WEBVTT - Takers, Part 7 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.309 God already has given us the revelation, the promise. We 0:00:04.309 --> 0:00:07.159 don't get the product or the manifestation of it until 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:11.630 we meet the qualifications for what God has said we 0:00:11.630 --> 0:00:12.680 can have. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.620 This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:21.620 --> 0:00:24.920 junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.350 Steve Hillard. Glad you've joined us today as we continue 0:00:27.350 --> 0:00:30.950 to look at Joshua chapter one in a message entitled 0:00:30.980 --> 0:00:35.600 Takers and Pastor. So often we read God's Word and 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.659 we see the promise that he has given to us, 0:00:38.659 --> 0:00:41.660 and we don't see that fulfilled in time. And you're saying, well, 0:00:41.659 --> 0:00:44.809 that might be because we haven't met the qualifications for 0:00:44.810 --> 0:00:47.570 what God has said we can have. How do we 0:00:47.570 --> 0:00:52.550 know what those qualifications are in Scripture? And I realize 0:00:52.550 --> 0:00:54.950 that that might be a tough question to answer because 0:00:54.950 --> 0:00:58.250 it depends on the promise. But for the person who says, okay, 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:00.200 here's a promise in Scripture, how do I know if 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:01.950 I can meet those qualifications. 0:01:01.980 --> 0:01:08.400 Oh, it's very simple. Any conditional verse, for example, second 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:14.429 Chronicles 714. If my people, which are called by my name, 0:01:14.459 --> 0:01:18.089 shall humble themselves and pray, seek my face, and turn 0:01:18.090 --> 0:01:21.569 from their wicked ways, then so it's an if then 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:26.430 conditional clause. The application or the interpretation of it is 0:01:26.430 --> 0:01:29.310 to Israel, but it can apply to the church based 0:01:29.310 --> 0:01:35.190 on New Testament principles, principles or timeless truths that transcend 0:01:35.220 --> 0:01:41.069 history and context. So when you look at what God 0:01:41.069 --> 0:01:44.280 has said, okay, so let's just apply it to Israel, 0:01:44.310 --> 0:01:47.790 how would they know that's their promise because of the 0:01:47.820 --> 0:01:50.970 if then conditional clause. So what would they have to 0:01:50.970 --> 0:01:54.660 do in order to have God forgive their sin and 0:01:54.660 --> 0:01:56.820 heal their land? Well, let's go to the New Testament. 0:01:56.820 --> 0:02:00.210 Let's go. So he said, that's the Old Testament. Can't 0:02:00.210 --> 0:02:06.340 you give us a New Testament illustration? Sure. One we need. Well, 0:02:06.370 --> 0:02:08.980 let me speak for myself. I know everybody's saying, speak 0:02:08.980 --> 0:02:11.619 for yourself. Don't speak for me. All right, I will. 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:16.119 First John one nine. If we confess our sins, he 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.600 is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:23.079 us from all unrighteousness. Do I want him to forgive 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:27.459 and cleanse me? Then the condition is I must confess 0:02:27.460 --> 0:02:31.570 my sin. Homologeo say the same thing about it that 0:02:31.570 --> 0:02:35.799 God says about it. So it wouldn't be, quote unquote, 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.150 like same sex marriage. It would be same sex sin. 0:02:40.330 --> 0:02:44.559 And then God would forgive and and cleanse. And most 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.470 of us want cleansing, but are we willing to let 0:02:47.470 --> 0:02:48.760 go of the sin? 0:02:49.060 --> 0:02:52.870 So often that is the struggle for many. We want cleansing, 0:02:52.870 --> 0:02:54.639 but we want to keep that little pet sin. 0:02:54.669 --> 0:02:57.520 Oh, yeah. And and we want the promises, but we 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.950 don't want to fulfill the. See, he says you will 0:02:59.950 --> 0:03:04.600 find me when you desire me with all of your heart. Yeah. So, 0:03:04.630 --> 0:03:06.640 I mean, I have to be a hog. I have 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.310 to go after the heart of God. And if I 0:03:09.310 --> 0:03:13.960 don't do that, then why would I expect God to respond? 