12th Street Talk Back Podcast is a daily show that features interviews with inspiring people from all walks of life. The host, Victoria J, has a knack for drawing out the best in his guests, and the conversations are always thought-provoking and engaging. Whether you're looking for a dose of motivation, a new perspective, or just a good laugh, the 12th Street Talk Back Podcast is a great way to start your Day! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
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[00:00:50] Good Morning, Good Morning and Good Morning. I hope everybody's feeling blessed on this
[00:01:08] beautiful Monday morning that God has decided to bless us in. Won't you go ahead and give
[00:01:15] him some praise with me right now this morning? Guys, your girl been over here. If you could
[00:01:21] just hear the music that bless my soul each and every day that I listen to, the praise
[00:01:28] and worship. You gotta get something in your spirit to get your day started. Sometimes
[00:01:35] you may wake up a little sluggish and need something to lift your spirits after going
[00:01:41] into prayer with your Heavenly Father. Won't you go ahead and put something on to lift
[00:01:47] your spirit, praise and worship music does it every single time. Guys, let's go ahead
[00:01:55] and give him some praise right where you're sitting, right where you're standing or maybe
[00:01:59] perhaps you're still laying in your bed just meditating on his word. Heavenly Father,
[00:02:07] we come to you this morning, humbly but boldly to the throne today. We cast all
[00:02:14] our prayers upon you, Father God. We thank you this morning for breathing your breath
[00:02:21] into our bodies today, Father God. Heavenly Father, as we go about our day to day, make
[00:02:27] our cricket path straight. Keep us on the potter's wheel today, Father God. Heavenly
[00:02:33] Father, we know that you're able to do all things, Father God. As long as we
[00:02:38] keep our hands in your hands this day, Father God, give us this day, our daily
[00:02:43] bread, Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father, let no weapons form against us, prosper on
[00:02:48] this day because we know that you are above all things. You are the great I
[00:02:55] am, Father God. As you're saying in your word, Heavenly Father, you look for
[00:02:59] someone to swear by and couldn't find no one but yourself, Father God. So the
[00:03:05] day we lift you up in glory, we lift you up in praise. We just blessed your name
[00:03:11] this morning. Hallelujah to your name. You are worthy to be praised, Father God.
[00:03:16] As we go by our day to day, Father God, let us remember, let us remember to
[00:03:22] stay in faith, Oh Heavenly Father. Let us remember that without faith it is
[00:03:27] impossible to please you on this day, Heavenly Father. Let us stay the
[00:03:32] praise, Father God, that you have prepared before us, Father God. Father God,
[00:03:37] let us be wise men and women, Father God, so we can go forth and have the
[00:03:41] courage of David, Oh Heavenly Father. Have the leadership of Moses, Oh Heavenly
[00:03:46] Father. We just blessed your name right now, Father God. We just blessed
[00:03:51] your name this morning on this beautiful morning that you breathe your
[00:03:55] breath into our bodies. Amen, everybody. Amen and amen. So guys, as I was
[00:04:03] saying before, you know, I woke up this morning with a song in my heart. There
[00:04:09] is nothing like waking up with a song in your heart. You got to wake up with
[00:04:16] something in your heart. Let God put something on your mind. And that's
[00:04:21] the goodness of reading your word, fresh first thing in the morning, giving
[00:04:28] God some praise as well as letting it be extra across the tables of your
[00:04:34] heart. You know, at night time when you go to bed, read his word, get into
[00:04:40] his word. That's what is there for that is what his word is there for to
[00:04:45] teach us to guide us to help us spiritually in this thing that we
[00:04:51] call life in this thing that we call life. So guys, I'm going to read to you
[00:04:55] this morning about Lot's wife as it is women's international history month
[00:05:03] or women's history month. Have you want to say it? Many people been
[00:05:06] saying it different ways. I hope all the ladies enjoyed their day on
[00:05:12] women's international day on Friday. So let's go ahead and get into let's
[00:05:18] read about Lot's wife this morning before we go into the word Lot's wife.
[00:05:24] And it goes a little bit like this. Why look back? We know the story of
[00:05:27] Lot's wife who disobey God by looking back at the city of Sodom and
[00:05:34] Gomorrah and consequently turned into a pillar of salt. And you can read
[00:05:40] this in Genesis 19 15 through 26 and it goes a little bit like this. Lots.
[00:05:49] Abraham's nephew was a man of substance. He had done well in the sinful city of
[00:05:56] Sodom and was held in some respect. Genesis 19 one says that Lot was
[00:06:03] sitting in the gateway of the city. Such a position would indicate that
[00:06:09] Lot was probably a member of Solomon's ruling council because of Lot's power
[00:06:16] and respect. His wife Miss Lot also received some level of respect in their
[00:06:23] community. She enjoyed the comforts afforded to her because of her
[00:06:26] relationship with her husband. Lot's wife is a perfect example of principle
[00:06:35] where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Matthew 6 21 talks about
[00:06:41] this and when the angels told her family to leave, she started out in the
[00:06:46] right direction and followed Lot outside the city. Yet she was destroyed
[00:06:52] because she looked back. She was not totally committed to giving up her
[00:06:58] always in obedience to God. Think about it all that we as women sisters have
[00:07:05] willing to put up with in those times when we have allowed ourselves to be
[00:07:11] belittled, put down and mistreated verbally physically just to have a man
[00:07:19] a job material possessions a certain lifestyle or sometimes else. We
[00:07:25] thought we needed it so badly. Lord help us when God release us from that foolish
[00:07:33] ness and makes a way out of no way. We dare to look back with some regret,
[00:07:39] some desires for what was to a moment when things were good. Those who put
[00:07:46] their hands in the gospel plow have no reason to look back now. And this is
[00:07:52] being read out of my book, the women of the Bible for women of color in honor
[00:08:00] of women's history month. So guys, let's move on to our reading for the day.
