S1: God already has given us the revelation, the promise. We
S1: don't get the product or the manifestation of it until
S1: we meet the qualifications for what God has said we
S1: can have.
S2: This is treasure truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm
S2: Steve Hillard. Glad you've joined us today as we continue
S2: to look at Joshua chapter one in a message entitled
S2: Takers and Pastor. So often we read God's Word and
S2: we see the promise that he has given to us,
S2: and we don't see that fulfilled in time. And you're saying, well,
S2: that might be because we haven't met the qualifications for
S2: what God has said we can have. How do we
S2: know what those qualifications are in Scripture? And I realize
S2: that that might be a tough question to answer because
S2: it depends on the promise. But for the person who says, okay,
S2: here's a promise in Scripture, how do I know if
S2: I can meet those qualifications.
S3: Oh, it's very simple. Any conditional verse, for example, second
S3: Chronicles 714. If my people, which are called by my name,
S3: shall humble themselves and pray, seek my face, and turn
S3: from their wicked ways, then so it's an if then
S3: conditional clause. The application or the interpretation of it is
S3: to Israel, but it can apply to the church based
S3: on New Testament principles, principles or timeless truths that transcend
S3: history and context. So when you look at what God
S3: has said, okay, so let's just apply it to Israel,
S3: how would they know that's their promise because of the
S3: if then conditional clause. So what would they have to
S3: do in order to have God forgive their sin and
S3: heal their land? Well, let's go to the New Testament.
S3: Let's go. So he said, that's the Old Testament. Can't
S3: you give us a New Testament illustration? Sure. One we need. Well,
S3: let me speak for myself. I know everybody's saying, speak
S3: for yourself. Don't speak for me. All right, I will.
S3: First John one nine. If we confess our sins, he
S3: is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse
S3: us from all unrighteousness. Do I want him to forgive
S3: and cleanse me? Then the condition is I must confess
S3: my sin. Homologeo say the same thing about it that
S3: God says about it. So it wouldn't be, quote unquote,
S3: like same sex marriage. It would be same sex sin.
S3: And then God would forgive and and cleanse. And most
S3: of us want cleansing, but are we willing to let
S3: go of the sin?
S2: So often that is the struggle for many. We want cleansing,
S2: but we want to keep that little pet sin.
S3: Oh, yeah. And and we want the promises, but we
S3: don't want to fulfill the. See, he says you will
S3: find me when you desire me with all of your heart. Yeah. So,
S3: I mean, I have to be a hog. I have
S3: to go after the heart of God. And if I
S3: don't do that, then why would I expect God to respond?
S2: It's a great question for us to begin today's message with.
S2: So if you can join us in Joshua chapter one
S2: as we continue takers. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3: Uh, Emmett was born in abject poverty. He was raised
S3: in obscurity. He once said that his father's answer to
S3: everything was to beat it out of you. Some of
S3: us know what that's all about. We've experienced that today.
S3: They call it child abuse. And the way I was raised,
S3: it was just called getting the spanking. As a young child,
S3: to escape that physical abuse, uh, Emmett tried to commit
S3: suicide on several occasions. He was molested by his mother's friend,
S3: and prior to that, on three different occasions, he had
S3: been molested by men who should have been protecting him,
S3: but instead were exploiting him. So he had a very,
S3: very damaging childhood. He didn't complete high school, but later
S3: on in his adult years, he did get a GED. Uh,
S3: the only bright spot in his life is that his
S3: mom was a church goer. She knew the Lord and
S3: was a pleasant person, and she took him to church
S3: all the time. And at an early age, like at
S3: some of the funerals, he accepted Jesus Christ. And that
S3: was a bright light in his life. It was a
S3: simple piece of advice That started to change for Emmett. Quote.
