How to Be a Conqueror

Joshua 23:4
“Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.”

At the end of Joshua’s life, Israel still had much land to conquer. God addressed the nation through Joshua by telling them that He had already divided their land, which was simply telling them that in His eyes the land was already conquered. Joshua then reminded them that God had already helped them conquer the land they possessed, which was a reminder that He would not leave them as they continued conquering. The only thing left for Israel to do to possess the remainder of the land was to continue conquering, even in Joshua’s absence. God then shows six things needed to be a conqueror.

First, you must never be satisfied with past successes. Israel was reminded in verse 4 that there was still much land that remained to be conquered. You must never be satisfied with living in past successes if you want God to continue to work through you. You must always remember that God has more for you to do if you will move on from past victories. Be careful not to allow past victories to become the epitaph of your future. Rejoice in what the LORD has done through you in the past, but keep a conquering vision for what He still wants to do through you.

Second, you must know from Whom your success will come. Joshua reminded Israel in verse 5 that their success would come from the LORD. Don’t become so overconfident because of past victories that you don’t continue to go to the LORD for help. You must continue begging God for His help if you want to continue to conquer.

Third, don’t expect anything to be given to you. Verse 5 says, “…ye shall possess their land…” Yes, God was going to help them, but they had to work to make it happen. God will help you, but He will only help you as you step out to possess those victories. Don’t sit waiting for God to give you victories, but bring Him with you through prayer as you attempt to conquer.

Fourth, don’t limit yourself and God. Verse 6 says, “Be ye therefore very courageous…” The worst thing you can do is put a limit on what God can do through you. You must be courageous enough to step out on the impossible and trust that God will help you. God loves to help the person who believes that He will help them do what seems impossible.

Fifth, separate from anything that will keep you from God’s help. Verse 7 shows that Israel was to stay completely separated from the nations around them. Conquerors understand that there are activities and people who will hinder them from conquering. If you are going to be a conqueror, you are going to have to learn to live a separated life; separated from that which hinders, and from those who would cause you to leave the Christian life.

Sixth, stay close to God. Verse 8 warns, “But cleave unto the LORD your God…” The only way you will be a conqueror is to keep a close walk with God. Don’t let anything or anyone come between you and God. Don’t get so busy that you forsake your walk with God. Staying close to God is the key to continuing to conquer.

Confidence Turned Into Arrogance

Joshua 17:14
“And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?”

One of the greatest enemies of success is success. Success will give a person confidence, and confidence is a very necessary ingredient to building upon success. However, if confidence is not carefully guarded, it can turn into arrogance. When arrogance takes over confidence, the seed of pride is planted, and that seed will lead to destruction.

The children of Israel experienced many victories up to the verse above. Each victory gave them more confidence to continue conquering the land of Canaan. Sadly, their confidence turned into arrogance. Verse 13 says, “Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.” They became so arrogant that instead of driving out the Canaanites, they made them slaves thinking that they could control the heathen influences of these people.

Israel’s arrogance is seen in the verse above when they said, “I am a great people.” Hold on! What happened to the people who were so afraid that they wanted to go back to Egypt? What happened to the people who said that they would not go forward unless God would go with them? What happened to the people who went to God before each battle to ask for wisdom on how to fight and His presence to go before them? What happened was their confidence turned into arrogance; success caused them to take their eyes and trust off God and place it in their own abilities and past successes.

One of the greatest battles you will fight in your Christian life will be to not allow your confidence to be turned into arrogance. When you are little in your own sight, you will run to God for help, and He will help; however, you must never get to the point where you set your trust in God aside and say, “I am a great people.” When you get to the point where you think you are great, your confidence has turned into arrogance. Whenever I hear people talk about how great they are, or their church is, I know their destruction is near. There are a couple of things you can do to keep your confidence from turning into arrogance.

First, always remember that greatness belongs to God. It will never be that you are a “great” preacher, Christian or church, it is only that you have a great God. Any success you have had is not because you did it; it is because God gave you the strength to do it. Don’t ever forget that!

Second, always remember that past successes don’t guarantee future dominance. Just because God used you in the past doesn’t mean He will continue to do things through you in the future. You must continue to pray and work hard if you want God to continue to conquer through you.

Third, never allow self-dependence, but always keep your dependency on God. Friend, don’t mistake God’s presence as your greatness. Keep your eyes on God and you will never get to the point where you think of yourself as great. You must never allow self-dependence if you want God to continue to work through you. Keep that youthful apprehension that forces you to rely on God. If you keep that reliance on God, you will keep confidence from turning into arrogance.

Destroying Negative Influences

Joshua 1:18
“Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.”