[00:08:06] I've been excited about coming to you guys reading
[00:08:12] the rest of Joshua. But what I did want to get into is I did want to
[00:08:16] get into what my commentary said about what we read on Friday on Friday.
[00:08:23] We read chapters five and chapter six on Friday.
[00:08:28] And on Friday, it went a little bit like this.
[00:08:33] Joshua was told to circumcise the man.
[00:08:38] And that came out of chapter five.
[00:08:45] And we go on down into chapter six today.
[00:08:50] But in chapter five, when the king of the land heard what God had done at the river,
[00:08:57] they were terrified and their courage failed.
[00:09:00] My commentary tells me which is much in line with Rahab's earlier reports to
[00:09:06] the spies. Remember earlier, Rahab had reported to the spies that the city was
[00:09:13] terrified. They knew that they were coming.
[00:09:15] They had heard of what God had done for the children of Israel previously from Egypt
[00:09:25] and all the different people they had defeated up to this far.
[00:09:31] So it goes on to say, but before the Israelites were to engage in battle,
[00:09:37] God told Joshua to have the men circumcised.
[00:09:40] And we all know about circumcision.
[00:09:42] And it tells me that circumcision was a sign of a covenant between God and the
[00:09:48] disciples of Abraham.
[00:09:49] The practice made them physically different from surrounding people.
[00:09:54] And I'm always talking about how God says that we are particular people.
[00:09:59] We don't act and behave the way of the rest of the world acts and behaves.
[00:10:05] And it's no different.
[00:10:06] And when I say that, I don't want to shun anybody.
[00:10:09] But if you're reading the Old Testament, you will constantly see how God decides
[00:10:16] to separate his people from the rest of the people.
[00:10:21] They don't act like the people in Egypt.
[00:10:23] They don't act like the people of the Amorites who they get entangled with.
[00:10:27] They don't act like the Canaanite people.
[00:10:30] He put a special stamp and I would like to say a special stamp of approval
[00:10:37] on his people, a special stamp of approval.
[00:10:41] He claimed them when he sent Moses and Aaron over into Egypt to rescue them.
[00:10:49] My Bible tells me when he did that,
[00:10:51] he said, and then God remember his promise.
[00:10:57] And then he remembered his promise.
[00:11:00] The promises of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
[00:11:05] And he sent Moses and Aaron to release his people.
[00:11:09] So this circumcision, as it is put down in the word today,
[00:11:16] it says the circumcision was a sign of a covenant between God and the descendants
[00:11:21] of Abraham, the practice made them physically different from the surrounding people.
[00:11:26] Even though the men had come out of Egypt,
[00:11:29] they had been circumcised.
[00:11:31] The children of Egypt had not been circumcised.
[00:11:36] The entire nation that is that his males
[00:11:40] were circumcised and stayed in the camp until they recovered.
[00:11:44] So you guys got to remember as we follow along in God's word,
[00:11:50] the children of Egypt, the children of Israel, excuse me,
[00:11:55] that came out of Egypt, wandered around in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
[00:12:02] They were circumcised.
[00:12:05] However, most of them died in the wilderness.
[00:12:11] Their children's children is the ones that's taken this journey.
[00:12:15] And as I began to talk about this this morning,
[00:12:18] I realized that that one little detail that God tells us in his word,
[00:12:23] he wants us to be blessed so that our children's children will be blessed.
[00:12:29] And sometimes we have to think about life like that.
[00:12:32] We have to think about it that, you know,
[00:12:34] we may not get to see or do or touch the things that God has prepared for us.
[00:12:40] Whether we're going into the ministry,
[00:12:42] whether we're believing God for a new business or a new home or whatever.
[00:12:46] But we set the foundation that maybe,
[00:12:51] although it may upset some of us,
[00:12:55] that we may not get to see all the hard work we put in.
[00:13:01] We started and we put it in motion by
[00:13:04] putting it in motion.
[00:13:06] Maybe our children come along and be blessed by it.
[00:13:10] And this is what my Bible is telling me.
[00:13:12] It's telling me that my children's children may benefit off of it.
[00:13:16] It does not say, however, that we won't benefit off of it.
[00:13:20] It's just the situation.
[00:13:22] Whatever God's plan is for your life,
[00:13:25] you may go on and do something fabulous and wonderful that God has for you to
[00:13:30] do and pass on or unable as we get older to continue it and to get passed down
[00:13:38] to our children.
[00:13:39] We've all certainly seen that before.
[00:13:41] I'm reminded of a sermon that I was watching where the pastor announced
[00:13:48] that this lady, this older lady had been sharing her recipes of chicken and
[00:13:54] waffles for a very, very long time selling plates out of her house.
[00:13:57] And her daughter, her daughter started doing it with her.
[00:14:02] But her daughter took it a step further with the new technology and a new
[00:14:07] ways to get the message out there today like what we're doing now.
[00:14:12] She was able to get it out to more people.
[00:14:16] Well, glory be to God, the ladies in our 80s.
[00:14:18] And they opened their own restaurant together.
[00:14:22] And that's another testament of your latter days being better than your
[00:14:28] former days as the good book tells us.
[00:14:30] But I thought I'd just throw that in there because we have to be reminded
[00:14:35] in this day and time that everything doesn't come the way that we want it.
[00:14:40] These children walked around in the wilderness for 40 years.
[00:14:45] Now their children's children are having to be circumcised just as the God
[00:14:51] and heaven had commanded us to do so.
[00:14:54] So we have to be reminded of that as well as it goes on to tell me out
[00:15:00] of my commentary that.
[00:15:02] The circumstance, although circumcision is painful,
[00:15:06] it's a painful procedure for men as adults.
[00:15:10] It requires a period of healing.
[00:15:12] And during this time, the men would have been physically vulnerable to attack.
[00:15:18] But under the covenant as instruction,
[00:15:23] instructed gosh, I'm getting tongue tied this morning.
