Overcome any Obstacle

Hey, welcome to Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self this show that I'm doing that's coming up is very important. Time and time again I hear stories of people, and things I've experienced myself, about times in life where you just don't see an answer. You don't see a way out, you don't see a way through. And I want to talk about that and I want to show you some principles in God's word that will allow you to get through it, will allow you definitely 100% to break through because God's word is true. However, the principles in God's word are the key. This show is very important and I really hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to share it with people. Also, go to the website. Uh, it's icmcollege.org/selfttalk. Subscribe to our mailing list and if you could give us a review, that always helps us a lot. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this coming episode. It's episode 161, can you believe it, of Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self; and God bless you.

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Okay, here we go. Welcome to Self Talk. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the show. I thank you for each person listening to this show. I pray for the anointing, I pray for the Holy Spirit to come and touch us. Open up our ears and our hearts to hear what you would have us hear and know what you would have us know. And Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray that you use me. Amen. Well, thank you for being with me today. This show is sponsored by, and you know it, the International College of Ministry, icmcollege.org. We're enrolling right now and I don't think there’s any excuse. If you're called of the Lord and you know you're called of the Lord, why not get your degree now? Get equipped, get trained, show the Lord that you're serious. Money is not an object, we have scholarships available if you cannot afford it. Uh, but we're enrolling right now at icmcollege.org. Degrees in ministry, in theology, Christian counseling - that's very popular - prophetic ministry, AA, associates’, uh, bachelor, master’s, even doctoral programs. That's my plug for International College of Ministry, but you know, it's also my baby. It's a college I founded over 20 years ago. 

Thank you so much for being with me today. I want to tell you a story in scripture because it's critical to your life and I like things that affect me in the now and affect you in the now. So we got the story, you know, the Israelites had fled Egypt. They were enslaved, you know, the 10 plagues came to Egypt and finally, they were able to escape Egypt. And of course they had the… there was the miracle of the Red Sea when they crossed the Red Sea and then the, the sea parted, they went across on dry land. Then the, the Egyptians chased them and then the sea came back together and drowned all the Egyptians. But they wandered in the desert because of, of some rebellion for 40 years. But finally, they come to the Jordan River. Now at this time, Moses has uh, died and Joshua has taken over. Moses was not able to cross into the promised land because he had rebelled against God, you know, on the water– from the rock incident. That's a whole nother story. But all of a sudden, they get to the Jordan River. Now, the other side of the Jordan River is the place they're created to be, is the promised land. The promised land is the place where they will prosper. It's a, it's a, a place of milk and honey and prosperity and abundance. It's the land that has been given them by God and that's something that people even today in 2024 need to understand. Israel has a deed to their land and it comes from God, amen. 

So we get to Joshua 3:9. Now, this story has a lot to do with you so hang with me. I'm not, I'm not doing a bible study here, I'm talking about a life study. Your life. Joshua 3:9, um, now, “And then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, ‘Come here and hear the words of the Lord your God.’” Okay. Joshua said, “By this you shall know the living God is among you and he will surely dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the,’” P– uh, “Perizzite, the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.” Okay? Now he's telling… there, there's enemies in their promised land but God is going to take care of this. You know, He's going to defeat the enemies He's going to use them to defeat the enemies. But the enemies will be defeated. “‘Behold,’” verse… Joshua 3:11, “‘Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.’” This is very important. Now, the ark of the covenant is– it's the covenant of God. It's God's covenant and it's also God's presence. Now… we have a covenant now, it's called The Blood Covenant, the New Covenant sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ. It is a covenant instituted by Christ himself who died to give us this covenant. Now… and a covenant is a promise, a covenant is more than a contract. A covenant says that I give you– I have your back, you have my back. I have your back. In God's covenant, He gives us His life and we give Him our life, okay? There's an exchange, okay? The righteousness of Christ for our sin. And it is a covenant that guards us and protects us. It's a promise from God, okay?

