53. GET READY TO MOVE. Joshua 1-21v45.

God said to Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, get ready to cross the Jordan River in to the land I am about to give (you) … I will give you every place you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon. And from the great river, the Euphrates… to the great sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them” (Joshua 2-6) Today ( 2023) are you standing at the crossroads of change, contemplating a new season or assignment, and feeling anxious about it? If so >Observe two things about this story. (1) When his time came to lead, Joshua was ready. Until then, he faithfully served Moses and found his fulfilment being in the 2IC Position, he didn’t push and he didn’t play politics; he just prepared himself. And when he was ready, God promoted him. (2) He went further than his mentor Moses did. Moses’ leadership In fact, ended where the Promised land began. Under Joshua’s leadership, Israel would move into it and become a great nation. Everyday he spent in the wilderness equipped him for this moment. So don’t get bored with the present, God is preparing you for something He needs you to do for Him. God never wastes experience. Everything you’ve been through and are presently going through including the things you don't understand, are a preparation for what God has in store for you. Can you imagine how Joshua must have felt stepping in to Moses’s shoes? He needed assurance, so God told him (1) “I will give you every place where you set your foot” in other words God is telling him “Trust me and step out in faith it’s yours if your willing to walk towards it and take possession of it. Was it going to be easy? No! Would they get there overnight? No! But his confidence came from the words, “As I promised” The song goes “Standing on the promises that CANNOT fail; When the howling winds of doubt and fear assail. Standing on the living word I shall prevail; Standing on the promises of God” (2) “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.”(Joshua 1:5) Will you face criticism? Yes. Will you come under attack? Yes. There were 31 kings, 7 Nations, and giants 8 to 10 foot tall waiting for them in the Promised Land. But, every battle you fight is just another opportunity for God to show Himself strong on your behalf. (3) “As I was with Moses so I will be with you.” (Joshua 1;5) If you are anxious about the future, recall God’s faithfulness to you in the past. Did you ever think “I don’t know how I’ll ever get over this” Yet you did, How? and why? At the end of his life Joshua wrote; “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises The Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled..”.(Joshua. 23;14). And the God who came through for Joshua will come through for you too. “The Lord who is the stronghold of my life – Of whom shall I be afraid” ( Psalm 27:1) If you’ve ever packed up and moved to another house, you may remember saying, “This is the last time I’m moving!” That will give you some idea how Joshua must have felt moving almost two million people into a new homeland. And they did it on foot. So God told Joshua two things (1) “Be strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7) why? Because his enemies were going to attack him, and his own people were going to make endless demands on him. So where do you find courage? Only in these words; “The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” That word “Stronghold” implies you are held in the safety of God’s strong arms. That means nothing can get to you, without first coming through Him. Victor Hugo wrote, “Have courage for the great storms of life, and patience for the small ones and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily tasks go to sleep in peace; God is awake. (2) “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua1:5) Who but God could make and keep such a promise? Did He keep His word to them? Yes! So The Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their forefathers. And they took possession of it and settled there Then the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers Not one of their enemies withstood them; in fact the Lord handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of the Lords good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled” (Joshua 21;43-45) And their God – is your God too. It’s not always easy to recognise God’s hand in our lives, especially when so many of us have been brought up with the idea of “Believe only in what you can see, hear, touch, taste and smell.” Those are very handy physical gifts or attributes, but for the (Faith-filled) or (Born again) Christian there is a further sense or Gift) of Faith given by the Holy Spirit, which like all His Gifts needs cultivating and that is done by continual prayer-full use and practise. Personally speaking there are very few things now which I pray for that I don’t receive, or get an understanding why I don’t. This is not because I am Holier or closer to God than anyone else, but that God might bring us to a higher level of Faith and trust in Him. The more we get to know God, the deeper our intimacy and relationship with Him grows and as that happens we gain further wisdom and understanding when we pray. So get close to God and He will get close to you. Thank you for reading “Get Ready To Move” And make every experience a learning curb from God. So you will be ready when He calls. God Bless us all. Phaline. -----------------------------------------