actions in our daily

life that in many cases at the minimum cause what we do through each day to fall short

of what God expects from us according to His Word, and also in many cases directly

opposes God’s instructions for right living according to the Bible . This therefore

causes us to fall short of what God wants us to have in blessings for ourselves and

even others through each day as well as through life. The Bible asks us to first accept

on faith a few statements and to then ask God to open our hearts to His truths, and thus

a personal speaking to our hearts and minds on a continual basis. This is what many

describe as beginning a personal; relationship with God. The following are the steps the

Bible asks us to take on faith and in prayer as part of our 30 day trial period. We decide

to trust this process and adhere to it for 30 days and observe at least daily, the

outcome. If at the end of this period we feel that this process yielded no truth or

blessing then we just decide to reject it or modify it, and we are free do do something

else. But let us begin first to test this new, potentially personal, moment by moment,

guiding relationship in our 30 day trial. In essence it is described as how to become a

Christian. It is as follows:

1. Acknowledge that you are a sinner – that your actions/decisions, at least once

in our life, and maybe more often than once, have been opposed to what God’s

commandments in the Bible have told us to do – whether we realized this at the

time we were doing it or not. If you do not know the commandments, think of the

“golden rules” you probably have learned as a child. You may ask: What is a

sin? The Greek root word for sin is defined as: to fall short of an action someone

(in this case God) expects us to do. Therefore, sin is to fall short of what God

expects of our actions. The Bible reference that suggests that this is true is: “For

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Romans 3:23). During this trial

period we will believe and trust what the Bible says vs what other people and

books say. Do you think you have at one time or another fallen short of what

God has commanded you to do, according to His Word, the Bible? If so then just

quietly say to God: “God, I have fallen short of what your Word, the Bible has

commanded me to do. I do acknowledge this to You.”

2. Next you decide to believe that Jesus Christ is not just God’s Son, but that He

is also God – because the Word of God, the Bible tells us this is so. You do not

have to understand completely how this is so. Then you decide to accept as fact

that Jesus Christ, God the Father made into a man, lived a sinless life and

therefore did not deserve death. Next, you decide to accept as fact that He died

for your sins – your actions that have fallen short of what God has commanded

us to do in His Word, the Bible. Next you decide to accept as fact that He was

resurrected from the dead to live forevermore, the way God intended: in a perfect

glorified body… able to eat, drink, touch, feel, hear, speak so as to be heard - with

no confines of time, and place. This is to exist as real as you and I are now . And

that His death and resurrection somehow miraculously pays for all our past,

present and future sins. And thus gives eternal life, exactly like the above

description of how Jesus’ existence was after he rose from the dead and even

now… and forever in a place called heaven. And that His death and resurrection

secondly gives us, who accepts these happenings as fact, a more abundant life

here while we remain on earth. Remember, if it says it in the Word of God, the

Bible, we have decided to accept it as truth – at least for now during our trial

period. And the Bible says: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) “Christ died for our

sin. He was buried and was raised on the third day.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Always remember that what we decide to do and believe always must have a

basis in scripture and must at least be figuratively supported as fact. Oftentimes

there is also direct literal support for what we must do and how we must live.

3. We must now personalize this belief by turning completely in faith to Jesus

Christ and our Lord our everlasting Father, by praying a prayer similar to this

one:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (fallen short of what you have expected

 

me to do as described in the Bible). I am, or at least at one time in my life, and

probably more times than this, have been sinful – fallen short of what You

expected of me according to what is described in your Word, the Bible. I believe

that I not only need your forgiveness and payment for my sins by your death, but

also now claim your Promise of victory over eternal death by accepting your

resurrection from the dead as not just Your victory, but somehow my everlasting

victory too. I therefore accept as truth that You died for all my sins - past, present

and future - to pay completely: the penalty for my sin and rose to life again to to

be seen on this earth and life eternal so to exemplify and evidence my gift that I

receive freely of eternal and abundant life. Even though I do not completely

understand all of this yet, I now receive You and trust that you have saved me

from Hell and eternal death and at the same time have saved me for eternal and

abundant life while I still live on earth. Please forgive me for my shortcomings

and sometime outright, intentional sin. Please help me right now and forever to

make a new start? Show me how to live. Please come and live in and through

me. Help me to continually turn from my habits of sin and falling short of what

you expect of me as described in Your Word, the Bible. And right now, please

entrust to me, freely, just because I ask You with all my heart, this salvation: the

free gift of eternal and abundant life. Please give me right now Your free gift of

eternal and abundant life and begin a personal relationship with me? I do not

completely understand the process of how this blessing can come to me; but I,

right now, accept it gladly - trusting that it has come to me because I ask You

LORD God, my Father, with all my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ your Son.

Again, I ask You Father, God, to give this gift to me by the power of the name of

your precious Son, Jesus, the sinless Christ. Please feed my heart and mind

daily during this trial period and show me if there is truth and real Promise to this

prayer Lord Jesus. Thank you for this gift and coming into my life to have a

personal relationship with me.

In addition Lord, if this is all real and true, show me more and more as time goes

on. Please build my faith and trust in you. Show me ways to best learn more

about you and your love for me and others. Bring others into my life to

encourage and help build my faith and trust in you? And help me to serve you in

any way you wish. In areas where I may doubt show me your truths in your

Word, the Bible to strengthen my areas of unbelief.

I ask all of this in the name of Your One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. For it is

written in God's Word, the Bible: “This is the confidence we have in approaching

God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ”

1 John 5:14

To help confirm that your decision and prayer to receive the free gift is real and

of lasting value may I suggest you begin your new life by doing all of the

following below. Completing these steps will help you learn what you may do

next to receive more truth to strengthen your new found belief. And it will also

show you what you can do to show appreciation to Jesus and Our Lord and

Father.

1. Pray with all your heart regularly, at least daily and ask Jesus to guide,

protect, and inspire you and those who are entrusted to your care. The Bible

commands us to pray and never cease to pray – in other words: this means that

 

you should pray often throughout the day.

2. Visit the following websites: www.cbmc.org, www.thegospel.org,

www.rbc.org ;

3. Begin a daily / weekly course of study that is offered at one or some of the

above sites;

4. Begin daily reading of the Bible. You will be amazed how much you will learn

about God and how your new belief will be strengthened. In the beginning you

may have to force yourself to do this and many of these suggestions. But I

assure you, that by executing this discipline, it will be of unfathomable value to

you and those God touches through you in days ahead.

5. Find an independent, Bible teaching, gospel preaching (tells other how to

receive God’s Salvation) study group for fellowship.

6. Attend a local Bible study. See http://connectme.cbmc.com/find/teams for

men and http://www.cbwf.org/contact/ for women. These groups may, if you

desire, give you a list of good, bible-based churches for you to explore so that

you may learn more about the Bible and have an opportunity to make a few good

friendships with Christians.

7. Begin giving your time, talent and treasure to entities that share the gospel

of Jesus.

8. And especially to read and review the short Bible study below over the next

few days.

A great way to grow knowledge, build your trust in God and increase your faith

is to carry a small journal or tablet of paper with you always – just as one would

make and carry a list of “things-to-do”, for writing down these questions and the

answers when you receive them. Always write down any questions you may have

now and as you read and grow. Present your questions to other Christians or

people you know that read the Bible. Finding a great “Blog” is also a great help.

If you need help in finding a good Bible for your daily reading please email or

write via the contact points below:

 

God's Promise of Success

c/o Copy Products

101 E. Township Line Road

Upper Darby, PA 19082

GodsPromiseofsuccess@g mail.com

It is a great idea to make a written record and to confirm your “trial” decision by

signing your name, where you are right now, and date of your decision below:

I have just prayed to receive God's Salvation and have asked God to begin a personal

relationship with me.

X _________________________________________

Signature

___________________________________________

Today’s date and Time Where I am right now

 

Please send me free literature to help me grow in my new relationship with God. (Fill in

and send to my address below or send an email to:

GodsPromiseofsuccess@gmail.com and We will send via email some very helpful

info to assist you on your new and tremendously exciting journey )

________________________________________

Name Date Age

________________________________________

Contact Address

________________________________________

City/State/Zip

________________________________________

Email

Are you ready now to learn more about God’s Promise(s) of Success? I invite you to

continue this journey of a lifetime with me - on the trial basis of course.

 

 

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

 

The Promise of Success from God…

is only for those who FIRST pray and ask God to begin a personal

relationship with Him , i.e., those who ask to receive His free gift of

eternal and abundant life (Salvation) and then desire to seek to

develop a personal relationship with God.

