The Pathway To Success Pt. 18

Hey, what's up y'all? I welcome you to Zion Church. It's such a blessing to have you with us. We're going to have a great time today. I got a message from God that I think is going to really bless and challenge your life. What do you do between the promise of God and the manifestation of that promise? You got to learn how to wait patiently. There's a word from God today that will help you while you're waiting. And another thing, I'm calling this message, Do Your Part. We all have a part to play in our responsibility, even for the miracles in our life. There's something that we have to do. Be willing to do your part and watch God do His. Let's have a good time. Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, God says, Joshua, this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. I need it in your conversations, Joshua. I need it to, I need it to inform the way you talk. And I don't just need it in your mouth, I need it on your mind. I need it, I need you to meditate on it day and night. Because if you meditate on it day and night, it won't just control your mouth. You know, sometimes you need a mouth controller. When that word, you meditate on that word, it'll shut your mouth up. You ever been ready to say something and say, mm-mm, never mind, never mind. How many know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about when them words hit you, then never mind, let me shut up. Because I was just reading this morning, keep the peace, walk in perfect peace. That love is patient, love is kind, love seeketh not her own. Love is not puffed up, love is not proud, love is not easily angered. Love does not make, demand its own way. Watch this, love does not rejoice in iniquity, love rejoices in the truth. Love hopes all things, believes all things, and love never fails. When you read that and you about to come out your mouth the wrong way, that love will snatch you. And then when you say it all the way, you got to go back in the same room, you said the wrong thing. You'll be apologizing for stuff because of the word. Amen. He said, I need this word to be in your heart, in your personal conversations, in your public conversations. And I want you to observe, to do all this according to all that's written in it.

For then, when you put my word in this proper place in your life, you're going to make your way prosperous. When you, then you will have good success. When? When you prioritize my word in your life and it's controlling your movements, your mouth and your mind, you going up. Now, God says this to a man whose primary work was warfare. Joshua was a warrior. Moses could get them only so far. To get them to conquer lands, they needed Joshua because he was a fighter. He is conquering nations, defeating them, driving them out. That's his work. You would think that God says, I need you to be a student of war. Need you to study war. You study warfare tactics and defense mechanisms and all that. But God says, no, everything you need is in this book. Your warfare tactics, they're in this book. Your marriage advice is in this book. Your relationship counsel is in this book. How to act around people you don't like, in this book. How to manage your own stress is in this book. How to get a therapy session is in this book. You don't have enough to go see a therapist, I got the wonderful counselor right here in this book. Somebody say, I love this book. Teach me from this book. I want this book to govern my life. Thank you, Lord, for this book. My good success is in this book. In Jesus name, amen. You may be seated. In part 17 of this series, I encourage you to understand that this whole matter of dealing with disgruntled people and dealing with your own periods of being disgruntled is going to be a key to your success. There is no way God can give you any level of influence, any level of authority in life,

any level of increase of territory or property or blessing. He can't give you any of that and you ain't going to have people to deal with that got something to complain about. How many already know that's true? You can't have a child and not get a complaint. You done begged for that baby. When we going to eat? How long? How much longer? Every experience in your life will introduce you to disgruntled people. And if you can't handle that, don't ask to grow. If you dismiss every complaint, sometimes your complaint is not whining and bickering. It is a revelation of something you need to see and it is an enactment of the power that God has given you to make right something that is wrong in a situation. And if you don't do that, you've already reached the pinnacle of the blessings in your life because you're telling God, I can't handle complainers. Well, that's not the way the world works. People are supposed to complain when they've been mistreated. They even tell you in the world of insurance to file a complaint. It is a legal thing that you must do. And in your life, regardless of whether you're in authority or under authority, if you're ever mistreated or dishonored or you're not being treated properly, it is your responsibility and your success is on the line if you don't know how to humbly, respectfully, and courageously speak up. Ask questions. Why is it that this happened? Because here's how you know you're supposed to speak up when you're speaking around. The fact that you're telling everybody else what they did and how I'm mistreated and they ain't right around here and I got to get out of here is an indication that you're supposed to speak up. I haven't said this all day and I don't want it to hurt but I'm tired so some things might come out a little tougher. So hopefully, if y'all can't handle this, I'll take it back after I say it. But I want to say if you can't speak up, shut up. Is that okay? Is that too? Do I need to do it? Do we need to do an SBI on that? I mean, you really should not be talking about something to people who can do nothing about it. That's a waste. See, what you're doing when you do that, you're looking for sorrow and you don't need sorrow. You need solutions.