[00:15:25] They were spiritually protected by the divine covering.
[00:15:29] So what appeared to be negative was actually positive.
[00:15:34] And let's stop right there.
[00:15:35] Let's stop right there.
[00:15:36] Thank you, Holy Spirit.
[00:15:37] You know, sometimes we can look at things with a naked eye and it seems
[00:15:41] like nothing is going our way.
[00:15:43] I certainly have my moments of doing that.
[00:15:46] You know, in growing this business,
[00:15:48] my podcast and getting it out there to the people.
[00:15:51] Sometimes you could be left feeling like, you know, why am I doing this?
[00:15:57] Some days I have those days when I don't have anybody listen to my show,
[00:16:01] that I don't have anybody join the show.
[00:16:04] But I'm doing this for God.
[00:16:06] So I have to remember to keep trucking on.
[00:16:09] And my Bible tells me that those that have ears, let them hear.
[00:16:14] Those that have eyes, let them see.
[00:16:17] And it also like I told you guys last week,
[00:16:19] sometimes our assignment is just one person.
[00:16:23] Maybe my assignment may be just one person.
[00:16:26] Maybe God didn't assign me to talk to the whole world.
[00:16:29] You just never know, but you got to keep the faith.
[00:16:33] And you also will never understand what God's plan is for you in this lifetime.
[00:16:40] He will never let you see how he's going to bless you,
[00:16:45] but he will bless you if you continue to hold on to the faith.
[00:16:49] My Bible tells me that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him
[00:16:56] diligently. That means we got to keep
[00:16:58] trucking on and keep trucking on no matter how it looks.
[00:17:02] Shout out to the intellectual soapbox.
[00:17:06] Shout out to you.
[00:17:07] But, you know, guys, as I'm reading this and meditating on the word,
[00:17:13] I actually said the same thing to myself.
[00:17:15] I was like, they're getting ready to go into war.
[00:17:19] They can really take over this land that God had promised to them.
[00:17:23] And right in the middle of it, God going to tell them to get circumcised.
[00:17:28] He tells Joshua to circumcise the man.
[00:17:30] And I'm like, what in the world?
[00:17:32] So as I read on, it just told me
[00:17:35] they had a divine covering.
[00:17:37] So that divine covering, what it appeared to be negative,
[00:17:41] God has a covering around you.
[00:17:44] I like I'm always saying God put a hedge of protection around and about us.
[00:17:49] He does that.
[00:17:51] He does that.
[00:17:52] I promise you, I've had some experiences where I know that he has covered me.
[00:17:58] He's put his hedge around me.
[00:18:00] So it goes on to say
[00:18:02] what did God mean when he said today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you
[00:18:09] in Egypt, the Israelites had to be have been slaves.
[00:18:14] And even in the wilderness, many of the Israelites were longing to return there.
[00:18:20] But in the men's submission to act of
[00:18:24] circumcisions, this disgrace had been rolled back.
[00:18:29] It signals that they were finally truly free.
[00:18:34] And let's stop right there.
[00:18:35] I was listening to a message earlier today and I thank the Lord for it because it
[00:18:39] filled my spirit.
[00:18:42] We today, we talk about, you know, how our ancestors were enslaved and how they
[00:18:48] were treated badly, and that was true.
[00:18:51] I'm not taking that, taking that away from that fact.
[00:18:54] But as you read in the Bible and read it all the way through from the Old
[00:19:00] Testament to the New Testaments, it talks about being enslaved.
[00:19:04] Peter said in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter one, I am a slave for God.
[00:19:12] And we all are when we're walking this walk with God, we are a slave for him.
[00:19:18] We are his children.
[00:19:19] That means we're thirsting after and we're walking like him.
[00:19:22] We're talking like him.
[00:19:23] We want to do our best to obey what God has given to us, what he wants us to do.
[00:19:31] And that's the only way you get from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory
[00:19:36] to be diligent in the things that you're doing.
[00:19:40] And I just gave an example of me right now.
[00:19:44] You know, pushing forward and trying to get God's word out there by reading
[00:19:49] and having this Bible study on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.
[00:19:53] I'm still pushing through no matter how it looks like.
[00:19:57] And sometimes I need a little bit of encouragement.
[00:20:00] You know, the Bible says David said, I had to encourage myself in the Lord.
[00:20:04] And sometimes victory Jay feels just like that.
[00:20:07] I got to encourage myself in the Lord.
[00:20:09] I'm not surrounded by a whole lot of people that are saved.
[00:20:13] But my mission is to make sure I get a word out there,
[00:20:17] something for them to meditate on, to let God be glory, be the God.
[00:20:23] Let him become a part of their everyday life and not thirst after the things that
[00:20:29] we see with our natural eye that's going on around us in a world full of a billion
[00:20:35] people, it can sometimes look like people are getting further than we are,
[00:20:39] whether it be in our careers, in our jobs, in our families, buying homes,
[00:20:45] cars, businesses.
[00:20:46] But we have to remember that the sin starts in the eye.
[00:20:51] It starts in the ear gate.
[00:20:53] We've got to protect that eye and that ear gate.
[00:20:56] And we've got to cover our heart.
[00:20:58] And how do we do that?
[00:20:59] We cover our heart by getting into our daily word and asking God to etch the
[00:21:04] daily bread across the tables of our chest.
[00:21:08] And that is what your girl constantly does and giving all praises to God.
[00:21:14] But as it goes on, it reminds us that one of the great
[00:21:18] spiritual truths of the New Testament is that believers in Jesus Christ are free
[00:21:23] from slavery to sin.
[00:21:26] And that's what it's all about.
[00:21:28] Being free from slavery to sin,
[00:21:32] dedicating and being obedient and letting your father in heaven,
[00:21:39] letting your father in heaven direct your path.
