For today’s encouraging word, we will be in Joshua, chapter one. We will read about the first nine verses You see something here in these first nine verses, and specifically at the end of verse eight, there in Joshua chapter one, we’ll build up to it and get down there to it, But here you have where the Lord tells Joshua: then thou shalt have good success.

the idea of being successful

People are. Overly preoccupied with the idea of being successful. And I mean, you go to the bookstore and you get reams and reams and reams of books on how to be successful and what success means and all those types of things. I have numerous books that I have. I have one shelf of my bookcase, maybe two. I think it’s this one, though, right now, but I have another bookcase in my office at work. It’s got stuff on it too, about how to be successful, you know, in business and how to lead people properly and, and all these kinds of things. And I’ve read books, you know, that are mostly, you know, allegorical or whatever. And I’ve read books that are, just like, you know, basically like reading a textbook or what have you, and all this stuff. It’s a success, success, success, success. We, as people, are just overly occupied with success and how to become successful, and what it means to be successful.

Success comes up once in the Bible.

I’ll just tell you that, you know, God’s not all that concerned about your success. You say? Well, what do you mean by that? I mean. He mentions it once in the entire Bible. Success comes up once in the Bible. That’s it. One time. Now I’m going to talk about what it’s going to take for you to be successful. Having said everything that I just said. But my point is, that the overreaching theme of the Bible is not, how you can be successful. The bottom line is if you want to be successful, you need to follow the book.

Spoiler Alert!

Spoiler alert, If you follow the book, you’ll be successful. You can go home now. You can’t, That was a joke. You can’t go home. We’ll chase you. I won’t chase you because I don’t run. I have other ways of making sure you don’t get away. But somebody will chase you. But my wife Catherine was watching this goofy show yesterday over at my mom’s house. Maybe my mom was watching, and Catherine was just a victim, but I don’t think so.

There’s some, Christmas story about some old guy who had a Christmas tree farm, but he doesn’t actually sell the trees. He gives them away for free because his dearly departed wife thought that everybody in the world should have a free Christmas tree. So they got millions of trees on this farm.

And there’s this family that’s down and out. This dad lost his job, got another job, lost that job, lost like 3 or 4 jobs. He’s just like a loser. You know, lost everything. Homeless doesn’t have anywhere to go. And this tree farm guy, you know, invites them onto the property and into his house and all this stuff. And early on in the show, I said, look, here’s what’s going to happen. The old guy is going to give them the house. He’s going to give them the farm. The only thing they’re going to have to do is they have to continue giving away Christmas trees for free. Change the channel. But oh no, we have to watch the whole thing. And what happens? The old man dies. He leaves them the farm. They have to continue to give away Christmas trees for free. I could have saved her two hours of her life, Spoiler alert. But, The journey is fun.

Joshua 1:1

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

That’s something good to be remembered for, being the servant of the Lord. There are lots of things that Moses could have been remembered for, that the Lord could have remembered Moses for, and not all of them good. But the way the Lord puts this and leaves it is that the thing for him to be mostly remembered for is that he was a servant of the Lord.

Joshua 1:2

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Maybe. The politicians the UN and the media. All of them ought to read that verse.

Joshua 1:3–9

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

8 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.

9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

We are already victors in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God clues Joshua in on a few things here and by extension, he clues us in on a few things here as well. He clues Joshua into some things that Joshua needed to know because he was now the leader of God’s people. And there are some things he needed to know about that. The Lord tells Joshua that everywhere that he would walk, everywhere that he would step whatever land his foot touched, that God had already given it to him. He tells him that in verse three.

Now we know today to to apply this to ourselves. Devotionally or what have you? We know that we’re already victors in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that if we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we trust him and only him for our salvation, that we are saved. We have Heaven as our home. Is done. It’s finished. Jesus said when he was hanging on the cross, it is finished. He didn’t say it is started. Tag in. It’s your turn. It’s not a tag team championship. He said it is finished. It’s a done deal.

You have everything that you need to be successful.

God tells Joshua here that he can’t be defeated. And sometimes You might feel like you’ve been defeated, but you can’t be defeated. You already have the victory. Christians all the time walk around like they’re just beat up and torn down and oh, life is so awful. Life is so terrible. And you look at their Facebook posts and their Twitter or “X” posts, I don’t even know what you’re supposed to call it anymore. Everything is just so awful and terrible and my life is just in ruins and life isn’t fair. And my boss is mean to me and I’m not making what I should be making and join the club. Big deal.

