Joshua Generation Part IV, “Why the little stuff keeps stressing me out” Sermon 08/22/10

Joshua Generation Part IV
Why the little stuff keeps stressing me out.
Synopsis of Sermon 8/22/10
Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Joshua 7:1-5: 1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. 2And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. 3And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few. 4So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

All of us recognize that it is not the big stuff that has us stressed out. Instead it is the little things that trip us up. In our studies in this series, we have learned that the children of Israel were obedient at Jericho. They marched around the city six times and on the 7th time they shouted just like God instructed them to. As a result, God gave them the city of Jericho. Because of their favor with God, they got the victory everywhere they went. They go to the country of Ai after the wall has been torn down at Jericho and Joshua decides to send a few members from his troop to defeat Ai, because they were so small. The few that Joshua sent out to take over Ai came back fearful. Now Ai has caused panic and confusion in Joshua’s camp. All of us have Ais in our life. In other words, it is that little thing that keeps us up all night long, when we know we should be sleep. We keep tripping over the little Ais (little stuff). Why does the little stuff keep tripping us up is the question? The children of Israel were just one wall away from what God promised them and they came out victorious. Now something little has tripped them up. They have been defeated by a minor foe.
I. Defeated by a minor foe
1. This is supposed to be a routine mission or so they thought. How do you handle life, when in one moment you are on a spiritual mountain and next you are on a valley of despair? For example 1 Kings 19:10 says 10And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. In other words, how do you handle being in victory in one moment and the next being defeated. To take it further, before you could get your dance out from the first victory, something came in our life and changed your joy to sorrow. Sometimes things will get real rough.
Joshua 7:7-8 says 7And Joshua said, Alas, O LORD God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! LORD, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! – At this point, Joshua wants to know what’s up. They would be content on the other side of the Jordan. Many of us get so cocky, because we won over there, that we forget that we must use those same principles to get the victory over here.
2. Reasons why we are tripped up:
A. We rejected the principles of the past- What got you where you are, is going to get you where you are going. The same integrity and obedience that got you the victory at Jericho will get you the victory at Ai.
B. We respond to the problems with no power. -You can’t go on your own power and your own might. It was God’s power that did it at the city of Jericho, not the children of Israel. Many of us have power while we are at church, but our power has to mean something on Monday and the rest of the week. They needed the same God Power that they had at Jericho to make them victorious at Ai. Your power means nothing unless is portable.
C. Revelation of providential perspective – Maybe God is trying to get them to see something in themselves that they have never seen before. We get in our situations and lose perspective. We have to ask God to let us see our situation like he sees our situation. One moment they (the children of Israel) have amazing victory in Jericho and the next minute, they can’t defeat Ai.
II. Deceived by manipulating folk
1. We read this book, went to this conference, and attending every church service offered and now we don’t know why we can’t get the victory. Let’s go to Joshua 6. When the children of Israel got the wall to fall, God gave specific instructions.
2. Specific Instructions:
a. Destroy everything but Rahab. Joshua 6:17 says 17And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. – The city was cursed. Only Rahab, the prostitute, would be allowed to live after the attack.
b. Don’t take anything that is already cursed. Joshua 6:18 says 18And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. – God told them not to take what is already cursed. This will only in turn make them cursed. When you take something from the land that is cursed, then you will cause the curse to come to your camp.
c. Take the gold, silver, brass, and iron and add it to the Lord’s treasury. Joshua 6:19 says 19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.- God told them to go into Jericho, walk through the rubbish of the wall, but they were instructed not to take anything. God did however tell them to take the silver, gold, and vessels of brass and iron, and put it into the treasury of the Lord. Joshua 6:24 says 24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.- The children of Israel took this powerful city of Jericho and burnt it to the ground.
3. Why they can’t they beat Ai?
a. Prayer won’t fix this situation. Joshua 7:10 says 10And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? – Prayer is not going to fix what you need fixed in this situation.
b. Israel has sinned. Joshua 7:11 says 11Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. – Israel has sinned. They took the cursed thing and bought a curse to their camp. They have a crooked person in their camp and they took Gods stuff, jacked it up, and made it look like it belonged to them by putting it with their stuff. Malachi said you are cursed with curse, because you have taken Gods tithe. In other words, when you take what belongs to God, you are cursed with a curse.
c. The curse must be destroyed. Joshua 7:12 says 12Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.-Ai beat them, because they had a curse. God says unless they destroyed the cursed thing among them, he would not be with them anymore. They had a fellow in the camp called Achan that had kept the things God instructed them not to take.
Proverbs 28:13 says 13He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Numbers 32:23 says 23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. – Lots of you are secretly doing stuff that is not constant with God’s word. They are causing their blessing to be retard. Anything that hinders your blessing means you have given too much power to it.
d. You must sanctify yourself. Joshua 7:13 says 13Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. – God says get up and sanctify the people. Achan refuses to obey. It is that spirit that sits back and says they are going to do what they want to do, regardless to what God says, that is our problem. We are tired of dealing with stuff that is hindering our breakthrough. Achan will always be out of order. You have to learn how to remove your Achan. You can pray all you want, but until you deal with the sin in your camp, you won’t get victory over the little bitty stuff that is hindering you. You have to get up and sanctify yourself. Our problem is we just keep moving Achan around instead of removing it. It is like going to the doctor and the doctor saying, “We got the cancer out of your body and we want to put it into your brain”. This will not work. No matter what, Achan has to go!
4. Toleration spawns irritation, which spawns revelation, which spawns confrontation that spawns elimination, and then consecration. When you tolerate something long enough, it will irritate you. God will give you revelation, and he will say that we must have a confrontation. Then we will have to tell Achan it is time for elimination. This will bring on a time of consecration. We have to say goodbye to our Achan. Until we deal with our Achan, we will be stressed out over Ais.

