Living an On-Purpose life Joshua 1:3-5
Joshua 1:3-5
I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses. [4] Your borders will be the desert {on the south}, nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) {on the north}, and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. [5] No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you.
The opportunities that are best for us are those that fall in line with the will or promises of God. Here we find that God promised Joshua, “I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses.” God promised His blessing on Joshua in one on one meeting. We need to have those one on one meeting with God if we are going to have success in His work. Many a church has many programs that could keep them running without the aid of God. That comes when it is our doing and we ask for God to bless what we do instead of first taking time to ask Him what He wants done. You know as I do it is as we persist in prayer and seek God’s will that the church will move ahead in a way that pleases Him. Is there another way?
Let me put it this way, we are all created in the image of God. This means we have ability to create and see what is unseen. The future of this church depends on what we do and think. God saves people from sin so that they may make this world a better place. It is God’s people that make the future a bright one. I also have to say that people have been able to do great things without God through a positive thinking attitude and visualizing what could be. A good example of this is from Genesis 11 and the tower of Babel.
As we look at our lesson for today we find that Joshua is to lead God’s people into a land they had not been before but was promised to them. Between them and that land was river which was nothing like the Red Sea that God had led their ancestors through many years before. Yet we want to see that the river was not the only thing that was blocking them from what God wanted for them. There were four things that also relate to us as the church today.
1. They had wandered for many years with no sense of direction or specific destination. For years they had been going in circles with no target where they would end up at. Do we know where we are going as a church? Do we know what we are here for? Is your personal life lined up with a purpose God has given you? Are you involved I activities that make you more Christ like and fit for heaven? The people Joshua was leading were God’s people yet they did not know their purpose because they had been wandering for man years. A church can become this way if it is set on never changing and doing the same thing year after year. If church decided we like things the way they are and only want what pleases them now they will not move ahead for God. Are you wandering or do you know where you are going and what needs to be done to get there?
2. These people just wanted what met their needs. For many years they did not have to work for the food they ate for God gave them manna from heaven. They had become lazy in seeking what they needed. We find that even with this they were not thankful in their hearts toward God. They had no desire to conquer what god had before them. Today we can limit God and His desire if all we want is our own comfort. Is our mind set to please and take care of the people who come to this church or do we want to reach out and touch lives that they might enjoy the blessing God has given us? Many churches are in decline today because they have grown inward. They have failed to take time to be alone with God and listen to His voice as to what His plan is. Let me ask you a personal question, “Do you only come to this church to see what you can get out of it? Do you come expecting God to move on your heart and the hearts of others who do not know Him? We are God’s voice and body in this world and He is depending on us to reach others.
There is story of a church in a town of 125. It started in 1920 and for 16 years the people met for worship they unlocked the doors, turned on the lights, rang the bell and prayed for unchurched people by name. The church grew from 12 to 60 people in attendance. In the spring of 1936 there was man named David Whittredge who was plowing out in his field for it was his custom to work on Sunday rather than attend church. He was not raised in a Christian home. His father had been an alcoholic and his parents were divorced when he was 12 so he was moved to Indiana to live with his uncle. He met and married a school teacher who also was unchurched. They had no spiritual connection until the people of that church started calling on them and inviting them to come to church. They started praying regularly for him by name. That morning he heard the church bell ring as he had many times before. The people of the church had been praying. A divine moment happened. He had a change in his thinking. He stopped plowing went to the house and called his wife and girls that they were going to go to church. A divine moment happened that day as David and his wife committed their lives to Christ. In his life n the church he served as S. S. S. and church grew to 250. For 17 years he served in the church. I tell you this story to encourage you to invite people to come to church and then pray every day for them by name. Pray for God to speak to their hearts as he did for David. God has placed you in this church for that purpose.
3. The third thing that blocked them from God’s blessing is what I call the words that have ruined many churches. We have tried before and it did not work. Many years ago God had called to Moses to lead them into the land he had for them. When they voted not to go God did not forget His promise but now it would be delayed because of unbelief. It tells us that they changed their minds and tried to take the land in their own way but God was not with them and they were driven out. It was not God’s time for they had disobeyed. God still wanted them to possess the land but they would have to wait. I was in a church once where I had a plan to reach people in the community and one of the members said it will not work we have already tried it. I believed that with me as a new pastor we could do it but was blocked by unbelief. We went to visit that church a few years later and there was not church building. God gave Joshua the same command he had given Moses but now the timing was right for the unbelievers were not around any more. God had a new leader and new people and Hid plan was the same. He uses people who live by faith and are committed to what His plan is. Some times the older have to die off but the way I think is much better is for the people who love God to get down and pray to be revived so God can move in a way to bring the church to what it needs to be today. Let us commit today to seek God’s plan for us and then give ourselves to it with all our hearts.