In Joshua chapter 17, the people of Israel have gotten something they've been waiting hundreds of years for. We're getting a deed to the land. Do you know what it's like to get your first home? And you got the keys and you're taking pictures with the relative and you go in the house and I don't care if it ain't nothing in it, it's yours. Amen. This floor is mine. This step is mine. You know what I'm saying? Ain't nothing in this cabinet. I'm just looking in the cabinet. Ain't nothing in it but I speak plates in here. I speak food in this. It is something special to get your own and they've been waiting so long and they got a land flowing with milk and honey. There's a celebration from tribe to tribe of the tribe trails of Israel, tribe 12 tribes of Israel and then they get to Joseph's descendants Manasseh and Ephraim and there's some women who are being overlooked. They're being overlooked because they're women and because their father had no sons. So that family was going to be skipped in the distribution of property but these women spoke up. They spoke up to Moses. This is numbers 27 verses five through eight. They spoke up to three to eight. They spoke up to Moses, Eleazar the priest and the tribal leaders of Israel. They spoke up to people who could help and when they spoke up God moved on their behalf. Now let me just say this. God moved on the behalf, told Moses, yes they have a right to this property. Make sure they get it and anybody else in their situation gets it. Made it a law but it's interesting what I want you to know is is that God knew they were being overlooked before they spoke up. It's not like when Moses went to God said God what should I do that God was surprised. God didn't say oh I didn't know you can bring this but God already knew. There is nothing in your life or my life that God is not aware of. He's aware of the privileges that you're living below. He's aware of how you're being mistreated. He's aware of situations where you're experiencing injustice. He's aware of all that. Well you say well why wouldn't God do something? God's waiting on you to do your part. Do me a favor because it's going to make sense later. I want you to gently look at somebody near you just kindly and just do your part. Just say do your part. Do your part. Do your part. Do your part. See see see see a lot of people want the blessing of God but they don't want to be responsible for their part. The Holy Spirit is a helper. He's not a doer. He will help you. Faith without works is dead. So God says when they watch this when they spoke up God showed up. God was not surprised by their mistreatment but God will let you live at a state that you want to live at. God has given all of us volition. If you want to live in poverty, if you want to live in sickness and say this is just

hereditary, this is just genetic, God's not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. That doesn't mean you have to live. If you want to live with somebody that beats you up, you just feel like we were born to be together. We have a bond. If you want to stay in that situation that's not his best but that don't mean he's going to change it. You got to speak up. Do your part. Oh boy, okay. You gotta do your part. Now, now, now this is the thing. They had to speak up and they did and they didn't have to just speak up one time. They had to speak up repeatedly because in Numbers chapter 27, they were given a promise from the Lord. Not from the government, from the Lord. Not from parliament, from the Lord. The Lord says, you are getting this land but Moses is dead. Joshua is distributing the land over a decade later and they're about to be overlooked and they could have been like, well, see, this is just what it's like to be a woman. This is all, you know what, let's just let it, leave it alone. If they had given up and bent to the, to the, to the, to the, to the, when you, when you, when you are in a battle, when you continue to stand up for yourself, I call it, I call it fatigue. You, you just get fatigued, you said, forget it, never mind. If they had just said, forget it, if they didn't know their rights or if they just said, I'm tired of fighting this, they wouldn't have never gotten what they got because at that moment, what they were promised had been forgotten by everybody else. Not even Joshua remembered at that time till they raised it. But I'm so glad they didn't stop asking. They didn't stop speaking up and I'm afraid that there are people in here that you've just gotten fatigued. You're just tired of asking God to give you what you've been asking. You're just tired of it. You, you're tired of asking up here, so now you're asking down here. I, I don't know who this is for and because fatigue brought your prayer down here. Fatigue brought your faith down here. So now, so now you've just, you're tolerating stuff that's not even his best in your life because he didn't do it fast enough. But for 10 years, they went without the promise. I said for 10 years, they went without the promise. You're going to have to speak up and you're going to have to speak up more than once. Let me give you another example of this. There's a lady in Luke chapter 18 who had this same challenge in her life and because she was being treated unjustly, she had to speak up repeatedly about the same situation. In Luke chapter 18 verse 1, Jesus says these words, he told his disciples a story to show, watch the purpose of the story, to show that they should always pray and never give up. That is key to this whole parable he's about to show them. I'm showing you this so that you will always pray and never give up. I'm showing you this so that you will not stop praying. Amen.