[00:21:44] That day, minute by minute, second by second, hour by hour.
[00:21:49] It goes on also to say that throughout our lifetime, it says there were confident
[00:21:56] that the Lord had they were confident that the Lord had handed them the entire
[00:22:01] land as promised, but why were they so certain?
[00:22:05] Much of it came down to the words and the actions of an unlikely
[00:22:10] prostitute named Ray have Ray have the woman's background.
[00:22:17] It signified in God's kingdom that the plan cannot be overstated.
[00:22:24] So when we go back and we talk about
[00:22:29] how they got to this point, how they crossed over the Jordan, how the priests
[00:22:35] were told to take the Ark of Covenant over and stand in the Jordan as the
[00:22:41] land dried up and the children was able to cross over.
[00:22:45] He did tell the leaders of the tribe want out of each tribe, pick up a rock.
[00:22:50] And when your children ask you about it,
[00:22:52] this will be in remembrance of first of all, I dried up the Jordan for you
[00:22:59] guys to be able to cross over, just like I did with the Red Sea when
[00:23:04] Farah, that Faro was running after you guys when you tried to depart Egypt,
[00:23:11] as well as Ray have played a significant important part as we will continue to hear.
[00:23:19] You know, she gave the spies information that rightfully she didn't have
[00:23:24] to give them, give to them.
[00:23:26] She didn't have to give them this information.
[00:23:30] After all, she's a part of the tribe that they're coming to destroy.
[00:23:36] But she had enough faith in God.
[00:23:37] She had heard about the amazing things that God has done for his people and took
[00:23:43] matters into her own hand and said to herself, I'm going to give them a tidbit
[00:23:48] of information on top of that.
[00:23:49] I'm a hot.
[00:23:52] I believe in what I heard.
[00:23:54] I believe in their God.
[00:23:56] I want to save me and I want to save my family.
[00:24:00] And how do I do that?
[00:24:01] By telling them, I believe everything that I've heard and by believing that
[00:24:08] I might help you guys out.
[00:24:11] I'm going to help you guys out.
[00:24:13] But promise me that when you come to destroy the city that you will
[00:24:18] save me and my family.
[00:24:20] So my commentary tells me the devil works to deceive us, to cause us to think
[00:24:27] and act like we're still slaves to his will.
[00:24:31] He works to keep us from believing the truth of our freedom from sin.
[00:24:36] Because the one who believes that he is truly free might actually start acting
[00:24:42] like it. And if you find yourself falling for his tricks,
[00:24:46] it's time to ask the Lord to roll away the disgrace of your past so that you
[00:24:52] may move forward to victory.
[00:24:55] It also goes on to tell us why camping on the plains of Jericho, Israel
[00:25:01] still observed the Passover remembering their deliverance from Egyptian slavery.
[00:25:08] During the celebration, they ate from the produce of the land.
[00:25:12] And this might sound like a throwaway statement until you read the follow up
[00:25:18] and the day after the manna ceased.
[00:25:20] You guys remember the manna that failed from heaven that the people grumbled
[00:25:25] and complained about?
[00:25:27] They grumbled and complained when he first brought them out of Egypt
[00:25:30] about having no food and no water.
[00:25:32] And God promised them that he would give them bread to eat.
[00:25:35] And he sent the manna from heaven.
[00:25:38] When they thirst, he gave them water.
[00:25:40] Well, now the manna has ceased because as promised,
[00:25:46] he said they would eat out of the fruits of the land.
[00:25:50] He promised them a land of milk and honey.
[00:25:54] And I know you guys have heard me read it and throw it out there from time
[00:25:57] to time to time, but a land that's fruitful.
[00:26:00] And that's the same thing in our lives today.
[00:26:03] God has promised us a land that will be fruitful and multiply in our lives.
[00:26:10] Our lives will be fruitful and multiply as we are obedient.
[00:26:15] But we see here in scripture,
[00:26:20] even knowing that God walked and talked with them.
[00:26:25] They were disobedient as we are today.
[00:26:28] But God's word never fails.
[00:26:30] He always promise us
[00:26:34] that everything that he's going to do for us, it will be done as we see here.
[00:26:41] So the manna ceased the last 40 years during the wanderers and the wilderness.
[00:26:46] God had provided manna from manna bread from heaven for them to eat in Exodus.
[00:26:52] But once God brought them to the promised land, their manna days were over.
[00:26:57] Thus, from this point forward, they were going to eat
[00:27:01] everything that he promised them to produce of the land.
[00:27:06] And it also goes on to give us a side note here.
[00:27:10] It says, I see an application to a person's spiritual development.
[00:27:15] Babies have to be fed.
[00:27:18] But if you spoon feed your 12 year old, there is a serious problem.
[00:27:22] Similar as your growth in Christian maturity.
[00:27:27] God expects you to exercise more and more responsibility for your spiritual
[00:27:31] growth. It's good to receive instruction in scripture,
[00:27:36] but we will remain spiritual infants unless we put into practice what we are
[00:27:44] learning by trusting God and acting on his promises.
[00:27:50] Guys, that is for all of us to be reminded that we have to stay in faith.
[00:27:58] We can't and it's easier said than done.
[00:28:03] We can't praise God on Sunday and forget
[00:28:07] about him until the next Sunday, constantly have something on your mind.
[00:28:12] What can I do for God today?
[00:28:14] Just like what I'm doing here right now,
[00:28:18] reading scripture, reading the commentary, helping someone and myself understand.
[00:28:25] I'm feeding my soul.
[00:28:26] I'm feeding my soul.
[00:28:28] Sometimes when I get on here, I'm just reading it for the first time myself out
[00:28:33] of the commentary. I've read it before out of the Bible,
[00:28:36] but many seasoned people will tell you when you've been walking with Christ so
[00:28:41] much, some of us, excuse me, have our favorite chapters that we like to read.
[00:28:47] We may not go back and read Exodus.
