Conquering New Grounds (Part 1)

GOG - 19 - 253 - 2019: Conquering New Grounds (Part 1)

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Conquering New Grounds (PART 1)

PASTOR CHARLES OMOFOMAH 1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.

2 So it was, after three days, that the ofOicers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

Joshua 3:1-4 32 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and Oight with this Philistine.”

33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to Oight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the Olock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.

36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has deOied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.

39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And

David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself Oive smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand.

And he drew near to the Philistine.

41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking.

43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your Olesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the Oield!”

45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have deOied.

46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of

David.

51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they Oled.

1 Samuel 17: 32 -51

In Joshua 3: 4, the ofOicers told the Isrealites to give space between them and the Ark of the Covenant that they may know the way they must go for they have not passed that way before. It is not a familiar territory, it’s a new ground, but the fact that it was not familiar did not stop them. Neither did God say to them, “O you haven’t been this way before, so just calm down.” The question to ask from these two portions of Scripture is, what are the things we need to do or recognize in order for us to conquer new grounds?

A lot of believers need to conquer new grounds and what God is telling you is this – You have stayed here on this mountain for too long. You need to go forward, you need to expand, you need to conquer new territories and get new promotion. If you are alive and living, you cannot but want to conquer new grounds because stagnation is not God’s plan for you. The testimonies of yesterday are wonderful and marvelous but you need to get new testimonies. Expect a visitation from God almighty and be ready to move from where you are now into the new level. I am not saying that those who need to move are only those who are not succeeding. Even if you are succeeding, God wants to increase that rate of success.

In this article and the next, we will be looking at things that will position you to conquer new grounds in every area of your life.

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GOG - 19 - 253 - 2019: Conquering New Grounds (Part 1)

Your Mentality Matters.

In Joshua 3:1-4, we read that God gave instructions to Joshua which Joshua gave to the people and the Oirst thing God said to them was that the priests and the levites should bear the Ark of the Covenant. Then in our second text, when David came to the camp of the Israelites; his father sent him on an errand, he saw Goliath raving and raging. So he went to enquire and his big brother said to him, “Get out of here, I know the naughtiness of your head,” and David said, “Is there not a cause?” If you must conquer new grounds, your mentality matters. David saw a godly opportunity. While everyone else was saying, “This guy is too big, nobody can face him,” David was saying, “No! he’s too big, I can’t miss him.” Another word for mentality is perspective. Like the example I often give, if I bring half a glass of water and I ask how much water is there, some

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A lot of believers have developed the mentality of “a hard thing”. Elijah said to him, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall

you feel that it is the ‘important’ people you sit with and the connections you have that will get things done for you. When I Oirst came to Port Harcourt, I didn’t know where I was

be so for you…” (2 Kings 2: 10). The fact that it is hard does not mean it is impossible. It might be hard, but if you do what is simple and every other person is doing the same simple thing, where is the miracle? If you say, “Oh this thing

going to stay. Miraculously, God led me to a couple I had never met before and I stayed with them for two years and three months.

Over time, church grew, we now have rich people in church; but can you imagine how

is hard,” but with the right mental attitude you go ahead and achieve it, they will see that God is with you, then you will make the difference.

There might be things you are believing God for and they may be hard; don’t stop at hard,

stupid it will be if I remove my conOidence from God and begin to place it on the rich people? Stay with the same principles that worked when your beginning was small, it will work at the middle rate and it will work when

go with the right mental attitude and see that it is possible, then God will bring that which you have seen to pass.

there is an explosion.

the same principle that says, “Give and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men give unto your bossom" (Luke 6:38). Stay

people will say it’s half full while others will say it’s half empty, depending on their perspective. I like the people who will say that it is half full.

humble! When you were small, God raised you out of nothing.

Do not always see only the negative, see instead what God is doing. God put the Ark of the Covenant before the Israelites because He wanted to make them develop a covenant mentality. If they could see the covenant, then they will see a mighty God, who is the God of the covenant before them. As a believer, you must remain conscious of the covenant you have with God almighty. He will support you and

David could not use Saul’s armor because he had not tested them. He

The economic situation in the country now may be difOicult , but if you see that in spite of the difOiculty, you can make a difference, then you will make a difference. What that simply

Look at the mentality of David. He was in other words telling his big brother that he was

means is that like the Scripture says in Isaiah 60:2 that darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people, but in the midst of the darkness, God wants to show you forth and distinguish you but you have to see it Oirst

not going to face Goliath just to show off how powerful he was but for a reason. If God has given you a purpose, that purpose is the reason for you to conquer new grounds. It was also his mentality that made him go to the

before you can experience it. God will never do anything above the level of your faith and your faith is measured by what you see with your spiritual eyes except in a situation where God is moving in His sovereignty.

people, to ask what will be given to the man who conquers Goliath and removes the reproach from the people of God.

Your Method Matters.

give you the energy to do whatever you need to do.

Looking at the story of how Elijah left Elisha in 2 Kings 2, the Bible says that after they had crossed the Jordan, Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted him to do for him. Elijah replied by saying, “That I may have a double portion of your spirit,” and Elijah said, “You ask a hard thing…” but thank God he did not end it there.

The principle of faith is a principle that has worked, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Stay with

David stayed with proven methods. The children of Israel were already familiar with the covenant because they have had different covenant relationships instituted by God, so covenant is something they were already used to. Stay with the methods that have been proven. When you were nothing and you didn’t have anything, God brought you to the limelight and when you got to the limelight,

stayed with what he was used to.

Then when he had used the principle that had worked for him in the past and Goliath was down, what did David do? The Bible says that he had no sword in his hand, so he had to take Goliath’s sword. I want to let you know that Goliath’s sword was bigger than the sword of Saul and when it was time, God gave David the strength to handle the sword of Goliath because he had reached that stage. When your stage comes, all you need to handle that stage will be made available to you. David said, “A lion came against me, a bear came against me and God has been leading me in the principle of progression and it is time for a new level, so I know that this method works. Now that Goliath is coming against me, I will kill Goliath.” Choose the principle that works.

There’s nothing wrong with new methods, but follow the principle of progression and get to the next stage. When you get to that stage, all you need to get through that stage will happen involuntarily.

To be continued.

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