Please be sure to understand that this Promise of Success is NOT

the “Gospel of Prosperity”! One cannot expect this formula for

success to work simply by deciding to give one’s money, talent,

time… etc. to others and God’s works, only to receive His Blessings.

God blessings do not come to us by giving in order to receive. The

“gospel of prosperity” can be defined as follows: Giving your

money, time, talents, etc. to “God’s work” purely for the sake of

receiving, purely for selfish gain (giving merely to get), that you will

get in return what you give and more.

To repeat: God’s Promise of Success is NOT the “gospel of

prosperity”. To receive God’s Promises we must, after we have

prayed to begin a personal relationship with God, in the way that is

mentioned above, with all our heart, decide to give in areas where

God inspires us to give, expecting nothing in return with our giving.

This is motivated by unconditional love and thanks to God for all

He has done, is doing and will do for us - especially His gift to us of

Salvation: His FREE gift of eternal and abundant life – with the

understanding that we are owed nothing more from Him. We then

just decide to bless God back, by following through with “lovemotivated”

attitude, actions and works, as He leads, just to show

our love for Him in return for His Free gift of salvation and His

beginning a personal relationship with us.

The following pages represent a more “modern-day” rewrite of

“God's Secret of Success “ originally written around 1976 by the

late Arthur S. DeMoss with Art’s daughter, Ms Nancy Leigh

DeMoss's insert of her early life with he amazing father.

ARTHUR S. DeMoss

written by Authur's daughter, Nancy Leigh DeMoss

October 26, 1925 - September 1, 1979

Mr.. DeMoss was the Founder, President, and Chairman of the Board of the National

Liberty Corporation, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, which owned five life insurance

companies and subsidiaries consisting of marketing and service organizations. National

Liberty Corporation was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. -

In just ten years, Arthur DeMoss saw the firm he had established in 1959 grow into one

of the nation’s most successful insurance marketing organizations. He was a pioneer in

this field, and his innovative methods earned him a place of prominence in the history

of insurance in this country. Indeed, when he died in 1979, National Liberty Corporation

had become the largest mass marketer of individual life and health insurance in the

world.

As one who had achieved tremendous accomplishments in his chosen profession, Mr..

DeMoss’ testimony of putting God first in his life was particularly effective. A framed

motto in his office offered this admonition, “Attempt something so impossible that

unless God is in it, it is doomed to failure.” The fulfillment of this challenge was

demonstrated throughout his life, from both a business and a spiritual perspective.

Recognized as a successful businessman and an outstanding layman, he was the

recipient of numerous honors from professional and Christian organizations.

Mr.. DeMoss believed in putting God first in his home as well. He and his wife Nancy

had seven children, who were ages eight to twenty-one at the time of his death. In the

“busyness” of all his business responsibilities, traveling and speaking engagements, he

invested time in the spiritual development of his family. He knew that this task required

even more planning and diligence than that required to build a business empire. Arthur

DeMoss’ investment of love, nurture, and admonition in his wife and children shines as

an eternal legacy.

Only weeks before his death, his wife Nancy wrote that “after almost 22 years of

marriage to Art, I believe I am the most uniquely blessed woman in the world.”

One of his children explains why she shares her father’s commitment to God and His

work:

Our earliest memories are of Dad spending the first part of every day on his knees and

reading the Word of God. Conversation about spiritual things was not reserved for

Sundays, but every part of life was related to God’s principles. We saw the power of the

Gospel of Christ as people were regularly converted in our home.

 

As we gathered around the dinner table, Dad would often relate an account of a

business acquaintance who had received Christ in the office that day. We shared in the

joy of seeing lives and homes transformed as a result of his faithful witness. As we

grew up and began to leave home, Dad’s frequent letters and phone calls reminded us

that no joy in life can begin to match that of being wholly committed to Christ.

Early in their marriage, Art and Nancy made a commitment to use whatever wealth God

would see fit to entrust to them for His glory and the advancement of His Kingdom. To

facilitate giving to the Lord’s work, he established the National Liberty Foundation,

which was renamed the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation after his death.

In his will, Mr.. DeMoss provided that most of his assets and holdings be devoted to

spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

In every area of his life, business, family, and spiritual-Arthur DeMoss demonstrated the

heart and priorities expressed in his favorite verse from the Bible:

“But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord

Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.”

(Acts 20:24)

 

GOD’S PROMISE OF SUCCESS

 

Although many do not verbalize it, most people in this world want to be successful

and enjoy prosperity throughout their life. After I had graduated from college (Class of

1975, University of Scranton, PA) and entered the job market, I quickly became

disillusioned with my prospects of enjoying prosperity. Something immediately seemed

to be missing in my life. I worked as a truck rental clerk for Ryder Truck Rental – since

my goals of becoming a surgeon and professional baseball player were at best

postponed indefinitely. I was glad to have a job at all as the economy in the mid 1970’s

was very bad – with unemployment very high as compared to prior years. It was the

days of the first oil crisis, where we saw gas prices move from 29 cents per gallon to

almost one dollar per gallon. I was exposed to Amway and the world of positive

thinking books. This gave me hope that through retraining my mind to think positive as

much as possible, that I could achieve anything. I sought to share my new-found hope,

by trying to recruit and encourage my coworkers to this way of thinking and a part-time

Amway business to supplement their income and reach financial independence. I was

promptly fired for not being a “company man” and went through some very tough times.

In direct answer to deep prayer – begging God with all my heart, on my knees, in tears

– for a new job/career in sales (which, at least to me, meant unlimited income potential

and financial freedom), I believe God eventually brought me to start my own company,

“Copy Products” in December 1978.

The first year was filled with struggles but great. I was “on my own”. My wife, JoAnne

and I, with the help of God and hard work, were able to pay bills and grow the company.

The next year cash flow and coworker trouble threatened to close us down. JoAnne and

I had just begun developing our personal relationship with God after receiving His gift of

salvation. The positive thinking principles and attitudes that were firmly engrained in my

attitude and habits seemed to be stalling. We were finding it hard to meet payroll and

pay our bills. We began to ask God for help. One day when I was out making sales and

service calls, a gentleman – who I, to this day, have never met (and yet to this man I will

be eternally grateful) stopped by my office and dropped off a booklet titled “God’s

Secret of Success”. My receptionist, Thomasine, gave it to me when I came back to the

office. I had always been interested in almost anything mentioning success. I read the

booklet packed with scripture quotes. I was so excited to find something written that

suggested that God wanted us to be prosperous and successful, not just in the spiritual

realm, but also in every area of our life. I was also impressed that it was firmly tied into

and based on the Bible. I was taught to believe, and therefore now believed: that the

entire Bible is written not just by and for those in its present time, but for each one of us

personally and even for this day and time period - in other words: written thousands of

years ago and yet can be applied by us in whatever time period we live in. This meant

for me that my belief system, and therefore any Promises of success must be based on

the Bible. I was excited at the prospect that Mr. DeMoss was blessed and inspired by

God to extrapolate these success/prosperity principles and methods from the Word of

God. And that because it is so much like a “self-help”, positive thinking book, I could

test these principles and methods just like all the others in the many self-help, positive

thinking books. This I would do in order to see whether, when these success principles

were put into practice in my daily life, they would actually work to bring success and

blessing into my life and many others as these blessings flowed into and through me to

others. I would try it and see! I did apply these principles and was instantly amazed as

blessing flowed in and out of my life.

I was aware of and accepted the prerequisites to receive the Promises of success:

(1) I would have to be a child of God (make a commitment in prayer to accept God's

gift of Salvation and pray for God to begin a personal relationship with me – as

we wrote about above;

(2) I would practice these principles out of gratitude to God in return for His loving

Salvation (the free gift of eternal and abundant life) he had presented to me, and

that which I had accepted.

The principles of success are like seeds. In order for these seeds to take root, grow

and produce the fruit of prosperity and success, they need be planted in the ground

(regularly practiced in my life). But the ground must supply the proper nutrients for

sustained growth in order to produce fruit (success and prosperity). Those nutrients are

the above two prerequisites. For the following formula to work the way God intends it, I

must be a child of God and practice them realizing that I owe this practice to God out of

a pure love motivation for His gift of eternal and abundant life. And that if prosperity

and success came into my life as a result, then this is just an added bonus – and never

something owed to me. In addition, I would let the world know that any blessings

resulting from the practice of these principles are from God. My heart would be right

and true in my approach and my position in God’s family as a child of God had been

fixed by my decision to accept God’s Salvation and His personal relationship with me.