Now you got– the Jordan is at flood stage. Now the Israelites - there’s several million of them need to get into the promised land but they cannot get across it because it's, it's huge. It's not an ordinary river now, now it's a big river. Have you ever seen a river at flood stage? They're very wide and the current is very strong. But they had a word from God. I want you to understand. The River Jordan at flood stage, to me represents obstacles in our life. This was a huge barrier for the Israelites. This was a major obstacle for them. A river at flood stage that they had to get across. They didn't have any boats, they didn't have any bridges, they have to get across this river. So Joshua says… now first off, Joshua had a prophetic word from God, that's very important. I want you to hang to that principle, a word from God. I want to tell you something: God is speaking to you. Now, I've got a book on that, Hear His Voice, be His Voice. There's a link in the show notes to purchase that book, try it. God is speaking to you, God has a word for you, all right? So Joshua gave the word to the Israelites that God had given to them and he said, “‘...you…’” that, “‘...he will dispossess before you these enemies.’” So God's going to make sure the enemies in this land are going to be taken care of. Now it's interesting, God is using the enemies of Israel to maintain the land till Israel could get there. And that's another principle that's very important with God, is God will use your enemies to maintain what he has for you till you're able to possess it, how about that? 

All right, so, “‘Behold,’” verse 11, Joshua 3, “‘Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan…” so the Jordan, to me, represents problems, issues, obstacles, things you cannot solve. But you see, there is a covenant with God that will go before you. Now, this covenant with God we have, it's called the New Covenant, the New Testament, The Blood Covenant. It will go before you into the midst of your problem, by your faith if you believe it with all your heart that you have a promise from God to deliver you, to save you, to rescue you, to keep your back, to hold you, to cover you, to fight for you. This covenant, this promise, when you have faith in it, will go before you and give you victory. 

Now in the story of David and Goliath, you– David understood this principle and he used it to defeat, to defeat Goliath. If you remember the story when Goliath came on the scene, he's taunting the Israelites, and here comes along David and he says let me fight him, let me fight him, you know the story. But there's one interesting part of the story. It says David ran toward Goliath and as he's going toward Goliath, he called him an uncircumcised Philistine. And what that meant was that Goliath did not have a covenant, David did have a covenant. David knew he had a covenant with God and this covenant would give him victory. And so because of the covenant he had with God, he picked up these stones, he threw the stones with the sling, hit the– Goliath in the head, knocked him down, cut off his head, and had the victory because David had revelation and faith, and took action because he understood he had a covenant with God. 

So we have a river here that is blocking the Israelites from their promise. There is a river. There could be something blocking you from your promise, but I want to tell you something. You have a covenant that will go before you if you act in faith. Amen. Woo, that's a lot. That's good stuff though… all right. So, now Joshua 3:13, it says, “‘

It shall come about when the souls of the feet of the priest who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the Earth – rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off and the waters which are flowing from above will stand in one heap.’ So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,” and verse 15, “And when those who were carrying the ark came into the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped into the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows its banks–” “the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest and the waters which were flowing down from above and Rose up in one heap.” In other words, when the covenant of God went before the Israelites and the covenant of God was placed in the problem. The covenant of God was put in the midst of the problem. The problem was a river at flood stage. The covenant of God went into the midst of that problem, went before the Israelites by faith. 

See, they had a word from God. They knew what they were supposed to do but they were blocked. They had a promise but they were blocked. You have a promise, listening to me. Listen to me, you have a promise from God. God's promised you something. He's promised you deliverance and peace and abundance. Jesus said, “Behold, I've come to give you life and give it to you more abundantly.” You have a promise from God for a victory. You have a promise that you're an overcomer, that you will break through. And the way you break through is you let the covenant. You say, “Lord, I thank you by faith that the– your covenant goes before me. 

You see, the key is this, folks. The key is this. There's three keys. First off, in order to cross the Jordan that's blocking you right now, you need a word from the Lord. Now, see, Joshua had a word from the Lord. Joshua had a promise. Now, you can get a word from the Lord by praying and also by reading his word, and that word was followed by obedience. They didn't just sit there, they did something. They acted on the promise of God. So they had a word, they had obedience, and they had the covenant. Let me say it again. Let's put it in order. The covenant goes first. Well, now, first you have a word, a promise from God, then goes the covenant. And, and that's followed by obedience. So when you have a word, you have the covenant, and you have obedience, you will cross over and you will break through the problem in your life. That's a mouthful but it's, it's God's principle. You see, the covenant, the ark of the covenant which was being held by the priest, that is symbolic. That's a prophetic picture. It's a prophetic picture of the anointing, the presence of God. It's a prophetic picture of Jesus. Remember, the ark was in the holy of holies and when Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple ren– tore in two and there was access given to the holy of holies, we could come boldly into the presence of God. So the covenant is the promise of God which contains His Spirit, His anointing, His presence. So when God's anointing, His covenant - which contains everything - when His covenant goes first, you put His covenant first by faith and you act and you have a promise and you obey that promise.