[00:28:50] We may not go back and read Deuteronomy.
[00:28:53] You know, we may stay in the New Testament.
[00:28:56] We may not even go back to the Old Testament.
[00:28:58] Most of our seasoned people, they stay in the New Testament because they know
[00:29:04] that is where God was,
[00:29:07] where he died on the cross for us, where he was resurrected, where he died for
[00:29:12] our sins. So they go on and read about Jesus's works as he walked the earth.
[00:29:18] And then they go on and read about Peter and Paul and Simon and all the
[00:29:22] many wonderful things that they did after Jesus.
[00:29:26] And I find that as I'm walking through the Old Testament,
[00:29:30] I am a reminder to some of my seasoned people about what happened in the Old
[00:29:36] Testament and how we still can apply those life lessons to our life today.
[00:29:43] Not that I'm ignoring the New Testament because God knows I want to get there
[00:29:48] as quick as possible in our Bible study.
[00:29:51] But I want to be careful not to omit some of the things that I can apply to my
[00:29:56] life on a daily basis, because Old Testament for me,
[00:30:02] this is my personal opinion, it teaches obedience.
[00:30:07] It teaches faith.
[00:30:10] It teaches how to stand still.
[00:30:13] And it also gives me some very valuable life lessons
[00:30:17] that I will fall short.
[00:30:20] That I am not perfect, that sometimes it may take years
[00:30:26] for that thing to manifest that God has promised me.
[00:30:30] But I have to wait in expectation and I have to let patients have her
[00:30:36] perfect works in my life and I have to stand on my faith.
[00:30:41] So as I keep growing in God's Word,
[00:30:47] I'm reminded out of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament,
[00:30:52] that everything comes together.
[00:30:54] And guess what? There is nothing new under the sun.
[00:30:58] There isn't everything that we're seeing going on today has been done before.
[00:31:04] It's been done before.
[00:31:05] It's just being done in a different way.
[00:31:08] Same thing with Satan walking in and out of our lives.
[00:31:13] We will never be able to tame our flesh,
[00:31:16] but we can bring it up under subjection to God's will.
[00:31:22] And we will fall short a time or two.
[00:31:27] Just like an infant, a toddler, they might take a few steps and fall.
[00:31:32] They might take a few steps, hold
[00:31:34] known to the table, they might take a few steps, hold known to your finger.
[00:31:39] I also was reminded this morning as I was in my studies,
[00:31:43] because I am in the New Testament in my personal life.
[00:31:49] I was reminded that no matter how seasoned you are,
[00:31:54] we're all going to fall short.
[00:31:56] We're all going to have that moment where we know
[00:32:00] that God is doing some wonderful things in our life,
[00:32:05] that everything that he wants to do for us and manifest in our life,
[00:32:10] he's going to do it, but he's going to do it in his time.
[00:32:15] And we have to be OK with that.
[00:32:17] We can't be discouraged.
[00:32:19] I'm pretty sure the disciples was discouraged.
[00:32:21] Peter was discouraged.
[00:32:23] He did not, you know, our Heavenly Father three times.
[00:32:26] And Jesus told him, you will deny me three times before the rooster crows.
[00:32:32] But when he rose on that third day with all power in his hand,
[00:32:37] he told the ladies, go get my disciples and tell them to meet me.
[00:32:43] And when they went to meet him, he said, and Peter, too.
[00:32:47] And you guys have heard me say this before.
[00:32:50] That I'm sure gave Peter confidence
[00:32:54] that Jesus still loved him.
[00:32:57] He never left him.
[00:32:58] He still believed in the job that he gave him to do, to carry out.
[00:33:05] And when the Holy Spirit into the room as they were praying together on one accord
[00:33:11] and the tongues defied it and rest on each and every one of them,
[00:33:15] Peter developed that boldness
[00:33:18] to go out and start ministering to the people.
[00:33:23] But we have to be careful whether we put ourselves in positions
[00:33:27] and not let God put us in positions.
[00:33:30] And what I mean by that is, you know, I made
[00:33:36] a wish list, well, a vision board of some things that I want God to manifest in my
[00:33:42] life, it may or may not come to pass.
[00:33:45] But I have to hold on to the fact that whatever God's will is for my life,
[00:33:51] it will be his will and not mine.
[00:33:54] But I did, I was honest with God.
[00:33:56] I said, you know, if this thing doesn't come to pass, I know it is your will
[00:34:01] and you have something better for me.
[00:34:04] However, I'm not going to tell you that I might not slightly be disturbed about it
[00:34:12] because I will be because it's something that I want him to do in my life so
[00:34:18] badly that I wrote it down on my vision board.
[00:34:23] But what if that's not his vision or his plan for me?
[00:34:27] I have to be OK with it.
[00:34:29] So I started to go through my memory and that's what the spiritual walk is.
[00:34:33] I started to go through my memory of everything that I had read in the Bible
[00:34:39] when I read about Saul and Samuel.
[00:34:43] And how Samuel
[00:34:47] told Saul about the offering that he was not to do.
[00:34:54] But Saul did it anyway.
[00:34:56] Saul was handpicked by God and
[00:35:00] it caused him to lose what God had given him.
[00:35:05] And Samuel was so disturbed by this, he mourned
[00:35:10] until God finally came and tapped him on the shoulder and said, take up your cup.
[00:35:14] How long are you going to mourn
[00:35:16] for Saul? I said what I said and get up.
[00:35:19] We got work to do.
[00:35:20] And that's after that.
[00:35:22] That's where you see David begin to come into play.
[00:35:25] But I'm glad that I was able to have that to hold on to because God reminded me
[00:35:32] that sometimes he'll do things in such a different way for us.
[00:35:42] And it's his will.
[00:35:44] But the spiritual stuff that he's put down on the inside of me,
[00:35:48] everything spiritual, his word being extra cross the tables of my heart.