Therefore, the following principles, based on the Word of God, the Bible, have a great

opportunity to yield success and prosperity. The following are the principles shared by

Mr. DeMoss in his booklet “God’s Secret of Success” (some are the same, some are

explained in a bit more detail to help one better understand, and some are changed

slightly to be more understandable in the light of the way people think and write today). I

believe that these principles, if put into practice in one's life, will lead to success in

many areas of one’s life. I also have come to find that the reverse is also true.

Just like Art DeMoss I too have always been very interested in success, before the

time I became a Christian and since I had prayed with all my heart to receive God's

Free gift of Eternal and abundant life (Salvation) and had asked God to develop a

personal relationship with me. Thanks to Mr. DeMoss’ detailed study of the Word of

God, I too have come to the realization that God wants us to be successful in reaching

the goals we set, as long as they do not go against any precepts of the Bible. We must

also never work these principles out of completely selfish motives. God also wants us to

be prosperous. I understand prosperity to be that attribute where one is prosperous,

and has not only enough for he and his family to meet their every need, but so much

more, that they are able to share and bless others to the point of “standing out in the

crowd”. And further, to stand out to a height that, as they openly give credit for their

overflowing blessings to God, they attract others to receive God’s Salvation. And then

these “others” desire to know the principles that once appeared like secrets of

success. I now know they are not secrets at all! They just could not be realized as

Promises until the prerequisites were received and fully accepted, and thus have taken

root in one’s heart.

A dictionary defines success as: “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose”.

One who has accepted God’s Salvation, a Christian (one who desires to live inspired

and guided by the principles, laws and ways of Christ and God’s Word, the Bible, after

receiving God’s gift of eternal and abundant life) has a different and expanded definition

of the word success. His standards and therefore values he holds dear are not the

same as one who has not been exposed to and received God’s Salvation. If he is truly a

Christian he wants to be successful so that he may bring glory (focused recognition

resulting in praise) to God. Often times the success he achieves and is blessed with

results in prosperity in many areas of his life – spiritual, physical, emotional, financial,

familial and so much more.

If the above is true, it then is logical that God’s children will be not ordinary, but

extraordinary. They should not be mediocre, but successful. A child of God will not be

discontented, disheartened and discouraged the majority of the time, but most of the

time be radiant, vibrant, and jubilant – even in the times of testing and challenging

times, as compared to the life of one who is not a child of God. Once we invite God to

begin a personal relationship with us and thus come into our life, a new life with God in

us, begins according to Revelations 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door,” (of your heart

and life) “and knock, if any man hear my voice, and open the door,” (of his life and

heart) “I will come in to him, and will sup with him” (have a spiritually intimate

relationship with God) “and he with Me.” The Holy Spirit of Jesus, who now lives on

the inside of the Christian keeps him/her from being as weighed down with problems,

burdens, and cares as a non-Christian. He/she has a greater level of peace, power, and

prosperity that permeates his life and more often, in more of a happy, peaceful attitude,

he/she performs their daily tasks as God carries us, helps us, through our problems,

burdens and cares. This is so because he/she has the Holy Spirit who lives on the

inside, and feeds the Holy Spirit of Jesus at least daily, by reading the Word of God.

Reading the Bible feeds our spirit and the Spirit of God in us. The believer in God also

possesses more tools than those who have not been presented with the opportunity of

making the choice to accept the gift of eternal and abundant life (Salvation) and thus

become a child of God.

Mr. DeMoss says it very well when he wrote “it would be extremely presumptuous of

me to endeavor to prescribe any secret of success from my own very limited wisdom

and experience. This formula, therefore, is based not on my own opinions but rather on

the infallible Word of God, the Bible.” In other words, what Mr. DeMoss means is that

only the Bible gives the BEST formula for success.

GOD’S Promise OF PROSPERITY

Here are a few readings and references from The Word of God, the Bible, that

Promise success and prosperity assuming that the one who practices these principles

is a Christian (as we described above). Realize now and every time you read the Word

of God, that He is speaking directly to you as you speak back to Him in praise and

prayer. 2 Timothy 3:16 states it best: “All scripture is given by inspiration (God

breathing into our minds) of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness”. This is how a personal relationship with

our unseen God works. He speaks to our thoughts governed by and through His Word

and we speak to Him in prayer and praise.

Here are some scripture verses and references that support the above:

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the

path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the

Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the

rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither;

and whatever he does shall prosper.”

Psalm 1:1-3.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from thy 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 God

will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Joshua 1:8.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul

prospers.”

3 John 2.

“Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

Psalm 35:27

“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and

you shall prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20

“The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and

build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.” Nehemiah 2:20

Mr. DeMoss further states: “and we, the reader, must always be mindful of the fact

that although these verses clearly indicate that God is interested in our success, we

must always be aware that most of His Promises of success and prosperity are

conditional.” To better clarify Mr. DeMoss by the above statement: he means that we

must be in a certain frame of mind and style of heart and life to receive blessings and

directing by God the way God intends.

 

GOD’S APPARENT PARADOX OF PROSPERITY

 

We could call this point the apparent Paradox of Prosperity, for indeed the scriptural

principle of prosperity is a paradox to the non-Christian. The non-Christian lives the way

most people of the world feels he should in order to succeed: by looking for ways they

can “just get by”: “mostoftentimes”, taking without giving. Humanly speaking, this seems

to be quite logical. And it is the way we first learn as a young child. Mothers are always

giving and the baby, in order to grow and survive, must always be taking. The worldly

habit of always taking and never giving becomes engrained in our habitual patterns.

Hence the habit of taking is cultivated and becomes habit. As we grow older this way of

life, this means of prospering feels like it is the correct way to prosper. Oftentimes what

may feel right to us is far from the right way of doing something according to God's way.

And the world reinforces this wrong way of thinking by coining phrases like: “If it feels

right… do it”. The right way of doing things must be based on verses in God's Word.

The Holy Spirit first fills the new Christian’s mind and then heart ( and I do not mean

a physical heart but the figurative “heart” - the seat of all motivation to action) and is first

rewired by God and then gradually reengineered by the Spirit of God, working together

with the Word of God (as the new Christian regularly reads, studies, memorizes,

attends Bible studies, hears scripture messages at church, the radio, TV, podcasts,

internet, etc). And we decide to accept and make the following apparent paradox of

prosperity part of our decision-making process that reforms our “taking-to-prosper”

mindset, to a “giving-to-prosper” mindset. This we do solely out of gratitude to God, first

realizing that we are owed or even deserve nothing in return for our giving. But we still

hope, out of God’s pure love and grace, for His blessing(s) to come to us. Success and

prosperity will in many cases follow. But again, we are not to be disappointed if

blessing(s) are not immediate or they don't appear to happen at all. We should view

blessings as “icing on the cake” - something extra. For, like a friend of mine always

says: “When you can't see His hand, trust His heart”.

Let us look at what God says about this in the Bible.

God’s Word, in the Bible, teaches that “taking” is not the way to live for God or to

have the opportunity to receive blessing at all. But, strange as this may seem, the way

to have an opportunity, a possibility to receive blessing, is by selfless, even

unconditional “giving”.

And again in Proverbs 11:24-25 we read: “There is one who scatters, yet increases

more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The

generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.”

Francis of Assisi so beautifully states this divine paradox:

“It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

It is in loving that we are loved,

It is in giving that we receive,

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

This is not scriptural but none-the-less captures well the apparent “paradox of

prosperity”

Mr. DeMoss again says it so well when he says: “You want love. You need help. You

want, maybe need, more money. Surely you need more time. Because, if you are

typical, you are extremely busy now, and there are just not enough hours in the day to

do all that should be done.” What is God’s instruction to all this?

Jesus says in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed

down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same

measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Well then! Should we take a step of faith (which is acting on what we have decided to

believe) and begin giving of what we need, contrary to what we feel – which is: “taking”,

to get what we need? Should we begin giving love, help, money, time, out of a pure

love for God and our fellow man and woman, expecting nothing in return - but hoping

for miraculous blessings, not in return, but more so, to follow? And yet never holding

onto sad feelings or disappointment if we don’t see a blessing? For in the end, always

keep in mind that we have the ultimate blessing already! And that is for now and for the

rest of our existence in eternity. We have Salvation (the free gift of eternal and

abundant life).

God says He will return all with interest in the above verse from the book of Luke.