0:03:14.290 --> 0:03:17.620 It's a great question for us to begin today's message with. 0:03:17.620 --> 0:03:20.440 So if you can join us in Joshua chapter one 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.100 as we continue takers. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:03:24.730 --> 0:03:31.330 Uh, Emmett was born in abject poverty. He was raised 0:03:31.330 --> 0:03:37.330 in obscurity. He once said that his father's answer to 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:41.500 everything was to beat it out of you. Some of 0:03:41.500 --> 0:03:47.260 us know what that's all about. We've experienced that today. 0:03:47.260 --> 0:03:49.930 They call it child abuse. And the way I was raised, 0:03:49.930 --> 0:03:54.670 it was just called getting the spanking. As a young child, 0:03:54.700 --> 0:04:01.020 to escape that physical abuse, uh, Emmett tried to commit 0:04:01.020 --> 0:04:09.330 suicide on several occasions. He was molested by his mother's friend, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:14.130 and prior to that, on three different occasions, he had 0:04:14.130 --> 0:04:18.630 been molested by men who should have been protecting him, 0:04:18.630 --> 0:04:24.900 but instead were exploiting him. So he had a very, 0:04:25.050 --> 0:04:30.510 very damaging childhood. He didn't complete high school, but later 0:04:30.510 --> 0:04:34.080 on in his adult years, he did get a GED. Uh, 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.599 the only bright spot in his life is that his 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:41.130 mom was a church goer. She knew the Lord and 0:04:41.130 --> 0:04:43.800 was a pleasant person, and she took him to church 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.880 all the time. And at an early age, like at 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:52.469 some of the funerals, he accepted Jesus Christ. And that 0:04:52.470 --> 0:04:57.989 was a bright light in his life. It was a 0:04:57.990 --> 0:05:04.440 simple piece of advice That started to change for Emmett. Quote. 0:05:04.650 --> 0:05:09.659 Take back what was taken from you. Take charge of 0:05:09.660 --> 0:05:13.440 your own life. You can't control what happened to you 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.349 in the past, but you can take charge of your 0:05:16.350 --> 0:05:21.570 future right now. And that started him. The words went 0:05:21.570 --> 0:05:26.460 on to encourage him to start writing a journal. And 0:05:26.460 --> 0:05:30.630 so Emmett began to write a series of soul searching 0:05:30.630 --> 0:05:35.549 letters to himself as he journaled, the letters that he 0:05:35.550 --> 0:05:39.210 wrote to himself were full of pain. But in time, 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:44.969 because of his relationship with Jesus Christ, they became a 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:49.680 healing catharsis. And all of those individuals that had done 0:05:49.710 --> 0:05:53.490 things to him in the past, he forgave them. Now 0:05:53.490 --> 0:05:59.250 that journal became the basis for his future and him 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:04.030 taking charge of it because from his writings was birthed 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:10.480 a God fearing, supposedly gun toting, pot smoking, loudmouthed grandmother 0:06:12.370 --> 0:06:16.839 who would greet you with good morning! You've guessed it, 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:24.010 because at 16, Emmet changed his name to Tyler because 0:06:24.010 --> 0:06:27.010 he did not want to have the name of the 0:06:27.010 --> 0:06:30.130 man who was supposed to be his father but was 0:06:30.130 --> 0:06:36.370 abusing him. And so Tyler Perry wrote 13 plays, 18 movies, 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:41.740 nine TV shows, actor, director, producer and owns his own 0:06:41.740 --> 0:06:52.420 200,000 square foot studio in Atlanta. 