So you have a promise, you have a willingness to obey, and you have the covenant going before you, there's nothing, there's nothing that will stop you. Nothing. Nothing can stop you. Listen, that river was impossible to cross. They had a word from God that they were, that there was something on the other side of that problem that belonged to them. Oh, people, hear me. There's something on the other side of your problem that belongs to you, okay? Pray, say, “Lord, by faith your presence, your covenant, your blood covenant goes before me. Your blood covenant breaks down this barrier, your blood covenant separates the water. Father, I will obey, I will step out, but I know that your covenant goes before me. Your covenant prepares the way, your covenant defeats every scheme of the enemy, your covenant breaks through the wall, your covenant takes care of it all, your covenant, your covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ, your promise, Father. Thank you, Father, the presence of God goes before me, the covenant of God goes before me, the covenant of God goes before you. Thank you.” And this barrier is broken and you do cross over and you do get to the other side of this issue and this problem, do you hear me? I know I'm a little preachy right now but it's truth, folks, it is truth, it is truth. 

I want to pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank you, Lord, for each person listening to this show. I thank you, Father, that there is a promise, it's the blood covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ and that promise contains your anointing, your presence. It contains our life, our salvation. It contains eternal life, it contains victory, it contains healing, it contains abundance in that your covenant breaks every scheme of the enemy. Father, I thank you that your covenant is going before us, and Father, I thank you that you have a promise for us that's on the other side of these barriers, that there's a promise for each person listening to me that's on the other side of this issue. And I thank you, Father, that your covenant makes a way, your covenant destroys the obstacles, the barriers, the walls, the mountains, the schemes of the enemy. Your covenant destroys them all. And so Father, by faith, by your word, and by our obedience, we cross over. We cross through that wall, we cross through that problem, we cross through that issue, and we come to your promised land that you have given us - that we have seen in visions and in prayers and in our dreams and in our hopes - Father, we come to it now by the covenant of Jesus Christ, by the blood covenant, Father. We cross over our Jordan and we're not stopped. And we go into the promised land, All for your glory and for your praise. In Jesus' name. Amen, amen, and amen. 

Well, so folks, I hope this show has been a blessing to you. I hope you understand the principles here. Let the covenant go before you. Get a word from God, obey God, and let the covenant go before you and nothing will stop you. No scheme of the enemy, no barrier. And the enemy loves to put up flooded rivers right in front of you but that's nothing for the covenant presence of God that goes before you by faith. Amen. Amen, Amen. Thank you for listening. Be sure and share this show with as many people as you can. I appreciate you very much. God bless you, this is Dr. Ray Self.

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Well, thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self. We appreciate you very much. If the Holy Spirit leads you to support us with a donation, which would be deeply appreciated, please go to icmcollege.org/donate. We would appreciate your help very much. We are a 501c3 ministry so any donation is tax deductible and that's a good thing. But be sure and share this episode with someone. Subscribe, go to our website for the, you know, for the podcast which is icmcollege.org/selfttalk. Also, again, maybe you never finished your education and you want to get a bachelor's, or, or maybe you have a bachelor's and you want to get a master's. We are ICM College. International College of Ministry is an accredited, Holy Spirit-filled online seminary. You work on your own pace. We are affordable, we even have scholarships if you can't afford our tuition which is already low, but check us out at icmcollege.org. Uh, you can click the free evaluation button, that's no charge. We'll send you an email that tells you exactly what it would cost and what courses you will need. We also have free courses on our website. Click that link. Again, the website's icmcollege.org. Everything centers on that website right now. I appreciate you so much for listening to today's episode of Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. May God richly bless you. Amen and amen.