The Pathway To Success Pt. 10

Hey, if you've never been a part of this series, and you're like, man, this is part 10, I'm probably lost. You won't be lost. Every message can stand alone. You will understand exactly what's going on. All we're doing is studying the life of one man in particular, his name's Joshua, and what God told him he had to do to have good success. And we're following that script in this series, and so you'll be fine, all right? So if you can physically stand up without pain, and you're at one of our in-person campuses, please join me in standing right now. And if you're watching online, please share this link with somebody who might benefit from this. I got a word for people today, specifically. It's something specific that might be somebody you know that needs this, all right? And we're gonna declare that we're gonna get what we need in here. Amen, amen, you done made your way to church, you ain't gonna come out, you will not leave empty. Say that now, I will not leave empty, amen. I ain't coming here to, let's declare some things right here. Say, Lord, I didn't come to play games. I did not come to be cute. I came to receive, I came to worship, I came to listen. I came to listen.

You've got everything that I need in your word. Speak to me, take me to the next level. Thank you for everything I've survived. Ooh, I gotta stop right there. I said, thank you for everything that I've survived. Thank you. This is my moment. I said, this is my moment. This is my hour. Satan, I rebuke you. You're defeated, you're dismissed. God, you have my attention. Speak to me now, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, Joshua chapter one, verse eight. The new King James version says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success, good success. Let's go over it again, but let's make it personal. Repeat this after me. This book of the law shall not depart from my mouth, but I shall meditate in it day and night. I shall meditate in it day and night that I may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then I will make my way prosperous. Ooh, excuse me, I gotta stop again.

I will make my way prosperous, my way prosperous. See, I ain't gotta, I gotta preach that. My way, that means I don't just have a location. I don't just have a boundary on my prosperity. My whole way, wherever I go, I'm gonna prosper. Wherever I go, I'm gonna, somebody say the blessing is on me, amen. You gotta know the blessing is on you. You have a national blessing. You have a international blessing. You got a global blessing. The blessing is on me. You gotta believe that about yourself, that you don't have geographical limitations. You don't have racial limitations. You don't have gender limitation. What God has for you is for you. Wherever I go, my way will be made prosperous, and then, back to y'all now, and then I will have good success, good success. I'm talking about the kind of success you ain't gotta keep one eye open when you're sleeping. I'm talking about the kind of success when you go to sleep at night, you ain't gotta wonder if somebody chasing you, somebody looking for you. Kind of success you ain't gotta finagle and steal and lie and manipulate and do something illegal and want somebody to make sure I can get away with this. I'm talking about the righteousness of God

all over your success, because the blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it, amen. Anybody want that kind of success? Amen, amen, you may be seated. Joshua was told by God the pathway to success in verse eight and we've spent most of our time in this series in chapter one looking at things that he needed to be successful, how he managed grief in his life, how he had to remain focused, how he had to move on from loss and how he had to make sure the word of God was priority in his life. There's so many things we talked about, the importance of rest, the importance of learning how to say no. Stuff amen you can't be successful when all you say is yes You have to have a note it protects your yes, and we've talked about so many things But today I want to talk about something that's not unique to Joshua But we really haven't dealt with it and that is what I call the perils of succession And what I mean by the perils of succession is is there will be times in your life and some of you I'm speaking prophetically because it's about to happen in your life and some of you are already Experiencing it there will be times in your life where God will move you in a position that someone else held before you That's called succession and when you move into those positions where there was a predecessor before you There are certain skills and certain blessings that you need to manage that thing successfully Because it comes with a little drama. Are y'all with me? It's called succession. Think about Joshua for a minute. He succeeded Moses Now you have to understand when you and whenever you succeed somebody in a position the people who work with the person before you got there if that person was good at what they did and They moved on or they died or they're no longer there