[00:35:55] He gives me something to hold on to
[00:35:58] when I'm thinking about all these different things that go on in life.
[00:36:03] My season keeps telling me I'm an information download when it comes to the
[00:36:08] Old Testament and it's not that it's just that's where I'm at right now
[00:36:14] in the reading of the word for this Bible study.
[00:36:19] Now, in the New Testament, that's where I'm at for in my daily life.
[00:36:24] I'm over in acts right now
[00:36:27] and Peter's doing all the things that God knew that he could do be bold for him.
[00:36:33] And that's where I'm at in my life right now.
[00:36:35] But I'm taking baby steps not because I want to,
[00:36:40] because this is the way God has it going.
[00:36:44] And I have to be OK with what his will is for my life.
[00:36:50] I feel that he's developing my spirit, my spirit is rising up
[00:36:56] to do the will of God.
[00:36:58] He's giving me that bonus that he gave to Peter.
[00:37:03] As well as he's filling me up with his daily bread.
[00:37:09] And I may not get it all right, but he's giving me something to meditate on.
[00:37:14] And sometimes we may read something and think we got it down pack and then it goes away.
[00:37:21] But just in that right second, that right moment,
[00:37:24] he'll bring it back to our memory of what we read.
[00:37:28] So I'm going to go a little bit overboard today because I haven't gotten to
[00:37:34] Joshua chapter six and those of you that want to go along with me,
[00:37:38] but we're going to get into the commentary,
[00:37:42] the claiming of the promised land and the Israelites, how they were on the plains
[00:37:47] of Jericho, the wall of the city.
[00:37:51] Joshua knew God had given them the land of Canaan,
[00:37:54] but the fortified cities like Jericho stood in the way of the takeover.
[00:37:59] Now, my commentary tells me perhaps why he was pondering that very thing.
[00:38:05] Joshua noticed a man standing in front of him with a drone sword.
[00:38:12] Obviously, the stranger was merely out of a straw.
[00:38:16] He was armed for a fight.
[00:38:19] So in light of that, Joshua logically wanted to know who side he was on.
[00:38:26] And God, you remember us reading that last week?
[00:38:30] And he asked, are you for us or for our enemy?
[00:38:36] And this is the part that I love this.
[00:38:38] You know, sometimes you read something and it'll just lift your spirits.
[00:38:42] It says the man replied, neither.
[00:38:45] His allegiance belong not to Jericho or to Israel, but to heaven.
[00:38:51] He said, I have come as the commander of the Lord's army.
[00:38:59] When you know that, you know that, you know that, you know
[00:39:05] that God is for you.
[00:39:09] Can't nothing stop it.
[00:39:11] But you got to grow the grace that is freely given to us,
[00:39:16] the mercy that is freely given to us, the faith.
[00:39:20] You got to know that God surrounds you like a shield.
[00:39:24] That he shows up.
[00:39:25] He's with you every day.
[00:39:27] My hubby and I was having a conversation a few days ago.
[00:39:31] It's about a week or so now.
[00:39:33] And I said out of my mouth, I said, just imagine if we were back in the Old
[00:39:40] Testament saying God was walking with us, we could see him moving in the cloud
[00:39:46] before us and we could see him in the ball of fire like he did when he brought
[00:39:50] them out of Egypt and, you know, when he was walking and talking with the two
[00:39:54] men on the way to Damascus and Peter and all the disciples, just imagine.
[00:40:02] And my husband looked at me and he said, he is with you every day.
[00:40:06] And I say, you know, I know that, but I'm talking about physically like I can see
[00:40:09] you. He said he is.
[00:40:14] He said, you can see him in the trees, in the air, in the sky when the cloud moves.
[00:40:22] He's with us every single day.
[00:40:25] Now some of you might say,
[00:40:27] Victoria, you ain't know that girl. No,
[00:40:31] I'm just kidding. I knew that, but he made it so simple to remind me
[00:40:38] that he is with us everywhere we go in small things.
[00:40:44] And if you read some literature outside of the Bible, but still Christian
[00:40:51] literature, you know, it reminds us.
[00:40:53] I remember reading some literature as I was going into a fast.
[00:40:59] And I had done a couple of fasts before and one of them was not successful.
[00:41:05] Like I was tore apart about that.
[00:41:08] And I said, God, I've never wanted to make a promise to you that I did not keep.
[00:41:14] And I was distraught.
[00:41:16] I called my sister, I was screaming and crying and just like, you know,
[00:41:19] I broke my fast. I just fell out of the wheel and and, you know, it was a mess.
[00:41:25] But in preparing to for that fast,
[00:41:29] I read some literature where it says, of course, you know, we're not supposed to
[00:41:33] walk around
[00:41:36] with a scour on our face.
[00:41:38] The Bible tells us to wash our face and go out amongst the world as we're not
[00:41:44] fasting.
[00:41:46] However, in the other literature, it reminded me of nature.
[00:41:53] Doer my fast.
[00:41:55] It is fasting and is praying.
[00:41:58] It is getting into God's word.
[00:42:00] But it reminded me to do little things like take walks in nature and commune
[00:42:05] and talk to God.
[00:42:07] And I remember doing one fast.
[00:42:09] I did that.
[00:42:10] I walked the track and I just told and cried and prayed out to God,
[00:42:14] I imagine, to the people around me on the track because they were looking at me
[00:42:19] wondering if I was OK.
[00:42:22] And I was just crying out to God
[00:42:26] in nature, watching the trees blow and that memory is so vivid to me
[00:42:34] because God is inside of all of us.
[00:42:37] All he wants you to do is talk to him.
[00:42:41] But moving on, it says.
[00:42:46] The man replied, neither.
[00:42:49] His allegiance belong neither to Jericho or Israel, but to heaven.
[00:42:53] He said, I have come as the commander of the Lord's army.
[00:42:57] Who was he?