Everyone deals with influences every day. You have outside, personal and inside influences that you are around every day. Outside influences are those who come from associations, friends or daily acquaintances. Personal influence are those which come from your personal life; they are the things that you read, see, hear and research. Inside influences are those who associate with you through the church, work or daily activities. One of the keys to keeping yourself from doing wrong is to avoid the negative influences in each of these areas.

God knew that negative influences from the inside would be one of the most detrimental to His people. God directed Joshua to “put to death” those influences from the inside that would destroy the morale and holy lifestyle which He commanded His children to live. In the verse above, there are three negative influences identified that you are to destroy.

First, you need to destroy the rebellious influences. God says, “Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment…shall be put to death…” God says in 1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…” You should have nothing to do with the someone who rebels against God’s Word. I’ve heard people say, “I have a little rebel in me.” A person who says this is giving credence and approval to satanic worship because rebellion is that wicked. If you want God’s blessings on your life, you must be careful that you have no rebellious influences in your life. You may not be rebelling right now, but you will if you continue to associate with the rebellious influence.

Second, you need to destroy those influences that won’t listen and follow authority. The verse above continues, “… and will not hearken unto thy words…” Notice that God says, “thy words.” He was talking about Joshua’s words. In others words, God wants you to be sure not to allow influences in your life that won’t listen and follow authorities. Avoid those people who constantly challenge and question the authorities. If a person constantly goes around the established authorities and guidelines because they don’t like how they handle a situation, that person must be avoided and put out of an organization. These types of people are negative influences that cause friction and incite a destructive spirit in your life or the atmosphere of a church or institution.

Third, you need to destroy those influences that won’t go forward in the LORD’s work. The verse above was dealing directly with God’s people going forward in conquering the land of Canaan. You must separate yourself from those influences that enjoy living in the status quo. Apathetic and negative influences destroy dreams, desires and goals to promote the average. God’s direction is always forward, and you must eliminate from your life any influence that discourages a forward direction.

Friend, influences are all around you every day, and you are going to have to determine if these influences are positive or negative. If you are going to please the LORD, you must eliminate the negative influences and embrace the positive ones; this is the only way you will keep serving the LORD with a positive attitude and a forward direction throughout your whole life.

God’s Money Principles

God's Money Principlesby: Dr. Allen Domelle

Deuteronomy 28:12
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”

The best book on money principles is God’s Word. Throughout its pages, you will find principles placed in verses like the verse above. It should catch your eyes when God says, “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure…” No one has more treasure than the LORD. If He is willing to open “his good treasure,” you would be wise to learn what you must do for that treasure to be opened. God shows four principles you must follow to open “his good treasure.”

First, you must do right if you want to open “his good treasure.” God’s blessings come to those who live right. Verse 1 says, “…if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:” God then goes on to talk about how He will bless them for doing right. Doing right has a way of making money. If you have ever looked at how expensive it is to live in the world, you would realize that living right is the best way to live. You will never be able to dip into God’s treasures until you start obeying “all” that the LORD commands you to do.

Spring-CreekBC_WatfordSecond, you must work hard if you want to open “his good treasure.” In verse 11, God talks about blessing their “fruit.” Their fruit was a result of working hard. Money comes to those who work. You can’t expect God to open His treasures if you are not willing to work. The opening of God’s treasures come through hard work. God doesn’t bless those who expect a handout; He blesses those who work hard. You will never see the treasures of the LORD until you get past this step of working hard.

Third, you must pay yourself if you want to open “his good treasure.” In the verse above, God talks about lending “unto many nations.” You will never have money to lend if you don’t learn the value of saving money. In other words, you need to learn to pay yourself from everything you make. When I talk about paying yourself, you need to take a percentage of money from every source of income and set it aside. If you could learn to set aside ten percent of your income to save, you would find, in years to come, a great source of wealth laid aside from your income. Too many people don’t have the character to pay themselves, and that is why they have nothing when they get older. God has opened His treasures to those who work hard, but they must not squander it by not saving a portion of it.

Fourth, you must work your money if you want to open “his good treasure.” When God said they would have the money to lend “unto the nations,” He was teaching them the principle of investing what they saved. Learn to work your money by investing it in safe investments. A man of wealth once told me about investing, “Know what you work, and work what you know.” In other words, don’t invest in something if you haven’t done your homework. Be knowledgeable about where you invest your money and careful to be sure it is working for you.

God desires to open “his good treasure” to you. If you follow these four steps, you will find that God’s treasures are available to you.