They in the minds of the people when you come along. They weren't just good. They were amazing all of a sudden You ever notice how great dead people are I've never done a funeral and it didn't sound like we some of the four person in the Trinity. I'm talking about great man Oh, man, it just never never said no just good to everybody. Just take the shirt off his back. No, he didn't that's cat We ain't take no shirt off. I mean People speak of people who've moved on in grandiose ways and those same people gave It can I say hell They gave the person hell when they was working with him But as soon as they leave and somebody's coming man, we miss old Ralph And you will always be compared to the person you followed The only way that doesn't happen is if they were some mess if they were messy and they messed up and they were trash And nobody liked them and they're glad they're gone. Then you might have a smooth transition But even if they were good by the time you get there they're mythological Who understands what I'm talking about? See I can't say everything I want to say because I got a lot of church history and church people were listening to me and they'll go snitch But I'll say in general I'm gonna say in general You know what? I'm talking about, huh? Like we've been at churches where the former pastor before the current pastor They laud that person so much that they have a photograph of them in the lobby You have been one of church and the pastors pitching them and that joint I don't care where you are It looked like he's looking at you You you say man, my bad my bad everything good And they talk about him all the time. I went I can't I went to work at a church one time And that's all they talked about I mean they talked about this man all the time and it's tough for the next person because That person becomes folklorist, it's just like Moses. Okay, let me talk about Moses. Let me get out of there So so Moses, right Moses, how about this Joshua has to replace Moses Moses led the Israelites? millions of Israelites to freedom He's the one that walked him out of Egyptian bondage into freedom went to the Pharaoh to perform miracles I mean Moses Moses is a legend and one of the things you got to do when you succeed somebody's got to deal with

the legend syndrome is the legend syndrome always Elevates the person even greater than they were so Moses was so lauded by these people that when he died God wouldn't even let him know where the body was. They were like who got the body Stuart who got the body Pope? Rollins got the but who got the body, you know who's there who got the body? That's what we say in the minute Who got the body? God said I got the body Cuz I'll let y'all know where the body is y'all turn them into an idol That's how the people felt about Moses particularly after he died while he was living. They were a mess They would complain you didn't board us all here to die. We was doing better in Egypt They was a mess. But when he died, they reminded Joshua, you know what Moses used to pray before his meals Moses used to let us work from home We could tell her work under Moses Moses used to ask about our family Y'all don't know nothing I'm talking about right here you ever been in one of those situations where you had to follow Moses and now Joshua's come along and He's the next man up and when you're dealing with that that that that that that that legend syndrome There even if you were selected by Moses and Joshua was selected by God and Moses even when you are the choice They still will always compel you And in their mind you never measure up Do you understand what I'm saying because I can keep going All right I'm gonna tell you three things you need in that situation and right here in this passage The first thing you need is in verse 5 God already knew that Joshua was going to have to deal with this perils of succession He was going to deal with following a legend. So he told him this what you need to know 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. The first thing you gotta have is the support and the power of God You when you dealing with people that don't like you

They don't think you deserve it because I'm talking to people who are getting promoted or who have been promoted and people don't think you're good enough You got to know see this ain't about talent. You got to know you got God on your side. You can't just be talented You see this series is about people who understand the spiritual nature of this series You got to walk with God such a way that that people can say God's with him God's with her and it was clean says just as I was with Moses So shall I be with you now? Watch this I said the support and the power of God put the verse back up when he says I'll be with you as I was with Moses a Lot of people think whatever but y'all stand up was like a lot of people would say just y'all right here I want to do something. Come on here We did it the last service here. Oh y'all y'all should know what I'm gonna do So so so you would think I would say he needed the presence of God If God said I'm gonna be with you, right wouldn't that make sense? But I want to teach you something. The word with is deeper than presence. The word with is about support Okay, let's say this okay, it's six of y'all and me let's just say for the sake of let's just say we go Walking with me right now, would you say but based on the physical geographical proximity, would you say we're together? Right, we're together. All right And are y'all with me? Yeah, right. All right. Now if I tell y'all I'm great go rob that bank Let me ask you something Yep, I'm a so are we still physically together, but are you with me? Exactly because proximity doesn't mean support Yes, I'm saying Just cuz I'm close don't mean I'm committed Cuz when you when you start doing something I ain't with that. I Can be in your present not be with that. See just when God says I'm with you to Joshua He's saying I'm with you. You got my support Y'all can go back but don't go too far. You're gonna sit down see but this is the thing Yet to understand God is saying I can be physically with you because I'm with everybody