S3: Take back what was taken from you. Take charge of
S3: your own life. You can't control what happened to you
S3: in the past, but you can take charge of your
S3: future right now. And that started him. The words went
S3: on to encourage him to start writing a journal. And
S3: so Emmett began to write a series of soul searching
S3: letters to himself as he journaled, the letters that he
S3: wrote to himself were full of pain. But in time,
S3: because of his relationship with Jesus Christ, they became a
S3: healing catharsis. And all of those individuals that had done
S3: things to him in the past, he forgave them. Now
S3: that journal became the basis for his future and him
S3: taking charge of it because from his writings was birthed
S3: a God fearing, supposedly gun toting, pot smoking, loudmouthed grandmother
S3: who would greet you with good morning! You've guessed it,
S3: because at 16, Emmet changed his name to Tyler because
S3: he did not want to have the name of the
S3: man who was supposed to be his father but was
S3: abusing him. And so Tyler Perry wrote 13 plays, 18 movies,
S3: nine TV shows, actor, director, producer and owns his own
S3: 200,000 square foot studio in Atlanta. 25 NAACP Image Awards.
S3: And on and on. And the list goes on and on.
S3: All I'm trying to get you to see is that
S3: the transition for him happened when he became a taker
S3: and all that he went through. And some of you
S3: know it. He took all of his life savings to
S3: do his first play, and it was a flop. And
S3: it was years before he had his first successful play.
S3: We know that he lived under a bridge at one time,
S3: that he lived out of his automobile. At another time
S3: that he actually ended up living in a homeless shelter.
S3: But look at him now. All because somebody said you
S3: could take back what the devil has stolen from you,
S3: that God can restore the years that the locust and
S3: the canker worm have eaten. And I just came to
S3: tell somebody that if it happened to him, it can
S3: happen to you. Because God is no respecter of persons,
S3: that whatever the devil has taken from you, God says,
S3: take it back, take it back, take it back now, now, now, now, now.
S3: A lot of people want to live at the top. Uh,
S3: but they don't want to make the climb that's necessary
S3: to get there. Are you. Are you hearing me now?
S3: Are you hearing me? It is. It is, uh. We
S3: want their glory, but we don't know their story. That's right,
S3: that's right. And many people paid a price to get
S3: where they are. And folk look at it and think, oh, wow,
S3: they got it going on. Big baller shot caller number
S3: one stunner. Play a player from the Himalayas. Wow. But
S3: what did they go through to get where they are? Oh,
S3: come on now. You you know I'm telling the truth. Uh,
S3: a lot of you want a good marriage. Uh, but
S3: you won't invest in what it takes to make it better. Amen. Amen. Uh,
S3: you know, folk talk to me all the time, you know? Man,
S3: man got a good marriage. Yes, I do, I praise
S3: the Lord, I do, I do, I do, I do,
S3: but I paid, I invested time energy. As a matter
S3: of fact, I did a marriage seminar yesterday and a
S3: single seminar on Friday. Let me tell you what I
S3: told both of them. I said, here's my motto. This
S3: is it. In my marriage. This is my motto. It
S3: is the me I be is the wife. I'll see.
S3: Did you hear that? Let me say it again. Because
S3: they weren't listening on this side. The me I be
S3: is the wife. I'll see whatever I want her to be.
S3: That's what I gotta be. I want her to be
S3: more loving. Then I gotta be more loving first. I
S3: want her to be more giving. I gotta be more
S3: giving first. Whatever. I want her to quit spending all
S3: the money. I gotta quit spending all the money first.
S3: That's it. Because I have learned that if I want
S3: a better wife, the best way to get one is
S3: to be a better husband. Yeah. All the women are
S3: saying Amen. The brothers ain't saying nothing. They ain't saying nothing.
S3: And so that's it. I mean, you know what I'm saying?
S3: You want better grades so that you can have a
S3: brighter future. Will I tell you it'll never happen? As
S3: long as you won't get off Facebook and get into
S3: your school book. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's like, yeah,
S3: you want a better church, but you won't upgrade your commitment.