Keeping Your Credibility

Deuteronomy 19:21
“And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

At the end of the day, your credibility is the balance on your character’s bank account. Your handling of difficult situations determines the credibility of your leadership. As a Christian, people should observe how you handle controversies and sin and say that you are just in your dealings with wrong. When people feel that you are just, your credibility will allow you to continue to lead and influence more people for Christ.

In the chapter above, God showed Moses how He wanted to establish the cities of refuge, landmarks and witnesses. God knew that the credibility of His people would be determined by how justly they handled sin. Though you may not sit as a judge who determines someone’s innocence, you do lead people, and you must judge the actions of those you lead. Your credibility will be determined by how you handle grievances, offenses and the wrongs of those you lead. God shows us several things we must follow as leaders in judging complex situations so that we can keep our credibility intact.

First, don’t allow personality to influence your judgment. Verses 10-12 show that God didn’t want anyone’s personality to influence judgment; rather, He wanted right and wrong to be the influence. You must be careful about allowing personal ties to an individual to influence your decisions concerning them or their children. Your credibility is at stake, and you must never allow a personal tie to influence your decision concerning punishment.

Second, verse 10 shows that we should never allow injustice to go unpunished. Your credibility will be destroyed when you allow rules to be broken without punishment. An institution’s credibility is determined by how they follow the established rules. A leader’s credibility will be decided by whether they enforce the rules. If you sweep sin under the carpet, your credibility will be destroyed.

Third, never allow emotions to cloud your judgment. Verse 13 says, “Thine eye shall not pity him…” The reason someone did something should never determine the punishment. Someone’s inconvenience shouldn’t determine the punishment; they should have considered the ramifications before they chose to do wrong. Taking emotion out of judgment allows you to keep your credibility.

Fourth, verse 9 shows that we should judge according to the established rules. You will destroy your credibility if you start making up rules at the time you perceive a fault was committed. At the end of the day, the established rules are your protection. Always go to the established rules or laws to determine the punishment. Established rules are the safety net of your credibility.

Fifth, verse 15 teaches that we should never condemn without two witnesses. A person’s character is on the line, and to judge without a witness is unjust. Furthermore, just because someone says something doesn’t make it true. Your job is to ensure the witnesses are telling the truth.

Remember, how you handle sin determines your credibility. It doesn’t matter how much good you do for Christ, if you don’t deal with sin properly, your credibility will forever overshadow your good works. Following these principles will preserve your credibility and the trust of those you influence.

It’s a Communication Problem

Communication Problemby: Dr. Allen Domelle

Deuteronomy 5:24
“And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.”

The children of Israel were afraid to talk to God. When God told Moses to go to the top of the mountain to receive His commandments, the people of Israel were afraid that he would not live. However, when Moses came off the mount, the people saw “that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” For the first time, these people realized that man could talk with God.

The Christian life will never be enjoyed until you establish communication with God. The only reason any person doesn’t enjoy serving the LORD is because they have no communication with God. Three things are revealed in the verse above that should stir you to daily make time to talk to God.

First, your original purpose for being made was to converse with God. When God made Adam in the Garden of Eden, one of the purposes was so that He would have someone with whom He could communicate. Christian, you must realize that God wants to talk to you, and He wants to hear from you. It is sad that God gave life for the purpose of having communication with man, but man gets too busy with worldly activities that he doesn’t take time to talk to God. You will never feel fulfilled in life unless you fulfill the purpose for which you were made, which is talking with God. Don’t get so busy with life and the day’s activities that you don’t take time to talk to God.

Fundamental Baptist Church Alvarado TXSecond, God’s communication with you is dependent upon your communication with Him. James 4:8 reminds us that God responds according to our actions. The closer you draw nigh to God, the more He will draw nigh to you. The only reason you don’t hear God is because you are not attempting to talk to Him. Friend, you don’t have to go through the preacher to talk to God; instead, you can go directly to Him. How much effort you give in talking to God will directly impact how much He talks to you.

Third, the reason you have no life is because God is not talking to you. The verse above says, “…God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” Do you understand that the enjoyment of your Christian life is totally impacted by how much you communicate with your God? In the verse above, when God talked, man lived. In other words, the enjoyment came when God talked with man. The only reason someone doesn’t enjoy preaching is because they have a communication problem. The reason someone doesn’t enjoy serving in the church is because they have a communication problem. The reason someone doesn’t enjoy Christian music is because they have a communication problem. The reason someone doesn’t enjoy the Christian life is because they have a communication problem. You will find enjoyment in life once you fix your communication with God.

Friend, how much do you talk with God? The joy of serving God only comes when you communicate with Him. If your heart is growing cold, you better check your communication with God. Always remember that when God speaks, man begins to live. You will never find enjoyment in life through worldly activities; it only comes when you fulfill the purpose for which you were made, and that purpose is to communicate with your God.