4. A fourth block would have been the sinful past of their fathers. Joshua was forced to be in the desert because of the unbelief of others. For forty years he had to live in bondage because of the sins of others. I am glad he never lost hope or faith in God. He still believed he would make it into the Promised Land. It was still God’s will that they enter the Promised Land. God’s plans for us have not changed though people have changed since this church started. Spiritual leaders will not allow the blinders of the past block the opportunities God will give them for their day.
I would hope that today you would see what these blinders can do to the church and be able to confess and give them up to Jesus so that you may be clear in what God wants for you and this church.
As we look at the second part of this message we want to be careful as to what we do so that we can be our best for Christ. Someone stated, “If only we had a bigger church we could do so much more.” Joshua was about to take new territory for God but God put limits on what that would be. “From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours.” God gave the possibilities but He also set boundaries. As I have stated we were created in God’s image but we are limited to time and space. As we spend time with God He shows us what He says yes to but He also will let us know what is not available. I would like to be a great singer but I have only been asked once to sing a special. After I was saved a Christian man was watching me. When I told him I have received a call to be a preacher he let me know he had been praying for God to rise up a new man to take Billy Graham’s place and he felt it would be me. That did not happen yet but I have had 35 years in pastoral service.
The closest I came was attending a Billy Graham Evangelism School and seeing Billy in person. God has blessed me in many ways because I have listened to Him and he had led me in the way I should go.
As we have read this Scripture it tells us that anything that God has for us is more than just a promise of results. It has to be centered on a relationship with Him. God promised Joshua that He will be with him every step of the way as he leads his people to the land God has promised to them. He does not say it will be easy and no troubles will come. He does not promise a conflict free conquest. He does not say there will not be any fierce battles and some set backs. He does not say it will be an immediate conquest. It took years for the territory to be taken.
What He does promise is what He gives to us today. There will be a relationship with God that will prove He is faithful and available each step of the way. God promises Joshua he will not have to go alone for He will always be there. With a promise like that for us today we can leave this building knowing that as our relationship grows we will be aware of God’s promise being real in our lives.
A True Look At Life!
Life can seem ungrateful ~ and not always kind... Life can pull at your heartstrings ~ and play with your mind...
Life can be blissful ~ and happy and free... Life can put beauty ~ in the things that you see...
Life can place challenges ~ right at your feet... Life can make good ~ of the hardships we meet...
Life can overwhelm you ~ and make your head spin... Life can reward those ~ determined to win...
Life can be hurtful ~ and not always fair... Life can surround you ~ with people who care...
Life clearly does offer ~ its Up and its Downs... Life’s days can bring you ~ both smiles and frowns...
Life teaches us to take ~ the good with the bad... Life is a mixture ~ of happy and sad...
SO...
Take the Life that you have ~ and give it your best... Think positive be happy ~ let God do the rest...
Take the challenges that life ~ has laid at your feet... Take pride and be thankful ~ for each one you meet...
To yourself give forgiveness ~ if you stumble and fall... Take each day that is dealt you and give it your all...
Take the love that you’re given and return it with care... Have faith that when needed it will always be there...
Take time to find the beauty in the things that you see...Take life’s simple pleasures let them set your heart free...
The idea here is simply to even the score As you are met and faced with Life.
GOD KNOWS
When you are tired and discouraged from fruitless efforts, God knows how hard you have tried.
When you’ve cried so long and your heart is in anguish, God has counted your tears.
If you feel that your life is on hold and time has passed you by, God is waiting with you.
When you’re lonely and your friends are too busy even for a phone call, God is by your side.
When you think you’ve tried everything and don’t know where to turn, God has a solution.
When nothing makes sense and you are confused or frustrated, God has the answer.
If suddenly your outlook is brighter and you find traces of hope, God has whispered to you.
When things are going well and you have much to be thankful for, God has blessed you.
When something joyful happens and you are filled with awe, God has smiled upon you.
When you have a purpose to fulfill and a dream to follow, God has opened your eyes and called you by name.
Remember that wherever you are or whatever you are facing... GOD KNOWS!!