So, let’s just trust Him at His Word - whether we ever recognize a blessing or not. For

we owe all we have, all we are and all we ever hope to be, to Him anyway. Right?

According to the book of Genesis we were created and given life by God.

Please permit a word of personal testimony from Mr. DeMoss. Mr. DeMoss writes

the following and I can also write almost the same words. Arthur says: “Yes, try God’s

principle of prosperity. I did and can vouch for the fact that it works! Permit a word of

personal testimony.” Before Mr. DeMoss prayed to receive Salvation he wrote, “Before

my twenty-fifth birthday, I was tens of thousands of dollars in debt. And this in spite of

the fact that I had been accustomed to working seven days and five or more nights a

week. Like many other businessmen, I had the peculiar notion that I was indispensable

to my business, and that, if I left for a day or two, I would return to find the business

gone. If I had to leave even for a few hours, I would call the office frequently to make

sure everything was all right.

Then the Lord though the witness of others led me to pray and accept His Salvation.

Others showed me from the Word of God how to develop and grow a personal

relationship with God. I was so burdened and anxious about many things, especially

things that involved 'my' company. As I read and sometimes memorized the Word of

God from the Bible, I realized first that what I thought was 'my' company was truly

God’s company. I was just entrusted and blessed to be in charge of His company. In

fact everything, the Word of God states, that all I owned was and is God’s.”

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the

heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

In other words, My business, my family, my shoes, my chair, and even my socks -

everything is entrusted to me by God. I would have nothing except that He has loaned

it to me. The simple fact that we will take nothing at all with us when we die bears

witness to this very sobering fact of life: Everyone and every thing in our life is on loan

to us. As we live a life pleasing to God, learning how to please Him by reading,

meditating and memorizing His Word, the Bible, and then working to obey all we have

read and learned from His Word, the Bible, we day by day, moment by moment, stay

connected to Him and His channel through which blessing may flow to us and through

us to others. Love is God's key message and governing rod. Learn to live a life of love.

Let the love of God live through us.

And further, as Mr. DeMoss writes: “ He, (God) promised to alleviate my burdens,

solve all my problems, meet all my needs, and return to me with interest all that I gave

Him. You may ask, when and how did God make this Promise to me? Always

remember, the Promises in His Word, the Bible, were not just for the time in which they

were written, but for all time and for all who become a child of God. I am sorry to say I

was not as quick as I should have been to take advantage of His proffered goodness to

me, but I can testify to the glory of God that, in spite of my frequent unfaithfulness with

regards to keeping the commands. He has asked of His children that are found in His

Word, the Bible, He has always been more than faithful.”

Mr. DeMoss writes: “He first took me out of debt shortly after my conversion. It was so

effortless, so easy. I did not need to work night and day and Sundays as in the past. All

I had to do was put God first. The more time and money I gave Him - with the

realization of being owed nothing in return, yet with the hope of receiving some favor or

blessing - I discovered the more He did give me. I have not given him nearly enough.

I’m ashamed of myself; He has been so good to me.

In my own experience, the matter of time had been even more pressing than the

money problem. It seemed that eighty hours a week were not sufficient even for the

needs of the business, let alone finding time for Christian activity. Again, I want to testify

to the glory of God that the more time I have given Him, the more He has given me in

return. Now He has permitted and privileged me to spend almost as much time on His

business as I used to devote to my own.

I never worry anymore, but commit the business and the personnel and any problems

that might arise to the Lord in prayer each morning, then leave them with Him. How

wonderful is God’s assurance in Philippians 4:6-7, 'Be anxious for nothing, but in

everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made

known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all under-standing, will guard

your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.'

My experience is but a crude illustration of this divine paradox, God’s principle of

prosperity.”

I can also testify the same throughout my life too. And as I remember Mr. DeMoss's

booklet I thank him and Mrs. DeMoss for making it available for distribution. When I put

God first in each area of my life, blessing and prosperity flow to me and through me to

others. Conversely, when I failed to put God first, the blessing and prosperity “flow” to

and through me slowed down or stopped flowing completely.

Finally, and most important is:

 

GOD’S PRICE FOR PROSPERITY

 

At this point, we should make it clear that it costs a person nothing to become a

Christian. The price for our salvation has already been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ,

God himself, as He poured out His blood on Calvary’s cross for the remission of our

sins. We need merely to accept His substitutionary sacrifice for us to pass from eternal

and “here on earth” separation to receive His Salvation (saved for His use, blessing,

favor and heaven, as well as saved from evil and eventually the everlasting fires of

hell). To repeat, it is not required of us to understand how the death Jesus, actually God

Himself, can pay for our sins (past, present and future) to receive the gift of Salvation.

All we need do is to accept this FREE gift from God, for the Words of God Himself in

the Bible, assure us of His wonderful Promise.

There is, however, an “unfulfillable” debt we owe for peace, power, and prosperity in

the Christian life. And by striving to unselfishly serve God and others out of pure

gratitude and never with any hope to even partially satisfy this debt, we discover the

paradox of prosperity. God’s apparent price for prosperity is a paradox in this way:

when we are willing to pay the price, we find that it does not cost, but, on the contrary,

pays us not all the time but most oftentimes.

This paradox when compared to the non-christians’ view of always taking to receive,

is evidenced, not only in agriculture but also spoken about again in God's Word:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it

remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24

Mr. DeMoss again so aptly states it this way: “Oh, how tragic it is that, if we really

believe 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son' we are so

unappreciative that, in spite of God’s giving His Son for us, we are willing to give Him

merely whatever time and money we have left after we first have indulged in our own

desires.”

Shouldn’t we put God first for at least three reasons?

Mr. DeMoss says it this way:

“1. We owe it to Him. We are not our own; we are bought with a price, the precious

blood of the Lord Jesus. God’s Word tells us this.

2. We owe it to ourselves. Some of us think we are doing God a favor by doing right

and putting Him first, but we are really doing ourselves a favor. It pays infinitely more

than it costs to serve Him.

3. We owe it to others. Christians and non-Christians alike, to whom our actions

speak louder than our words, our works are more evident than our faith, and to whom

our lives constitute both a testimony and an example.”

Our Lord speaks through the apostle Paul and says in 2 Corinthians 2: 15-16:

“Indeed, I am the fragrance of Christ to God, alike for those who are being saved and

for those who are perishing; to the one a deadly perfume that leads to death, to the

other a living perfume that leads to life.”

Therefore we should stay close to the Lord and to put Him first in everything.

The Lord Jesus Himself stated this simply and clearly and there is no disputing the

meaning of His Word in Matthew 6:33: 'But seek first the kingdom of God and His

righteousness,' (the practice of doing right things), 'and all these things' (blessings)

'shall be added to you.'

Here it is: the “Promise of Success” for a Christian. You see it is actually not a secret

at all. With the Word of God as our guide let us break it out and list five ways to assist

us with the goal of better focusing to allow us to carry out the method that will make us

more prosperous in all we do for God and others. Specifically, we will list several ways

in which we will strive to put God first. To some of you the following may seem very

basic principles of the Christian life, yet at the same time, please realize that since

many rarely, make them part of their habits, I find it important to list them in a five step

process in order to better motivate us all as “believers” to apply these principles

practicing them to make them habits. As a matter of fact, I at least feel, that God’s

Promise of success for a Christian, like His method to receive salvation for the nonchristian,

is so simple that the method for success therefore is missed for their entire

life by many Christians.

 

1. GIVE OUR LORD THE FIRST DAY OF

EACH WEEK

 

Because Jesus Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice by giving His sinless life on the

cross to pay for all sins of everyone who receives Salvation, we need not perform the

animal sacrifices required by the ceremonial law of the Old Testament commanded by

God through Moses. And so it follows that we are not subject to the Jewish Sabbath

laws requiring its blood sacrifices and ritualism. However, because of our love and

devotion to the Lord, shouldn’t we still give Him the first day of the week? And adhere to

the other requirements of this Day of Rest? Is this the requirement to set apart this day

for God's use – In other words to keep it holy? “Keep holy the Lord's day” Exodus 20:8

This, of course, means not only not working to earn money on the Lord’s day, but also

regular and faithful attendance at most of the services of a Bible-believing, Christexalting

church. Mr. DeMoss recounts of his having heard Dr. Lee Roberson, pastor of

the large Highland Park Baptist Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee, make the

statement that: “in all his years and experience as a pastor he has never known a single

case of a person’s “backsliding” (i.e., the turning away from learning more about God

and His ways and following the ways of Jesus as outlined in the Word of God, Bible),

who was faithful in attending the regular services of a Gospel preaching, Bible teaching

church.” This is not a guarantee to keep one from “backsliding” but an observation of

Dr. Roberson. And for us to consider as we shape our lives with good and Godly habits

to embrace our life of prosperity.