That's why I'm showing you this. Don't stop praying. Always pray, never give up. Always pray, never give up. Do me a favor real quick. Everybody stand up real quick. All right, do something. Sit back down. I'm trying to wake some of y'all up because you're making me sleepy. Amen. You're making me sleepy now. Amen. Now, this is the thing. He says always pray, never give up. Then he tells this story about why they should always pray and never give up. He said there was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor about her nor cared about people. This judge doesn't fear God, doesn't care about people. Verse three says, a widow of that city came to him, came to the judge repeatedly. How often does she come to him? Repeatedly. Saying, give me justice in this dispute with my enemy. Now, let's back up. This woman goes to the judge repeatedly and it's interesting, she's not just a woman, she's a widow. Let me tell you something. During this time, you don't get more vulnerable than being a widow. A woman who's a widow. That means she's already at a deficit. She's already by herself. She's already suffering. She's already, she's in perfect position to have a pity party. She's in perfect, what's next gonna happen? I ain't got my husband now. Somebody's trying to take advantage of me. She has nobody else to speak up for and not only does she not wallow in pity, she speaks up to the judge repeatedly. She didn't go to him one time saying, ain't no need even trying. Repeatedly she goes back to the judge. She spoke up to the judge, not the bailiff, not the clerk, not her Facebook friends, not her Instagram followers, not her hairstylist, not the Uber driver. Stop talking to people who can't do anything about what you're facing. Just, you're not even practicing your speech. You're just looking for people to feel sorry for you. But let me tell you something. I believe T.D. Jakes is right when he says, it's closed mouth, closed mouths don't get fed. You're gonna have to open up your mouth and speak what is right for you. And he's talking about prayer. Repeatedly goes to an unrighteous judge about justice. Verse four, the judge responds. He says he ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, I don't fear God and I don't care about people. But this woman is driving me crazy. When I get to work, my staff tell me she been here, she got here before you got here. When I peek through the blinds before I'm about to get all the fire, she's still downstairs waiting.

She won't let go. So I'm gonna see to it that she gets justice because she's wearing me out with her constant requests. She's wearing me out with her constant requests. She's persistent. I don't know who she is or what she's about, but she, watch this, she has identified who can change her situation and she will not let go until the person who's got the power to her change will bless her. Some of you let go too fast. Some of you stop praying too soon. You stop praying over something because it took a year. It took two years and you've been praying about it. Well, you, listen, when God does it, it's none of your business. Do your part, do your part, do your part. What is your part? Repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly. Go to the righteous judge, not an unrighteous judge. Go to a good father. He says in verse six, learn something from this unrighteous judge. Even if he, even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people? Who, watch this, this is their part. Cry out to him day and night. Cry out to him day and night. I think we're missing people who cry.

