Golden Plains Baptist Church · Pastor Robert Carlson

How to Be Blessable

April 10, 2026·39 min·2 clips

A man called a 'give me' husband at a church service went home, apologized to his wife, and three months later she reported their marriage had 'never remotely been as good' because of one statement.

1. This episode is a guest sermon at Golden Plains Baptist Church titled 'How to Be Blessable,' drawn from Joshua 1 and Joshua 22, delivered by an older itinerant speaker. 2. The speaker identifies himself as having been ordained September 8, 1989 at age 47, never pastored a church, never received a paycheck from ministry, spoken at the Pool of Bethesda in Israel, and owned a business for over 50 years alongside ministry. 3. The sermon's core thesis is that receiving God's blessing is not automatic but positional—Joshua 22:5 gives five conditions that make a person 'blessable.' 4. The Joshua text covers chapters 1, 21, and 22: Joshua commands the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh to cross the Jordan and fight with their brethren while their wives and cattle remain on the eastern side; approximately seven years later he sends them home with a blessing. 5. The speaker uses the seven-year absence as an emotional illustration: 'Can you imagine somebody like Justin had just gotten married? Seven years later—finally you get to go see your wife again.' 6. Three personal blessing stories are told: Uncle Ben prayed for his ministry at 15 when the speaker had no interest in church and showed up at the ordination 34 years later; his dying father prayed 'God, would you please pass the blessing you've given me onto my youngest son Donald,' after which the business 'absolutely exploded'; Dr. Williams, met at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in 1990, phoned Canadian pastors saying 'Don needs a wife.' 7. The speaker identifies three business prerequisites for blessing: work hard, be a good businessman, be a generous steward. 8. The first blessability condition from Joshua 22:5 is 'love God,' which the speaker notes appears as a command 250 times in the Bible. 9. He cites the Abraham-Isaac story as a warning: 'God said to Abraham, you love that boy a little too much,' and asks: 'I wonder what we would lose if God said, there are some things you're loving too much and I'm going to need to take it from you.' 10. He argues that loving God requires continuous daily attention, not a single morning statement: 'It's not sufficient for me to tell Joy once a day—I already told her this morning, if I change my mind I'll tell her.' 11. He connects love of God to Bible reading: 'How do we know we love God? How often do we read this book?'—and describes his own morning chair-and-coffee devotional practice, saying: 'I expect every morning when I get there that God is there waiting for me.' 12. The second condition is 'walk in all his ways': find God's direction and follow it rather than asking God to bless one's own agenda. He cites Moses at the burning bush—God said leave the sheep and go to Pharaoh—and Joshua at Jericho, where God's game plan was to walk around the walls once a day for six days. 13. The third condition is 'keep his commandments,' illustrated by the preacher-attributed observation that when confronted with sin, a person has three seconds to decide: 'You either make up your mind you will not do it, or you will do it.' 14. The fourth condition is 'cleave unto him,' meaning 100% dependence: 'Like hanging on a roller coaster for dear life—that's how God wants you to hang on to him.' He identifies only two things God asks Christians to cleave to: God and their spouse. 15. The fifth condition is 'serve God,' opening with John the Baptist's 'I'm not worthy to tie your shoelaces' as the proper posture toward serving Christ. 16. The servant-husband story from Western Hills: a man named Dave heard the 'give me, give me, give me prodigal' description, went home and apologized to his wife, and three months later she reported: 'Our marriage has never remotely been as good because of one statement.' 17. The speaker admits to carrying his wife Joy's purse through all international airport gates between Canada and Israel, saying: 'Any way I can serve you—I will serve her.' 18. The tone is conversational, self-deprecating, and warm throughout, with the speaker repeatedly questioning his own qualifications and including himself in the challenges he presents. 19. Christians who want a practical, testimony-driven framework for understanding why some prayers for blessing seem to go unanswered will find this sermon most useful. 20. Those seeking expository or academic biblical teaching, non-Protestant perspectives, or content outside evangelical Baptist devotional tradition are unlikely to find this episode relevant.

As heard by us

A plainspoken sermon about loving God, obeying him, and living ready for blessing.

This sermon keeps a steady, practical tone. The speaker opens by saying he does not feel qualified to stand behind the pulpit, then turns to Joshua for a simple pattern: love God, walk with him, obey him, cleave to him, and serve him. That gives the message a clear shape.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a plainspoken Joshua sermon about how to be blessable.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Golden Plains Baptist Church