See God is present with everybody because he's ubiquitous His omniscient omnipresence means there's nobody that God is not with But he's not supporting everybody. God only supports his plan. I said God only supports his plan He only funds his plan. He only empowers you to do his plan Now if you want to do something else, it doesn't mean you don't have his presence But you don't have his support and what I'm telling you when you're dealing with haters Will you dealing with people that don't want you in the position when you're dealing with people that are against you and are comparing you You got to know you got God's support not that you're just there, but you're with me You understand saying that because because because because because that separates you for example Everybody if you pastor Larry was sitting right here. Everybody just stay right where you are now again I'm still I'm about as close to all of y'all as I am to everybody, right? But everybody knows me knows but I'm with her We might be as close to Chloe as I am to her but this is different Yes, I'm saying this is different And what people need to know is there's something about you and God that's different Who understands what I'm talking about? I'm talking about you got a different, you know That if it had not been for the Lord see you ain't smart enough to not be saved You ain't smart enough to not be spiritual. You're too wild and not be close to God. You ain't God got something different Don't mess with me because you mess with me. You're messing with somebody that belongs to God Do you understand what I'm saying? So you don't have to like me but watch the rest of the verse You will not be able to stop me I Feel like preaching right there. You will not be able to stop me He says right watch this. I not only had your support, but I got power for you He says nobody will be able to stop you all your life Now when God says nobody can stop you that should let you know somebody's gonna try Come on y'all wake up wake up wait if God says they will not be able to stop you that means they gonna try Elbow somebody next you said they're gonna try they're gonna try they're gonna try see because somebody in here doesn't understand the attack That's against you You don't understand why people don't like you people don't like you because they don't think you deserve what God's doing in your life

But the devil is a liar. I know I don't deserve what God's doing in my life, but if God if God decides See you got to learn how to keep your mouth off of people and mind your own business Because just somebody cuz somebody doesn't meet your expectations That mean that God's not got a plan for them And God is more aware of their flaws than you are See the reason why somebody would attack you is because they don't know God's plan for you And the reason why they can't see God's plan for you is because they keep looking at you And when they look at you they see flaws when they look at you they see weaknesses when they look at you They see failure when they look at you They see sin, but God knows more about your failure than they do and he still decided to have a plan for your life So my suggestion to all of us is mind your business Keep your mouth off other people work on your own stuff and let God be God in Everybody's life because even if you don't like it, you can't stop it You Point number two Cuz you're gonna have to deal with people that don't like you just get over it get used to it Amen, ain't nobody gonna be complying to celebrate and happy for you Some people can't stand you How does she get the position? Who did he know? What did he do to earn that? It's called favor. I Said it's called favor Some of y'all been favored all your life, I know I'm preaching to somebody here right now Don't you play with me in here and act like the Lord ain't favored you all your life when you was in elementary school They took extra time with you When you got the junior high a principal towards your side a counselor says you don't need to go in this direction When you in high school you was cutting up, but the hand of God was all over your life That's why when you left the party they start shooting after you left and before you got there, but the reason Oh God No weapon formed against you can prosper