There are many people today that, because of their job requirements or because they

own a business, feel that they must work on Sunday. Aren’t these people like the

Israelites under Moses who questioned God regarding His commands in the books of

Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers? May I challenge you learn, commit to

memory, and follow what the Word of God instructs us to do? Hear is an example to

follow concerning an entire year, every seventh year, as a condition for blessing from

God.

“And if you say, ' What shall we eat in the seventh year - since we shall not sow

nor gather in our produce? ' Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth

year - and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.” Leviticus 25:20-21

Again, giving God the first day of the week not only entails not working on the Lord’s

day, but also the faithful attendance at the services of a church where the true gospel is

preached and where teaching from the Word of God, the Bible, takes place at least

weekly.

The Word of God commands us to do many things. Let us review a few below from the

Bible.

God says in Galatians 1:8: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any

other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

In other words, we are only to focus on readings and messages concerning the one

and only real gospel, the true gospel of Jesus Christ as written in the Bible. The true

“gospel” of Jesus, our Lord God, is the way we receive His salvation. This you

remember of course is in the earlier pages of this booklet.

Then in 2 Thessalonians 3:6: “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not

according to the tradition which he received from us.”

This means that we are to not only withdraw from one who does not strive to live a life

governed by the teachings of the Scriptures, but these “traditions”, the teachings of the

Bible, the Scriptures, must be the means by which our life is governed. This does not

mean that we should not show such a brother love. It does however mean, at least as

how I understand this verse, that we should not be around or take part in fellowship with

a friend or acquaintance that is participating in such an activity directly opposed and

also even appearing to be opposed to the “way” as based on scripture.

In 2 John 10-11: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not

receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil

deeds.”

Proverbs : 1-3: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor

standeth in he way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful . But his delight is in

the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be

like a tree planted by the rivers of water,that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his

leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

 

 

2. GIVE THE FIRST PART OF EACH DAY TO OUR LORD

 

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of spending at least the first part (and

the same amount of time, preferably increasing this amount as time goes by) of each

and every day. Mr. DeMoss believed this time should be at least the first hour of each

day with the Lord, in prayer and in reading His Word. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus

Himself: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out

and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Mark 1:35

Mr. DeMoss expands on the above Scripture:

“If Jesus thought it worthwhile to spend the first part of the day with His Heavenly

Father, how much more should we?

When we suggest giving God the first hour of the day, that is a bare minimum.

Actually it requires much more than that to pray as we should and to spend adequate

time in God’s Word. But how worth-while is every minute, every hour spent alone with

God at the start of each day as we”, throughout the entire day that follows, “experience

His divine blessing”, favor and guidance, “upon all of our feeble, fumbling, faltering

efforts and activities throughout the day?

That giant of God, Robert Murray McCheyne, said,

' I feel it is far better to begin with God-to see His face first, to get my soul near Him

before it is near another. I ought to spend the best hours in communion with God. This

is my noblest and most fruitful employment and is not to be thrust into a corner.' ” And,

of course, Robert uses this example to show how best to hear God's direction for our

day.

Mr DeMoss again states: “If we agree that prayer is our noblest and most fruitful

employment, we likewise should give God the best part of the day” – when we feel our

best. Most would agree that this time is normally the first part of our day. “If prayer

means any less than this to us, we might as well not pray at all.” I do not agree that if

“we can't pray one hour that we might as well not pray at all”. However, we certainly do

understand from the above statement, how very important it was for Mr. DeMoss to

spend the first hour of each day in prayer. For all of us in our “walk” with God at

present we see from the Bible and from the example of Jesus and other great men of

faith, that regularly scheduled prayer is a necessity. Let God show us how much to

pray and what is the best time for us to pray. Of course we must pray and ask for His

guidance on this – and I feel that God would say that it is an individual's choice in this

matter of prayer. Perhaps this too can be part of our trial: to increase our prayer time

and see if we then have more time for things. Bottom line is that, if this is true, we will

become more productive in the use of the time we have. Or possibly God will bring

helpers into our life to make us more productive and make better use our time. There is

nothing in the Word of God, the Bible, that commands us to pray for a set amount of

time. And the Word of God is always our governor concerning this matter, as it is in

many things we say, think and do.

I have on several occasions, and I am sad about it, missed my time with God first

thing in the morning. Call it a form of 'backsliding' if you will. And I can honestly say I

just felt 'out of tune' for much of the day “out of sync” - with more struggles, less than

the best attitude, or a sense that my timing was off and not as productive that day – and

perhaps I did not have the best “love” attitude after missing my time of reading the Word

and prayer with God. I work hard to discipline myself to never miss my “first watch” with

Our Lord.

Charles H. Spurgeon, England’s foremost preacher of the 19th century, said of

morning devotions,

“It should be our rule never to see the face of men before first seeing the face of God.

The morning watch anchors the soul so that it will not very readily drift far away from

God during the day; the morning is the gate of the day and it should be well guarded

with prayer . He who rushes from his bed to his business without first spending time

with God is as foolish as though he had not washed or dressed, and as unwise as one

dashing to battle without arms or armor.”

Martin Luther, a catholic parish priest of 16th century, who unknowingly began the

protestant reformation with his writing of the “95 thesis”, said that, “If I fail to spend at

least two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day.”

John Welch was a holy man of Scottish decent. John, who God used him mightily,

thought the day ill-spent if he did not spend a minimum of eight hours in prayer!

Joseph Alleine was 17th century English preacher, and it has been written that: “He

was infinitely and insatiably greedy of the conversion of souls, and to this end he

poured out his heart in praying and preaching,” arose at four o’clock to pray until eight.

When he heard the milkman or others plying their business before he was up, he would

exclaim, “Oh, how this shames me. Does not my Master deserve more than theirs?”

Oswald Smith, retired pastor of the People’s Church in Toronto, Canada, was

perhaps one of the greatest missionary leaders, says:

“For well over a quarter of a century now I have observed the morning watch. I would

never dream of going to my work without first meeting God. Morning after morning I go

to my study and wait upon my Lord. First of all, I pour over the pages of the sacred

Book, then I give myself to prayer and supplication. Thus I meet God before meeting

men and He solves my problems before I come to them. The morning watch has meant

everything in the world to me, and my ministry would be weak, powerless and

ineffective without it.”

Mr. DeMoss says: “Now if these great men of God needed to start the day with Him,

surely we need it more. Personally, I would not think of foregoing my quiet time for a

day, even though it meant capturing the time from the morning hours of sleep, and

frequently it does; but I have discovered that the prayer does me much more good than

the sleep. Should it not, if God can do anything?”

Dr. Charles Stanley preached a magnificent series of sermons on prayer and He

recounted that on one occasion He prayed lying face down on the floor all night and

woke up more energized and refreshed than if He had actually slept the whole night!

Please never let the example of these men mentioned here ever intimidate you and

make you feel that a lesser prayer time is worth less at all to God. God is interested in

quality and heart connection more that He is in the length of time we pray to Him.

Mr. DeMoss further and firmly states: “Frankly, I have yet to hear a valid excuse for

not giving God at least the first hour of each day. This is part of the price of spiritual

power as well as for prosperity, and inasmuch as it costs nothing but an earnest desire

for God’s best, neglect of the morning watch is absolutely inexcusable.

You say your body requires so many hours of sleep; why then, all you need to do is to

go to bed an hour earlier at night, get your required sleep, then start each new day

fresh with God. Certainly if He, the Creator of this mighty universe, is willing to spend

the time with us, how much more willing we should be to spend the time with Him.”

We must respect the zeal of Mr. DeMoss's expression with respect to prayer. And

also remember the power of praying without ceasing, which most likely encourages us

to pray short prayers to God continually through the day and even night, as if (and He

is) right here with us always.

The following is also a powerful point from Mr. DeMoss: “Remember, the man of

prayer is the man of power. The price of power is prayer. The 'Promise' of power is

prayer. Prayer is power.”

E.M. Bounds, Methodist minister, in his wonderful little book Power Through Prayer

states: “We might go through the list of men who have mightily impressed the world for

God, and we would find them early after God. A desire for God which cannot break the

chains of sleep is a weak thing and will do but little good. Our laziness after God is our

crying sin. The children of this world are far wiser than we. They are at it early and late.