Ain't nobody crying out to God day and night. What happened to the person that you once were that used to cry out to God day and night, saying, God, I believe you to do the impossible. I believe you for my child's deliverance. I believe you for the healing of my marriage. I believe you, I ain't gonna have to take these pills the rest of my life. I believe you're gonna open a door that no man can close. I believe you're gonna make ways out of no way. I believe I'm gonna be the head and not the tail. I believe I'm gonna be the lender, not the borrower. I believe I'm gonna own and not always rip. Where are my people that they used to pray and believe God? And now you're exhausted and now you're fatigued and you're just accepting whatever comes at you. God is trying to reawaken your prayer life and say, you got to ask repeatedly. You got to come back, not because he's reluctant, but because he's reliable. You're the same God back then. You're the same God right now. You're the same God in number 27. You're the same God in Joshua 17. And when you spoke it back then, you will perform it right now. Somewhere, somehow, it won't be always like this. Sooner or later, it's gonna turn in my favor. I need the people of God to make some noise right here. Get your faith up, get your faith up,

get your prayer life back up. Get back in that zone. Get back to where you plead the blood. Get back to where you pray over things, where you speak over things. God, go before me. God, stand beside me. God, watch over me. God, get who I told you, God, get my back. I need the people of God to make some noise right here. Yeah, yeah. It's called an afforciore. He said, if an unjust judge will do this, how much more? You watching the clock, the clock ain't your business. We make petitions, he does manifestations. Manifestation is none of your business. His timetable ain't none of your business. Your part, your part is to pray. Your part is to keep asking. Your part is to keep believing. Your part is to keep speaking up. If I gotta speak to the judge, I'll speak to the judge. If I gotta speak over the judge, I'm speaking over the judge. If I gotta speak to both of them, I'm speaking above them. But one thing you not gonna do is you not gonna shut me up, I will. Yes sir, please stop. Yes sir, I love when that word come out of your mouth. He said, he said, I'm telling you this

because you're always praying I give up. Yes sir. When did you give up? Come on now. Ooh, when did you stop praying about it? Come on now. When it took too long. You understand what I'm saying? It been 10 years. Abram. Ooh, I feel like when I'm over, Abram, come here. That's what I used to say to him since we've been in church. If he. verse six says that God made a promise to Abram. Yes sir. Verse 13 to 15. Abram was 75 when he made a promise. Abram had no children. His wife couldn't have children. He's 75. Now you do the math. Come on now. She passed that. She's 65. That ain't happening. God says I'm gonna get y'all a child and it took 25 more years before they got the promise. They had a shortcut before that because sometimes people don't wait. They try to help God and then you create something. Yes sir. And you create something that's not his best. But when God promised it to him, this is what God said. God says I'm promising you by oath and says there's no one greater to swear by. God took an oath by his own name. Thank you y'all. Let me explain something. God said, you know what God said? He said to Abram, I swear to God. Y'all think I'm lying. That's what he did. I promise you that he did. Let me explain it to you. When people swore by an oath back then, you always swear by an oath. You swear to swear by something that's greater than you. You understand what I'm saying? That's why people say on God. On my mother. On everything I love. Right hand on the Bible. Well when God came to Moses, God came to Abram and said I'm going to promise you something. He looked around and said I ain't got nobody greater than me so I got to swear by myself. God, I got to put my own name on this. I promise you. I swear to you. I'm putting my name on this. I swear by my own name. I don't know who I'm preaching to but God has promised you something so good that you

