26 October 2021

The Key To Success

From Dutch Sheets:

Yesterday we talked about God recircuiting us, as Chuck Pierce said in the word he gave 2 weeks ago. We looked at the importance of guarding what we allow into our minds. When Joshua was about to lead his generation of Israelites into their fullness, God spoke with him about this. Joshua 1:7, 8 (NASB) states:

“Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will succeed.”

God was bringing to Joshua’s attention the vital importance of His Words. “Don’t neglect My words, Joshua. Keep them before you. Say them, meditate on them. Then you will be successful.”

When going through strategic times, we must remember to stay focused on the Word...spending time with the Lord...not neglecting prayer. We must do the basics!

During Christ’s great temptation in the wilderness, He focused on the Scriptures. For us, too, as simple as it may seem, it is indeed the basics that keep us safe and insure success during strategic times. We will prosper and have success if we remember to do this.


On day six of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to earth.

To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the craft. Yet, the astronauts needed to conduct a 39-second burn of the main engines. How to steer during this critical time?

Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination - earth.

As shown in the 1995 hit movie Apollo 13, for 29 agonizing seconds Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster. (1)

The basics are our reference points! We must not lose sight of them! As we are moving into the new era of revival and harvest, it will be our connection with Christ, Abba, and Holy Spirit that ensures success. Demons will try to hinder us, the left will employ strategy after strategy to stop us, giants will abound. But God is all-powerful and very faithful - He will give us success if we stay focussed on Him.

Joshua 1:9 states: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” (italics mine). The word “dismayed” comes from the Hebrew word chathath, which means to crack or break. Zodhiates uses the phrase “cracking under stress”(2) to define it. God was saying to Joshua, “This transition into your kairos stage and toward breakthrough will offer many opportunities for stress. There will be unexpected challenges, difficulties, and warfare. While under the pressure of leading, Joshua, you are going to have to make sure you walk in peace. Don’t crack under the stress.”

Colossians 3:15 states: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Notice the word “let.” We must allow the peace of God to rule. We have a choice. We can stress out by focusing on giants, the way things look around us, problems, or we can take the time to quiet ourselves before the Lord, listening to what He says, and keeping our faith strong. 

Consider this great story:

A Queens, New York woman leaned out of her eighth-floor tenement window and screamed for help. She was trapped in her bathroom. The inside knob had fallen off when her youngest child, age two, had closed the door from the other side. Two of her other children, ages four and five, were in the kitchen, alone, as supper cooked on the stove. The woman alternated between trying to break down the door herself and shouting to be heard. Both courses seemed futile and she was beginning to give up hope.

Meanwhile, a young man who lived twenty miles away happened to be visiting the neighborhood that day. From the street below, he heard the woman’s pleas. He waved his hand to catch her attention and then screamed out, “I’m coming up to help you!” A short time later, she heard his voice from outside the bathroom door. “Listen closely,” the young man instructed. “Put your fingers in the hole where the knob should be, pull it up, lift the door slightly, and then quickly pull it open.” The woman followed the stranger’s instructions, and within moments the door was open.

Once freed from her temporary prison, she ran to check on the children. In response to their mother’s screams, they had become upset and needed some comfort to soothe their cries. When all three children were safe within her view, the woman turned to the young man and asked in amazement, “How could you possibly have known how to get into my apartment, and how did you know how that door opens?”

“I know very well,” he answered with a smile crossing his face. “I was born here. I lived in this apartment for fifteen years. I know how to get in the front door without a key. And the bathroom knob? It would always fall off, and we learned to open the door just the way I showed you! (3)

As we move forward into God-given destinies, including the transforming of our nation, it is reassuring to know that God has already been there. He has seen every chronos, kairos, and fullness season before. Our shifts, the new places, are only new to us.

God understands full well how to open the doors of breakthrough, victory and fruitfulness because He has been there before. And as the eternal God, outside of time, He sees the end from the beginning! (Isaiah 46:10) He isn’t trying to figure out the door - He made the door! And therefore, He knows how to open it.


I was recently asked to comment on how to stay informed - watch the news, read articles, etc. - without growing discouraged. How can we keep our faith strong and keep from cracking under the stress, while seeing the mess, corruption, and chaos? The answer is to do what God instructed Joshua: listen to Him. Focus on God’s Word, first through Scriptures, of course. But also through His prophets - what are they saying? We are told in Scripture to believe them and prosper (2 Chronicles 20:20). Believing them involves thinking about what they have said. Keep their words before you, and say them.

Focusing on God’s words is one way the re-circuiting will occur!


Pray with me:

Thank You, Father, for always instructing us in the way we should go. We never have to wonder what to do. Even when Your strategy has not yet been released we can abide in Your presence and feed on Your word. You told Joshua to carefully obey everything You said - this would guarantee success.

We resist worry. We refuse to yield to stress and anxiety. Your peace is strong in us as we keep our focus on You. We choose to do this. We know You have been into the future and know everything we need to do. We will not stress out.

We decree our faith in Your words. You have said America shall be saved - so it shall! You have said revival is here and coming, therefore it is. You have said a great harvest is beginning - thus, it is! You have said prodigals are coming home, therefore, they are. You have said You were going to expose evil in our nation and pull the plug on it, so that will be done. And You have said You are re-circuiting us and this nation. So be it. We decree these things in the name of Christ. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that God‘s peace, His words of life and His instruction sustain us and guarantee success.


  1. Edward K. Rowell, Fresh Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Christianity Today, 1997), p. 73.
  2. Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New American Standard, rev.ed. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1990).
  3. Yitta Halberstam and Judity Leventhal, Small Miracles (Holbrook, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 1997), pp. 122, 123.
Copyright © 2021 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved.

3 comments:

LindaG said...

Old NFO said...

We need all the help we can get right now. And ignoring the media and concentrating on the scriptures is a good way to do that.

Rev. Paul said...

Indeed, it could well be the BEST way, sir. God knows what He's doing, which is darned sight better than the insane clown posse that publishes the news.