Success is realizing and completing your divinely ordained purpose in life. Obviously, that's not as easy as it sounds. But Dr. Tony Evans says we're not intended to make the journey alone. He's already worked it out.
All you're doing is walking on what's been worked out. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Dr. Evans believes every Christian has the power and potential to succeed.
Today, he'll explain what the doorway to success looks like and how to use the keys God's given you to unlock it. You'll want to turn to Joshua chapter 1 as we join him.
Now it came about Verse 1 says, After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that The LORD spoke to Joshua the son of nun. Moses, my servant, is dead.
Now, therefore, arise, cross this Jordan. You and all the people to the land which I am giving to them. to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness of this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only Be strong and courageous.
Be careful to do according to the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success. Wherever you go. Everybody in here, I'm sure, wants to be successful. Nobody in here, I'm sure, wants to be a failure.
But before we can talk about how to be successful, we've got to know what success is. For many people, success is having a lot of money. For other people is having a certain position. Or a certain amount of notoriety. We talk about people being successful because they become well known as an actor, an actress, or as a superstar in a sport.
That is accomplishment. It certainly is accomplishment. But it's not necessarily success. We've seen people at the top of their game. who wind up being failures.
Even though their bank accounts may be full, and everybody may know their name. When we say, or when God says success. He's talking to Joshua about Getting the promised land. That's what he's talking about. That he promised to God's people, Israel.
He says, I will make your way success. Four. But what does success mean to Joshua? It meant him realizing the promises of God. to him.
And to the nation Israel. Jesus Defined success very nicely in St. John chapter 17 when he said, I have finished the work you have sent me here to do. Success. Is realizing and completing your divinely ordained purpose in life.
That's success. Realizing and completing your divinely ordained purpose in life. I don't care what you accomplished in life. If you don't get to realize and complete God's reason for putting you here, you are a failure regardless of how much money is in the bank. How many people know your name?
How popular you are, what position you hold. Paul was successful when he says, I fought a good fight, I finished my course. I've kept the faith. He says, now they've laid up for me a cross. Crown of righteousness, 2 Timothy 4.
He says, He's successful because he finished what he was sent here to do. Yes.
Now with that can come a lot of other great things. Nothing wrong with having the money or the position or the notoriety or whatever else may come with that. But if you have that without that accomplishment, you don't have much. You don't have much. That's why it's almost impossible in any meaningful way to define success apart from a sense of calling.
or a sense of divine designation, a sense of anointing. And remember, 1 John 2 says, you all have the anointing. All of us have the anointing. That is, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit who is in you. And one of his jobs is to lead you to your appointment.
One of the Holy Spirit's jobs is to lead you to your designation. I had a young lady come into my office at 5:30 today, and her opening line was. I have found my calling. I asked her how old she was. She said, I'm 31 years old.
And she said, I have found my calling. That's a great thing in 31. to find your calling. There are a lot of folks in 75. who don't have a clue.
So success is tied to divine purpose. Divine designation. He says to Joshua. Moses my servant is what? Dead.
Joshua had been Moses' understudy. He had been his. ministerial aid, if you will. He was learning the ropes. He was the apprentice of Moses.
Moses had brought the people up to the Jordan, but that was as far as God would allow Moses to take them. Moses died. Moses, my servant, is dead.
That's very important for you to know. That's very important for Joshua to know, and it's very important for you and I to know. If you're gonna move forward. You got to kill the past. Moses, my servant, is dead.
You can't look to Moses anymore. He married. Moses was yesterday.
Okay. That's over. I'm taking you forward. One of the things that hinders our tomorrows is our. Link to yesterday.
And I don't mean just bad stuff, even good stuff. If you hold on to it too long, you're going to miss. Where you going? Yesterday is five. No matter if it's got great stuff.
And maybe it's got some bad stuff that you'd rather not think about.
Okay, but as long as you're locked into yesterday, you. You hinder your movement towards success. Because success is where you're going.
Okay, you made a mistake yesterday. There were consequences for your mistake yesterday. Learn from those consequences. I love the way Coach Dungy put it. He says he tells my players, no more excuses, just execution.
Don't come and tell me why you didn't get it done right. Just tell me you didn't get it right. And this is what I'm going to do so that it's right the next time.
So that you are not living in the past. Satan loves to keep you in the past because if he can keep you looking backwards, he can keep you from moving forward. A rare person that doesn't have something over their shoulder. that they can't shake. It's there, it'll never go away in terms of it happening.
But you need to have a funeral. Is there anything you need to bury? Because there's still two alive in your life. It it really needs to be dead. Joshua, I'm getting ready to take you somewhere.
