By most people’s definition of success, the prophet Jeremiah would be considered a complete failure. For 40 years he served as God’s spokesman and passionately urged the people to return to God, but no one listened, particularly the kings. He was penniless, friendless, and rejected by his family. But in God’s eyes, Jeremiah one of the most successful people in biblical history, because success, as seen by God, involves obedience and faithfulness.

Jeremiah wrote,

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”(Jeremiah 9:23-24)

It’s important to understand that, when Jeremiah speaks of “knowing God,” there are 2 dimensions that he is referring to, intellectual and volitional:

 1.  Intellectual – entails knowing truth about God (BELIEF)

“Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Ps. 100:3)

“And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:7-10)

2.  Volitional – involves trusting and obeying God (BEHAVIOR)

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

So as we seek to honor God in both our belief and behavior, it is essential to heed the wisdom below of Pastor Warren Wiersbe regarding the obedient life of Jeremiah and disobedient Old Testament nation of Israel,

“No amount of education, power or wealth can guarantee the blessing of God. God doesn’t delight in a nation’s learning, political influence, armies or gross national product. He delights in a people who practice kindness, justice, and righteousness because they know and fear God.”

Years ago I heard Lon Solomon, Pastor of McLean Bible Church in Washington D.C., state that, other than the Bible itself, it is extremely important that Christians prioritize reading biographies of great historical men and women of God. Heeding this advice, I’ve found this to be particularly encouraging to my own walk with the Lord, having been inspired and equipped by:

– A Retrospect: The Story Behind My Zeal for Missions by Hudson Taylor
– When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up by Janice Janosz
– An Hour With George Muller by Charles Parsons
– Found Faithful and Wounded Heroes by Elizabeth Skoglund

But heroes of the faith, whose lives, while imperfect, beacon “Follow me, as I follow Christ,” (1 Cor. 11:1) are not limited to the pages of Bible or centuries long ago, as exemplified by this statement from Francis Chan, an incredible man of God himself:

Recently I was asked, “Who is the most Spirit-filled person you know?” My response: Joni Eareckson Tada. A 1967 diving accident left then-seventeen-year-old Joni a quadriplegic. Lying in a hospital bed, she was filled with an overwhelming desire to end her life. The thought of spending the rest of her years paralyzed from the neck down and relying on others to care for her basic needs was staggering. But Joni did not end her life that day. Instead, she chose to surrender it to God. Little did she know that the Spirit of God would transform her into one of the godliest women ever to grace this earth. God gave her a humility and a love that enables her to look beyond her own pain and to see others’ hurts. She is a person who consistently “in humility count[s] others more significant” than herself (an embodiment of Philippians 2:3).

I don’t even know where to begin with all that she has done. While undergoing two years of rehabilitation after the accident, she spent many hours learning to paint with a brush held between her teeth. Her detailed paintings and prints are now highly sought after. Her international best-selling autobiography, Joni, was later made into a full-length feature film. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to increase Christian ministry to the disabled community throughout the world. The organization led to the establishment in 2007 of the Joni and Friends International Disability Center, which currently impacts thousands of families around the globe. Over the course of each week, more than a million people listen to her daily five-minute radio program, Joni and Friends. The organization she started serves hundreds of special-needs families through family retreats across the nation. Through Wheels for the World, wheelchairs are collected nationwide, refurbished by inmates in several correctional facilities, and then shipped and donated to developing nations where, whenever possible, physical therapists fit each chair to a disabled child or adult who is in need. As of 2008, Wheels for the World had cumulatively distributed 52,342 wheelchairs to 102 countries and trained hundreds of ministry and community leaders, including people with disabilities. In 2005, Joni Eareckson Tada was appointed to the Disability Advisory Committee of the U.S. State Department. She has worked with Dr. Condoleezza Rice on programs affecting disabled persons in the State Department and around the world. Joni has appeared twice on Larry King Live, sharing not only her Christian testimony but a biblical perspective on right-to-life issues that affect our nation’s disabled population. And on top of all that, Joni has written more than thirty-five books.

Yet it is not because of these accomplishments that I consider her the most Spirit-filled person I know. Actually, it has nothing to do with all she’s accomplished. It has to do with the fact that you can’t spend ten minutes with Joni before she breaks out in song, quotes Scripture, or shares a touching and timely word of encouragement. I have never seen the fruit of the Spirit more obviously displayed in a person’s life as when I am with Joni. I can’t seem to have a conversation with Joni without shedding tears. It’s because Joni is a person whose life, at every level, gives evidence of the Spirit’s work in and through her. (From Forgotten God: Reversing Our Neglect of the Holy Spirit)

Let me encourage you to first and foremost spend time daily in God’s word, but also supplement that spiritual diet with:

1.   One of the books above or another of your choosing highlighting the historic heroes of the faith who “served God’s purpose in their generation.” (Acts 13:36)

2.  A daily reading from a great website: wholesomewords.org https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bioindex.html

3.  Signing up to receive an encouraging daily e-devotional from Joni herself:
https://www.joniandfriends.org/help-inspiration/daily-devotional/