25 NAACP Image Awards. 0:06:52.420 --> 0:06:55.810 And on and on. And the list goes on and on. 0:06:55.810 --> 0:06:58.180 All I'm trying to get you to see is that 0:06:58.180 --> 0:07:03.500 the transition for him happened when he became a taker 0:07:03.620 --> 0:07:05.540 and all that he went through. And some of you 0:07:05.570 --> 0:07:08.000 know it. He took all of his life savings to 0:07:08.029 --> 0:07:10.700 do his first play, and it was a flop. And 0:07:10.730 --> 0:07:15.500 it was years before he had his first successful play. 0:07:15.620 --> 0:07:18.860 We know that he lived under a bridge at one time, 0:07:18.860 --> 0:07:21.980 that he lived out of his automobile. At another time 0:07:21.980 --> 0:07:25.490 that he actually ended up living in a homeless shelter. 0:07:25.490 --> 0:07:30.500 But look at him now. All because somebody said you 0:07:30.500 --> 0:07:34.280 could take back what the devil has stolen from you, 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:38.120 that God can restore the years that the locust and 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.970 the canker worm have eaten. And I just came to 0:07:40.970 --> 0:07:44.300 tell somebody that if it happened to him, it can 0:07:44.300 --> 0:07:48.500 happen to you. Because God is no respecter of persons, 0:07:48.500 --> 0:07:52.280 that whatever the devil has taken from you, God says, 0:07:52.310 --> 0:07:57.170 take it back, take it back, take it back now, now, now, now, now. 0:07:57.170 --> 0:08:01.140 A lot of people want to live at the top. Uh, 0:08:01.140 --> 0:08:05.490 but they don't want to make the climb that's necessary 0:08:05.490 --> 0:08:08.790 to get there. Are you. Are you hearing me now? 0:08:08.820 --> 0:08:12.600 Are you hearing me? It is. It is, uh. We 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:18.840 want their glory, but we don't know their story. That's right, 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.890 that's right. And many people paid a price to get 0:08:22.890 --> 0:08:27.150 where they are. And folk look at it and think, oh, wow, 0:08:27.180 --> 0:08:30.060 they got it going on. Big baller shot caller number 0:08:30.060 --> 0:08:33.900 one stunner. Play a player from the Himalayas. Wow. But 0:08:33.900 --> 0:08:39.510 what did they go through to get where they are? Oh, 0:08:39.510 --> 0:08:42.900 come on now. You you know I'm telling the truth. Uh, 0:08:42.900 --> 0:08:45.840 a lot of you want a good marriage. Uh, but 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:51.660 you won't invest in what it takes to make it better. Amen. Amen. Uh, 0:08:51.660 --> 0:08:53.670 you know, folk talk to me all the time, you know? Man, 0:08:53.670 --> 0:08:55.650 man got a good marriage. Yes, I do, I praise 0:08:55.650 --> 0:08:57.689 the Lord, I do, I do, I do, I do, 0:08:57.809 --> 0:09:02.220 but I paid, I invested time energy. As a matter 0:09:02.220 --> 0:09:05.730 of fact, I did a marriage seminar yesterday and a 0:09:05.730 --> 0:09:07.980 single seminar on Friday. Let me tell you what I 0:09:07.980 --> 0:09:10.500 told both of them. I said, here's my motto. This 0:09:10.500 --> 0:09:12.900 is it. In my marriage. This is my motto. It 0:09:12.900 --> 0:09:16.890 is the me I be is the wife. I'll see. 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.470 Did you hear that? Let me say it again. Because 0:09:19.470 --> 0:09:22.380 they weren't listening on this side. The me I be 0:09:22.410 --> 0:09:26.580 is the wife. I'll see whatever I want her to be. 0:09:26.580 --> 0:09:28.679 That's what I gotta be. I want her to be 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.350 more loving. Then I gotta be more loving first. I 0:09:31.350 --> 0:09:33.390 want her to be more giving. I gotta be more 0:09:33.390 --> 0:09:36.780 giving first. Whatever. I want her to quit spending all 0:09:36.780 --> 0:09:39.929 the money. I gotta quit spending all the money first. 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.390 That's it. Because I have learned that if I want 0:09:45.420 --> 0:09:48.780 a better wife, the best way to get one is 0:09:48.780 --> 0:09:52.080 to be a better husband. Yeah. All the women are 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:57.929 saying Amen. The brothers ain't saying nothing. They ain't saying nothing. 