Moving Forward, Part 3

Moving Forward-Part 3

Joshua 1:6-9

When you get to the end of your life will you have regrets? Not regrets for things of this world, or temporal matters, but things of eternity, eternal matters. Will you be able to say that you moved forward with God and experienced the abundance and fulness of his purpose and plan for you life in Christ? Will you be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful”? Moving forward with God will keep help you manage regrets about eternal matters.

In the commissioning of Joshua in the first nine verses of chapter one, God is calling Joshua and the Israelites to move forward into the promise land. God has prepared Joshua and the Israelites for this calling, and he has also provided all they need to move forward and experience the abundance and fullness of the promise land. When God calls, prepares, and provides everything we need to move forward, he also expects us to move forward. In other words, we have to do our part, fulfill our responsibilities to move forward with God.

When it comes to moving forward with God it’s important to realize the obstacles we will face. The text for today reveals that the greatest obstacles you will face when moving forward with God are fear and discouragement.

1. The greatest obstacles you will face when moving forward are fear and discouragement

In verses six through nine we have two commands repeated three times. In verse six, “Be strong and courageous.” In verse seven, “Only be strong and courageous.” And in verse nine, “Be strong and courageous.” The repetition of the command, in my opinion, states the obvious condition of Joshua. In fact, in verse nine the Lord addresses the condition. After the commands to “Be strong and courageous,” God says, “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed.”

It seems that moving forward frightened Joshua. Moving forward into the promise land caused Joshua to be unnerved, and to lose courage. What would be so frightening about the abundance of the promise land?

The promise land does not equal comfort. It does not translate into a trouble-free life. The promise land was filled with people in the land that were very strong. The Israelites had the Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Canaanites, and other “Ites” to contend with once in the land.

Another fear, at least on the part of Joshua, was the fact that the blessings of the land were dependent upon faithfulness to the covenant. To make matters worse for Joshua, God told Moses that the Israelites would not be faithful. Moving forward with God did not mean comfort.

The same is true for us under the New Covenant. Our promise land is living the abundant life by abiding in Christ. The abundant life does not come without its conflict.

To abide in Christ one must when the battle over the old nature, the battle with the world we live in, and all its temptations, and the battle with the Devil, who will do all he can to keep us from enjoying the fullness of our salvation.

We have our own kings that we have to battle on a daily basis to experience the abundant life. We have to take on the kings of self-will, self-indulgence, self-seeking, self-complacency, self-glorying, self-confidence, self-importance, self-deprecation, self-vindication, self-love, and anything other king that rules in the dominion of self.

Fear and discouragement will keep us from moving forward. Many will look at the promise land and not see God’s abundance, but instead a strong people, fortified cities with large walls, discomfort, and other things and will be frightened and dismayed, settling for what the wilderness has to offer. Or others will attempt to go over into the promise land, and instead of attaining all that God has promised, they will compromise and fail to enjoy all that God has given, just like the Israelites did. Don’t let the obstacles of fear and discouragement keep you from moving forward with God. Instead be strong and courageous and move forward. How can we become courageous and move forward? Faith in God’s provisions result in courage to overcome fear and discouragement.

2. Faith in God’s provisions results in courage to move beyond your fears and discouragement

Notice verse six, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.” Let’s observe the commands to be strong and courageous in detail. These words are commanding an expected attitude for those who move forward. “Chazaq” means to show courage. “Emas” means to be able for face danger.

Whenever you find these two commands together in the Old Testament they are always in the context of God’s power and presence. Notice the very end of verse five, “Just as I was with Moses, so I ill be with you.” Now look down to the end of verse nine, “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The promises of God’s presence serve as brackets to the commands to be strong and courageous.

The attitude to face fears and discouragements courageously comes from our ability to trust in God’s promises. He promises his presence, he promises his power, and he promises victory. When we believe God’s promises it results in a courage that enables us to move beyond our fears and discouragements.

When we struggle to trust God it can result in doubt and disbelief. The enemy loves to use our fears to cause us to doubt God’s promises. God’s promises are for you, and all of God’s promises are yes in Jesus Christ.

The greatest struggles I have had in moving forward have always been my ability to believe God’s promises. I can trace my low points in my Christian walk back to my inability to believe God’s promises for me. In fact, at my lowest point I believed that God’s promises were not for me. Yes, the devil had me in his grip, but God gave me faith to move forward with courage and strength. When you have faith in God’s provisions it results in a courageous faith. A courageous faith translates into obedience, which fuels courage and strength.

3. A courageous faith translates into obedience, which fuels courage and strength.

Notice verses seven and eight, “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” When God’s gives a command, he always follows it with a teaching on how to obey the command. Trusting God’s promises results in a courageous faith, which translates into obedience to the will of God.

1) Obedience to the will of God.

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” Doing God’s will fuels our courage.

The Lord tells Joshua and Israel, “not to turn from it (the will of God” to the right hand or to the left…” When it comes to moving forward you must be in line with God’s will. We find God’s will in his word. Jesus spoke about our relationship to the word of God and obeying the will of God in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” When we obey Christ we abide in Christ, and when we abide in Christ he manifest himself to us, which means we experience the abundant life.

We are to keep a watchful eye on the commandments of God so that we don’t go to the right or to the left. Do you remember when you use to text and drive? I know you don’t do it anymore. When you text and drive it distracts you from the road. Many accidents are caused because people end up going to the right or left. We need to be careful and vigilant to obey the will of God. We can stay focused and obey the will of God only as we spend time in meditation on the word of God.

2) Meditation on the word of God.

Verse eight, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

The word of God must be priority in our lives. Meditating on God’s word day and night speaks of this priority. When God’s word is a priority we will meditate on it consistently. The word “meditate” has the idea of humming. We should be humming God’s word in our minds and in our mouths always so that we can always be ready to obey the will of God.

The blessed man or woman does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but delights in the word of God, and meditates on the word of God day and night. Of course meditation on the word of God must move to obeying the will of God. A courageous faith translates into obedience, which fuels courage. There is not greater way to face your fears and discouragements than being exactly where God wants to be, and to move exactly where God wants you to move. When you courageously move forward God’s mission is fulfilled through your life.

4. When you courageously move forward God’s mission is fulfilled through your life.

We can’t overlook two reasons for obeying God’s will in verses seven and eight. At the end of verse seven The Lord says, “that you may have good success wherever you go.” At the end of verse eight, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Contrary to what some believe, prosperity and good success has nothing to do with Joshua’s bank account. It has everything to do with God’s mission and purpose being fuflilled through Joshua. God’s mission being fulfilled through his people was dependent upon their faith and obedience. Obedience is believing God and cooperating with God based upon that belief.

Sad part of the story is that the Israelites never enjoyed and still don’t enjoy the fullness of their land because they have been and are disobedient to God’s covenant. They have settle for so much less from God when he offers so much more.

Don't settle for less that what God offers. God wants to fulfill his mission through you, through our church, if we will simply have faith in God’s promises and allow that faith to move us to obedience. Faith always responds to God’s promises with obedience. You can move forward with Christ. We can move forward with Christ if we will just say yes to all that Christ provides for us. We have all we need for Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We need to put our faith into action and move forward into the abundant life that Christ has for us individually and as a church.

I don’t want to get to the end of my life and regret that I didn’t move forward with God. I don’t want to get to the end of my ministry and regret that I settled for less that what God offered.

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