It's because a thousand shall fall at that side and ten thousand at that right hand But it shall not come not thee because he who dwells in the secret place of the most high Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty God's been watching over you since you were a child and I think somebody owes God at least 10 seconds of praise for 50 years of protection for 20 years of blessing If you're at the fort right now, give it to him. If you're at C law right now, let him know. I thank you that all my life You have been faithful All my life You've been so so good and with every breath that I am able I will I will I will Give God somebody give it to him like you're grateful all my life You've been watching me all my life. You've been covering me. Oh the stuff you made it out of so many ways He made so many doors. He opened so many times he healed Sit down I'm on point to It's your fault I Second thing you need verse 9 Is this helping anybody Verse 9. This is my commandment Joshua the second thing you're gonna need when you're dealing with this this Legend syndrome and the perils of succession second thing you need. He said be strong and courageous Don't be afraid of discourage The Lord your God is with you wherever you go now watch this watch the timing of this statement God commands Joshua Don't be scared Don't be discouraged be strong be courageous and watch what Joshua does next It says in verse 10 then Joshua commanded the office of Israel and In verse 11 goes on to tell us specifically what he told them, but once you understand the timing

Joshua then commanded the offices of Israel at right after God says now you got to be courageous Now, why is this so significant? the offices of Israel that he's commanding are The same people that the offices of Israel is what he once was So now he is giving direction to people that he once worked alongside Y'all don't know nothing about that. It's tricky when you get elevated above the people you once worked alongside. And you got to have the courage to be able to live, do you understand what I'm saying? You got to have the courage to be able to do it, but you got to have the humility to do it too. In fact, you need three things. You need humility, you need compassion, and you need courage. Because you can't walk in there and be arrogant because you're going to need the team to get the dream accomplished. And if you go in there acting nasty, see, some people don't know how to handle succession because you don't know how to handle promotion. That was so good right there. Let me read this little quote right here. See, see, see, when you get into a situation, okay, let me talk more about the officers of Israel before I say that. The officers of Israel are not only, in verse 10, who Joshua once was, he's also now giving direction to a team that Moses built. The officers of Israel, that was Moses' team. So now not only does he inherit Moses' position, he also inherits Moses' staff. Let me tell you something, it's tricky when you come into a position and you got the staff of Moses, but you got the vision of Joshua. Because what worked for Moses for generations may not be... Ooh, I'm walking in some dangerous turf right here. How do you walk into a place and you pull out your tablet and your staff pull out typewriters? That's a gap you're going to have to close.

Their whole thinking is different. They were right for Moses. But how do you...watch this, how do you honor them for what they have meant? How do you honor them and still give them class and respect and still give them a piece or a part in the play? You can't just run them out and be disrespectful because you're going to need them. Because watch this, you got to have the humility, watch, you got to have the courage to lead them, but you got to have the humility to know, I don't know everything. And the people that have the best historical knowledge about what I'm leading are some of the people that Moses had on his team. So if you shut them off, you miss information. Who am I talking to? I feel like I'm talking to someone. You miss information that you need. So don't go in there talking about my way or highway because it's very important that you handle this very carefully. In fact, watch this, here's an African proverb I want to quote. It says, the higher you rise, the more carefully you must walk. See, we don't appreciate the caution that you have to walk in when you're elevated. Now, everybody wants to be elevated. We want to go to the moon. We want to go to the top. But I'm telling you, if I was down there on that floor in this sanctuary and I was walking, I could walk. I wouldn't have to walk in straight lines. I could walk around. I could do little stuff trying to be cool. But I'll tell you what, if I'm walking right here, I better be careful. You understand what I'm saying? There's cords and mountain bears and lions and all kinds of stuff over here.

Because watch this, just going from here to here can create an injury if I fall. Now, if I go up there and I'm walking in crawl space, it's an even greater injury. See, the higher you go, the more destructive the fall. If you fall from up there, you're going to be on the news. You're going viral. See, you want to go up there, but you don't want to walk carefully. Who am I talking to in here? You don't want to walk. See, if you would have did the same thing down there, nobody would have known. But when you do that up there, who understand what I'm talking about? When you do that up there, you're viral. So now, the way you treat people is very important because your promotion doesn't come from the east or the west, nor from the south, but God is judge. He sets up one and puts down another. You got to understand that God gave me promotion not just so I can run things, but so that I can be responsible. With promotion comes responsibility. Are you ready for that? And you got to be careful because you have to balance this thing with people who still have this legend syndrome, you know, there's nobody like Moses, but you have to be careful. Let me read another quote, another quote to you, because this is good. The true test of leadership is what happens after you get the title. How do you act when you get the title? You should act in a caring and loving way. was those you're trying to help. Let me give you my third point before I run out of time. In verse 16, watch what happens. Now, one thing I know about him, Joshua led the people who were, because, go back to verse 10,