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:02.470 And so that's it. I mean, you know what I'm saying? 0:10:02.470 --> 0:10:04.960 You want better grades so that you can have a 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.709 brighter future. Will I tell you it'll never happen? As 0:10:08.710 --> 0:10:11.679 long as you won't get off Facebook and get into 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:17.140 your school book. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's like, yeah, 0:10:17.140 --> 0:10:20.350 you want a better church, but you won't upgrade your commitment. 0:10:20.350 --> 0:10:22.929 You complain in the light about what you're doing in 0:10:22.929 --> 0:10:26.890 the dark, and you refuse to go from membership to discipleship. 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.700 You refuse to go from excuses to execution. You refuse 0:10:30.700 --> 0:10:33.969 to go from apathy to action. You refuse to go 0:10:33.970 --> 0:10:37.599 from just being present to being a participant. You refuse 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.319 to go from complacency to commitment. You refuse to go 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.620 from pouting to prayer. You refuse to go from tipping 0:10:44.620 --> 0:10:47.559 to tithing. And you wonder why our church is in 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.679 such a mess. Well, look at your neighbor and say 0:10:50.710 --> 0:10:57.910 neighbor can't build with moving bricks. Amen. Amen. Amen. And 0:10:57.910 --> 0:11:00.290 some of you. Some of you. You want a better 0:11:00.290 --> 0:11:06.380 dating relationship? Look, you find enough to drawing, but you 0:11:06.380 --> 0:11:12.680 don't have the character to keep them. Yeah, you rap 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.740 good enough to draw her, but you ain't got the 0:11:15.740 --> 0:11:20.510 job to keep her order. No, no no, no. God 0:11:20.510 --> 0:11:25.160 gave Adam a job before he gave him a wife. Amen. 0:11:25.190 --> 0:11:30.530 Don't be looking for a woman. You ain't got a job. Lord. 0:11:32.540 --> 0:11:36.470 And so I like what Howard Thurman said. Does anybody 0:11:36.470 --> 0:11:40.459 know who Howard Thurman is? Okay, now listen to me. 0:11:40.730 --> 0:11:45.440 Google Howard Thurman and let's see what Wikipedia says about him. 0:11:45.770 --> 0:11:49.040 He's one of one of our great heroes. Okay, so 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:54.410 so Google who you going to Google. Howard Thurman brilliant 0:11:54.410 --> 0:11:57.050 brilliant educator. Here's what he said. He was a pastor 0:11:57.050 --> 0:11:59.990 and an educator. Here's what he said. He said we 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.770 must saddle our dreams before we can ride them. Did 0:12:04.770 --> 0:12:08.100 you get that? We must saddle our. Here's all he's saying. 0:12:08.100 --> 0:12:13.800 He's saying that people want the product without the preparation 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:18.750 and the process that's necessary to bring the product. Okay, 0:12:18.780 --> 0:12:20.219 I'll tell you what I'm going to do. And here's 0:12:20.220 --> 0:12:21.870 what I want to see. How many of you are 0:12:21.870 --> 0:12:23.790 going to come to my office. I'm going to put 0:12:23.790 --> 0:12:27.780 a sign over my door that says James Ford, Junior, M.D., 0:12:29.010 --> 0:12:32.940 medical doctor. Anybody coming in, I'm going to I'm only 0:12:32.940 --> 0:12:36.390 going to charge $125 an hour. Can I get some 0:12:36.390 --> 0:12:39.900 people to come in? What, you going to come in? 0:12:40.410 --> 0:12:42.449 But I don't have a degree. I just got to 0:12:42.450 --> 0:12:46.559 sign because I didn't go to school and prepare myself 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.390 for what I'm saying I want to do. Oh, let 0:12:51.390 --> 0:12:53.130 me just move on. Let me just move on. Let's 0:12:53.130 --> 0:12:55.740 just go and move this thing on, alright? I sure will. 0:12:55.770 --> 0:12:59.550 And so here's, here's what's going on in this text. 0:12:59.770 --> 0:13:03.250 God is saying, listen, Joshua, I want you to be 0:13:03.250 --> 0:13:07.689 a taker. I want you to saddle your horse so 0:13:07.690 --> 0:13:10.540 that you can ride in on the dream that I've 0:13:10.570 --> 0:13:14.020 given you. And I've given you a dream team. It's 0:13:14.020 --> 0:13:16.390 the children of Israel. And now I want all of 0:13:16.390 --> 0:13:20.320 you to go into this land and to possess your 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.360 God given possession. 