III. Determined to move forward
1. To accomplish what God has, requires reassessing. All the places and things you should have now, is because you have been tolerating it.
2. We must:
a. Regain our focus.- Some of you are here or reading this, because you are more focused now than ever before. You just want more of God.
b. Reinforce your faith-Don t let him/Achan mess you up.
c. Remember you can fight- We will forget that we just defeated Jericho. You have fight in you and God has his hand on you.
3. There was a concept in the Hebrew bible called corporate personality. This suggests that when a person sinned, when they were dealt with, so was the whole family. They just didn’t put Achan out. They put the whole family out. Everything has to go. Once Achan was gone, they got it straight. Joshua 7:24-26 24And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
4. Joshua 8:1 says 1And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:
5. We have to have:
a. Positive Posture – We have to get in position to receive the blessing.
b. Prophetic promise – You don’t see yourself with it. You have to see yourself with it before you get it. See yourself healed delivered and set free, before you ask the Lord for it.
c. Purposeful praise – If we can handle the big victory, know that we can handle little one!

The Joshua Generation Part III, “You’re one wall away” 08/15/10

The Joshua Generation Part III
You’re one wall away
Synopsis of Sermon 8/15/10
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text
Joshua 6:1-5: 1Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 2And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. 4And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

When you’ve walked with God any significant amount of time, you are convinced that if God be for you, he’s more than the whole world against you. This is of great comfort, particularly when there is direction in your life. When you have direction, you have goals. You understand that your goals are never achieved without challenges. People who are progressively moving towards their destiny are often confronted with challenges, obstacles, and barriers. Great things are done when men and mountains meet. Those of us who are spiritual understand and are not discouraged or frustrated because of the mountains, walls, or barriers we encounter. We see them as opportunities for God to show out. We don’t get upset and just give up or resign. We see them as opportunities to see the glory of God manifested in our lives. We realize that the barriers are there to discourage us and prevent us from achieving our goals. You can be on your way somewhere, on the way to destination, and the destination can be in view, and all of a sudden, you can run right into a wall. You can be ready to walk onto a new job and have everything ready for the job and all of a sudden they call and tell you that they are sorry, but they changed their mind because of a hiring freeze. This is a wall. You might be getting ready to close on the house you wanted and may have already made plans and ordered the furniture. They can call at the last minute and say that the deal fell through, because there is a problem with your credit. This again is a wall. You may have met someone and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost may have confirmed that this is the one. Out of nowhere, they started acting a fool. This is a wall. Have you ever had some walls in your life? Some of you have come here today with some walls and barriers that are preventing you from walking into your destiny. Don’t be discouraged. God sent this message for a reason. We have direction and goals; you understand goals are not achieved without challenges. God is in the wall falling business! There are people around you that can testify that God is in the wall falling business. If you trust him and obey him in this season, you will see the manifestation of God’s power like you have never seen it before. We need not be frustrated, because of what it looks like statistically or what it looks like on paper. Take one last look at this wall, because God is about to do something to your wall. You might be tired, you might be frustrated, but know you are just one wall away. You might have felt like giving up, but God says to tell you that you have come too far to turn around and you so close to what God is about to do, you might as well say, “Lord just go ahead and do it now”. God is about to move this wall out of your life. Take a moment to thank God, because he is in the wall falling business. We are but one wall away.
As we have been following the children of Israel under Joshua’s a leadership, we notice that several things about them. We notice now that as they come to the city of Jericho, God makes them a promise that the city is theirs. Though Jericho was a mighty city, they were feared the children of Israel. Jericho knew that God fought for them. When you see the children of Israel walking toward this city, you know God is about to give it to them. (Remember God promised Abraham that every where his feet touched, he would give it to him). Jericho shuts the city up in efforts to keep their city from getting overtaken. They put the city on lock down and no one can go out and none can come in. They think no one is going to have this city, but what God has promised you, is for you. You will encounter in your life challenging obstacles.

