You're One Shout Away from Your Breakthrough

Faith is not just believing, it's acting on what God has already promised you. Today, I want to share something powerful with you: you're closer to your breakthrough than you think. In fact, you might be just one shout away from seeing those impossible walls in your life come crumbling down.

God will never ask you to do something that He hasn't already equipped you for. He won't ask you to do something outside of your ability to perform, and He certainly won't ask you to do something without already knowing how it ends. That's the kind of God we serve. A God who sees the end from the beginning and has already positioned you for victory.

The Charge: Understanding Your Divine Assignment

Let me take you to Joshua chapter 1, where God gives Joshua his charge after Moses dies. This is critical because we can't understand Joshua chapter 6 and the fall of Jericho without first understanding what God spoke over Joshua's life.

God told Joshua: "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I have given to them." Notice that? God says "I have given", past tense. But then He says "go get it." This is where faith without works is dead. You have to apply your faith when God tells you something.

The Prerequisite for Possession

In verse 3, God says, "I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads." What's the prerequisite here? You have to step out. If I stand still, I can only get what I'm big and bad enough to reach from where I'm standing. You determine your level based on how many steps you're willing to take.

You can't get mad at God for something you didn't pursue. It's on you. How far do you want to go?

The Power of Focus and Obedience

God gave Joshua clear instructions: "Do not turn to the right or to the left, that you may prosper and be successful wherever you go." You know what horses wear at the racetrack? Blinders. Why? So they stay focused on what's ahead and don't get distracted.

Success isn't complicated. God laid it out plain:

• Be strong and courageous
• Follow the Book
• Stay focused
• You'll be successful

The Bible tells us in Joshua 1:8 that when we meditate on God's Word day and night, then we make our way prosperous, then we have success. Who determines your success? You do, by how much of God's Word you're willing to put inside you.

Why God Emphasizes Strength and Courage

Here's why God kept telling Joshua to "be strong and courageous" over and over. Years ago, Joshua went out with twelve spies to scout the Promised Land. They came back with evidence that it was indeed flowing with milk and honey, but there were also giants in the land.

Joshua and Caleb said, "We can take them!" But ten others said, "We can't. We feel like grasshoppers in their sight." Those ten voices of defeat caused an entire generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

Now God is speaking a new word to Joshua: "I know what you've been through. I know you've had some failures with people around you who weren't strong and courageous. But this is a new season. Don't let your past failures stop your future destiny."

The Captain of the Lord's Army

Before Joshua even gets to Jericho, something incredible happens in Joshua chapter 5. He looks up and sees a man standing opposite him with a drawn sword. When a sword is drawn, decisions have already been made, it's go time.

Joshua asks, "Are you for us or against us?" The response blows my mind every time: "No, rather I have come now as the captain of the army of the Lord."

This is above Joshua's pay grade. God sent special forces for this battle. Sometimes you think a battle is about you, but God says, "I have a real issue with this situation. My sword is drawn. You don't even need a weapon, this is light work for Me."

Here's the challenge for believers today: sometimes God tells us to go somewhere that makes no sense, and we overthink ourselves, never knowing that God is already there waiting for us. There are some things God has called you to, but you've talked yourself out of them because you're trying to figure out how you can do it in your own strength.

The Battle Plan That Made No Sense

Now we get to Jericho. This wasn't just any city, it was fortified with three different walls. The first wall was 12 to 14 feet high. After that was another 20-foot wall. Then there was 40 acres where people lived, and finally a 40-foot wall with soldiers on top. The likelihood of knocking these walls down through conventional warfare? Zero.

But God said to Joshua: "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty warriors."

Wait a second, how have You given it to me when I see massive walls and heavy security? Because God operates in a different realm than our natural thinking.

The Unusual Strategy

Here were God's instructions:

• March around the city once a day for six days
• Don't say a word, complete silence
• On the seventh day, march around seven times
• When you hear the trumpet blast, give a great shout
• The walls will fall down flat

Can you imagine being in Joshua's army hearing this plan? "So let me get this straight, we're going to walk around the city, not say anything, and then shout the walls down?" It doesn't make sense. But that's the point.

The Six Days of Silence

God gave specific orders: "You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."

How about this, can we wait on God? For six days, all they had to do was march in silence. I think a lot of times we miss our breakthroughs because we just can't be still.

I believe God gave six days to walk around to give the people of Jericho a chance to repent. God always wants to give you a way to change. At any point during those six days, the people inside could have surrendered and turned to God.

The Seventh Day: Victory Released

On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times. We're talking about a lot of miles here—you better have good shoes! On that seventh time around, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people: "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!"

And when the people shouted, the walls of Jericho fell down flat. Every person went straight ahead, climbing over the rubble, and they took the city.

One shout. That's all it took. Because it wasn't about their shout—it was about their obedience.

The Unlikely Hero: Rahab the Harlot

Now let's talk about something powerful. The last person you'd think would be saved is Rahab the prostitute. But she heard about this God, this Savior, and she said, "I'm going to hide you, and if I hide you, can you save me?"

If you go to Matthew chapter 1, in the lineage of Jesus Christ Himself, you'll find a harlot. Rahab became part of Jesus's family tree. You may have some people in your family who haven't lived the best lifestyle, but if Jesus had a great-grandmother who was a harlot, it's going to be all right.

Sometimes we get too saved for our own good, and we look down on people and judge them because their life isn't our life. But at one point in time, you were raggedy too. Never forget where you came from.