S3: You complain in the light about what you're doing in
S3: the dark, and you refuse to go from membership to discipleship.
S3: You refuse to go from excuses to execution. You refuse
S3: to go from apathy to action. You refuse to go
S3: from just being present to being a participant. You refuse
S3: to go from complacency to commitment. You refuse to go
S3: from pouting to prayer. You refuse to go from tipping
S3: to tithing. And you wonder why our church is in
S3: such a mess. Well, look at your neighbor and say
S3: neighbor can't build with moving bricks. Amen. Amen. Amen. And
S3: some of you. Some of you. You want a better
S3: dating relationship? Look, you find enough to drawing, but you
S3: don't have the character to keep them. Yeah, you rap
S3: good enough to draw her, but you ain't got the
S3: job to keep her order. No, no no, no. God
S3: gave Adam a job before he gave him a wife. Amen.
S3: Don't be looking for a woman. You ain't got a job. Lord.
S3: And so I like what Howard Thurman said. Does anybody
S3: know who Howard Thurman is? Okay, now listen to me.
S3: Google Howard Thurman and let's see what Wikipedia says about him.
S3: He's one of one of our great heroes. Okay, so
S3: so Google who you going to Google. Howard Thurman brilliant
S3: brilliant educator. Here's what he said. He was a pastor
S3: and an educator. Here's what he said. He said we
S3: must saddle our dreams before we can ride them. Did
S3: you get that? We must saddle our. Here's all he's saying.
S3: He's saying that people want the product without the preparation
S3: and the process that's necessary to bring the product. Okay,
S3: I'll tell you what I'm going to do. And here's
S3: what I want to see. How many of you are
S3: going to come to my office. I'm going to put
S3: a sign over my door that says James Ford, Junior, M.D.,
S3: medical doctor. Anybody coming in, I'm going to I'm only
S3: going to charge $125 an hour. Can I get some
S3: people to come in? What, you going to come in?
S3: But I don't have a degree. I just got to
S3: sign because I didn't go to school and prepare myself
S3: for what I'm saying I want to do. Oh, let
S3: me just move on. Let me just move on. Let's
S3: just go and move this thing on, alright? I sure will.
S3: And so here's, here's what's going on in this text.
S3: God is saying, listen, Joshua, I want you to be
S3: a taker. I want you to saddle your horse so
S3: that you can ride in on the dream that I've
S3: given you. And I've given you a dream team. It's
S3: the children of Israel. And now I want all of
S3: you to go into this land and to possess your
S3: God given possession.
S2: We're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James
S2: Ford Jr. A message entitled takers, as we're looking at
S2: Joshua chapter one and seeing how God called the nation
S2: of Israel to take what was theirs, what he had
S2: promised to him, and just pulling out truths that we
S2: can apply to our own lives. You know, I know
S2: not all of us are able to listen to each
S2: and every broadcast on the radio. You might want to
S2: listen on the go, especially over the summer months. You
S2: can do that a couple of different ways. You can
S2: come to the website, sign up to be in podcasting
S2: the program, or you can go to your favorite app
S2: store like iTunes or Google Play, and you can download
S2: the Moody Radio app. It's free, and it's available for
S2: your Apple and Android platforms. Again, just go to your
S2: favorite app store and look for the Moody Radio app.
S2: Let's get back to the message again. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3: Now remember, there are three takes in the book because
S3: the title is takers, and I think it's all through
S3: the books. He says in chapters one through five. Take
S3: my people in chapter six through 12. Take those people out,
S3: and then 13 through 22. Take that place over. And
S3: that's what you have in the last two chapters are
S3: a summary. And so the theme is this Yahweh God
S3: will give you the manifestation of his revelation. When you
S3: meet his qualifications. Let me say it again that Yahweh
S3: will give you the manifestation of his revelation. When you
S3: meet his qualifications. That is, God already has given us
S3: the revelation, the promise. We don't get the product or
S3: the manifestation of it until we meet the qualifications for
S3: what God has said we can have. And so then
S3: we have looked at and said, how do we do that?