I. Challenging obstacles

Joshua 6: 1Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 2And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
1. This is part of the process. You can’t avoid these obstacles. You can either listen to people or listen to God.
2. In verse one we are clear. Jericho had been shut down.
3. Verse two says God told Joshua that he had given them the city of Jericho.
4. Verse 3 says they must march around it for 6 days.
5. The revelation of this is the revelation of the problem. You can’t be in denial about the problem. Many of us try to over spiritualize the reality. Jericho is a real city that is shut up and what you need is on the other side of the wall. No matter what you do to try and avoid it, you will still have to face the wall. Walls are real. There is no need in being in denial about it. The good news is God has a promise for our every problem.
6. Looking back at Verse 2 God says, “I have given into thine hand Jericho”. We look at the wall and get frustrated, because we try to figure this wall out cognitively. You can’t figure this out cognitively. Realize that when God gives you a promise, don’t focus on the wall. Instead we should focus on what’s on the other side of the wall. God says he has already given us what’s on the other side of the wall. Stop tripping over the wall. We have to get to a point where we say,” It is already ours”.
7. 3 things that happen when we get this kind of prophetic word:
a. We are solidified in the spirit – If God said its mine, it’s mine. It might not be in our hand, but God’s word is settled in heaven. There are some of us who know how to give God glory on revelation, not manifestation. It is already done in the spirit.
b. There is a specific season – God is going to release it out of the spirit into the natural. When God gives you a word, it is for a specific season. When God gives you vision, it is for an appointed time and season. Remember his reference to a set time in the scripture.
c. We are situated to see – Get up from where you are, stop doing what you are doing, and ask God what he wants us to do and what he wants you to be, so you can see what he wants you to see. We will have challenges. What’s the challenge? It is our wall. God says here’s the problem, but here is my promise. The promise is God has already given them Jericho, though they haven’t occupied it yet. Now you can chip at the wall if you want to, but God said what is behind the wall is already yours. You might not have the money, but God says don’t worry about that. Everything behind the wall is already yours. It’s already done.

