R1592 Seven Steps to Success

Too many times it seems like we're standing still or separated, but you can move forward with 7 Steps to Success from Dr. Don Wilson. And before you think, now wait a minute, is this Dr. Don talking about, no Dr. Don is talking about scriptural success.

He'll help define that in just a moment as we head to the book of Joshua chapter 3 in our Bible study today. But before we dive in, I want to encourage you to head on over to our website. It's www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. And today you can sign up for the email from Dr. Don and by this time tomorrow or the next day at the latest you'll be receiving a bit of encouragement, insightful application of scripture. Again, it's the daily encouraging word email.

Just sign up on our website at www.tewonline.org. It jump starts my quiet time and it will do that for you as well. Now, let's open God's Word together with Dr. Don Wilson. So I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles to Joshua chapter 3. And there is a long reading today. I will tell you that I tried to extract one or two verses and realized that this story, this account that God gives to us is so critical.

And the Lord impressed on my heart to leave it intact. So as you turn to Joshua chapter 3. Joshua chapter 3. Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan where they camped before they crossed over.

After three days, the officers went throughout the camp giving orders to the people. When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests who are Levites carrying it, you ought to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go since you've never been this way before, but keep a distance of about a thousand yards. I think they must have been socially separated between you and the ark.

Do not go near it. Joshua told the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. Joshua said to the priests, take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.

So they took up the ark of the covenant and they went ahead of them. The Lord said to Joshua today, I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel so that they may know that I'm with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, when you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.

Joshua said to the Israelites, come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Gergeshites, Amorites and Jebusites. See the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.

Now then choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the heaven set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and will stand up in a heap. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during the harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.

It piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, otherwise known as the salt sea or the dead sea, was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho and the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan River, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing onto dry ground. And when the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Choose 12 men from among your people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests stood, and carry them over there with you and put them down at the place with you where you stay tonight.

So Joshua called the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe. And he said to them, Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each one of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of Israel to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. Mission accomplished. May the Lord write His word upon our hearts. I want to speak to you today on 7 Steps to Success.

Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message, 7 Steps to Success with Dr. Don Wilton and Justin Woman. But Dr. Don wants me to remind you that we're here for you in a number of ways, 24 hours a day, including online. If you haven't visited our website, it is continually changing and is about to undergo a revolutionary change in the next two weeks. I pray you'll tune in to TEWOnline.org and discover the resources that are available for you. That's TEWOnline.org. One of the favorites is to sign up for the daily encouraging word email. You can sign up today and it'll be in your mailbox within 48 hours.

That's online at TEWOnline.org. Of course, prayer is critical to who we are as we encourage you at The Encouraging Word. Did you know that The Encouraging Word has a 24 hour prayer line? You can call 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 and speak with a live person who would be glad to pray with you.

You are not alone. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton, 7 Steps to Success.

I want to share with you just very briefly the steps that they took. Moses stood on Mount Nebo. We know why he couldn't go. He disobeyed God. God said to him, I'm going to lead you all the way, but I'm going to take you back to myself before you step into the promised land.

There it was, the land that flowed with milk and honey. Those people were desperate. We cannot even begin to imagine the weariness, the discouragement. We cannot even begin to imagine the numbers of times they'd expressed their hope in the future. How many parents had sat down, how many children and said, one of these days? God had promised them and he hadn't changed his mind. But he required that his people undertake certain steps before that promise would be fulfilled. What was it that they did?

Let me just run them by. First of all, they camped before they crossed. Look at verse 1. Bible says early in the morning they camped right there. This side on the wrong side, but they pitched their camp.

I'm going to ask a question. Do you not suppose they had camped before? How many times had the children of Israel camped?

How many times had they stopped? How many times had they gathered together? But before they claimed what God had promised to them, evidently, God wanted them to camp. Number 2, these people acknowledged the Lord. The Bible says, verse 3, it's very clear, that I want you to look at the ark of the covenant, not only see it, I want you to acknowledge who God is. The God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

You're going to say to me, why? Had they not acknowledged God before? Most certainly. You and I can do a year's series, preaching just simply on how the children of Israel perpetually acknowledged God, even in the midst of their wanderings, even in the midst of their struggles. But before they claimed what God had promised to them, He required of them that they acknowledge the Lord.

Number 3, the third step, they established guidelines. Well, there it is. In verse 3, the Bible says, you ought to move out from your positions, you to follow it, then you will know which way to go.

Some of you got to be here, some of you got to be there. They began to strategise. Do you not suppose that these people who loved the Lord had planned before? Do you not suppose that they had a master plan? Do you not suppose that they admit ad infinitum in their wanderings? Do you not suppose they had presented their guidelines to God a thousand times over?

How many strategies had they come up with? But God required that before they claimed the promise of God, they had to re-establish the guidelines and that's exactly what they did. Number 4, they consecrated themselves.