0:13:23.170 --> 0:13:26.170 We're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James 0:13:26.170 --> 0:13:29.470 Ford Jr. A message entitled takers, as we're looking at 0:13:29.470 --> 0:13:32.410 Joshua chapter one and seeing how God called the nation 0:13:32.410 --> 0:13:35.200 of Israel to take what was theirs, what he had 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.270 promised to him, and just pulling out truths that we 0:13:37.270 --> 0:13:39.880 can apply to our own lives. You know, I know 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:41.679 not all of us are able to listen to each 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:43.750 and every broadcast on the radio. You might want to 0:13:43.750 --> 0:13:46.060 listen on the go, especially over the summer months. You 0:13:46.059 --> 0:13:47.679 can do that a couple of different ways. You can 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.110 come to the website, sign up to be in podcasting 0:13:50.110 --> 0:13:52.479 the program, or you can go to your favorite app 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:56.080 store like iTunes or Google Play, and you can download 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.590 the Moody Radio app. It's free, and it's available for 0:13:59.590 --> 0:14:02.330 your Apple and Android platforms. Again, just go to your 0:14:02.330 --> 0:14:05.209 favorite app store and look for the Moody Radio app. 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.390 Let's get back to the message again. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:14:08.420 --> 0:14:11.150 Now remember, there are three takes in the book because 0:14:11.150 --> 0:14:13.280 the title is takers, and I think it's all through 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.340 the books. He says in chapters one through five. Take 0:14:16.340 --> 0:14:21.860 my people in chapter six through 12. Take those people out, 0:14:21.860 --> 0:14:26.000 and then 13 through 22. Take that place over. And 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.979 that's what you have in the last two chapters are 0:14:28.010 --> 0:14:31.520 a summary. And so the theme is this Yahweh God 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:36.440 will give you the manifestation of his revelation. When you 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.920 meet his qualifications. Let me say it again that Yahweh 0:14:39.950 --> 0:14:44.090 will give you the manifestation of his revelation. When you 0:14:44.090 --> 0:14:48.200 meet his qualifications. That is, God already has given us 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.320 the revelation, the promise. We don't get the product or 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.340 the manifestation of it until we meet the qualifications for 0:14:55.340 --> 0:14:59.420 what God has said we can have. And so then 0:14:59.420 --> 0:15:01.580 we have looked at and said, how do we do that? 0:15:01.580 --> 0:15:03.920 Six qualifications. Let me run them. I'm only going to 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.710 get to one more today, that's all. Uh, respond to 0:15:06.740 --> 0:15:10.100 God's plan, verses one and two. Uh, and then verses 0:15:10.100 --> 0:15:13.190 three and four rest in God's promises. And then verses 0:15:13.190 --> 0:15:16.550 five and six rely upon God's protection. And then verses 0:15:16.550 --> 0:15:20.030 seven and eight readily obey God's precepts. And then verse nine, 0:15:20.030 --> 0:15:24.290 realize God's presence, and then ten and 11 recruit God's people. 