II. Complete obedience

1. We must walk in complete obedience. This is the point where you realize obedience is better than sacrifice. Joshua did like Moses and asked the Lord what he should do? God gives him specific instructions. Their survival will be contingent on the adhering to what the man of God says to them. They realize that their destiny is in the man of God’s mouth.
2. They must:
a. Get in proper position. People often don’t get the victory, because they don’t put people in purpose, in position. Ex- You can’t put people in children’s church who don’t like kids. You can’t make a person an usher who has an anger problem. You can have good people in good positions, but who are out of purpose. This is the season to put things back in position, where purpose and position is the same.
3. Let’ take a look at this (positions). Joshua 6:4-9 says 4And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.6And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD. 7And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD. 8And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. 9And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. – This scriptures shows that they were in a certain order. The order was; armed men who had weapons go first, then the priest, and then trumpets went just before the ark. The unarmed people came after the ark. So to sum it up it was Warriors, worshippers, the word, witnesses, and wonders.
a. Warriors- They were those that were armed. They were not cowards and trained to fight. They are not scared of the devil. They were placed upfront. Like this, you have to pull out your warrior spirit up front. We might look like a push over, but we know how to have a spiritual war.
b. Worshippers were next – These were those who know how to usher in the Spirit of God. They summon something from heaven. God says quit complaining about your wall. When you are a worshipper, you don’t worry about what’s going on around you. You believe God for what is already done.
c. The Ark- This symbolizes the presence of God among Israel. Notice that the worshippers were placed just before the Ark. It symbolizes how worshippers first usher in the Spirit of God.
d. Witnesses- They not fighters and they are not worshippers. They know a little word, but they really just came to see. God needs these types of people too. They are witnesses to what has happened so they can report it to the earth realm. They tell what they saw God do.
e. Wonders- In verse 10, the children of Israel were told to walk around the city and not to shout until they were instructed to. You might get frustrated over the redundancy. We have been taught if we do the same thing over and over expecting different results, then we are insane, but God told them to walk around with conditions. This is a season for us to be quiet. God don’t want us to talk or ask questions about it. Sometimes you ought to thank God for the season of silence. Just keep it quiet. This is not time to say anything yet. Just because God is quiet, doesn’t mean he is not moving. Exodus 14:14 says 14The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. – If you will be still, God will fight your battles. This is the greatest season of your life for you to be quiet.
4. Sometimes you can open your mouth and get ahead of your blessings. We must:
a. Stay focused – Hebrews 12:1-2 says 1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.- We need to stay focused on what God has shown us.
b. Maintain your faith- Hebrews 11:1 says 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:6 says 6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:30 says 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
c. Know God has Favor on your life – Everywhere the children of Israel went, they kept walking in the favor or God. The hand of God is on our life. You got to say you are working on something. If you walk it out, god will work it out.

III. Conquered the opposition

Joshua 6: 2-3 2And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
1. You will conquer the opposition. You see the problem in verse 1, in verse 2 & 3 you get a prophetic word that it is already done, and then you walk it out for 6 days. God says do what you can do. God said you fill out the application and he will take care of the wall. Don’t sit around and say “Lord do it for me”. Get up, fill out the application, and then watch him work it out. You can sit in the mirror and say do it, but this is wrong. You have to step away from the cobbler and then watch him do it. Do what you can do and God will do what you can’t do.
2. It was on the 7th time/ 7th day that God instructed them to shout. There is power in the shout. A shout is hard to understand for some of us. When they shout, you think they might be delusional considering they had this wall around the whole city that God said he would give them. The truth is everyone from the warrior to the witness has shouted at one time or another. If this wall is going to fall, protocol has to be broken. When people come together in faith over a common goal and open their mouth and shout, something breaks out in the house of God.
3. What is a in a shout? Shouting is a transcending sound. What a shout really says is, no matter what is happening in my life, no matter the context, we choose to rise above it, and transcend it.
4. When we shout, we let the devil know:
a. We have risen about our context- Like Paul and Silas in the jailhouse, we show we are not a prisoner of our context. Our shout says we are over it and trusting God. You have risen above what is trying to block you.
b. It troubles Satan. When you shout, you make the devil nervous. When a child of God opens their mouth, it is a war cry. Our mouth is the trumpet and we are blowing our trumpet to let the devil know his days are numbered. When we shout, we are looking at the devil telling them that his days are numbered. Wall, get ready to come down!
c. It triggers the super-natural. It triggers something in the heaven. When a child of God opens their mouth down here, something is released in heaven. Did you not hear Jesus say whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven? Touch your neighbor and tell them you about to trigger something in heaven. God is about to release his power. Open up your mouth and give God a shout. Ex- We remember in the 80’s when President Ronald Reagan stood by the Berlin Wall and said, “Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, tear these walls down.” Bishop explains after reading history he realized that the moment was preset. Demolition crews had gone in and already put explosives in the wall. All they were waiting on was a great crowd to make a shout. The demolition specialist that preset the explosives would demolish the wall once they heard the noise. Like this, God has already set it up. When you make noise, he sends his angels as a demolition crew to tear that wall. Think about every wall that has been blocking your blessing and destiny and give God a shout! Shout on the wall. Sickness is coming down! Unemployment is coming down! Cancer is coming down! Open up your mouth and give God a shout! Use your trumpet in Zion!