S3: Six qualifications. Let me run them. I'm only going to
S3: get to one more today, that's all. Uh, respond to
S3: God's plan, verses one and two. Uh, and then verses
S3: three and four rest in God's promises. And then verses
S3: five and six rely upon God's protection. And then verses
S3: seven and eight readily obey God's precepts. And then verse nine,
S3: realize God's presence, and then ten and 11 recruit God's people.
S3: And so we looked at two weeks ago. And let
S3: me just remind some of you who may not have
S3: been here in verses one and two. Listen to it now,
S3: after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord,
S3: it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua
S3: the son of nun, Moses minister, saying, Moses my servant
S3: is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou
S3: and all this people unto the land which I do
S3: give to them, even the children of Israel. Now notice
S3: this just as a way of recap, here's what he's
S3: telling them. The time for procrastination is over. The time
S3: now is for decisive action that we've got to do
S3: what God has called us to do. One person, put
S3: it this way yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is
S3: a promissory note. But today is cash. Spend it wisely. See?
S3: Too many of us are the victims of the ready.
S3: Ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm ehm. Syndrome. We never fire,
S3: we never fire. Anybody ever heard Edgar Guest's poem tomorrow? Okay. What?
S3: Are you going to hear it now? He was going
S3: to be all that a mortal could be tomorrow. None
S3: should be kinder or braver than he. Tomorrow a friend
S3: who was troubled and weary. He knew who'd be glad
S3: of a lift and who needed it to on him.
S3: He would call to see what he could do tomorrow.
S3: Each morning he'd stack up the letters he'd write tomorrow,
S3: and thought of the friends he would fill with delight tomorrow.
S3: More time I'll give to others, he'd say. Tomorrow the
S3: greatest of workers. This man would have been tomorrow. The
S3: world would have known him had he ever seen tomorrow.
S3: But the fact is, he died and faded from view.
S3: And all that he left here when living was through
S3: was a mountain of things he intended to do. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow.
S3: And so we looked at two weeks ago, we said,
S3: When God says move, you have to move. In spite
S3: of three things, you got to move in spite of people.
S3: And so he said, Moses is dead. And so Moses
S3: was large and Moses was in a very miraculous period.
S3: And God did signs and wonders and, and opened up
S3: Red sea and all of that. And remember, we talked
S3: about the fact that one of the problems for Joshua
S3: is that he's young and somebody could look at him
S3: and despise his youth, and they can say to him,
S3: you know what? When Moses was the pastor, this was
S3: a rod stretching church. We didn't put our foot in
S3: the water. And sometimes there are people who are looming
S3: too large. And we looked at that. We looked at Uzziah, uh,
S3: and we looked at Uzziah in Isaiah's life, that he
S3: didn't see the Lord fully until Uzziah died. And remember
S3: we said, some of us have some uzziah's and they
S3: gotta die before we can possess our possessions. But then,
S3: in spite of the past, uh, because, you know, it's
S3: amazing to me, uh, that some people are chained to
S3: their past. There's some things that are very painful. I
S3: know in your past, but at some point, the past
S3: got to be in the past. And God. Moses represents
S3: the past the way we used to do it and
S3: all that. No, no. We gotta prepare for the future. Amen. Now,
S3: I don't know about you, but I've been doing it
S3: for the last ten years saying, listen, I'm preparing to
S3: pass the baton to, you know, for the future. Because
S3: the future church doesn't look like anything that it looks
S3: like now. And we've got to get ready for the future.
S3: Then he said, in spite of problems, he said this. Jordan,
S3: what is he saying? He's saying, okay, now I need
S3: you to look at this, Jordan. God is pointing out
S3: the Jordan to Joshua. Why? Because that's what he has
S3: to cross. Well, what's going on there? The Jordan is
S3: over swelling its banks. So God is pointing to the
S3: problem that has the possibility for progress to the promised Land.
