Critical Success Factors
Both of these passages describe battles; one is literal and one is concerning beliefs. There are opposing sides. What is the objective and how does one achieve it?
In Joshua, God called His people to conquer cities and occupy land. In Acts, the church was to go out and preach the Gospel to all, but there was the question of how to be in unity with Gentiles. In both cases, they had to solve a problem or reach an objective.
What are the critical success factors I must achieve in order to reach my personal objective with God? What has to go right in my life in order to be saved and stay saved?
1 Corinthians 13:11 To become an adult, a child learns to curtail things that they want to do in the moment in order to do the things that will achieve a desired, better outcome (neuron pruning). This is also true spiritually. We will not have the benefits needed as a spiritual adult while we are satisfied with childlike benefits.
If I want God to occupy all of my land (self), I may need to remove things currently occupying it.
There is a short list of what I need to do to have things go right. In the case of Joshua, it was follow instructions and trust God.
Joshua 6:18,19 Joshua 7:1 Joshua 7:18,19,20,21 As long as sin was in the camp they weren’t going to achieve the objective. What Achan did was associated with idolotry and lack of trust in God. He was planning for his future wealth and failing to follow God's instructions. How important are the things I have “hidden” in my heart? Are they more important than God's instructions?
What I want from you is not what you have asked Me.
Joshua listened to mens' counsel. He counted on his own strength and knowledge. When the army fled and were pursued by the enemy, the camp saw this catastrophe. God indicated that there was something Joshua needed to address in the camp, but also that Joshua had not asked God for His will. When those critical success factors were corrected, he had success.
What must go right today for me so I am pleasing to God?
Acts 15:7, There were strong opinions. There was quite a bit of disputing. What must go right in this situation so God has his way? Love for others is critical in disagreement. We need other believers for our spiritual survival. In the end, both parties were seeking the counsel of God and striving for clear communication with each other.
They agreed to only be concerned about four things - practices that linked directly to pagan worship and rituals. The objective was to support Christians who were familiar with idol and pagan worship and help them retain a clear vision of the church.
What are the necessary things that must go right or the mission will fail? The mission is to represent Christ to a lost world and go to heaven.
Acts 16:30 My neighbor will see self-sacrifice modeled after Jesus. This level of honesty confronts dishonesty.
It is salvation by grace, but our works will reflect the grace in our life.
Do I ask God, What is your will for me? Do I wait for the answer? Or do I say, This is my desire. What do you think? If I don’t get “no,” do I presume that means I know what He wants? This leads to me simply getting what I want.
What are the critical success factors for me to achieve what God wants for me?