That is so powerful. In verse 5, Joshua said to them, consecrate yourselves. Joshua called these people together and he said, you see the promised land? Do you not remember what God has said? Do we not believe that God is going to give us everything that He has promised to us? But before He does, consecrate yourself, get on your face.

Before God, readjust your calendar, go back to worship, confess your sin before Him. Number 5, the first step they took was they followed their leaders. In verse 6, it's replete throughout this text, Joshua began with the priests. He began with those who had been anointed by God to be spiritual leaders. And he told the priests, he said, I want you to be the first in line. I don't know what he was saying to them. I think what he was saying to them, enough of your preaching, get out front. I think what he was saying to these priests. Don't hide behind your cloth.

Take very care. And every care that everything that you teach others, you do yourselves. Because leadership is a primary means by which God brings about the fulfilment of His promises. They just simply followed their leaders.

Joshua said, get out there, go down there, do this. And the leaders did what God told them to do through His servant. And the people were prepared to follow them. Number 6, they listened to God's Word. They just listened to God's Word. Bible says right there in verse 9, probably one of the most powerful verses of all. Joshua said to the Israelites, come here and listen to the words of the Lord. That a great statement.

I commend you today, trying hard not to make too much of a personal application. But it is an absolute requirement of God's people before God will fulfil His promise. And Joshua knew it. I'm not sure what Joshua said, but I can only imagine that he called them together and he said, we can talk until the noonday sun. We can go back and forth in our congresses.

We can give all the money we want. I want you to know, children of Israel, the time has come where we understand what God has said to us. And we need to listen to the Word of God. Number 7.

I love number 7. They built an altar. We see this great picture of them as they listen to what God had said. And the priests put their feet into the water and God again did it again.

He backed up the water. I've been even to Adam, which is just a little way up the road, not too far from one of the crossings over into the nation of Jordan. And it's an amazing spot.

It's an amazing spot. That's why Jesus chose that spot. Just to remind you, when Jesus came to that spot in his first appearance and he called John the Baptist, and he said, baptise me, that was the spot where they put their foot in the water, where God parted the waters once again.

He held back the waters. The only difference this time is when Jesus stood in the Jordan River and he was taken and baptised under the water, even though he was God. God had no need to part the water because this was Jesus. Because Jesus was being obedient. God parted the heavens.

That's what he did this time. What God was saying is, listen, in order to fulfil my promise to my people, I'm going to part the water and let them cross over to the promised land. But I want everybody to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the saviour of the world. He's the only one who can open the heavens. He's the only one who can bring you into full and complete reconciliation with God, our Heavenly Father. And so when Jesus was baptised and brought up out the water, God did not part the water. He parted the heavens and God said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. When you put your faith and trust in Him, I want you to know I'll part the heavens because Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. And no man can come to the Father except through the Lord Jesus. It's an amazing thing, the steps they took. So here's the bottom line.

What are the seven steps to success? I need this so badly in my own life. Let me tell you about me. I love the Lord Jesus. I hope you've given your heart to Jesus.

Best friend you'll ever have. And He's a promise keeper. When you give your life to Christ, you surrender your heart to Him. He'll take you into the promised land. And He does it through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and by His sacrifice. But even as a believer, I have no doubt that God's promises are absolute, that the future is bright in every way because of the promises of God.

But I struggle so often, I find myself standing on my Mount Nebos. I can see it. I know it's there. I know what God's told me. But there's one more thing I've got to do.

What is it? Some of you are saying today, well, pastor, it's my marriage. We love the Lord, but the fizz has gone down to the bottle. And it just seems like we just can't get there.

What are your steps to success? You know what God will do for you? Maybe today you're carrying a deep burden of sin in your heart.

Maybe it's like a lump of lead. You've carried this for years, haven't you? You know that God has forgiven you.

You just can't shake it. What's missing? How are we praying for our nation? Here are seven steps to success that I share with you today.

As we extrapolate this from the truth of God's Word seed and it demonstrated to us in Joshua leading the children of Israel through the River Jordan and into the Promised Land. Number one, huddle, huddle. You got it. You got to huddle. You've got to gather yourself in the presence of the Lord.

You're doing that? One of my struggles. I'm not just standing up here confessing to you. I get so busy sometimes that I forget to huddle. I know what God said, but I'm not huddling. I'm an action kind of person.

I want to just get on with it. God says, uh-uh, stop, huddle. You know what you do when you huddle?

You gather together. You worship the Lord. That's why He said forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, but Jesus also spoke about huddling in your closet, about that devotion that we find so hard to do.

It's coming into an intimate time with the Lord. That's step number one. You want to claim the promise of God in your business?

You got to huddle. Number two, acknowledge. Step number two, acknowledge. Acknowledging God is not just saying, okay, God, I know you, God. This is a hard thing.