[00:42:58] My commentary says, while God directs legions of angels to do his will,
[00:43:05] this mighty warrior commanded them all.
[00:43:09] It's important to observe this as a earthly
[00:43:13] manna spent a manna's death.
[00:43:15] I can't say manifestation of the sons of God before his incarnation as a man.
[00:43:24] Why? First, when he recognized that he was outranked by the visitor,
[00:43:30] Joshua bowed with his face to the ground.
[00:43:34] We are to worship God alone and angels rightly reject worship.
[00:43:42] It says, see, Revelations 1910 through 22.
[00:43:47] The stranger accepted it as his due,
[00:43:51] though Joshua did not understand the nature of God.
[00:43:56] And it has a parent parentheses that is
[00:44:00] the fact that God is one in three persons.
[00:44:04] And we got guys, we know this, don't we?
[00:44:07] The father, the son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:44:12] He clearly recognizes that there was a visible
[00:44:17] visible manifestation of the divine presence.
[00:44:21] Second, the commander told Joshua to remove his
[00:44:24] sandals because he was standing on holy ground.
[00:44:27] If these words sound familiar, it's because we heard them before.
[00:44:31] As the man who had taken Joshua's Moses place,
[00:44:35] Joshua was having his own burning bush moment
[00:44:39] complete with a commander to report, remove his shoes.
[00:44:44] Holy ground is God's occupant space.
[00:44:48] Only God can turn a ordinary place into a sacred territory.
[00:44:55] In the next moment, Scott would give Joshua divine strategies for defeating Jericho.
[00:45:01] But don't miss the order of events leading up to the fight.
[00:45:07] Joshua faced a stronghold.
[00:45:10] God revealed himself and Joshua worship.
[00:45:14] The strategy of victory will come only after worship has occurred.
[00:45:20] And in layman's terms, prayer,
[00:45:26] prayer, prayer, prayer, having faith, going to prayer about that thing that's bothering you,
[00:45:33] going to prayer about that thing that you worried about.
[00:45:36] We're not supposed to be where it is faithful Christians of God anyway.
[00:45:40] We supposed to take it to the altar, leave it there and begin to sink him.
[00:45:47] But sometimes we all fall short.
[00:45:51] Sometimes we all fall short.
[00:45:53] I fall short.
[00:45:55] I have to constantly be reminded by someone else
[00:46:00] to fight a good fight.
[00:46:02] I'm believing God for this being my job, that someone.
[00:46:10] That comes across any footage or video
[00:46:14] that I might put out here reading the daily word.
[00:46:18] It may just be that day, that one day where they needed some words of encouragement
[00:46:24] and they fell on this video or they fell on this audio
[00:46:29] and needed some encouragement, not everybody that walks on this earth.
[00:46:34] Has friends and family so tightly gathered around them that they have that support system.
[00:46:42] And we have to be reminded of that on a daily basis that, you know,
[00:46:49] all of us need a bit of encouragement.
[00:46:52] Every last one of us needs that encouragement and none of us is exempt from it.
[00:47:00] I need that encouragement, even if I'm in my word, being filled up by his daily bread.
[00:47:08] I need that encouragement sometimes for my fellow sisters and brothers in Christ
[00:47:13] to move on and go the extra mile
[00:47:17] that God wants me to do.
[00:47:20] But I am determined that I'm not going to stop doing what he's allowed me to do.
[00:47:26] That gives me a voice every morning, gives me eyesight to see.
[00:47:29] And that is to do Bible study, whether it's by myself on this mic or whether I
[00:47:35] have people join me, I'm going to continue to do what he's ordered me to do.
[00:47:40] Because I know that he's not going to stop
[00:47:45] the works that he's doing on the inside of me.
[00:47:50] So, guys, as we move on into chapter six, I thought it was important this morning
[00:47:55] and I thought we would get around to chapter six, but I thought it was important
[00:48:00] this morning for us to
[00:48:04] recap last week.
[00:48:07] Sometimes we can continue to do something and we have to recap,
[00:48:13] refill ourselves.
[00:48:14] And I have to tell you, I didn't get into my word this weekend like I really wanted to,
[00:48:20] you know, moving parts, busy doing other things for the kingdom of God.
[00:48:25] But I really didn't get into the study part of what we were going to talk about
[00:48:30] this morning, but God reminded me, you didn't read it out of the commentary for yourself.
[00:48:36] We can read it out of the word.
[00:48:38] We can read it out of the King James.
[00:48:41] And sometimes it may not make sense to us,
[00:48:45] but we have other things like our commentaries
[00:48:49] to help us break down the meaning.
[00:48:53] And most of all, we have our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ
[00:48:58] to help us go into prayer
[00:49:01] and ask him what he needs us to do today.
[00:49:07] What does he need us to do today?
[00:49:10] I was telling my husband and my sister,
[00:49:13] you know, I'm getting a little burnt out a little bit,
[00:49:17] but I can't see myself stopping.
[00:49:21] Taking a break right now.
[00:49:23] God is doing so many wonderful things.
[00:49:25] And I can imagine the disciples felt the same way.
[00:49:30] They kept on pushing on, spreading the good news.
[00:49:33] I mean, man, if you go over to the New Testament, they travel.
[00:49:37] Well, we just come out of the Old Testament,
[00:49:39] which I was they traveling these with some traveling people.
[00:49:43] Let me get there, got to get there, got to get there.
[00:49:45] And that's just like our faith.
[00:49:46] Well, got to get there, got to get there, got to get there.
[00:49:49] God, what can I do for you today?
[00:49:53] And we have to remember to ask the Holy Spirit to come on in
[00:49:57] and give us some insight.
[00:50:00] Go and meditate on that thing, push forward.
[00:50:05] Remember to be obedient.
[00:50:07] Abedience is better than sacrifice and you can't work for it.
[00:50:13] You can't work for it.