0:15:24.290 --> 0:15:26.540 And so we looked at two weeks ago. And let 0:15:26.540 --> 0:15:28.520 me just remind some of you who may not have 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.340 been here in verses one and two. Listen to it now, 0:15:31.340 --> 0:15:33.890 after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.920 it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua 0:15:36.950 --> 0:15:41.090 the son of nun, Moses minister, saying, Moses my servant 0:15:41.090 --> 0:15:46.160 is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.650 and all this people unto the land which I do 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.620 give to them, even the children of Israel. Now notice 0:15:51.620 --> 0:15:54.080 this just as a way of recap, here's what he's 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:59.330 telling them. The time for procrastination is over. The time 0:15:59.340 --> 0:16:04.020 now is for decisive action that we've got to do 0:16:04.020 --> 0:16:05.880 what God has called us to do. One person, put 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:10.800 it this way yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:16.320 a promissory note. But today is cash. Spend it wisely. See? 0:16:16.350 --> 0:16:19.380 Too many of us are the victims of the ready. 0:16:19.410 --> 0:16:25.590 Ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm. Syndrome. We never fire, 0:16:26.100 --> 0:16:32.550 we never fire. Anybody ever heard Edgar Guest's poem tomorrow? Okay. What? 0:16:32.550 --> 0:16:35.250 Are you going to hear it now? He was going 0:16:35.250 --> 0:16:40.380 to be all that a mortal could be tomorrow. None 0:16:40.380 --> 0:16:45.120 should be kinder or braver than he. Tomorrow a friend 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:48.840 who was troubled and weary. He knew who'd be glad 0:16:48.930 --> 0:16:52.410 of a lift and who needed it to on him. 0:16:52.410 --> 0:16:56.130 He would call to see what he could do tomorrow. 0:16:56.910 --> 0:17:01.150 Each morning he'd stack up the letters he'd write tomorrow, 0:17:01.210 --> 0:17:05.590 and thought of the friends he would fill with delight tomorrow. 0:17:06.130 --> 0:17:11.350 More time I'll give to others, he'd say. Tomorrow the 0:17:11.350 --> 0:17:15.609 greatest of workers. This man would have been tomorrow. The 0:17:15.609 --> 0:17:19.960 world would have known him had he ever seen tomorrow. 0:17:20.020 --> 0:17:23.470 But the fact is, he died and faded from view. 0:17:23.470 --> 0:17:26.770 And all that he left here when living was through 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:34.660 was a mountain of things he intended to do. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow. 0:17:34.690 --> 0:17:37.390 And so we looked at two weeks ago, we said, 0:17:37.390 --> 0:17:41.290 When God says move, you have to move. In spite 0:17:41.290 --> 0:17:44.350 of three things, you got to move in spite of people. 0:17:44.350 --> 0:17:46.990 And so he said, Moses is dead. And so Moses 0:17:46.990 --> 0:17:50.830 was large and Moses was in a very miraculous period. 0:17:50.830 --> 0:17:53.800 And God did signs and wonders and, and opened up 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.380 Red sea and all of that. And remember, we talked 0:17:56.380 --> 0:17:58.960 about the fact that one of the problems for Joshua 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.119 is that he's young and somebody could look at him 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.630 and despise his youth, and they can say to him, 0:18:05.630 --> 0:18:08.450 you know what? When Moses was the pastor, this was 0:18:08.450 --> 0:18:11.449 a rod stretching church. We didn't put our foot in 0:18:11.450 --> 0:18:16.010 the water. And sometimes there are people who are looming 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:20.300 too large. And we looked at that. We looked at Uzziah, uh, 0:18:20.300 --> 0:18:24.290 and we looked at Uzziah in Isaiah's life, that he 0:18:24.290 --> 0:18:29.420 didn't see the Lord fully until Uzziah died. And remember 0:18:29.420 --> 0:18:32.750 we said, some of us have some uzziah's and they 0:18:32.750 --> 0:18:36.740 gotta die before we can possess our possessions. But then, 0:18:36.770 --> 0:18:40.400 