We do not seek God with ardor and diligence. No man gets God who does not follow

hard after Him, and no soul follows hard after God who is not after Him in early morn.

Spiritual work is taxing work and men are loath to do it. We can curtail our praying, and

not realize the peril until the foundations are gone. Hurried devotions make weak faith,

feeble convictions and questionable piety. To be little with God is to be little for God.”

As Mr.. DeMoss writes: “Now, of course, the morning watch” (time of prayer and Bible

reading, study and memorizing), “consists of time spent in God’s Word, the Bible, as

well as in prayer. Insofar as systematic Scripture reading is concerned, a plan that has

proved to be extremely practical and beneficial for me for over 28 years now is to read

each day one Proverb, five Psalms, and two chapters consecutively from each of the

Old and the New Testaments. This enables me to go through the Old Testament once a

year, the New Testament three times a year, and the Psalms and Proverbs once each

month. I believe you will be truly blessed by following such a plan. We have in the

Proverbs the greatest wisdom and in the Psalms the most radiant, jubilant, exuberant

literature ever penned since the dawn of creation.”

I, on the other hand, find that the “One Year Bible” published by Tyndale, helps me

better stick with the above daily prosperity principal to put Our Lord first, the first part of

each day. I enjoy the NLT (New Living Translation) best. Although I memorize the KJV

(King James Version) as I enjoy the old English. I feel this version is closer to the

“original” of how God intends us to understand Him. Here is a link to begin reading

online: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/ . You may also browse this site to purchase

a small, regular or large size print “One Year Bible”.

If you want to step out to prosper as you walk in and deliver God's love to everyone

you encounter each day with the marvelous thrill and the sweeping surge of victory in

your heart and soul, try this formula at the least during your trial believing period, and I

Promise it will so revolutionize your life that you will never think of giving it up. You will

attain a peace, a power, a prosperity that will permeate every avenue and area of your

life. Your example will, without a doubt, encourage the sharing of this booklet out of

love for our living God in all your relations and relationships in your “circle(s)” of

influence.

 

3. GIVE OUR LORD THE FIRST PART

OF EACH DOLLAR WHICH WE EARN

 

The Bible asks us:

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, In what way have

we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you

have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Malachi 3:8-9

The Bible then states God's opinion well in the following verses:

“Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your

increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with

new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10

“…He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully

will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6

I have observed that there appears to be a correlation between “giving” and Christian

spirituality. Many Christians believe that they should give as much as they can afford,

after paying their bills.

According to the Bible we should give to God before paying our bills. God’s

command in the Scripture is to give Him the first fruits – the first part of what we have

earned, the first part of our paycheck. In the words of Mr. DeMoss: “what we have left

will go a great deal further, inasmuch as it will have God’s blessing upon it”,

God’s Word, the Bible, does not suggest, but commands that the first part of our

income, and not the last part, should be happily given to the Lord and should be a

minimum of one tenth. This we owe Him. It is only what we give God over and above

the first tenth that is truly a freewill type of offering to Him. The more we wish to show

our love for Him, the more we want to give to His works. What are His works? The

Scriptures make some suggestions: 1. the caring for the poor; 2. caring for widows and

orphans; 3. entities and people that share the gospel (the good news of Salvation – the

method by which one may learn about and then pray to our Lord asking to receive His

free gift of eternal and abundant life). 4. entities and people that train those that have

received Out Lord’s Salvation in how to begin and grow their personal relationship with

God; 5. entities that disciple: train those that have received Salvation and that have

grown a close personal relationship with our Lord to then share Salvation with those

that do not know about it and further disciple other new Christians.

Many pastors feel that the tithe is part of the Old Testament law and does not apply to

us today. A tithe is/was a command spoken by the Lord to Moses which states that all

who earn money are supposed to give the first tenth of their earnings each pay period

(when translated to the meaning in today’s terms) to the Lord or to a person or entity

that does the Lords work – preaching the gospel and/or teaching others about salvation

and the Bible. They present the idea that we are now living “under grace”. Those that

believe this way think that we are not subject to, nor must we consider adhering to the

Lords commands given to Moses for the people to follow. If this is true than are we also

to say we do not have to adhere to any of the Ten Commandments or any other of

God’s laws? Jesus himself said that He had not come to put an end to the Law but to

complete it. Believing and trusting in what Jesus himself has said, we, as we come

closer to following the “ways” of Jesus, would also strive to live by as many of the laws

and the Ten Commandments as seemed within reason. So let us NOT ignore God’s

command when it comes to what we should do to honor God when it comes to HIS

money that He has lent us. Besides, Jesus Himself endorsed the tithe in Matthew

23:23, especially, yet indirectly, in the last part of this verse: “Woe unto you, scribes and

Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted

the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have

done, and not to leave the other undone.”

You say that it is impossible for you to give at least one tenth of your income because

you do not now have enough money to meet all your obligations. Here again enters

God’s paradoxical principle of prosperity. If you need more money, give more. If God’s

Word is true, you will have more for yourself. This was how Mr. DeMoss' friend

succinctly made his point in his excellent book on Christian giving: “Giving your way to

prosperity.” Test the principle with your “30 day trial method”. Give one tenth to God as

describe above. Keep track of all the cash flow to you and come up with a total at the

end of 30 days.

I was amazed when I first did this back in the early 1980's. The first month my cash

flow exploded. When I first decided to test this principle of giving, I personally had given

an amount I had never given to even a close friend or family member. I gave it out of

love for God and in obedience to His command to a Christian work, expecting nothing.

I was even surprised to have received at least 100 times what I had given in

unexpected additional cash flow by the end of my first pay period. I am humbly

testifying of what happened and continues to happen to me in my giving. There are

many other testimonies, including Mr. DeMoss’s, letting us know this has happened in

their lives as well. We cannot count on this to happen for everyone, nor every time

simply because it depends on what attitude is in the givers heart, as well as what God's

plan and direction is for us. We need to look at such blessings as increases above and

beyond what we deserve. We also must give words of thanksgiving and praise to God

in prayer as we give, with an attitude of praise and love to Him always. All I can say is,

that when I started applying these principles, I had almost nothing, and was nearly out

of business. Yet now, and ever since, I have more than enough to meet my needs and

help others too. I am not a billionaire. Nor do I really want to be one - unless of course

this is what God wants. But I will say that if this is His plan, I will give as much as I can

to His work and to the needs of those less fortunate than I. Hallelujah! This word is

translated: Praise You LORD!

 

4. PUT GOD FIRST IN ALL OUR HABITS

 

You know that we so frequently hear the question, “Where does the Bible say such a

thing is wrong?” Well, frankly this used to puzzle me somewhat until I came to the

realization that God apparently did not feel it necessary to treat us like children by

always enumerating in His Word a “list of do’s and don’ts”. Certainly He is above such

pettiness. He did however, in the books of Exodus, Dueteronomy, Leviticus and

Numbers, give a few “do's and don'ts”, to protect us and get us started in prosperity

living. But understand this: God loves us and is therefore very concerned about our

habits. For the standards of our perfect and holy God are so much higher than ours.

How it must grieve His heart as He looks down sometimes and sees our awful,

appalling worldliness. Many of us, much of the time, doing things in direct contradiction

to many of His divine commands and recommendations for right and prosperous living.

Read with me what God says in 1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love the world or the things in

the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in

the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the

Father but is of the world.”

The above verse prompts Mr. DeMoss to write: “ So God is concerned about our

likes, our dislikes, and our habits, but His method of legislating right or wrong in this is

by laying down scriptural principles which we are to follow. Certainly no honest, openminded,

Christian”, that is daily working at building his personal relationship with God,

“can have any reasonable doubt as to what is right or wrong in the light what the Word

of God says about this: ' For whatever is not from faith is sin. ' ” (a falling short of what

God expects us to do). Romans 14:23

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me,

but I will not be brought under the power of any. Or do you not know that your body is

the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not

your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in

your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 Corinthians 6: 12, 19-20

“But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who

are weak. And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom

Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak

conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will

never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

1 Corinthians 8:9,11-13

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the

Lord’s table and of the table of demons. All things are lawful for me, but not all things

are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Therefore, whether you

eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:2 1, 23, 31

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving

thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17

“Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay

aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with

endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of

our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the

shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. “ Hebrews 12:1-2

William Biederwolf, evangelist of the 19th century says:

“How can we expect our lives to become beautiful and strong” so that others may be

drawn to ask us: How has your life become this way? And then learn the source of this

beautiful life and this tremendous hope we have radiating out from us, in our smile and

our countenance? If we continue to live a life fulfilling purely selfish desires that fight

against what the mighty indwelling Spirit of God in us. How can God’s Holy Spirit work

to His fullest in us to transform us into someone from whom His truth, love, light and

blessings flow to others ?