The Joshua Generation Part II, “Didn’t I tell you?” Sermon 08/08/10

The Joshua Generations Part II

Didn’t I tell you?

Synopsis of sermon 8/8/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Joshua 1:8-9 says ⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. ⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Bishop Walker begins by explaining that there were 10 siblings in the house he grew up in. All the siblings were given specific instructions not to play with a certain tree. There was one rebellious child in the midst of the 10 siblings and that one child was Bishop Walker. Bishop explains that he kept on climbing this particular tree. One day, Bishop found himself on the ground lying on his back with dirt in his mouth and grass in his hair. He thought he had broken every bone in his body. There was a branch in the tree that gave way causing Bishop to fall out of the tree. Bishop’s Mother ran to his aide, but Bishop remember hearing his father say, “Leave him alone! “ Suddenly Bishop’s Dad leaned over and said to him, “Didn’t I tell you?” This concept is true in the spirit too. We make bone headed decisions and God says to us, “Didn’t I tell?” One of the most important lessons for the success of a believer is obedience. The Bible says 1 Samuel 15:22 says ²²And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.-This scripture reminds us that obedience is better than sacrifice. This is important, because the Lord speaks to this Joshua Generation again about the importance of walking in his commandments and fulfilling their destiny. Many of us as we reflect over our lives can tell that there has been a series of errors that can be attributed to the fact that we had forsaken God’s word. Israel’s ancestors came to understand, while they were coming out of Egypt, that when God speaks a command, your very existence and destiny can depend on your ability to adhere to what God says. After a series of trial and error, Israel finally got it.

We have to be patient with people when you see them continually making mistakes, because sometimes it just takes trial and error for some us to finally get it right. We just didn’t arrive where we are today. We made some mistakes. The good news is God was patient enough to let us work out our salvation. The children of Israel were directed that they must walk in the principles of their ancestors in order for them to have success. One of the challenges of this generation was for them to remember what got them where they were. This however, was a generation that had diluted the word of God and moved further and further away from God. If it was good enough for our parents and our grandparents, then it has to be good enough for us. We need to realize that what worked way back then, will work now. What God has spoken in your life already, in a real sense is saying “didn’t I tell you?.” Every blessing, lesson, and warning, was for this moment. God was trying to tell us. What God was trying to tell the children of Israel and what he is trying to tell us is if we are going to walk in obedience, we must first have the right priorities.

1. Right priorities

Matthew 6:33 says ³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – God speaks to Joshua about his need to become one with his word. There has to be connectivity between God’s word and the way we walk it out. Know that you will never be where you need to be until you understand the power in being united with God’s word. Being united with God’s word can change your life and prospective.

How does it do this?

1. Departs from your mouth- We live by what comes out of our mouth. Everything God created came out of his mouth first. He spoke it. When we hear the word, we regurgitate it, and then we speak it which releases stuff into the atmosphere. The bible reminds us that Life and death is in the power of tongue. Know that your destiny is in your mouth. You have to say, “Lord, let me become one with your word.”
2. This makes us have.
   1. Spirit of confession- This is where we release good things into the atmosphere. Every time we speak, the word of God should be coming out of our mouths.
   2. Daily meditation- We must develop an appetite for God’s word. How does this come to pass? An appetite of God’s word is a result of appreciating God’s word. Having an appetite is like working out. Ex- In January, Bishop explains he was at one size. Now he is 35 pounds lighter. He explains that what motivates him is what he sees when he looks in the mirror. He sees the results of his diet and exercise and it motivates him to go further. Just like this, when we see the results of God’s word, we will realize that we can’t live without it. We are motivated to keep on growing in the word.
   3. Principles we should consider:
      1. Invest in Christian resources – We must have a bible that we can read and understand. What material do you invest in to build your faith? 2 Timothy 2:15 says ¹⁵Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
      2. Be intentional about attending church regularly – Bishop explains that when he grew up, there was a drug problem in his family. His parents, drug him to church Hebrews 10:25 says ²⁵Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching and Jeremiah 3:15 says ¹⁵And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
      3. Incorporate a consistent regimen- Everything you do consistently, becomes a habit. If you invest in spiritual things, just like in the world, it becomes a habit. Psalm 1:2 says ²But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. – We have to involve ourselves in spiritual things daily.
      4. Defines our morality- God’s word is our primary source for living. Our morality is not defined by congress or cultural standards. We walk in what God’s righteousness says. We must learn to do what is written in God’s word.
3. Revelation of his promise

