Hope

Hope! Everyone's got some sort of it or the other. It's what keeps us going in life. Life itself wouldn't make sense if there was no hope.
The youngster goes to school with the hope that he/she will be somebody tomorrow. Even if he/she doesn't understands at the moment, his guardians have hope that he will be better with an education.
Businessmen/women are busy making transactions, connections etc all for a better return.
The hardworking farmer works tirelessly with the hope of having a better harvest.
The hardworking young man/woman is assiduously in what he or she does hoping for a better tomorrow.
The government employee works hard at office with the expectation of being compensated at the end of the day.
No one does anything without a positive expectation.
That expectation or optimism is HOPE. It is the fuel of life. Without it, life becomes boring and tiresome. So have it in all you do.

What it takes to be a man

What would you do if someone walks up to you with this demand. Show yourself a man?
The natural inclination will be to do something daring that proofs 'yeah! You are the man'.
No one wants to feel berated or regarded as a weakling. Not in a culture that encourages everyone to proof how tough they are.
Sadly though the quest for feeling important and tough has driven a lot of people -youths especially into victims of evil vices.
Solomon was a young guy like most of us who ascended the throne of Israel at a time when everyone like Adonijah and co wanted to lay claim to the throne. He(Solomon) eventually became king and we know the rest of the story.
As a young man it would have been natural for him to seek to establish his throne by ordering the outright execution of all those he perceived as threats to his rule but he chose to rather follow the advice of his father David.
To be a man David said is to "...observe what the Lord requires:walk in his steps and keep his decrees and commands..." (1 Kings 2:2-3).
That was all that Solomon needed. What a tremendous difference it made in his life rather than seeking to show himself to be someone he's really not.
We don't have to proof anything to anybody. All we need is obedience to Gods word like Solomon did. That will solve all of our problems.

The Recipe for Good Success

God's word is everything to the believer. It has the power to save and to make one prosperous and successful.
Everyone of us wants to succeed and prosper in life but too many times we forget that the word of God is all that we need.
When God called Joshua to be Moses' successor, God gave him the recipe to be successful in life. That recipe applies to all of us.
In Joshua 1:8 God told Joshua that all he needed to be prosperous and have good success was to simply meditate upon GOD'S WORD and have great value for it.
David said that God's word was his lamp and light (Psalms 119:105).
The young man can keep his way pure by taking heed to the word of God (Psalms 119:9).
The word of God has inherent power to do all these because Gods word is God himself. The Bible says that "...for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psalms 138:2).
The word of God is quick and powerful (Hebrews 4:12) because it is God himself.
Jesus overcame the devil using God's word. If he had done it any other way that would have been an entire different story. But he used the word showing us that it is the only way.
The word of God becomes our guide in life as we meditate upon and give diligence to it. For in doing so we are looking unto God and giving him first place in our lives.