because these officers weren't just Moses' staff. So, listen, he's dealing with this. He's dealing with, he's gotta replace Moses, and he's working with Moses' staff, but he's also dealing with a generational gap. Because Moses was 30 to 40 years older than Joshua. So, actually, Joshua is running a enterprise, and he's in charge of people who are much older than him. That, too, has its own challenges. So, now, he's gotta deal with, oh, here come the old, young whippersnapper. Here come old sisters wet behind the ears, and you can't take any of that stuff personally, because it happens to everybody. I said it happens to everybody. You have to outlive it. You can't get punked out of your assignment, but you also can't try to be, you know, gangster on people, because you can't manipulate people into following you. You have to use your heart. You have to use wisdom. Don't be throwing your weight around. Use wisdom. Now, watch what he gets in verse 16. This is very important. In verse 16, it says, so they answered Joshua, and this is the officers and all the people of Israel. They answered Joshua and said, all that you command us, we will do, and wherever you send us, we'll go.

Verse 17, just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Now, that's a lie. They wasn't even listening to Moses sometimes, but it's very encouraging to know we're gonna follow you just like we follow Moses. Okay, that's progress. Only the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Verse 18, and whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words and all that you command him shall be put to death. You only have to deal with that one time, then they own the obituary. Only be strong and of good courage. So, listen, watch this. Look at what he got. Look at what he has right here. You know what that's called? He has alignment. The key to succession, successful succession, is getting alignment. Too many things are run without alignment. I'm talking to leaders. I'm talking to people who run stuff. When you don't have alignment, you lose power. And with Joshua, one of the things he would do is he would always talk about Moses. If you hear Joshua later on, he said, remember what Moses said.

He would always speak of Moses in glowing terms. That's wisdom. It is wise to speak of your predecessor in glowing terms, particularly when the people you are leading think highly of him or her. Why wouldn't you? That's dumb. Don't be dumb. He knew how to make everybody feel, and you know how you get alignment? Alignment is not automatic. Alignment takes so much work. It takes so many conversations. It takes this cuss word called meetings. Some of y'all are opposed to meetings, and that's why you don't have any alignment, because you don't have enough meetings. You don't have enough meetings with people who need to understand what the agenda is, and what the goal is, and what's a win, and what constitutes progress, and what are we trying to get done, and how does this work? You gotta have meetings in groups, in large groups and small groups. You gotta get your downline lined up with you. If there's no alignment, that's your fault. You wanna tell somebody something one time, you don't repeat it, and you think they know it? Well, it was ambiguous when you gave it to them.

That's why God told Habakkuk, he says, write the vision down and make it plain. Write it on tablets, make it plain. Watch this, so that the reader can run with it. I can't run with nothing that ain't clear. I can't move, I can crawl, I might be stuck, because I don't know what we're doing. So you have to have meetings, you have to have conversations, and you have to have open dialogue. You can't just be a one-sided conversation, you the only one in the room got something to say. You gotta open it up for pushback, or any challenge to this. Is there something I'm missing? Is there something you disagree with? Raise those concerns, because if you don't allow the concerns to be raised in the meeting, there will always be meetings after the meeting that you're not a part of. Let them talk, welcome it. And let people talk back without feeling like they're attacking you. If we all want the best, you gotta get that information, because somebody in the room has the light that you need. But if you shut it down, you're gonna be walking in darkness. I know I'm telling the truth. And some of you don't do this well. You haven't learned to live and develop alignment,