I am not going to say that you cannot do certain things and be a Christian. But I will

say that whatever tempts us to perform purely selfish acts at the expense of our health

(physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) or at the expense of hurting someone else,

definitely hinders not only our spiritual development but also the spiritual development

of others. We cannot give ourselves to acts and habits like these and experience the

fullness of the blessings that come from the maximum living of the Holy Spirit within us.”

Mr. DeMoss again shares his thoughts in writing: “I believe that putting God first in

our habits entails not only the matter of so-called “questionable practices,” but also

putting God first in all our conversation and conduct. Saying what God would have us to

say, and doing what He would have us to do.” Please allow me to add that I think this

is the reason we must regularly read, study and even memorize His Word, the Bible.

And trying always to say things the way Jesus would say them, in the spirit of humility,

care and love – and often with an air of gentleness – but as much as possible trying to

sense and say things the way our Lord Jesus would. Needless to say, this

encompasses a good deal; however, once it becomes a habit, much of it comes

naturally. The devil will tempt us not to change with thoughts like: “You really do not

feel that you want to do this so you are a hypocrite for trying to do or say what is right!”

He will point out how we used to be before we decided to work at changing our bad

habits into good ones – changing our unkind words and thoughts into kind ones. We

need to remember that we will not feel comfortable doing things the way Jesus would

want us to do them in the beginning. But we will feel more and more comfortable in

time, when we have built up a track record of doing right, thinking right and speaking

words in love. And as we practice doing good, we will feel more and more comfortable

as these, the good we do, become good habits. We must at first force ourselves to do

what’s right in spite of our past failures. And in spite of us not “feeling comfortable”

doing them – as if “this is NOT the way we are”. We must do what is right in spite of

this so we become, and then feel completely comfortable with, what God has destined

us to be.

Surely, if we really believe that all who die without receiving Salvation (God's free gift

of eternal and abundant life) and then moving forward to develop a personal

relationship with God, are lost for the endless ages of eternity to hell. And if we

believe that those who do not receive Salvation are destined for a life on earth missing

most of the blessings God had planned for them, we are guilty of the greatest

hypocrisy: that of failing to put the Lord first in our conversation. How tragic that we talk

about everything and everyone else so frequently, and almost never talk about God and

His plan of salvation (His free gift of eternal and abundant life). This conversation can

be the most wonderful discussion one could ever have. It is so effective and

unoffensive to simply ask leading questions to gently move people to think about their

future in eternity. And then, when you find it appropriate and unoffensive to share small

piece of literature that describe the wonderful message of Salvation, or a Daily Bread or

other “seed” of God's love, please take the chance and share it. Always make sure

never to “force it”. I have found it is best shared one-to-one – and always with the

kindness, humility and gentle spirit of Jesus permeating your sharing His “seeds” of

prosperous living. Be meek (teachable) and always open to questions.

Mr. DeMoss says it best in this way: “Then, of course, in the matter of conduct we are

to practice what we preach. And, admittedly, this is not easy; however, as has been well

said, ‘ What we do speaks so loudly that people can frequently not hear what we say.’

And it behooves us to remember that not only others are watching us but God watches

us. He sees us always, everywhere.” So let us make Him smile when He sees us

sharing, presenting His awesome Gift – one-to-one in conversation (to repeat: only if

appropriate) or in planting these “seeds”, as mentioned above, of the good news of

Salvation(God's free gift of eternal and abundant life). Or share other forms of literature

that does not overwhelm but “sparks” ones desire to explore the the Bible. Visit

www.ATStracts.org and order some gospel tracts (Some are $4.00 for 100). Order a

stamp with your Name, phone number and/or email address and special words from

you. Stamp the literature that you feel comfortable with sharing. Have them with you

always so you are ready, when the opportunity to share unobtrusively, presents itself

throughout your day. You will be amazed at the blessings and hope you bring to so

many, and to yourself. What joy will fill your heart, as well as the hearts of others.

To lead into sharing a piece of Christian literature my conversation may go something

like this: Hi, How are you today? (initiates a bit of small talk) then oftentimes I say: By

the way, here is something special for you to check out later on when you have a few

minutes. I was thinking you might enjoy it. It's one of the greatest things I could ever

share with you. When things get quiet I hope you read it. Have a great day! ( then just

simply be on your way). I did not take any of their precious time and the written word

has proven, when read, has a much deeper impact than most anything I could say.

And I have been considerate in taking up none of their time.

Oh, how fortunate that Salvation (God's free gift of eternal and abundant life) is a gift

of God, received by anyone by simply asking and with faith (that is, by believing and

then doing things differently than we used to do – which is repenting - motivated and

guided by our new set of values and beliefs which are formed and based upon the

Word of God, the Bible). For, if it were based on our works, we would be lost, with no

Salvation. Ephesian 2: 8-9 states it well: “For by grace” (God's unearned favor) “are ye

saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest

any man should boast.”

Our Lord Jesus, the Giver of Salvation has much to say about work and about how

we should live in His Word the Bible. Three passages will prove the importance of

right living and good, Godly example:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord, ‘ and not do the things which I say?” Luke

6:46

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven,

but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

And in conclusion to Point 4, putting Our Lord first in our habits, Mr. DeMoss writes:

“You see, our works, our conduct, our fruits are the inevitable result of our heart

experience or lack of such experience with the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:34).

Hence, many times they indicate whether or not we have truly experienced saving faith,

thus virtually constituting a test of our salvation.”

 

5. PUT GOD FIRST IN

OUR HOMES AND FAMILIES

 

Mr. DeMoss challenges us to: “Let God into every room of the house. Let Him really

take over the entire home.” He really means let God take over every heart in our

families.

But you may say: How may we do this? And why is this so important? The Christian

home is possibly the most important institution in the world, for it is the foundation upon

which all other institutions are built. Good churches, good schools, good government,

all are the result of good homes and families. How important, therefore, to put God first

in the home and to say with Joshua: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the

Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Again Mr. DeMoss states: “Certainly putting God first in the home entails regular

family devotions in addition to our private devotions. Even many non-Christians today

realize and recognize the fact that, 'The family that prays together stays together'.”

Schedule daily time for family devotions. This will protect your home and family. If we

have time for radio, for television, the web, emails, gmails, iPods, iPads, Boxee,

mySpace, Gameboy, Nintendo, Facebook, twitter and all future gadgets and social

media, however beneficial any or all of these may be, we should certainly MAKE time

for God – and at best, the FIRST part each day. I have learned a long time ago that we

generally have time for the things which we WANT to do. Mr. DeMoss stated it well

when he wrote: “I have observed also that wayward and delinquent children are

frequently the result of compromising Christian parents and of a family life in which the

Lord was not always first.” There was no scheduled time for daily family devotions – a

time of reading God's Word together, discussing His Word and praying together.

Oh, how important to give God the first day of each week, the first hour of each day,

and the first part of each dollar, and to put Him first in our habits and in our homes and

families. All this is not only important but worthwhile, for herein lies the fulfillment of

“God’s Promise of Success” that will start with small blessings. Then it will grow into

 

tremendous blessings! - Blessings beyond our wildest dreams. The exciting stories that

will be a result of living the “Promise of Success “will bring indescribable joy! In spite

of, and even as we are carried through the trials and sorrows that will come in life. This

“Promise” is eternal. This joy will carry us and those with whom we share and that

accept this Gift through this life with more power and peace. And one day God will lift

us into heaven to live in a perfect place, able to eat, drink, touch and feel, talk,

communicate with those we love, and with God, Himself. We will experience this with

no confines of time, or space. How can we know this? It is a subtle verse in the Word

of God, of course!

“One day we shall be like Him (Jesus), for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 1:2

But you may ask: In what form does Jesus exist now and in the future?