Moses is not part of this. Moses It's dead. It's over. He's done his job. He's fulfilled his task.
So now he recites to Joshua His plan for Joshua. Here's what I want you to do, verse two: arise. Go across the Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. He says, I want you to cross over to this land. Which is my land of promise.
And when you do that, When you cross over Watch this now. You will be entering in verse 4. to the land of the Hittites. of the great sea of the setting of the sun of your territory. Every place, going back to verse 3, that the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you.
Please don't miss this. Success is completing what God has called you to do. That's success. But success doesn't just happen. He says, you've got to cross the Jordan.
Every place your foot treads I have given it to you. But it is the land of the Hittites. In other words, You've got to exercise responsibility. There are things you're going to have to do. You can't sit on this side of the Jordan and just wait for it to drop from heaven.
The Bible talks about the Lord providing for the birds. But you've never seen a bird sitting on a A branch with its beak open toward heaven, waiting for worms to just drop in.
Now it says God provides But every bird that eats worms goes worm hunting. It's just that they know God will provide. And because they know God will provide, they assume there's a worm. with their name written on it.
Somewhere today.
Alright. In other words, they they assume God is Watch this has already provided. See, they don't worry about it. And they don't have worm refrigerators. They don't have worm freezers.
They don't store worm up for days, weeks, months, and years.
Okay? We store food up and I still worry. Birds, it says, they don't worry. Matthew 6 says, they don't worry. And they know their Heavenly Father is going to provide.
No, in a sense, your father provides for them.
So now if your father Got the birds covered. It seems to me the birds should be worried. They should have offers. Because they don't have a father. In a relational sense of the word.
So he says, I have a promise for you, but you have to go get it. You have to go get it. There is responsibility. Tied to blessing. I'm waiting for my blessing to come.
You better get up. There's only one time when you weigh it. The only time you wait is when God has given you no options.
Well, then you have to wait. But You know, it's just like the Lord give me a job you sitting by the phone at home. You know, you ain't applied nowhere, you haven't met every resume, you haven't sent it nowhere, but you know he's able. There's responsibility tied to blessing. There's responsibility tied to success.
You must cross the Jordan, lead the people across the Jordan in every place your foot trods.
Well, that means you got to walk somewhere. You gotta go somewhere if your foot has got a tribe. But the beauty is... Every place where your foot have trod I have given it to you. In other words, I've already gone in front of you and I've worked it out.
But you won't see that I've worked it out until you cross over and walk on it. If you've got a river in life you need to cross, stay tuned. Dr. Evans will return in a moment with more encouragement about what's waiting for you on the other side. First, though, don't miss out on your chance to get a copy of Tony's current teaching series, The Spiritual Toolkit.
This 10-message collection explores vital principles that make up the equipment we need to build a healthy spiritual life. It includes additional material we haven't been able to present on the air, and it's available as our gift when you support the Ministry of the Alternative with a financial contribution. And today is your last opportunity to take advantage of our special bonus offer. Along with the Spiritual Toolkit, we'll also include Dr. Evans' powerful book, Free at Last, designed to help you break free from spiritual strongholds and live in the identity Christ has secured for you.
Contact us right away to make the arrangements at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two of today's lesson. Here's Dr. Evans once again. Do you know God has already worked it out?
Oh, see, that's a sermon right there. He's already worked it out. That's a sermon right there. He has already gone ahead of you. He's already in front of you related to your calling, your purpose, your success.
He's already worked it out. All you're doing is walking on what's been worked out. But if you don't cross the Jordan, you will never see he's worked it out. You'll never see he's already gone ahead of you. To put things in place for you so that when you arrive there, it's worked out.
I wonder if there's anybody here who's arrived at a destination, and when you got there, you saw God had already worked it out. He'd already set it up. gone ahead for you. And the beautiful thing about this is that he's done that for everybody here. You all have the anointing.
You all have the appointment. You all have the purpose. You all have the calling. You all have the success.
Well, why am I realizing it yet?
Well, there may be a couple reasons. One, it may be a timing issue.
Okay, that's one. Or it may be a responsibility issue. You're still on the other side of the Jordan waiting for him to work it out. Waiting for your change to come, looking for it to happen. Or it may be the delay that Israel had.
Israel should have been in the promised land 40 years earlier. The reason why they weren't in the promised land 40 years earlier is they did not have faith. That is faith enough to act, faith enough to obey. They were in rebellion and. In disobedience.
So every place on which your sole of your foot treads. I have given it to you just as I spoke to Moses.