[00:50:16] You just got to do it.
[00:50:18] If I sat around and waited for people to come and watch my lives
[00:50:26] and got discouraged because nobody showed up on Monday,
[00:50:31] but I had 10 people on Friday.
[00:50:34] That means I'm working for it.
[00:50:36] I'm doing this from the bottom of my heart because God placed that on the inside
[00:50:41] of me to do and you can't watch the numbers.
[00:50:46] You can't watch who's going to come over and support you,
[00:50:50] because a lot of us expect our family and friends to support us in everything that
[00:50:54] we do.
[00:50:56] And that's simply not true.
[00:50:58] They may not support us in everything that we do.
[00:51:03] And we have to be OK with that.
[00:51:05] When I first started my podcast, I found out I got more support from strangers
[00:51:12] than friends and family.
[00:51:13] Now, the friends and family came along at a later point.
[00:51:17] But my point to that is and that's no shade to anybody, but it's just what it
[00:51:21] was. I don't want me to make anybody feel bad or anything like that,
[00:51:26] because this is something that I wanted to do.
[00:51:29] This is not something that they wanted to do.
[00:51:31] But I think we expect our friends and families to support us in so many
[00:51:37] different areas in our life.
[00:51:39] And that is simply just not true.
[00:51:43] So when you're doing something for God, your support comes from above.
[00:51:48] But your heart got to be right when you're doing it.
[00:51:51] And we see a lot of people doing a lot of things.
[00:51:55] We do.
[00:51:57] We see a lot of people doing a lot of things.
[00:52:00] But if your heart is not right, it's going to fail every time.
[00:52:07] And I'm constantly reminding people that, you know, our Heavenly Father
[00:52:16] will bless us all.
[00:52:19] But you can't take my blessing and make it your blessing, meaning you can't see
[00:52:24] me do something and decide you want to turn around and do the same thing.
[00:52:28] It's not going to work the same way for you.
[00:52:31] My story is not your story.
[00:52:32] Your story is not my story.
[00:52:34] Do what you need to do for your God, your Father in God, in heaven,
[00:52:40] for yourself, from your heart.
[00:52:44] Not because you see someone else doing it.
[00:52:47] Our seasoned people, especially my mom, she used to say, for a form or a fashion.
[00:52:52] And I still say that today in my prayer, God, let me not do this to be seen
[00:52:57] as a man or woman, but for your glory.
[00:53:02] Because by your stripes, I was healed, delivered, saved and set free.
[00:53:08] Let me spread the good news of what you've done for me.
[00:53:12] Not for Joe, not for my husband, not for my daughters, not for my son.
[00:53:17] But what you've done for me so that your plans for me.
[00:53:27] When you're working in my life, I'll be able to recognize it
[00:53:31] because you've already given me the insight.
[00:53:35] Now I have to move with you.
[00:53:38] I can't move ahead of God and I can't be stagnant in my movement.
[00:53:45] I have to wait for God to tell me to move.
[00:53:48] It's that small, still voice that a lot of us ignore.
[00:53:53] A lot of us ignore that small, still voice.
[00:53:57] Don't let that be you today.
[00:54:01] If God said, no, don't do that.
[00:54:03] Don't do it.
[00:54:04] You're conscious of saying that's something about that.
[00:54:07] Don't feel right. Go the other way.
[00:54:11] And when God tells you to move, move,
[00:54:13] he's never going to lead you somewhere
[00:54:16] that he's not taking you personally
[00:54:19] himself, that was not in his plan for you.
[00:54:25] And people may not understand it.
[00:54:28] Your family, your friends, they may not understand.
[00:54:33] But again, it goes back around to taming
[00:54:35] that flesh and not letting them take you out of the wheel of God.
[00:54:42] By putting their opinion on it, they may not understand.
[00:54:47] But you have to understand it because you got it directly from God.
[00:54:50] Peace and blessings to you guys this morning.
[00:54:53] Those of you that tapped in, share, share, share, follow, follow, follow.
[00:54:57] You know, this is Bible study and I put my little spin on it here and there.
[00:55:02] I love talking about the Lord.
[00:55:04] I could be on here all day talking about God,
[00:55:06] reading something, talking about God.
[00:55:08] I'm thinking about doing just that on a Saturday.
[00:55:13] And having people call in and fellowship and worship together.
[00:55:17] Who knows? We'll see how that goes.
[00:55:19] Peace and blessings to you all.
[00:55:21] Guys, don't forget if you can't do nothing else today, a con word goes a long way.
[00:55:26] A hot meal goes even further.
[00:55:28] And before I shut down the show today, shuts out to Jamie Smith.
[00:55:32] Jamie Smith was our special guest from Jamie's Notebook.
[00:55:36] Jamie, thank you.
[00:55:37] Thank you for coming on to the show on Friday.
[00:55:40] Think all my amazing guests that I've had on this far.
[00:55:43] Keith Farmer, Kristen Owens,
[00:55:49] got Alan Black.
[00:55:51] I had a brain freeze there.
[00:55:52] Alan Black as well as Ebi Ameca.
[00:55:57] Thank you so much for coming on to the show.
[00:56:00] Now we can add Jamie to the roster.
[00:56:02] Coming up this week, we have another special guest coming on to the show.
[00:56:06] And she's going to be talking to us about how to defeat some of the
[00:56:10] disabilities that she has been faced through herself and her children.
[00:56:15] I'm not going to give it away quite just yet.
[00:56:17] We still get some things ironed out.
[00:56:19] So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll still be able to come on this
[00:56:23] Friday, but if not, you get the fabulous me and what more can you ask for?
[00:56:28] Peace and blessings to you guys.
[00:56:29] Shout out to Intellectual Soapbox and shout out to Diamond Life for joining
[00:56:34] the show this morning.
[00:56:38] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios.
[00:56:41] If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios,
[00:56:44] please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information.