can bite his name is on it. God, the reason why I'm gonna praise you right now, I believe your name is on my child. I believe your name is on my healing. I believe your name is on my victory. I believe your name is on my deliverance so I'm gonna praise you because your name is on it. So, so, so Abram waited patiently, verse 15 says, and received a promise. What do you do between the promise and the manifestation? You wait. You do your part. I'm gonna shortcut this. You, you do your part. That's what you do. Do your part. Yeah, God wasn't being mean to those five sisters because he didn't rescue them. They had to do their part. You gotta speak up. You want the stuff? You gotta speak up. I'm not going around here just taking stuff. It's a whole lot of, I wonder how many, just the people in here, I wonder how much stuff belongs to us that we won't go get. Oh, I gotta. So, so there was, there was another part of the family. I'm just doing this. I'm doing the accelerated verse. So, there's another part of the family. This family had another group of people that also complained beginning in verse 14. So, they complained too. Same family. This is Manasseh and Ephraim again and they're complaining to Joshua and this is what they said in verse 14. Hey, you, this is too small for us. Our family is big. We the Johnsons. You know about us. We the Johnson dash Smiths. You understand how big our family, you ever seen our family here? This ain't big enough. We crowded over here, Josh. We like packed like sardines over here. Why you give us this little land? We don't, this is not fair, Josh. So, you know what pastor, you know what Josh said? Pastor Josh, that was him. You know what, you know what Joshua said in the next verse? He said, uh, since y'all so big, why don't you clear the land and cut the forest down? He says, you got the land. See, they had land. They didn't like it because they had a lot of trees on it. He says, you want space? Just cut the trees down. Since there's so many, since y'all so big, act like it. See, sometimes you'll get a complaint from somebody and it's not your complaint to fix. It's your responsibility to show the person who's complaining that they have the ability to fix what they're complaining about. You can't bail everybody out every time these ladies, they had no power. There was a system against them. So they spoke up and somebody had to do something for them. These guys that are coming up now, they actually had the manpower. Now, now, first of all, they're boasting and saying our family's so big, but all right, when he said, clear the, clear the forest so you can have the space you want. Then they come back in verse 16 and say, yeah, but the Canaanites dead and they got Aaron's chariots and they too strong

for us. Well, just a minute ago, y'all was too big for the land. I mean, be consistent. See, he told them something they could do, but they don't want to do it. See, a lot of people like being victims. They like being victims so much. That they will get in a car accident in 1962 and it's 2026. They still got that neck brace on They don't wear it around the house. They just wear when they come outside. So they never have to go back to work again Y'all ain't gonna talk to me in here Y'all don't know no people that's been getting over on people and lying on people They put up handicapped thing on their tech ain't even handicapped, but they just don't like walking y'all ain't talking to me I'm talking about people who are who are just tricky. They don't have a they don't have an ethic about them So when you watch this when you turn it back on them, they don't want to hear that. Well, that's too much for us So here's what Joshua told them. He says do your part Verse 18, you got to do three things to get you to space you want. First of all clear out the land Everybody else got to do this when they got trees cut the trees down clear the land take possession of the land And then drive out the Canaanites Clear the land take possession drive out the Canaanites. Why because you can Why else cuz you're supposed to do your part what do your part God's not God's not coming down here and sawing down trees and telling them y'all got to leave it all that No, you got the ability to do this for yourself And a lot of people don't want to hear you tell them now you can do something about this What do you need to be doing and the thing that has you frustrated in your life right now the thing that has you Disgruntled I want to ask you. What is your part? You need to ask God it's because here's the thing when people complain This is why they couldn't see what they could do. It's because complaining eclipses our capacity It blinds you to what resources are available Right before you You know in Genesis chapter 21 When Sarah told Abram that Hagar and Ishmael had to leave she said they got to get out of here She had enough of that. She the one to set it up, but she did to be honest And she said they got to go get him out of here and Abram was hurt cuz you know This is his son. He ain't got you know, this is first son

But it's you know, anyway, but they had to leave so Abram sends them away with some water and some bread That's terrible child support But that's how you send them out They get out in the wilderness of Beersheba and they run out of that canteen of water So they feel like that's it. We're gonna die out here We have no water and we're gonna die and they both break down crying She moves away from her son because she doesn't want to see him die and verse 19 says while she's in that hopeless state the Bible says God opened her eyes and When he opened her eyes, she saw a well full of water Now what you had to understand the well was there all alone But her crying and complaining kept her from seeing the provision that was right in front of her But once she was able to see what God had provided for it changed the game for what I'm trying to tell you I some of y'all been crying and complaining about the situation so long. You don't even see a way of getting through it But God has already went away remember the lady in 2nd Kings chapter 4 she called the man of God She called the prophet and said my husband died. He was on your staff. He was one of your prophets He went to the school of the prophets He's your assistant pastor and he died and now the creditors are coming and they're gonna take my sons as slaves and they're gonna take Everything from us and we don't know we're gonna do and I love what Elijah said. He didn't say well, this is on me I need to take care of this way. He said what you got in this house You See no saying sometimes you got to turn people's attention to what they do have She said I got a job oil. That's what we gonna use. She started an oil business You you you see you can't when you're crying. You can't see clearly. I Mean it's okay to cry sometimes but you can't be crying every day about stuff Say God, what can I do and then do your part? Do your part do your part? That's my message to you do your part No pastor, what about him do your part? But they so disrespectful do your part But she lied on me look Read my lips

