This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with a mini-series within it entitled “Focusing on the Word”. When you take control of your thoughts and you literally program yourself to think the way God does — by aligning your thinking with God’s Word — you position yourself to experience God’s best in the earth. We’ve been using Joshua as a case study, so let’s continue to do so this morning.
When Joshua left Egypt he was ready to receive ALL God had for him. When Moses stood up and declared that God was “GIVING THEM” the land of Canaan, Joshua’s heart was ready to take the land. God was giving them the land by His amazing grace. All they had to do was use their faith to take possession of it. With God’s grace and their faith, Canaan was theirs to take. However, 10 of Joshua’s contemporaries lacked faith. They put a “NO” where God had already put a “YES”, and because of it, millions of people died in the wilderness.
40 years later, when God was ready to give Joshua the land again — this time with a new generation of Israelites — once again, Joshua needed to believe. This is why the Lord said, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
For weeks now we have been studying the importance of meditating and medicating on the Word of God. For today’s message I feel led to look at some Solomon said. The wise king said, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov 4:23). That’s the traditional King James Version. I like more modern translations. The Easy to Read Version (ERV) reads, “Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.” Solomon knew what God was teaching Joshua. If Joshua was going to TAKE the Promised Land, his success was going to start in his mind. Guess what? The same can be said for you!
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- You are the way you THINK you are (Prov 23:7).
- Success and failure both start in the mind.
- If the enemy can cause you to see yourself defeated in your mind, then he does not have to actually defeat you, because you are already defeated. You defeated yourself.
- The greatest barrier to God’s blessing is your capacity to believe. The more you can believe, the more God can achieve THROUGH you.
- You are only limited by your capacity to believe God. Nothing is impossible to the person who believes (Mark 9:23).
- God is limitless. If you see limits to His operation in your life, then you are seeing limits YOU placed there. Remove every artificial limit you have ever placed on your limitless God and your life will never be the same.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I take control of my thoughts and I open my heart to believe. I see myself the way You see me. I base my opinion of me on Your opinion of me. I am who You say I am. I can do what You say I can do. I will accomplish all I was born to accomplish. I am graced for success. I was born to impact this world by Your power, for Your glory. I am a believer and not a doubter. I walk by faith and not by fear. I remove every artificial limit I have ever placed on You, my limitless God. All things are possible for me, because I believe. I decrease so You can increase IN and THROUGH me. As You do, You leave a mark in this world, through me, that will never be erased! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
