Today we continue our series entitled, “Pursuing Grace-Based Success!”
Here are our foundational scriptures:
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
(1 Corinthians 1:30,31 NLT)
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
(2 Timothy 1:9 NKJV)
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
(Joshua 1:8 KJV)
This 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.
A few messages ago, I introduced you to Joshua 1:8. This was my favorite scripture when I first became a Christian, and it is still one of my favorites today. To drive home the importance of the statement, I believe you should understand the setting. So I will give you some background and context for today’s message. This all comes from Joshua chapter 1.
After Moses died, the Lord spoke to Joshua and said, “My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must go across the Jordan River. You must go into the land I am giving to the Israelites.” The words, “Go into the land I am giving to the Israelites,” were familiar words to Joshua. 40 years earlier, he had heard the exact words. He was ready to take the land back then, and he was also ready, even though he was 40 years older when the fullness of time came.
The Lord continued, “All the land from the desert to Lebanon all the way to the great river (that is, the Euphrates River) and all the land of the Hittites will be yours. And all the land from here to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (that is, the place where the sun sets) will be within your borders. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. No one will be able to stop you all your life. I will not abandon you. I will never leave you.” We all need reminders, from time to time, of God’s presence and His dedication to us. We can only do what he calls us to do because He is WITH us and because He is dedicated to accomplishing, IN and THROUGH us, what He planned to do from the foundations of the world.
The Lord continued and said, “Joshua, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”
After all of this, the Lord said, “This 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.”
So what does this mean for you today? There is a lot here. There’s no way I can cover all of this in one day. But I will give you a few golden nuggets for today.
1. There is a timing component to the promises of God.
— I have taught you this many times, and this is something you must come to grips with. There is a timing component to the promises of God, and sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how much you ask God, no matter how much you release your faith, and no matter how much you plead with God, you cannot speed up God’s timeline. There was nothing Joshua could have done in those 40 years to change God’s timeline, especially when you consider the fact that the delay had nothing to do with him in the first place. Joshua was delayed for four decades because of the unbelief of other people.
— There are so many factors that go into the timing of God that many times we don’t realize it may not have anything to do with us. Our delay could be because God is working on someone else. It could be because of the decisions of others. It could be that God is moving things around for us. And, of course, it could be that He is preparing us for what He already prepared for us.
— In the case of Joshua, the issue was not with Joshua; it was with others. Joshua had to wait 40 years for something he didn’t do. He had to wait for four decades because other people failed to believe God. As unfair as that may seem, it is the truth, and sometimes things like this happen to us. You must have the faith to not only believe God but the faith and patience to wait on God!
— This series is about Godly success. To be blunt, you will never be successful (God’s way) if you don’t develop the patience required to trust that long enough to see what He said.
— I have done a great deal of teaching on faith and patience. I called them “The Power Twins!” It is through faith and patience that we receive the manifestation of the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12).
— Joshua believed God for 40 years. He remained in faith for four long decades (while he was waiting because of the mistakes of others), and he never gave up!
— Hebrews 10:35 teaches us NOT to cast away our confidence (or faith) becuase it has a great recompense of reward! Galatians 6:9 teaches us that there is a season when our harvest will COME DUE, and we SHALL REAP IF WE DON’T GIVE UP before that time comes! Joshua did not give up. I pray you don’t, either.
— To be successful (God’s way), you must have the faith to believe and the patience to endure becuase there is a timing component to the promises of God!
2. God’s promises will require God’s involvement because they are massive!
— When God outlined the size of the Promised Land to Joshua (and it was massive). The Lord followed the land description with a promise to always be with him. Here is my point: God’s promises are so big that we must continually remind ourselves that He will be with us every step of the way as we take possession of them.
— Without God, we cannot. Without us, He will not. This is the partnership God is looking for in the earth.
— It is us working with God and God working with us that causes the supernatural to manifest through mere humans on this planet. This is God’s desire. He wants to reveal Himself to the world, through us!
3. God’s presence brings with it access to His power.
After the Lord described the size of the land He was “giving” to Joshua and the Israelites, the Lord said this to Joshua: “Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. No one will be able to stop you all your life. I will not abandon you. I will never leave you.”
— There are two main promises in this passage: one is about God’s presence, and the other is about Godly success.
— God promised to be with Joshua. He said He would be with him, He would not abandon him, and He would never leave him. Guess what? God says the same thing to us today. God has promised to be with us everywhere we go!
— Not only does God want to be WITH us, but He wants us to SUCCEED! God said to Joshua, “No one will be able to stop you all your life.” That’s a strong statement. And just as God was with Moses, and with Joshua, He shall be with you. God’s desire is that you experience divine success during the short time you have on this planet.
4. Pursuing success God’s way will require courage, especially since you will not pursue success the way the world does.
— God told Joshua that he had to be both strong and very courageous in order to lead the nation of Israel into the possession of the promise. The same holds true for you today.
— Doing the will of God on the earth is not for the faint at heart. God-sized projects require God-sized courage.
— If you lack courage this morning, simply remind yourself of the promise and of the God who made it. He promised to do things in your life, and He also promised to be WITH you every step of the way. Be strong and very courageous! The Lord, your God, is with you whithersoever thou goest! (I hit you with some King James on that one, lol).
— It takes courage to do things the way God leads you to. It takes courage to pursue success God’s way. It takes courage to be different, especially when everyone around you is cutting corners and making “questionable” moves in order to get ahead in life.
— It takes courage to believe God and to STAY THE COURSE!
— It takes courage and integrity to NOT lie on your taxes when your friends are telling you what to do in order to get a little extra money.
— It took courage and integrity to not falsify documents in order to get PPP loan money when you know you did not qualify.
— It takes courage and fortitude to NOT BE MOVED by what others say or by what circumstances come.
— It takes courage to be okay with God’s timing and God’s opinion of you.
— Joshua waited 40 years for his promise, and he did not allow anyone to move him from his position of faith. That takes courage.
Bottom line: to become the man/woman God called you to be and to do things HIS way, it will take courage, especially in this corrupt world!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I fully expect to experience Your best in this season. I remain IN FAITH until I see, in my hands, those things that You have revealed to me, in my heart.
I know Your promises will be manifested in my life in the fullness of time. When the fullness of time comes, I shall be ready because I choose to meditate and medicate on Your Word daily.
I also meditate on Your presence. You are always with me. You promised to never leave me, nor forsake me. You are ON me, IN me, WITH me, and FOR me.
Therefore, nothing is impossible for me. I am strong and very courageous because You are always with me, and You empower me everywhere I go! This is why I keep declaring that GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
