Seven Steps to Victory: Episode 1

Summary

Andrew Wommack presents the first installment of a teaching series based on Deuteronomy 2:24. In the verse, God tells Israel to rise up, travel across the Arnon, recognize that God has given them Sihon and his land, begin possessing it, and fight. Wommack treats these instructions as seven principles for pursuing the life and purpose he believes God has provided.

Biblical background

• Deuteronomy is described as Moses’ final review of Israel’s history, delivered shortly before his death.
• Wommack recounts the earlier episode in Numbers 13–14: Israel’s spies returned from the Promised Land with a report that emphasized its dangers, and the people refused to enter and fight.
• As a consequence of that rebellion, the people spent 40 years in the wilderness. The generation that had refused to obey died there, and Moses was preparing a younger generation to enter the land.
• Although Israel’s wilderness life involved hardship, God miraculously supplied food, water, and protection. Wommack argues that people can become accustomed to a limited or unsatisfying situation simply because it is what they have always known.

The seven instructions in Deuteronomy 2:24

Wommack identifies these as seven steps, though this episode focuses primarily on the first:

1. Rise up.
2. Take your journey.
3. Pass over the brook Arnon.
4. Behold—pay attention to what God is showing or declaring.
5. Recognize what God has given: Sihon the Amorite king and his land.
6. Begin to possess it.
7. Contend in battle.

Step one: Rise up

• Wommack interprets “rise up” as refusing to settle into complacency or accept a situation as permanent simply because it has become familiar.
• He says people can become accustomed to illness, discouragement, poverty, or a lack of purpose, and may stop expecting change. In his view, the first step toward victory is becoming unwilling to remain in that “wilderness.”
• He distinguishes holy dissatisfaction from dissatisfaction rooted in fear or other harmful influences. He describes holy dissatisfaction as a God-given hunger for growth and for the desires God places in a person’s heart.
• To support this idea, he refers to Psalm 37:4, interpreting it to mean that delighting in God leads him to shape a person’s desires.

Personal examples and application

• Wommack recalls pastoring a small church in Seigville, Texas. After two years, he says his feelings about staying there changed suddenly while he was praying. He understood this change, alongside a later practical confirmation involving his rented house, as guidance that it was time to leave.
• He gives a similar account of his attitude changing toward television ministry. Although he had initially viewed television as too expensive and difficult, he says his desire shifted in 1998, and he began television broadcasting in 2000.
• He also recounts a mother who rejected advice to accept her children’s severe autism as unchangeable. He says she continued seeking improvement, and that both children were later freed from the condition. This anecdote supports his warning against simply accepting a problem as permanent.
• Wommack argues that Christian faith is meant to affect life in the present, not only the hope of going to heaven. He cites Galatians 1:4, 1 John 5:4, Matthew 6:10, Ephesians 1:3, and 1 Peter 2:24 in support of his teaching that believers can pursue victory in this life.
• His central application is to stop measuring life by what seems average or familiar, remain grateful for what God has already done, and continue seeking further growth and purpose.

The program also includes promotional segments for Caris Bible College, Andrew Wommack Ministries’ partnership program, and teaching materials related to the series.

Speakers and sources featured

• Andrew Wommack — Main teacher and narrator; also speaks in the promotional segments.
• Unidentified program announcer — Delivers repeated information about how to obtain the teaching materials.
• Biblical sources cited by Wommack — Especially Deuteronomy 2:24, Numbers 13–14, Psalm 37:4, Galatians 1:4, 1 John 5:4, Matthew 6:10, Ephesians 1:3, and 1 Peter 2:24.