This runs deep. This is you and I finding ourselves smitten by the very Shekinah glory and presence of our living God. This is being smitten with gratitude toward Him. This is us turning to Him and saying to Him, Lord, without You, I can't do this. Without You, we can't do this. Lord, without You, our nation is not going to come together. Lord, the prospects. Lord, we don't know what the answer is, but we know what Your promise is.

We get that. Number three, plan. Plan? As if we don't have enough planning. Plan.

After all these years of planning and strategizing, God wanted them to get back together and reestablish their strategy. Don't tire of reestablishing the guidelines that are important. Don't stop reminding yourself of deep biblical and spiritual principles and truths that apply in your life, in your marriage, your relationship with your sons and your daughters, how you relate to your parents, in your church.

Go back again and again. Reestablish, be willing to put those out in front of God. Let God change them, alter them. Never fear change when change finds its root in the heart of God. Don't fear change just because change is to be feared. If God tells you to make an adjustment, make an adjustment and do it because God is telling you because He's made a promise to you.

He wants you to step over the Jordan into the promised land. Number four, devote. Here's the fourth step to success, devote. Bible uses that word consecrate to be devoted, speaks to a quality of our hearts whereby we find ourselves in a perpetual state of adoration and submission. Before a holy and a righteous God, Lord, I am devoted to you. I am devoted to you. I devote my thoughts. I devote my aspirations. I devote my money. I devote my family. I devote my very being to you. It's the very means by which through the Spirit of God, I find myself coming into the presence of the great I am. God wants us to be devoted, to be fully devoted, to be totally devoted to Him.

Not partially, not just on a Sunday morning, not just when things go well, not just when we have a crisis. God wants us to be perpetually, totally and completely devoted to everything that God is because He's God. Number five, follow, follow. It's an amazing thing here in the Scriptures that Joshua went out and he selected these priests and from the 12 tribes and he said to them, it is imperative that you carry the ark.

That's an incredible step to success. Who are you following today? All of us need to follow people that God has appointed for us and to us and shown us and taught us. We need to follow Godly examples. I cannot tell you, my beloved friends, what the leaders of this church have meant to me personally. The men and women in this church, there are countless hundreds of you and I value you and I cherish you and I follow you. I listen to you. When you speak, I want to listen because you lead like Jesus. Where are our leaders who lead like Jesus? We want to follow you. Let's all become followers of Christ-like examples in our world today and conversely, make up your mind, America, who you are listening to. Make up your mind and go before the Lord and say, oh God, I want you to show me and speak to me so that I know when you speak, you have to use people and I'm willing to listen and to follow and I know you're going to bless me. Number six, pay attention, pay attention. They listen to God's Word.

I love that. Pay attention. I think today we're paying attention finally. Remember, have you forgotten?

Do you know what God made these people do? He made them build an altar and that passage tells us there were several reasons. Number one, just to say thank you. How's your altar of thanks going these days? Number two, to mark the spot.

You may want to get out a pen and paper sometime or your computer, better still. Write down some of the high marks of your Christian journey. Remember the spot. There was another reason they had to build an altar and that was because of their children.

Isn't that amazing? Because of their children. You know, he spoke to those people and he said, do this, remember, don't forget because you've got children coming up.

What are we causing our children to not forget? You see, friend, it's all about Jesus, isn't it? This is what God does for us. I'm a Christian man.

I've given my heart to Jesus. I battle with it all. We all get hurt.

We all struggle with life. We all wonder what tomorrow holds. Do you know what God does?

He says, listen, see that? That's the promised land. I'm the deliverer. I'm going to take you from your current circumstance and I'm going to walk you through the impossible and I'm going to deliver you to the land that flows with milk and honey. I'm the great restorer. I'm the one who gives you peace. I'm the one who's going to bless you. Do you belong to me? Would you bow your heads with me today?

Every head bowed and every eye closed. You've given your life to Christ. You trusted him. I love being a Christian, love being a believer because greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. I don't know that we could do this without him. It's in God I trust. Would you give your life to Christ today? Make him your Saviour and Lord? Would you pray this prayer with me? Dear God, I know that you love me.

I know Jesus died for me. I confess my sin to you. By faith I receive you into my heart.

That is the question and only you can answer that. It's a simple step of faith and you can take that step right now. I'd love to lead you in a prayer to just come honest with God. Lord God, I realize that I am a sinner and I need you to save me. Today, Lord, I realize you love me and so I ask you in that love to change me, to come into my life and give me a new purpose. I turn my back on my sin and I confess that I believe in you, Jesus. You are the Son of God and I want you to save me. In your precious name I pray.

Amen. Dr. Don reminds us it's not a specific set of words, but if in your heart you're ready to give your life to Jesus, let us talk more about it. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or connect online with TEWOnline.org. We'd love to spend some time praying with you and launching you into the next.