Three Wisdom Keys for Your Breakthrough

1. Obedience Brings Victory

First John 2:3 says, "And this is how we know that we have come to know Him, if we habitually keep His precepts and obey His commandments."

Obedience always has a corresponding action. You cannot walk in obedience and not act on what God tells you. If there's no action based on the revelation you received, you're not truly being obedient. Faith will have a corresponding action, you have to do something.

Understand this: the love of God is unconditional, but the blessings of God are based on conditions. God is going to love you regardless, but there are some things He can't release to you because you're not walking in obedience to what He's already told you to do.

2. There's a Vast Difference Between Your Way and His Way

They would never have believed they could shout walls down, but they were obedient to the instructions. My wife makes great cakes, and people always ask her how. You know what she says? "I turn the box over, I read the instructions, and I do what the box says."

Some of us want to add extra butter, an extra egg, more sugar, and then we wonder why our cake doesn't taste right. She figured Betty Crocker knows what she's doing. I figured God knows what He's talking about. Every time you try to reverse-engineer what God said, you're about to mess it up.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Elevation Changes Perspective

A friend of mine was at Disney World with his son, and the boy was getting frustrated in the long lines. He said, "Dad, all I see is butts!" When you're at a lower level, you're looking at everyone's backside. So the father picked up his son and put him on his shoulders, and the boy said, "Oh, okay, now I understand!"

Elevation changes perspective.

Sometimes you don't see what God is doing because you're not on the same level. In football, they have a saying: "The eye in the sky don't lie." There are coaches at the top of the stadium looking down, and they can see things the players can't see. They might call a blitz because they see a weakness the players on the field don't notice.

God sees on another level. When God tells you to make a move that doesn't make sense, He sees a breakthrough that you don't see. That's why you have to obey Him. He's trying to help you, not hurt you.

3. Faith Will Bring Us Victory

Joshua had to obey and believe God. That's why in chapter 1, God told him repeatedly: "Be strong and be courageous." Why? Because Joshua was about to speak to a mountain. God had to prepare him because He was about to tell him to do something that would require faith.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance, the title deed, the confirmation of things hoped for, divinely guaranteed, and the evidence of things not seen, the conviction of their reality. Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses."

Hebrews 11:30 tells us, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days by Joshua and the sons of Israel."

By faith, all the promises of God are received. If you're trying to figure out what God is telling you to do, just do what the Book says. Don't overanalyze it, do the Book. The more you walk out the Book, the more you hear His voice.

The Problem: You're Not Fully Charged

You know how when your cell phone battery gets low, certain features don't work? It starts getting dark and dim, your Wi-Fi cuts off, everything starts shutting down. Why? Because the battery is low. But when you fully charge it, you feel confident because you know you've got power.

When your relationship with God is not fully charged, certain things don't work in your spiritual life, and you wonder why. The question is: are you plugged in?

My iPad will tell me, "Download available, but to receive your download, you've got to be plugged in and fully charged." The download is waiting in the cloud, but you haven't gotten plugged in and fully charged to receive it.

You're walking around with a version that's ten years old, wondering why things don't work. The apps don't function because you need to upgrade. Every day God gives you a fresh word, a fresh download. You better upgrade! God's got a whole situation sitting there waiting for you in the cloud. You need to get plugged in and fully charged.

What Are You Waiting For?

God has plans for you. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before the world was formed, I knew you and I consecrated you." Jeremiah 29:11 declares, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, give you hope, give you a future."

God has a plan, but a plan doesn't work if you don't listen. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Psalm 37:23 tells us, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Jeremiah 33:3 promises, "Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know."

God wants to help you. But you have to do your part. You have to step out. You have to obey. You have to walk by faith.

Your Breakthrough Is Closer Than You Think

Maybe you're facing walls in your life that seem impossible to overcome. Financial walls. Relationship walls. Health walls. Career walls. Walls that have been standing for years, and you've tried everything to bring them down in your own strength.

Let me remind you of something: God is not going to ask you to do what He hasn't equipped you for. If He's calling you to face those walls, He's already made provision for their destruction. The captain of the Lord's army is already there with His sword drawn, waiting for you to show up in obedience.

Stop overthinking it. Stop trying to figure out how it's going to work. Stop looking for co-signers to validate what God has already spoken to you. Just do what He said.

March around your situation in obedience. Stay silent when He says be quiet. Shout when He says shout. Your breakthrough isn't dependent on your strength, it's dependent on your obedience.

You're not as far away as you think you are. In fact, you might be just one shout away from seeing those walls come tumbling down. The question is: will you obey? Will you take the step? Will you trust His way over your way?

Take Action Today

Here's what I want you to do:

1. Get in the Book. The more Word you get, the more you hear His voice. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You listen to everything else, listen to Him. Audio Bible, reading plans, whatever it takes, get in the Word daily.
2. Identify what God told you last. Stop asking for a new word when you haven't obeyed the last thing He told you. What was the last clear instruction God gave you? That's where you need to start.
3. Take the first step. You don't need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. God said, "Every place the sole of your foot treads, I have given to you." Start walking.
4. Stay plugged in. Don't try to run on low battery. Spend time in His presence daily. Pray. Worship. Stay connected to the Source of your power.

Your walls are coming down. Your breakthrough is closer than you think. You're one shout away, but that shout has to come from a place of obedience and faith.

Are you ready?

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