Sheltered Into Indifference

Shelteredby: Dr. Allen Domelle

Numbers 32:16-17
“And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.”

A great mistake was made by the two and a half tribes in that they wanted their families to stay on this side of Jordan instead of crossing over and experiencing the victories themselves. What these men didn’t understand was that even though they were sheltering their families, they were lulling them to become indifferent towards the things of God. Their wives and children needed the struggle and battles as much as they did. Without experiencing the hand of the LORD firsthand, they would become indifferent towards God and more fervent towards the world.

Many Christian parents make this same mistake today. I have watched many parents stay in the battle for the LORD, but keep their children at home only to shelter them into indifference. I thank God for my father who involved me in the ministry as a teenager. It was during those years of seeing the battles and victories firsthand that created an appetite in my young heart to want God to do greater things in my life. There are a few reasons you need to involve your children in the frontline of the battle.

First, your children need to experience the victories firsthand. Hearing what the LORD is doing and seeing what He is doing are two different things. Many good young people have become indifferent towards the LORD because they never experienced the victories, they only heard about them. Your children will never have a fire for God unless they see these victories firsthand.

Texas-IBSSecond, children need to see faith work firsthand. It is not good enough to hear how faith works; your children need to see that faith in God pays big. I watched my parents step out on faith many times, and I saw how God honored their faith. Seeing their faith firsthand placed an appetite in my heart to want God to do something with my faith. Your children will never know how to live by faith if you shelter them from it by giving them everything they want. Children need to see that God will honor their faith if they will get involved in His work. It will create an appetite in their hearts to do greater things for the LORD when they become an adult.

Third, children need to see God working firsthand. The greatest reason you need to bring your children over your spiritual Jordan is that they need to see God defeat the giants and knock down the great walls for themselves. Sheltering children from the work of the LORD creates an indifferent heart towards God because they believe that the great works are only for previous generations and not for them. When your children come over your spiritual Jordan and are involved firsthand, they will be able to say they saw the LORD work.

Friend, don’t let your children sit on the sidelines while you are serving the LORD. Get them involved so they can see firsthand what God can do. If you don’t, you will cause their heart to become indifferent towards God’s work. The only way to keep this indifference from happening is to involve them in God’s work so they can experience His power firsthand.

You Don’t Need to Ask

Numbers 22:7
“And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.”

We are often reminded of the importance of prayer and the need of boldly going to God’s throne to ask Him to give us a desire or a need. Certainly, every Christian could improve their prayer life; however, there are some times when you don’t need to ask God if He would give you something or if you should do something.

Balaam came across one of these times in his life when he didn’t need to ask God what to do. Balak sent his servants to ask Balaam to curse Israel. The request alone should have caused Balaam to send those servants away; instead, he said to them, “Lodge here this night…” He had no business even entertaining their request because what they wanted was directly opposed to God’s Word. This story teaches us three times when we don’t need to ask God what to do or if we can have something.

First, you don’t need to ask God when what you want is associated with the wrong. The servants of Balak brought “rewards of divination” to pay Balaam to come. These rewards were used to “appease the spirits” in their false worship. These rewards should have told Balaam he didn’t need to ask God. When you know what you want is associated with wrong, you don’t need to ask God if you can have it. You don’t need to ask God if you should yoke up with someone when you know their associations are wrong. You already have the answer by the associations. When you ask God to give you something that you know is associated with the wrong, you are asking God to do wrong. You are wasting your time because God has already given you the answer.

Second, you don’t need to ask God when He has already given you the answer. God told Balaam the first time not to go, but he entertained the thought of asking God again because these servants came back as if God changed His mind. When God has already made it clear that you should not do something, you don’t need to go back and see if He changed His mind. God’s Word never changes, and for you to go back when He has already told you what to do is to insinuate that His Word isn’t resolute. If God has already spoken to you about what you should do, that is enough!

Third, you don’t need to ask God when you know what you are asking is directly opposed to His Word. The Scriptures answer most of your questions about what you should do if you will study them. If God’s Word has made it clear that you should not do something or that you should not associate with a certain type of person, you don’t need to waste your time asking God.

Let me apply these three principles to parenting. If every parent used these three principles with their children, they would help their children to learn how God responds, and they would teach their children how to answer questions as to what to do when they are not around. My parents used these three principles in our home, and they would remind us of these rules if we asked to do something that would break one of these rules. If you make these principles clear in your home, your children will be able to respond properly when you are not there with them to guide them.

The Source of all Discontentment

The Source of All Discontentmentby: Dr. Allen Domelle

Numbers 14:2
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!”