Joshua 1:8 says ⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

1. It is one thing to hear God’s word, but we must also be willing to do. Learn to do what God’s word says to do. Remember God’s voice saying, “I told you”. Perhaps it was the time you were so stubborn, you wouldn’t pay your tithe and your finances got all jacked up. You could hear the voice of the Lord saying, “I told you!”
2. Obedience positions us for the blessings of the Lord. There are amazing things God wants to do for us, but we must remember what God told us. When we walk the way wants us to, he will give us opportunity.
3. People get frustrated with lack of opportunities. To make your way prosperous (as mentioned in the text) is God putting us in a position to be blessed. There are opportunities, regardless to what man does. God can make a yes when there is a no.
4. The promise of God is always tied to:
   1. Covenant- This is an agreement between two people. God always operated in covenants throughout the bible. Two people have to share in a covenant. God says he has held up his end of the bargain and now he wanted the children of Israel to hold up their end. God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt (God’s end of the bargain) as he promised. Jeremiah 3:14 says ¹⁴Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: – Even when we messed up, God kept his covenant with us. Like the father with the prodigal son, who went away, his father still embraced him when he returned back home. Numbers 23:19 says ¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
   2. Strategic connections- God will providential connect you to the right people at the right time to get you what you need. God moves behind the scenes to connect us to the right people. Luke 6:38 says ³⁸Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. – This means as you give, God will make someone bless you. For with the same measure that you give, it shall be measured to you or given back to you. This is why you should speak to folk that you sit beside you at church. You never know who is holding your blessing.
   3. Convenient- There are some things in the last season of your life that you struggled to deal with. God says he will make it easy for you in this season. So easy it will blow your mind. This is a season of overcoming. You have struggled long enough.
   4. This is about success - What is this success (it’s like the worlds success)?
      1. i.      It is a God thing and not just a good thing.
      2. ii.      It guarantees grace-When we do what God calls us to do, he gives the ability to carry it out. When you are in God’s will with good success, he will give you the grace to do it. The world can have success, but they become stressed out and can’t sleep at night and everything else. They don’t have the peace or grace with it. Ex- Bishop explains that God gives him the grace to do what he does. For example, Wednesday night, Bishop explains how he was in Buffalo, New York preaching. He was picked up at 5:15am the next morning. Thursday they went to Chicago and ended up in Los Angeles. He preached in Riverside California Thursday night where he finished about 9pm. He was on a plane by 11pm that same night. He flew all night to get back to Nashville by Friday. He got back at 7:30am Friday morning. He had some interviews to do and he came to the Youth Conference Friday night. Ran out Saturday and done some things and will preach 4 services Sunday. He turns right around and has to go to Lexington, KY Monday and Tuesday. He explains he has to do 3 bible studies Wednesday. The point is God gives Bishop the grace to do what he does. God gives you the grace to do what you do too. It is about a God thing.
         1. When it is of God, it will:
            1. Grow beyond your generation- If it is of God, it keeps going past your lifetime.
            2. Gives God the glory- You shall have good success.
5. Learn to rejoice in his presence.