So it's already been taken care of.
Now, remember how God worked in the Old Testament and how He still works today. There are three things: there is deliverance from Egypt. development in the wilderness and destiny. where he's taking you. Everybody goes through those three specifics, there is nowhere around them.
You start off with deliverance, salvation. Wilderness spiritual development. Destiny arriving at your place of calling. or appointment. You cannot skip the wilderness.
You can't jump from deliverance to destiny. All you gotta do is read Deuteronomy chapter 8. He tells you, I have taken you through this wilderness to humble you, to test you. to develop you. To develop you spiritually, develop your faith.
Now, many of us here are wandering in the wilderness. You know, we're in circles. We're stuck in the wilderness like Israel was in the wilderness. Why? Because faith has not been developed.
And like Israel, we're complaining every day. We're complaining, why me? Why now? Why are you not doing this? Why is it taking so long?
Why not now? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why? And God is looking for a faith that. X.
So, I have already done it for you. It's already covered for you. But you don't get to realize it till you walk on it.
So what does the New Testament call it? Walking by faith. Every believer has an inheritance, the Bible says.
Some of that inheritance is in the buy and buy. Heaven?
Some of that inheritance is earthly.
Some God gives in history, some God gives in heaven. All believers have both. But you do not realize it unless you are moving. If you are not moving, Then you will live your life and you'll never know why you were here. As a believer.
Verse 5: No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not Fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous. For you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
Verse 9. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you? Verse 18. Anyone who rebels against your command and doth not obey your words in all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.
He tells him three times in this chapter to be strong and courageous. Why? Because he's getting ready to face opposition to his calling. He's getting ready to go up. Jericho, AI, I mean, he's getting ready to go up, and there's going to be resistance to his calling.
Remember, destiny is not heaven here. Because in heaven there are no Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites. There's no resistance in heaven. He's talking about an earthly calling. There is no resistance.
in heaven, but there is resistance to you getting your calling on earth. Only be strong and courageous. Why? Because he says in verse five, No man will be able to stand before you. In other words, I'm not going to let human beings stop you.
from getting what I have designed. for you.
Now I know some of you think That you're not going to make it because people keep getting in the way. If it wasn't for folk who are blocking you, who are getting in the way. See, if you've never seen God move people. Then you you missing out on something. If you've never seen God.
Stop folk from stopping you. One of the great manifestations of God is when. Folk who in the way get moved by God. Dr. Evans will return in a moment with a real-life example to wrap up our program for today.
In the meantime, I want to let you know that this is the final message we'll be presenting on the broadcast from Tony's Spiritual Toolkit series. This 10-part audio collection is designed to help you focus on God's plan for your life, helping equip you with strategies for living it out successfully. As I mentioned earlier, the complete collection is yours as our gift when you make a donation to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And along with the 10 messages, we'll also include Dr. Evans' book, Free at Last, a powerful guide to experiencing spiritual liberation and walking in the freedom Christ provides.
Just visit tonyevans.org today to take advantage of this special offer. Again, that's tonyevans.org or reach out to our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Team members are standing by to help any time of the day or night. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. Yeah.
Yeah. When you're searching for answers, too many voices can leave you more confused than when you started.
Well, tomorrow, Dr. Evans clears up spiritual confusion as he begins a powerful study of Galatians that reveals the liberating truth of the gospel. Right now, though, he's back with his final comment for today. I know most of you have heard it, but one of the great stories of our church is when we were in a Del Turtle Elementary School, and the school told us we couldn't meet there anymore, and we didn't have any place to go, and so we needed to buy some more time. But there were some hardliners on the school board, and they said, We are not gonna let you stay there anymore.
So you, you know, separation church and state, all that.
So get out. And we got the votes to get you out. The board was gonna vote on this particular day, and we waited, we waited, we waited, we waited, we waited. We were sitting out there for like, Two hours waiting. They finally came out the Roman, and this is what they said.
They said, we have good news for you. You will be able to remain in the school. And the reason you're going to be able to remain in the school is that the two people who are against you were riding here together from downtown, but there was an accident on the highway that blocked them from getting here. And we can't wait for them any longer.
So we voted with who we had. And so we voted for you. Right after they came out to give us the good news, the two guys came in huffing and puffing, rushing to give their vote. Too late. We saw God intervene.
and block man. He says there will be no man I don't care how powerful they are, how big they are, how much money they have, how much power they have, how many folk know them. I don't care about their position. I got your back. Uh The beautiful thing about your success is you can stop it, but no man can stop it.
That's good news.