But you know what? we’re supposed to be presenting To the world that we have something that they don’t have. But most Christians don’t. Most Christians social media posts, and conversations with their coworkers friends, and everybody. Show that they are no different than anybody else.

We’re supposed to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. But nobody can ever see that there is any such hope that they’re going to ask us where it comes from, because you forgot that you have everything that you need to be successful.

You forgot that you can’t be defeated. You forgot that you already have the victory. So I just want to remind you of that today. God said in order to have success. You need to speak, think about, and obey God’s Word. And if you do those things, you will have success.

Are you going to have success the way the world measures success? Maybe. Or maybe not. But if not, just hold on because they’re going to change their definition in a few weeks anyway. Because they have to change their definition.Because their definition of success isn’t based on a final authority. It’s not based on anything solid. It’s based on society, and it’s based on all these feelings and how much money is or isn’t in the bank and all those kinds of things.

Our success is based on a final authority. And if we will follow that, if we’ll read it, if we’ll meditate upon it, we’ll think about it. If we’ll obey the things that it says. Be doers of the word, not hearers only. What James said, if we’ll obey it; Then the Lord will show you His definition of success. And at the end of the day. That’s the only one that matters.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

The encouraging word today is found in the book of Isaiah in chapter number 55. Let’s look at what The Word of God has to say over here in Isaiah, and hopefully, it will be an encouragement to you, a blessing to you. It’s funny how the Lord has already kind of laid the foundation, so to speak, today. So I think the Lord really wants us to talk about water today.

The Lord Jesus Christ likens His word to things that we need in our lives

Water, You know that wet stuff? Because the band they sang that song is out of Psalms chapter one and talks about the waters and things along those lines. I’m really thirsty right now. So that’s a reason, number two, that we should be talking about water. Reason number three, and maybe the reason I’m really thirsty right now is because Sister Henrietta was kind enough and a blessing, enough to provide us with two new jugs of water. And I saw brother Pearl carrying those in. So thank you for that. I went back there to get the first, you know, fresh cup of water, but it’s not ready. So I couldn’t have it. And then we have this here in Isaiah chapter 55, speaking of water. And really the Lord Jesus Christ likens His word to things that we need in our lives. One of those things is water.

And here in Isaiah chapter 55,the Bible says:

Isaiah 55:1–2

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Now you can’t buy salvation. Salvation is a free gift. We aren’t saved from our sins because of good works that we’ve done, the Bible says you’re saved by grace through faith. That not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God. It’s not of works lest any man should boast. We know that. We understand that. We appreciate that. And that’s what this is talking about here. You can’t buy it. And he’s saying here that you can’t buy this water that you need that is really going to delight your soul is not for sale. You can’t buy it anywhere. In Revelation Chapter 21 and Verse six, the Bible says:

Revelation 21:6

6 … I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

It’s free water

It’s free water. You imagine yourself, you’re out there, you know, cutting grass or just working, doing the things that you do, and a really hot, sunny day and all that. And then you just get so thirsty. You’re just so parched. You would give almost anything for some water. You would pay almost anything for a glass of water or a bottle of water. And if you try to go buy a bottle of water today, you would pretty much almost have to give everything you got to get a bottle of water somehow.

The thing that’s the most plenteous in the entire world is, you know, $5.99 for a couple of ounces of it, I don’t know. But the Lord’s water isn’t that way. It’s free.

We can’t live without water

Jesus is well aware of our basic human needs, and he likens his message to water. The fountain of the water of life. We can’t live without water. We can’t live without water. We have to have water in these physical bodies. We have to have water. If we go too long without water, we will cease to exist. We will die. You have to have water. If you’re lacking enough water and hydration in your system, it causes all kinds of problems. You end up with heat stress, heat stroke, and cramps. Cramps all over the place and everything else, you know. Nothing satisfies a cramp quite as much as just a good glass of water. Because your body is craving that. It needs that.

your spiritual body needs the spiritual water

And just like your physical body needs that water, your spiritual body needs the spiritual water that you can only get out of the Word of God. And if you go too long without that water, then, your spirit is going to start cramping up. It’s not going to work the way that it’s supposed to work. It’s not going to do the things that it’s designed to do and it’s going to affect you. So, Drink up. Leave your money at home and get ready to drink some pure water.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

The encouraging word today is going to be found in Second Samuel chapter 16 and I want to help you to see something here that will hopefully be an encouragement for you through whatever it is that you may be going through at this point in time in your life.