Pastor It's been 25 years That ain't none of your business Well, how long do I have to do my part? Here's what the Bible says the just shall live by faith go back to Luke 18 when he says I'm coming He says, I can get to that verse, verse eight. He says, when I get to the earth, I want to know, is there any faith like this lady here? Is there anybody willing to do their part like this? The just shall live by faith, which means one day we will die in our faith because we kept the faith and the faith kept us. So you want to know how long you do your part? Till you die. Till you punch out. You clear? Yes. You want to go, you want to go tit for tat. So they act real petty about who going to pick the cat, who going to do the custodianship or who get the kids this weekend and who pick up. And since they acting petty, now you stop answering your phone. You want to do your part. Stop matching energy. See, we want to be petty, but we want to come in here and praise the Lord. When you got a whole petty spirit going on around you, but God ain't going to bless you till you do your part. Oh, I'm talking to you right now.

You don't like this. You better do your part. It ain't none of your business how they acting. You ain't got to match energy. Do your part. What did God tell you to do? Well, do that. Wash the dishes. Say good morning. Be nice. Go out of your way. Be kind. Y'all don't like that. See, see in every Christian, there's a holy version and there's a hood version in everybody. It's a dual nature in all of us. I said, it's a dual nature in all of us. And you got to let the holy nature dominate that hood part of you. So that Christ becomes king of all. And he rules over all. And you all right with the holy part while you in here. But when you get around skeeting them and secretion them, that hood rise up in you. But you got to shut that devil down and say, I will do my part. You in and out of righteousness. Based on who triggered you.

I see you rolling. I know you rolling your eyes and your spirit right now. Do your part. You know what you're saying? I wish they was here right now. They the ones really need to hear this. You here. Do your part. You ain't know me when I'm talking to you. Yeah. Yeah. Forget about the results. How would you show up if you were doing your part? Without a clock. God, I'm giving you two. I'm gonna do this for two weeks. Who are you? When God has his meetings in his throne room and the father, son, and the Holy Spirit are there, where are you sitting? That you're gonna put God on the clock. Woo, y'all messing with me now. I'm gonna give you a double now because you just were singing last week. No, that was more than singing. We got miracles last week. Amen. I'm gonna leave you with that. Do your part. Do your part.

Don't be worried about that. Don't you? We don't even like that when our kids do it. You tell them what time to be in. When Bay Reagan come in, they get to come in at 10. You tell your child to be in nine. Well, they get to come in at 10. Well, how they gonna fly here? I don't care what they doing. You coming in at nine. Amen. So if you don't let your children do that, why do you get to do that when God says, do your part? And you say, but he be, he, but she, she. This whole department. Really the whole organization. You got one job. Your part. Be good at your part and do it. Do your part. Until you die. Guess what? Ooh, this ain't said this all day. There are people in the Bible who died without ever receiving the promise. But you know what the Bible says. Bible says they died in faith. Does he owe you anything? He already gave you the best. His life. Amen. They died in faith. Not died complaining and bickering. You do your part. Let's pray. Father, help us to not just hear this word, but to do it in our lives. In Jesus' name. Hey, I hope that message blessed you like it blessed us here at Zion Church. My

prayer for you is that God would do for you what he did for Hagar. And in the midst of her tears, in the midst of her sorrow, in the midst of her hopelessness, he opened her eyes. Genesis 21, 19. And when she saw that well that had been sitting there all along, he changed the game for her. I pray that God would wipe your tears away, comfort you, and show you what capacity you have to win your own battles and to see miracles happen in your life. And also, I want to invite you to our Easter Sunday services. They're coming up the first week in April. All service times are available on our website on the screen. Join us. Every campus, including here, we'd love to have you. God bless you.