Joshua 1:9 says ⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

1. Israel had to be reminded as God was with Moses, he would be with them. When you are child of God, know he has your back. God says be strong and be of good courage.
2. To do what God requires of us, we must have strength. It comes from resistance and pressure. Pressure and resistance is the only way that you will build muscles. Old people used to pray strengthen me where I am week. If you think about it, when you look back over your life, aren’t you stronger than you were a few yrs ago. You are stronger due to the resistance and pressure that you endured.
3. We must not be fearful. Either we are going to have faith or we are going to have fear. God’s presence with you can handle anything you have coming at you. God wants us to dwell in is omnipotence and his omnipresence. He will dwell with us where we are and he has the power to back it up. Ex-Some of you have On-star on your car. If you press a button, you even don’t have to tell On-star where you are. They already know where you are. All you have to do tell them what you need and give you your code. God is the same. He already knows where we are. All we have to do is ask for his help. God is our on-star.
4. God is:
   1. He is a burden bearer- He helps us to be able to withstand our burdens.
   2. He is our best. We are never lonely. He is the best thing that has ever happen to us! When we look at how people treat us, he is the best friend we can have.
   3. He is a beacon. – He gives us direction and shows us where to go. The steps of good man are ordered by the Lord.
   4. He is a bridge- He is a bridge over troubled water. When the water is rough, God will be bridge over it so you want to get caught up in it.
   5. He is a balm- This means God is a healer. When sickness comes, he heals us.
   6. He is a blocker -He blocks stuff from us that we didn’t know was coming. When the devil conspired against us, God blocked it! When unemployment tried to suck us in, God blocked it!
   7. He is a blessor- Every time we turn around, he keeps on blessing us. He blesses our coming in and going out! He blesses us in the city and the field. Didn’t I tell you that no good thing will he withhold from you… All things work together for the good of them that are called according to his purpose. If God be for you, he is more than the world against. Neigh in all things, he is more than a conqueror. Didn’t I tell you, he knows the thought he thinks toward you! We are praising him, because of what he told us and promised us! Didn’t I tell you?

The Joshua Generation, “It’s time”, Sermon 08/01/10

The Joshua Generation

It’s time

Synopsis of Sermon 08/01/10

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Joshua 1: 1-3

Our lives are a series of preparation. They are preparatory moments that prepare us for a moment. Each event in your life is didactic. It is training and development. There are lessons in each experience we go through. It is important to keep your spiritual radar on so you don’t miss what God is saying in this season. You have to be sensitive to every event happening.

The children of Israel were God’s chosen people. They came to Egypt as privileged and welcomed guest. However, the bible says there rose up a Pharaoh that didn’t know Joseph. If you remember Joseph, found in the latter part of Genesis, was the one who put together that economic plan to help Egypt make it through the famine. There rose a Pharaoh that did not know Joseph and as a result, his people were subjected to life of bondage and servitude. When people don’t know your history, they will mishandle you. They cried out for a deliverer for 400 yrs. and eventually God heard their cry and rose up Moses. God told Moses his assignment by speaking from a burning bush. He told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go. Moses’ Ministry yet powerful, was seasonal. We must be sure not to waste time. We need to recognize that we must make a contribution in our generation to pass to the next generation while we are here, because we will not be here forever. Moses assignment was to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Next we are introduced to Joshua. He was supposed to take the children of Israel into the Promised Land. No longer could Joshua lean on Moses and set back as a student. The occasion has presented itself where Joshua must stand up and be responsible for this moment. Know that everything that happened to you up to this time     has happened for this moment. We can no longer be followers. We must no come to the forefront. The mantle has been passed to you. It is time! What you got on paper, it’s time. What you got in your belly, it’s time. It is time to stop talking about it and start being about it. The Joshua generation is about doing what God has called us to do. When we hear the voice of God, we have got to walk out into this thing. This is a kairos moment, a God moment. It is about stepping out into your season no matter what’s going on. When we hear the voice of God, we have to step out!

I. Prepare for purpose

Joshua 1:1 says ¹Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, -Joshua is a student of Moses. You can’t lead, if you haven’t learned to follow. God won’t entrust leadership to those who have not learned to follow. Wherever Moses was, Joshua was there submitted to leadership.

1. God was preparing Joshua for leadership. Joshua was faithful and the anointing on Moses would eventually flow down and be upon Joshua.
2. God had Moses pick some leaders. Numbers 11:14-17 says ¹⁴I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. ¹⁵And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. ¹⁶And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.¹⁷And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.- God told Moses to get some people that had been faithful, because he was going to put his spirit on them. In other words he would give him part of Moses anointing. We must understand that the anointing on leadership is not just an anointing blessing, it is also an anointing of burden. Remember that Jesus said if we don’t suffer with him, you can’t reign with him.
3. We must be willing to:
   1. Share – 2 Corinthians 4:1 says ¹Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; – We have to share in this burden with the Lord.
   2. Support- We need people that support the vision and give of their vital resources.
   3. Serve-Joshua served another man’s vision (Moses) until his season came. Serving until your season has come prepares you for your future.
   4. The bible says Moses died. His death represents one chapter in his life being over and another chapter moving forward. Your destiny begins now. If you will notice, God never spoke to Joshua, until Moses was dead. God is a God of order. He doesn’t’ rule with two heads, because a two headed being is a monster. You have to recognize that your time has come. God is about to turn the keys over to you. Everything you have gone through was for this moment. In Exodus 24, Moses took Joshua up to Mt. Sinai. In Numbers 27, Joshua was appointed as Moses successor. Everything you have been through, every lay-off and every set back, was for this moment. It’s your time!