I would encourage you to pray

We all go through things, whether they’re health issues, financial issues, relationship issues, or anything in between. And it’s it’s easy to get discouraged as you’re going through those things. And it’s common just to pray and ask, Lord, you know, to just take all that stuff away. We like him just to rescue us from all of it and everything. And I pray that way too. And I would encourage you to pray that way if you’re going to get out of it, that’s the best way to get out of it. But sometimes it’s just not his will for us to get out of it.

Sometimes we need to go through some things and by going through some things, that’s going to build some character in us. It’s going to build our spirit and it’s going to build our faith. Unfortunately, if you don’t ever go through anything, anything like that, then those things aren’t going to be built up. And so the struggle is just part of the process.

So as you’re going through that process, I don’t want to just stand up here and say, well, tough stuff. Suck it up, buttercup. That’s what my grandson likes to say all the time. I think maybe because his mother says it a lot, he says, suck it up, Buttercup. That applies to everybody but him, though. And I’m not saying that that applies here. This goes for me as well as for you. But I’m not saying, you know, suck it up, buttercup.

I’m saying be encouraged as you go through those things and look for where it’s driving you and where it’s taking you and how it’s benefiting you. So here in Second Samuel chapter 16, verses one through two, we have here where it says there in the opening phrase, and when David was a little past the top of the hill. And that’s what I want to concentrate on today, he was a little past the top of the hill.

David had a lot of things that he had to go through

Now, David had a lot of hills to climb in his life, and some of those hills were self-imposed and some of them weren’t. But, you know, David had a lot of things that he had to go through. Now, of course, we know about his great sin that he committed with Bathsheba. You find that in Second Samuel chapter 11. Prior to that, of course, he had all the trouble and things when Saul was trying to take him out and do everything he could do to kill him and wipe him out.

But second Samuel chapter 11, he has his great sin with Bathsheba. And concerning Uriah the Hittite, who was one of his mighty men. Then you have there in chapter 12, where Nathan the prophet calls David out. Chapter 13 you have where David’s son basically rapes one of his daughters. And David didn’t handle that properly. And chapter 14, you have Joab, David’s military right-hand man, who tried to restore Absalom, David’s son Absalom, because Absalom was mad at David for not handling, the Amnon and Tamar situation properly. And then chapter 15 you have here where Absalom revolts against David and tries to take the kingdom away from David and usurp David as as the king.

David flees Jerusalem

And then David flees Jerusalem. And you think, well, wow, I thought David was this great, mighty warrior. And he fought. You know, Goliath, everybody knows about, you know, David and Goliath and all these great, you know, victories and all this stuff that David had and all that is true. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind here in regards to Absalom. Number one, it was his son and he loved him and he didn’t want to kill him. And number two, David knew that if he stayed in Jerusalem, that’s where the battle was going to occur, and a lot of innocent people were going to lose their lives. So David decides, you know, to get out of dodge, so to speak, and to leave.

So, that’s kind of where we find ourselves here in chapter number 16. So let’s read verses one and two and see what the Lord has for us here with this passage, chapter 16, verse one again says:

2 Samuel 16:1–2

1 And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

You’re not going to get the blessing without going through the struggle

You may be thinking, what in the world is going on here? And what in the world are you talking about? But what I’m talking about here is, look, we all are going to go through some struggles, but as we go through the struggles, we can reap some blessings. And in order to reap those blessings, as I’ve mentioned already, we have to go through said struggle.

You’re not going to get the blessing without going through the struggle. In other words, David is leaving Jerusalem here and he’s got to climb this great mountain, right? And he’s climbing this great mountain and everything. But once he gets a little past the top of the mountain, that’s when the blessings occur.

He had to go a little bit further.

That’s where Ziba is. Ziba wasn’t halfway down, right? It wasn’t like a marathon race where they got all the little tables and the little cups of water and everybody saying, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go. And all that. He didn’t have any of that. He didn’t receive any of the blessings until after he got a little past the top of the hill. He had to go a little past the top. He didn’t just have to climb the hill, you understand? He had to go a little bit further. And once he went a little bit further, then the blessings came.

People are great quitters

And if you’ll go through the struggle, if you’ll stop trying to avoid going through the hard stuff, then you can also receive the blessing from the Lord. But that’s what you’re going to need to do. You have to go a little bit further, right? We always want to quit. People are great quitters. People want to quit everything, right? Whenever something gets hard, they quit, right?

But if you’ll just go a little bit further past the top of the hill. You can receive the blessings. And that’s what I want to encourage you with here this morning.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.