Mensa Otabil - Make Your Way Prosperous
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Joshua chapter 1 verse 8. This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. After God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, He gave Joshua the keys for developing his spiritual strength. The success factor for how Joshua was going to possess the promised land was the word of God. God told Joshua how to treat the word of the Lord and then said that if he treated the word of God that way, then he would make his own way prosperous and have good success.
You would have thought that God would say that if he obeyed the word, then God would make Joshua prosperous and have good success. But He said if Joshua did it, then Joshua himself would make his way prosperous and have good success. This tells us that the result of what God does for us benefits us; we are the ones who make our way prosperous. We determine whether we’ll be successful or not, and the word of the Lord was the strength of Joshua. That is what he was going to take into battle. He had to get it into his mind, get it into his mouth, and use it as a weapon because the word of the Lord is both a shield and a sword.
It may not seem like much when you go into battle, especially against those with physical weapons. It may seem that when you hold the word of God, you are just holding something sentimental to encourage yourself. But the word of God is a real weapon. It’s a sword of the Spirit and a shield of faith. If Joshua was going to enter this battle, although it was a physical battle, he had to fight spiritually before entering a physical battle. For that to happen, the word of God had to be his sword, and it had to be his shield.
The word of God, when we speak it out of our mouths, becomes a weapon. So when the enemy comes against you to threaten you, you must speak the word of God. You have to let the word of God come out of your mouth, and that is the sword of the Spirit doing warfare on your behalf. Then, when you hear thoughts or suggestions trying to discourage you, you must lift up the word of God as your shield and take cover under the word of God. Anytime you hear thoughts of discouragement, quote back the word of God. Speak back the word of God, and when you do this, you are lifting up the shield of faith that can keep away every wicked dart of the enemy.
So when Satan throws sickness at your body, you must speak the word of God: «By His stripes, I am healed.» When he throws weapons of shame and disgrace at you, say, «The Lord is the glory and the lifter up of my head.» That is your shield of faith. You don’t respond to Satan with your own bravado; you respond with the word of God, the shield of faith. The moment you let down the shield of faith, even before physical weapons come against you, your mind will have defeated you; your thoughts will have defeated you.
So anytime you go into battle, take the word of God with you. This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. You shall be careful to do all that it says; then you will make your way prosperous. May the Lord help you to make your way prosperous in 2021. Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, Your word is my shield and my sword. Today I release the word into my life for success and prosperity. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» You’re going to win this one. You’re going to win it, and take the word with you. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.