II. Pursuit of the prophetic

Joshua 1:2 says ²Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. – First notice we underlined the phrase, “All this people”. We will be coming back to this. If you are going to manifest your time, you can’t spend time second guessing God. You got to be about moving the thing. When you are a successor, you just move when God tells you to. You can’t wait for affirmation from people. This subjects you to persecution just like Noah went through, but you are willing to do what God wants.

1. Moses season is over in the text. You got to be willing to walk in your season. You can’t walk in somebody else’s season. Stop speculating. Just move when God says move. You got to get to a point that you just trust God when you can’t trace him.
2. This is about faith. Your blessing is on the other side of the Jordon. It is on the other side of fear or complacency. You can’t get what God wants you to have until you get to the other side. This takes crazy faith.
3. This is why you have to do it. It is not just about you. Verse 2 says to take all this people with you. Your decision impacts God’s people. Your decision not to go will affect God’s people. You can hinder others from getting their breakthrough. This is bigger than you. If God tells you to go, he is counting on you to take folk with you.
4. A bona-fide child of God only needs a word from God in order to go. You might not have the money, the land, the tuition, or anything else, but when you hear the word that tells you to go, you just go! Wherever your faith will stretch you, your feet will take you, and when your feet take you God will give it to you. When God tells you a thing, you are going after it. Ex-When you order from a sales catalog, you operate in faith. You see what you want, you take the order number, and then you pick up the phone. You call the 1 800 number pull out a seed offering, then you give them a transaction # over the phone. They in turn give you a confirmation by phone. You hang up and say you just bought a bike, even though you don’t physically have it yet. You don’t have it, but you still say you bought it, because you have a confirmation number. You have to wait for Fed Ex to bring it to you. You put an investment on what you say you bought. In like manner, when we see a word, God says we can have it, we put a seed on it, we believe God for it, God gives confirmation, and we wait till God works it out. All we need God to do is give us one word! If you only knew what we were waiting on, you would understand why we act like we act. When God speaks it, we have to move!

III. Praise him on promise

The Joshua generation praises him on a promise. Joshua 1:3 says ³Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. – When God speaks a thing in your life, it becomes a promise. He doesn’t speak suggestions. When God speaks it to you, it is promise, he blesses it, and then it will become a done deal.

1. God tells Joshua, every where his feet treads, God would give it to him. Psalm 37:23 says ²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. – As servants of God, we don’t walk where we don’t have orders. Every place we walk, God is going to give it unto us. Wherever you faith can stretch you, your feet will take you, and God will give it to you. Ex-Jesus walked on water and Peter asked if he could come out there with him. Jesus told him to come. Translation: If Peter’s faith could stretch far enough to allow him to step out on the water, then Jesus would give him the ability to walk on the water.
2. Something happens when a child of God walks in what God tells them to walk in.  Ex2-When we first decided to purchase the land that Mt Zion (Old Hickory Location) sits on, it was hunting land. The Lord told Bishop to go and walk on the land. God reminded him that everywhere the sole of his feet walked, he would give him. God will just give you stuff. This was 130 acres, so we wondered how would be afford to buy it. You can imagine the cost. Bishop had friends that had paid 10milion dollars for just for 60 acres before even starting the building portion of the project. Land cost money. How could we ever afford this? The owners told us that they would give us the property for $980,000. This is like somebody giving you a brand new car for a $1000. When God has it in the plan for you, this is called favor. When we step on stuff, instead of giving us more money, God will change scenarios so our money will stretch further. There is favor on you! Every step you take, God will give it to you! Whatever God has shown you, just take a walk on it, and he will give it to you. Whatever we walk on, it is already done. We are going to praise him on his promise! Give God glory for favor! It’s time! Every dream and every vision within in you, know that it is time!