Have you ever walked down the street and felt a little pebble inside your shoe that caused discomfort to your heel? Every time you put your foot on the ground, you felt that poking on the heel that hurt. You have two choices at that point; you can leave the pebble in the shoe and continue to experience discomfort, or you can stop and take your shoe off and remove the source of the irritation.

Just like the pebble in the shoe, the children of Israel seemed to have that discomfort in their lives that led them to murmur continually against the LORD and Moses. Instead of removing the source of their discontentment, they focused on it and allowed it to destroy their spirit and future. The verse above is a classic illustration of this as they murmured against Moses because they were told by the ten spies that the land of Canaan was too difficult to overcome. In this story, four sources caused the discontentment that led to their murmuring.

The first source of discontentment was that they made everything about themselves. In the verse above, you can’t help but see that these people were consumed with what they wanted and not what was best for the LORD. The only reason you would complain is because you have made life about yourself. Ministry workers who complain to their pastors are often consumed with what others are doing to them, or they complain because they don’t get what they want. You will never be satisfied in the ministry or life if you continually make life about your desires. In the ministry, life cannot be about you; it must be about what is best for others and for the big picture of that ministry.

National Center for Life and LibertyThe second source of discontentment was that they wanted the Promised Land without the struggle. Selfishness always leads to an entitlement mentality that you should get everything without having to work for it. My friend, instead of expecting everything without a struggle, develop a mentality to work for what you get. Discontentment will always be your plot without a working mentality.

The third source of discontentment was their lack of faith in God. These people were saying that the LORD brought them into the wilderness so He could slay them. Don’t be so shortsighted in your life that your faith wanes and leads you to be discontented with what the LORD has given you. Discontentment always flees from a strong faith in God.

The fourth source of discontentment was their inability to see the whole picture. They couldn’t see that God wanted to show His strength to the rest of the world by defeating the giants and knocking down the walls. Many people become discontented because they are looking through their small prism of what they perceive everyone should do. You may not agree with your leader, but you must understand that your leaders see the whole picture that you do not see. You must trust their ability to see the whole picture and focus your energies on what you should be doing.

Friend, discontentment always leads to murmuring. If you keep your eyes focused on the LORD, you will never find these sources of discontentment in your life.

Three Timeless Commands

Three Timeless Commandsby: Dr. Allen Domelle

Numbers 2:34
“And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.”

Some things in life never change. For instance, love never changes. Once you choose to love someone, that love will never end. History never changes. The law of gravity never changes. As much as a person may try to change this law, they will fail because what goes up always comes down. These things that never change are timeless and unalterable.

God’s commands are also one of those things that are timeless and unalterable. Mankind has tried for centuries to change God’s commands, but as much as they try to redefine what God has commanded they have failed. The verse above shows us three of God’s timeless commands. Each of these commands can be defined in one word.

The first timeless command for the Christian is to be identifiable. You will notice that God commanded the children of Israel to pitch their tents “by their standard.” Their standard was their ensign. The standard is what identified each tribe. God still wants His children to be identifiable today. We must be careful that as Christians we don’t lose our identity because of our desire to reach the world. Many Christians today are no longer identifiable because they have morphed into worldly lifestyles. You will never please God as a Christian if you lose your identity. The Christian’s identity is to be distinctly associated with Christ and nothing else. If the Christian is associated with anything else, they have failed to follow God’s commands.

Lawrence Ivey TiesThe second timeless command for the Christian is to be positional. The standard wasn’t only an identity; it was a position. You will never please God until you choose to stand where He wants you to stand, and not where you want to stand. Many Christians compromise because they don’t want to be controversial. Always remember, God’s commands are positional, and positional stands will always be controversial. Stop worrying about whether what God wants is controversial and start obeying by positionally standing where He wants you to stand.

The third timeless command for the Christian is directional. God told Israel to “set forward.” You will never please God if you are not going forward in your Christian life. You can always know whether or not something is right for you by which direction it takes you. If something doesn’t take you forward for Christ, it is something you are not to do. God’s will never takes you backwards; it always takes you forward.

There are two things about these commands, if obeyed, that will help you as a Christian. First, they will keep you from falling into sin. When a person makes their position clear and boldly identifies with Christ, they will find that the crowd who would try to influence them for wrong will want nothing to do with them. These commands are a safety net for the Christian. Second, these commands will keep you safe from changing. Your identifiable and positional stance puts the pressure on you to never change.

Friend, stop worrying about offending people with God’s commands. If you’ll make your identity and positions clear, your direction will always take care of itself. You will never please God with your life without obeying these three timeless commands.