in spite of the past, uh, because, you know, it's 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.600 amazing to me, uh, that some people are chained to 0:18:44.630 --> 0:18:47.930 their past. There's some things that are very painful. I 0:18:47.930 --> 0:18:51.080 know in your past, but at some point, the past 0:18:51.109 --> 0:18:54.350 got to be in the past. And God. Moses represents 0:18:54.350 --> 0:18:56.359 the past the way we used to do it and 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:00.000 all that. No, no. We gotta prepare for the future. Amen. Now, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:01.560 I don't know about you, but I've been doing it 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:05.550 for the last ten years saying, listen, I'm preparing to 0:19:05.580 --> 0:19:09.419 pass the baton to, you know, for the future. Because 0:19:09.420 --> 0:19:12.480 the future church doesn't look like anything that it looks 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.900 like now. And we've got to get ready for the future. 0:19:15.930 --> 0:19:18.300 Then he said, in spite of problems, he said this. Jordan, 0:19:18.300 --> 0:19:20.760 what is he saying? He's saying, okay, now I need 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.490 you to look at this, Jordan. God is pointing out 0:19:23.490 --> 0:19:26.520 the Jordan to Joshua. Why? Because that's what he has 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.280 to cross. Well, what's going on there? The Jordan is 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.940 over swelling its banks. So God is pointing to the 0:19:32.940 --> 0:19:39.330 problem that has the possibility for progress to the promised Land. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.320 Why would you point the problem out? Because some people 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.790 see a problem in every opportunity. And some people see 0:19:47.790 --> 0:19:51.990 an opportunity in every problem. Joshua, I want you to 0:19:52.020 --> 0:19:54.209 look at it. It's running over its banks. But I 0:19:54.210 --> 0:19:57.600 want you to know it cannot stop you from your promise. 0:19:57.630 --> 0:20:02.020 Get over it. Get over it. Now respond to God's plan. Now, 0:20:02.020 --> 0:20:03.699 now get this, get this, get this. We didn't talk 0:20:03.700 --> 0:20:08.020 about this. He's showing him the Jordan, but he never 0:20:08.020 --> 0:20:09.820 tells him what he's going to do to get him 0:20:09.820 --> 0:20:13.360 over it. You know what? You know why. You know why. 0:20:13.390 --> 0:20:17.080 Because it takes faith to believe the promise. Apart from 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.080 understanding how he going to do it. And that's the 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.179 problem with us. We want to know, well, how are 0:20:22.180 --> 0:20:23.650 you going to do it? When are you going to work? 0:20:23.650 --> 0:20:25.900 How is this going to work? And God says, what 0:20:25.900 --> 0:20:28.150 did I tell you to do? Just get to stepping. 0:20:28.390 --> 0:20:31.659 That's all. Get to stepping. And once we get to stepping, 0:20:31.660 --> 0:20:35.470 we're walking by faith. God says, okay, now. Now you're here. 0:20:35.500 --> 0:20:40.479 Watch what I do. Boom! That's what he does all 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:45.879 the time. And here's our problem. We never get to stepping. God, 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.100 I'm waiting on you. I'm waiting on you. But I'm 0:20:48.100 --> 0:20:50.230 waiting on you. But I'm waiting on you. But I'm 0:20:50.230 --> 0:20:52.750 waiting on you. Why are you waiting on me, God? 0:20:52.750 --> 0:20:57.369 Because I will not do what you can do. I 0:20:57.369 --> 0:21:00.130 will only do what you can't do. So once you 0:21:00.130 --> 0:21:02.949 do everything you can do and you get to the 0:21:02.950 --> 0:21:07.030 end of your rope, let go! I'll catch you. I'll provide. 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:12.850 That's it. And so let me give you some principles 0:21:12.850 --> 0:21:14.920 I didn't give you last week. Here's what you need 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:17.740 to do. Here's what you need to do. Start today. 