S3: Why would you point the problem out? Because some people
S3: see a problem in every opportunity. And some people see
S3: an opportunity in every problem. Joshua, I want you to
S3: look at it. It's running over its banks. But I
S3: want you to know it cannot stop you from your promise.
S3: Get over it. Get over it. Now respond to God's plan. Now,
S3: now get this, get this, get this. We didn't talk
S3: about this. He's showing him the Jordan, but he never
S3: tells him what he's going to do to get him
S3: over it. You know what? You know why. You know why.
S3: Because it takes faith to believe the promise. Apart from
S3: understanding how he going to do it. And that's the
S3: problem with us. We want to know, well, how are
S3: you going to do it? When are you going to work?
S3: How is this going to work? And God says, what
S3: did I tell you to do? Just get to stepping.
S3: That's all. Get to stepping. And once we get to stepping,
S3: we're walking by faith. God says, okay, now. Now you're here.
S3: Watch what I do. Boom! That's what he does all
S3: the time. And here's our problem. We never get to stepping. God,
S3: I'm waiting on you. I'm waiting on you. But I'm
S3: waiting on you. But I'm waiting on you. But I'm
S3: waiting on you. Why are you waiting on me, God?
S3: Because I will not do what you can do. I
S3: will only do what you can't do. So once you
S3: do everything you can do and you get to the
S3: end of your rope, let go! I'll catch you. I'll provide.
S3: That's it. And so let me give you some principles
S3: I didn't give you last week. Here's what you need
S3: to do. Here's what you need to do. Start today.
S3: Start now. Start today. I say I want to write
S3: some more books. And God has given me favor with
S3: a woman who's worked for 20 years for Urban Ministries,
S3: the top senior editor at Urban Ministries. And now she's
S3: helping me with my book. She takes my sermon DVDs
S3: and writes them out, and she she did me a
S3: book in two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. I've had
S3: it six weeks doing the redacting to it, you know,
S3: and she called me up. She said it only took
S3: me two weeks to put everything together. What's taking you
S3: so long? And then my wife said. My wife said, honey,
S3: you ain't doing this right. You know what you need
S3: to do? What? She asked me this question. What are
S3: you doing every day. That is determining what you'll be tomorrow.
S3: You say you want to be a prolific author. Put
S3: some of the stuff that you've had in more books.
S3: But if you ain't writing. So she told me, she said, okay,
S3: here's what I want you to do. Go on in
S3: that office right now. So you're talking to a woman.
S3: I'm talking to you. Go into the office right now
S3: and for the next two hours, work on that book.
S3: I said, don't be telling me what to do. And
S3: I went in my office, and I worked on that
S3: book for two hours. Amen. And she told me now
S3: every day, because that is a investment on your future.
S3: So every day, two hours. But what are you going
S3: to have at the end of a week, 14 hours
S3: of writing? What are you going to have at two weeks,
S3: 28 hours and on and on and before you know it?
S3: But if you do that now to the end of
S3: the year, you may have five books, baby. Start now,
S3: start now, start now. And the second thing you ought
S3: to do See the opportunity in the opposition. That's what
S3: he's telling him. This. Jordan. Thirdly, quit running from problems
S3: that should be fixed and can be fixed by you.
S2: All right. Anybody else feel like maybe he's meddling just
S2: a little bit here? I know it's a message entitled
S2: takers from Joshua chapter one. And really some good encouragement
S2: as we wrap up today's broadcast. By the way, if
S2: you ever miss a program, come to our website, listen online.
S2: It's Treasure Truth radio.org, and we'd love to know how
S2: Pastor Ford's teaching is making a difference in your life.
S2: You can always give us your feedback by coming to
S2: Treasure Truth radio.org and clicking on the contact link. Thanks
S2: for doing that and thanks to our producer, Amy Rios
S2: for Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure truth is a
S2: production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.