Read the first few chapters of the the Book of Acts in the Bible and the last chapter of

the Book of John in the Bible and see for yourself. Hebrew 13:8 says: “Jesus Christ

the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

In conclusion: All of the foregoing has been directed to “born-again” Christians (those

who have prayed to receive the gift of Salvation). “God’s Promises of Success” and

“Prosperity” apply only to His children, and we become His children by a supernatural

rebirth described above beginning on page 14 of this booklet. We need not completely

understand how this actually occurs – the mechanics of how or even why blessing and

prosperity will happen. We just follow the plan, believe and expect it as the Bible

explains - with all our hearts. And slowly, as we do the things listed above, blessing

and prosperity grows and flows. Not following God's principles holds us back from His

prosperity and blessings! As Jesus said in the third chapter of the Gospel of John,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of

God.”

In other words He must follow and accept the process of receiving Salvation and thus

begin the process of developing a personal relationship with God. This is what the Bible

describes in John chapter 3 as being “born again”.

Now if you have not already had this experience, then, before putting the Lord first in

your habits or in your home and family, you must put Him first in your heart. God’s Word

also tells us:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Therefore, whether or not you are a church member, whether or not you’ve been

baptized or confirmed (a ceremony practiced in some religions where the Holy Spirit is

supposedly given to a member of the religion), and no matter what if any religion you

are or were always remember: if you have not received God's Salvation, if you do not

have the assurance that you are God’s child, with all your sins forgiven, then have a

change of heart, attitude and action right now. Then review and do what it says

beginning on page 14. Begin a new life as a friend and child of God!.

God says in Romans 10:9-10: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and

believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with

36 of 40

the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto

salvation.”

Do it now. Don't wait another minute. You will be eternally and abundantly blessed.

This is THE “Promise” from God.

Have you prayed already and received His Salvation – God's free gift of eternal and

abundant life ? If so, now is the time to make your decision to become successful in all

you do! And to encourage lasting success and victorious living in the lives and habits

of our families and others. Make a written record of your pledge to God below.

Consider reading this booklet again to yourself, your family and others. Perhaps get a

few extras and share them or plan and begin a Bible study using this booklet as the

center of your study.

And see how often His joy flows through you - touching the hearts of others. Let the

love of Jesus Christ be first and permeate all you do and say.

 

MY DECISION

 

I here and now surrender my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as my

personal Saviour. My trial period is finished. I now accept your gift of Salvation

permanently dear Lord. Come into my life. Stay with me and lead me to grow into the

person you want me to be.

Signed X___________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

Date ____________________

I’m already a Christian and pledge that from this time forward, with Your help, I will

unquestionably and unconditionally give You and encourage others to give You:

1) The first day of the week;

2) The first hour, at least, of each day;

3) The first tenth, at least, of each dollar;

4) The first place in my habits;

5) The first place in my home and family;

Signed X____________________________________

Date _____________

 

Special Prayer and Challenge

 

O God in my heart, fill me with the names and faces of those with whom you wish me to

share your Promise - through this booklet or other like literature. Thank you for the joy

and hope that you give me in knowing the blessing it will bring. Please also show me

ways that I may regularly, in a scheduled manner, share this booklet and other Godly

reading material that will bring Your Salvation, Your hope and Your means to be

everlastingly prosperous and successful. We ask this in Jesus' name. (always best to

finish our prayer I this way) For the Bible says in John 14:3: “And whatsoever ye shall

ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

May I challenge you to invest in several copies of this booklet? Visit

www.GodsPromiseofSuccess.com to purchase copies.

In sharing this booklet, and in encouraging others to read it, we will better not only bring

salvation, blessing and prosperity to the lives of so many – and their future generations

– but we will be a blessing to and bring glory to our precious Friend and Father, Our

Lord Jesus Christ.

And in this way bring Lasting Peace and Prosperity, overpowering joy and happiness to

many.

That will not eliminate but definitely carry us through the difficult times in our lives!

May God give you a vision and may He richly bless you in every way!

And in all your ways!

I pray this in the glorious and precious

Name of Jesus, Our Lord and our God.

 

Acknowledgments

& “Thank you's”

 

My thanks go first to You Oh precious Lord, our Father and Friend who, in my humble

opinion, cares for us all in ways far beyond any way we could ever comprehend. For

God is eternal, existing in the past, present and future. He is our Father, our Friend, our

Brother and so much more. I am convinced He has made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

For He has given us Himself as His one and only Son, Yeshua (Hebrew name for

Jesus), Jesus Christ (His more commonly known name) to be offered for us so that we

may have eternal and abundant life (Salvation). My thanks go equally to Jesus as well,

who, I at least am convinced, freely gave His sinless life as the offering for all our sins -

obedient to the wishes of His Father - to pay the price for our sins (the falling short of

what God expects of us). And, He gives all that decide to trust in Him the opportunity to

live a prosperous , victorious life. I give thanks also to the Holy Spirit of Jesus who lives

on the inside of one who has received Salvation. He lives within those that invite Him

into their hearts, souls, mind and life. Without the Holy Spirit of the Lord, Jesus, I would

have never been motivated, nor able to express my thoughts in this booklet

understandably.

Thank you Melissa Shaker for all your suggestions in assisting me in fine-tuning this

booklet – and your encouragement as we worked together to complete this first

printing. Thank you for helping me to better understand how to love others the way that

God wants us to love – the way that He loves us. You are a true and precious friend

Melissa, for reading and editing this work with me. Thank you for reading it from the

perspective of someone who is somewhat unfamiliar with God, Christianity and the

lingo of Christianity - “christianese” (words like “Salvation”, “Saved”, “born-again”, etc.)

so that we would come to better understand how to receive God's free gift of eternal

and abundant life (Salvation), as well as, how to develop and maintain a personal

relationship with God – so we can grow and become firmly rooted in God's way of living

prosperously. Thank you for being direct with suggesting your corrections, comments

and feedback so that this work can be the best and easily understood by someone

unfamiliar with things of God. You are an awesome blessing in how you so lovingly and

painstaking tend to every detail - not just in this booklet, but in all you do. It has help me

learn a new meaning of attention to perfection.

Thank you Tom Minuti. If it was not for your support and serving heart, I would never

have had the opportunity, nor the time, to put pen to paper to write this tribute to the

Lord. Tom, you have been instrumental in assisting me with Copy Products, Digital

Document Solutions and so much more. I cannot begin to list or count the number of

ways you have blessed me, my family and countless others.

Thank you Arthur DeMoss, who I never had the privilege of knowing, for writing,

printing and distributing his booklet, “God’s Secret of Success”. It helped me

immensely as a young Christian and has driven me to write this booklet for Christians

as well as seeking souls alike: those that want to know more of God, but have not yet

received Him into their lives and for those who have not yet experienced a personal

relationship with God.

 

Thank you Mrs. Nancy DeMoss, Arthur’s wife, for giving countless “God’s Secret of

Success” to me to give ONLY to Christians young and old alike. Thank you also for

your letters to me instructing me to give these “God’s Secret of Success” to people that

I was reasonably sure were/are Christians. For you wanted to make sure that the

readers of “God’s Secret of Success” would never think that one did not need a

personal relationship with God first, in order to enjoy the blessings of God as outlined in

“God’s Secret of Success”. Giving in order to receive is not God’s Secret of Success.

That all one needed to do to be successful and prosperous is to give money to the

church and non profit organizations IS a false gospel known as the “Gospel of

prosperity”. This is a distortion and God’s Promise of success which only comes by first

receiving God's salvation and inviting Him into one’s life and developing a personal,

selfless relationship with our personal Lord, Father, Friend - and so very much more.

I also thank Mrs. DeMoss's maid, whose name remains for now anonymous, who did

not turn me away the day I first knocked, unannounced on the door of Nancy’s house

at Laurier. That fateful day I pleaded with God to show me how to get more “God’s

Secret of Success” booklets to hand out and deliver to students at Williamson Trade

School. That is a story of “Godincidence” and Divine providence that I will forever

remember.

Thank you Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Arthur’s daughter who wrote the story of her father

on the inside front and rear covers of “God’s Secret of Success”. It made Arthur,

Nancy's dad, real to me. And let me know this Promise of Success from God could

even be for someone as undeserving as me. I would so be honored to meet her some

day to humbly thank her and her Mother in person for the seed of hope that it planted in

my soul… that has grown to touch and impart hope, faith and love into the hearts and

souls of many.

And, although this may sound strange, I thank you dear Lord again. This time, Thank

you for this wonderful technology and the internet, which I think is an extension of you

God! Thank you God for the expanse of wisdom that is made so readily available to us

in a blink of an eye, a type of a key and click of a mouse.

Check out www.Bible.com . You will be amazed!

Lastly, I thank all of you who have read this, and who will share it with those that our

precious Lord will put on your heart. Please take a minute to pray and ask Him how

best you should share this