0:21:18.070 --> 0:21:21.910 Start now. Start today. I say I want to write 0:21:21.910 --> 0:21:24.550 some more books. And God has given me favor with 0:21:24.550 --> 0:21:27.639 a woman who's worked for 20 years for Urban Ministries, 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.969 the top senior editor at Urban Ministries. And now she's 0:21:30.970 --> 0:21:34.930 helping me with my book. She takes my sermon DVDs 0:21:34.930 --> 0:21:37.389 and writes them out, and she she did me a 0:21:37.390 --> 0:21:40.960 book in two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. I've had 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:43.989 it six weeks doing the redacting to it, you know, 0:21:44.020 --> 0:21:45.640 and she called me up. She said it only took 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:48.100 me two weeks to put everything together. What's taking you 0:21:48.100 --> 0:21:52.629 so long? And then my wife said. My wife said, honey, 0:21:52.630 --> 0:21:55.120 you ain't doing this right. You know what you need 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:57.340 to do? What? She asked me this question. What are 0:21:57.340 --> 0:22:02.870 you doing every day. That is determining what you'll be tomorrow. 0:22:03.650 --> 0:22:05.960 You say you want to be a prolific author. Put 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:08.840 some of the stuff that you've had in more books. 0:22:09.230 --> 0:22:13.220 But if you ain't writing. So she told me, she said, okay, 0:22:13.220 --> 0:22:14.720 here's what I want you to do. Go on in 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:16.850 that office right now. So you're talking to a woman. 0:22:16.850 --> 0:22:19.100 I'm talking to you. Go into the office right now 0:22:19.340 --> 0:22:22.340 and for the next two hours, work on that book. 0:22:23.930 --> 0:22:26.780 I said, don't be telling me what to do. And 0:22:26.780 --> 0:22:28.459 I went in my office, and I worked on that 0:22:28.460 --> 0:22:32.840 book for two hours. Amen. And she told me now 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:37.430 every day, because that is a investment on your future. 0:22:37.430 --> 0:22:40.640 So every day, two hours. But what are you going 0:22:40.670 --> 0:22:42.980 to have at the end of a week, 14 hours 0:22:42.980 --> 0:22:44.840 of writing? What are you going to have at two weeks, 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.390 28 hours and on and on and before you know it? 0:22:47.390 --> 0:22:49.399 But if you do that now to the end of 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:55.100 the year, you may have five books, baby. Start now, 0:22:55.130 --> 0:22:58.489 start now, start now. And the second thing you ought 0:22:58.490 --> 0:23:03.219 to do See the opportunity in the opposition. That's what 0:23:03.220 --> 0:23:08.710 he's telling him. This. Jordan. Thirdly, quit running from problems 0:23:08.710 --> 0:23:12.010 that should be fixed and can be fixed by you. 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.120 All right. Anybody else feel like maybe he's meddling just 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:18.969 a little bit here? I know it's a message entitled 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:23.050 takers from Joshua chapter one. And really some good encouragement 0:23:23.050 --> 0:23:25.840 as we wrap up today's broadcast. By the way, if 0:23:25.869 --> 0:23:29.050 you ever miss a program, come to our website, listen online. 0:23:29.050 --> 0:23:33.520 It's Treasure Truth radio.org, and we'd love to know how 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:35.890 Pastor Ford's teaching is making a difference in your life. 0:23:35.890 --> 0:23:38.199 You can always give us your feedback by coming to 0:23:38.230 --> 0:23:41.440 Treasure Truth radio.org and clicking on the contact link. Thanks 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:43.900 for doing that and thanks to our producer, Amy Rios 0:23:43.930 --> 0:23:46.449 for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a 0:23:46.450 --> 0:23:50.590 production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.