so that everybody's pushing in the same direction. And nobody's pushing in the opposite direction. And nobody's a distraction, because they're all here. We all push in the same way, and always, watch this, alignment always starts with clarity. Listen to this quote on alignment, it's an anonymous quote, it's two of them, I combined them. Alignment turns effort into momentum. It turns effort into momentum, while effort without alignment creates exhaustion. Now look at that quote, look at that quote. On the first quote, you got momentum, second quote, you got exhaustion. What's the common denominator? It can't be the result of effort because there's effort when you're exhausted, and there's effort when there's momentum. It's not an effort problem, it's an alignment problem. And alignment starts with clarity. What are we doing? What is our goal? What is our mission? Sometimes you got to have pre-meetings before the meetings. Sometimes when I'm trying to get alignment at the highest level of our organization, I'll meet with people one-on-one to let them know where I'm going. The people that I know will have a hard time adjusting where they're going, I need their buy-in. It's better to get buy-in than compliance. I said it's better to get buy-in than compliance. Some of y'all are willing for people to just follow you because you're in charge. Well you'll have my hand, but you won't have my heart. But if you get my heart too, I'll give you everything I got. But if I can't speak up, if I can't raise questions, if I can't say anything, then you're

just going to always just have my hand. And watch this, I just showed you right there. Just because your hand on something don't mean you're helping. I was, somebody was moving some furniture one time, and it was some real furniture movers, and because they were helping me, I just thought I should, you know, grab one of the corners. And I remember as we were going up the steps, and I was going up the steps, and I was like, I'm not lifting nothing. I'm just down. Yeah, y'all good? I mean, the way they had configured it, they weren't used to having me there. They had all the weight. And I literally didn't carry nothing. I was like, I'm just saying, don't just think because their hand's on it, they're helping. If their heart's not on it, they're not going to help you. They're going to show up and get the check. You got to, who understands what I'm talking? Who am I talking to? Let me just start there. If I'm talking to you, not me, God's talking through me to you. Alignment is critical. Let me give you one more example, we got to go. I want to show you an example of when alignment doesn't work. I mean, when succession fails. I'm going to 1 Kings chapter 12. Let me read this story to you. In 1 Kings chapter 12, beginning at verse 1, Rehoboam is about to experience his coronation. He is the son of King Solomon, one of the wisest men ever. And he's about to become king. Listen to verse 1, New Living Translation. Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king.

Why'd they come there? It's your day, boy. It's your time. When Jeroboam, verse 2, son of Nebat, heard of this, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon. The leaders of Israel summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam. This is what they said, verse 4, your father was a hard master. They said, lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us, then we will be your loyal subjects. Listen, just lighten the load, man. Your father was really hard, and we'll be loyal to you. This is what Rehoboam said. He says, give me three days to think this over. I'm like, huh? You ain't even like a gangster like that. Like, what do you need? I said, well, maybe he needs to go pray about it. He says, come back for my answer. So the people went away, verse 6. Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father Solomon. Good move. This is Solomon's council, his cabinet. Solomon was known for his wisdom. These are the people who gave him wisdom. His son went to them. That's smart, right? He says, watch this what he says. What is your advice? How should I answer these people? The older counselors replied, see, you got to get wisdom from the age of people who ran.

Watch this. If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects. It'll be a win-win. I think it was Ralph Waldo Emerson. Is that his quote I have here? Yeah, that's him. A great man is always willing to be little. You know what he's saying, Rehoboam? Are you willing to be little? Are you willing to be little for the good of all, a win-win? So, but watch what he does. After they said that, he said, how should I answer these people? They said, in verse 7, if you give them a favorable answer, they'll be your loyal servants. But Rehoboam, verse 8 says, rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with them. These are the people he grew up with. And now they're his advisors. You know this ain't going good. What is your advice? Watch this. What is your advice, he asked them. Now, I want you to see something. Go back to verse 6. Watch how he asked the old men for their advice. In verse 6, he says to the old men, what is your advice? How should I answer these people? That's. That's all he said. What's your advice? How should I answer these people?

Go to verse nine. When he went to his boys, he says to them, what is your advice? How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed on them by my father? Now, why you gotta add all that in there? You already got an attitude. This ain't going good. Verse 10, the young man replied, this is what you should tell those complainers who want to light a burden. My little finger is thicker than my father's waist, cap. Verse 11, yes, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I'm going to make them even heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions. Let me tell you when you know you got the wrong friends, when they hype you up to do reckless stuff. Verse 12, three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear. By the way, he never prayed. I said he never prayed. There's no record of him ever asking God for wisdom. I want to tell you something. If you're trying to walk on the pathway to success without talking to God, you hustling backwards. Verse 12, you want me to tell them again? I ain't got time. Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision,

just as the king had ordered. Verse 13, but Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors and followed the counsel of his younger advisors. He told the people, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I'm going to make them even heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions. Here's what happens. It caused a coup. They revolted. 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel left. He was left with two tribes. He was so insensitive to the revolt that in verse 18, he sends out the man that they hated to try to bring order. Watch King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor. This is the man they hated. He says, I'm sending you out to restore order. But the people of Israel stoned him to death. They killed him. Who's advising him? They probably, yeah, man, they probably in there playing X-Box saying, man, send Adoniram out there. Maybe y'all didn't get that. Anyway, so when he heard this news, it reached Rehoboam. He quickly jumped in his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. In verse 19, he says, to this day, to this day, people refuse to be ruled by a descendant of David.

He messed up the whole thing. That's succession gone wrong. Sometimes it's the wrong person. Sometimes it's just the person that's wrong. Ooh, that was so good. I said, sometimes it's the wrong person. Sometimes the person is just wrong. Let's stand. I'll pick this up next week. This is the last Sunday of the year. And a lot of times people say, well, first Sunday of the year, man, I'm gonna start, get off on the right foot. And that's a good thing. But there's something about finishing strong too that's important. Something about ending this year on the right foot that's important too. And as you consider, what would that next spiritual step need to be for you? Don't ever get stuck spiritually like you don't wanna get stuck in any other area of your life. What is your next spiritual step in your life? You might be in a place right now where your next step is, I need to start serving in my church. I've been consuming, but I've never contributed my time, my talent. You're not above serving. Whenever you have somebody living in a house and they never do any work, isn't that dysfunctional?

Especially when they're grown. You don't think it's a little dysfunctional that all you do is eat here? Ooh, I told you I didn't get enough sleep. Maybe your next step is joining a small group. Maybe your next step is joining the church, accepting Christ as your savior, or getting baptized. It may be, you say, you know what, I need to take one of those Thomas Jefferson Simmons Equip Institute classes so that I can grow in my knowledge of the word and sharpen my spiritual saw. It may be something that I didn't even name, but it's time for you to take that next spiritual step. And this is a great time to do it, to end well, to finish well. And if you're in any one of those categories or you're in one I didn't name, but you're ready to make that decision to take the next spiritual step, here's what I know. What I know is if you're at Woodbridge, Pastor Pam Reed and the Woodbridge family is ready to receive you and help you take that next step. If you're at Zillow, Pastor Dondre and the Zillow family, they're ready to help you take that next step. If you're at Zion Fort Washington and you're ready to take that next step, I promise you, Pastor David Swan is first gonna drop some knowledge on. Like only he can then he's gonna help you with your next step If you're a Zion anywhere, you're just on one of our platforms right now, and you're ready to take your next step You just raise your hand and uh

Pastor Celeste is gonna help you with that next step. And if you're here at Greenbelt pastor Monica's gonna help you with your next step It's up to you to step It's our privilege to walk with you If any of those categories fit you you may come to the front right now Don't wait for anybody else if you're out in the lobby you can come Just come on to the front saying I'm making my next step. Come on down to the front where you are And pastors the service is now in your hands