After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them —to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates —all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand 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 ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:1-9
Joshua 1 is a great, and i mean GREAT, passage of scripture. It is a passage that should be almost memorized. Joshua should be Read again and again so that it gets in the blood.
Joshua 1 sets the stage for us for 2018. This is going to be a big year. I can feel it in my bones. Lots of ground taken for the Lord. Lots of challenges.
I think we have to go into 2018 with an aggressive mentality. I don’t think it is a good thing for a Christian to enter a new year with a passive mentality or mentality of survival. We were meant to live for so much more. Don’t get lost in the past or fear the future. Instead use today to make the future better.
Jesus gave us much to get excited about. He gave us much to expect. When he said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to every person,” he was expecting us to take new ground all the time and to do new things to reach people all the time. New ground. New adventure. Newness of life and newness of purpose.
Remember what God said in Isaiah 43 -
This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:16-19
He has defeated enemies in the past. They lost. They are gone. They are done.
He now says forget them. Forget the slavery and the way that the past treated you. FORGET THE FORMER THINGS and do NOT dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!
Miracles will happen. God is making the ground in this desert world break open and streams of LIVING WATER will erupt from that dry, parched ground like geysers.
That means GOD is ON THE MOVE and he is doing new things.
Joshua had to have this mentality.
When my Dad resigned from the church in Quesnel, a pastor who took the church from a little church in a old building downtown and by the grace of God grew that church to over 400 and in a new building. It was tough for the church to lose their Pastor.
I was a mere 35 years old and didn’t know what I was doing. I knew I wanted to be their pastor. And I quickly found out a truth. “Pity the man to follow Randy Evans” Even his son.
Now imagine how Joshua felt.
Can you image trying to follow this guy? MOSES. Just think about it.
But Joshua had to follow this guy.
Thankfully he had been mentored by Moses. Here in Joshua 1 God commissions
His new leader for the people of Israel.
Joshua 1:1-4
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead.
Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them —to the Israelites.
I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates —all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
GOD is saying the same thing to Joshua. MOSES is gone. Follow me. YOU get going. You’ve got a people to lead. I am about to give you and these people NEW LAND. I will give you every place where you set your foot. Your territory will be huge.
The current Evil Occupants of the land will be evicted.
Get going. Don’t dwell on the past. I learned some lessons in 2017. I am sure you all did. Things change quickly.
The reason that I called this talk, “How to be Ready for Anything in 2018” is because I believe that, like I said, we have to approach the new ground ahead of us with boldness and with purpose and with intent and with courage. We must steel ourselves for the battles and expect victory.
GOD promised that his people, and we are God’s people in Christ, will take new ground. There is promised land in front of us. IF you take your eyes off the past and set them on the new ground that HE will show us.
There are new people to be saved. There are new souls to be won. There are new things for our church to do.
There are new ideas that He will give us to accomplish the conquering of the land in front of us.
Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE GREAT COMMISSION will be SUCCESSFUL? It will be.
Christians all over the world are taking new ground. The ground beneath the world shakes with fear these days. Massive storms, wars, men shooting innocent people from hotel balconies like fish in a barrel, world leaders with no backbone or no sense.
God is shaking the planet and even the confidence of the people who paid Him no mind until recently when everything around them began to fall apart.
They are ready for something solid. They are ready for the truth of Jesus Christ. They are open like never before. They are asking for help. They are reaching out saying, “I need some help.”
The harvest of souls is ripe. We need only be the people who take the love of God and take God at his Word and do what He says to do.
This isn’t some human idea or man made endeavor. These is the marching orders of Jesus Christ and his generals that has been written down for us.
GOD IS ASKING YOU TO BE BOLD THIS YEAR.
To realize YOU are NOT STUCK in the past.
You are not merely human.
You have the SPIRIT WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD LIVING IN YOU.
The DEATH SHATTERING SPIRIT OF GOD.
“Aslan is on the move”
Winter is thawing before Him. It is all falling apart.
Evil is in it DEATH THROES. Satan knows his time is short so he is raging. He is clawing at the cliff he is hanging off of, shouting orders at people, grasping at straws, getting them to do stupid things to take down as many of them as he can.
But he has LOST.
Humanity sits in a cage on a bench with the cage door wide open. All we need to do is run in there and take them by the hand and lead them out into the freedom that was purchased by HIS BLOOD.
Yes the enemy may attack us. But is defensive attacking. We are the ones moving ahead.
When JESUS said, “I will build my church on your confession of me, the gates of hell will NOT prevail against the church.” THAT MEANS the church is a BATTERING RAM and hell’s gates cannot keep it from entering their dark castle and plundering it.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will FEAR NO EVIL for THOU ART WITH ME.
Even when I walk through valleys with people the light of the World is by my side and the darkness will NEVER extinguish it!
We can withstand ANY BOMBARDMENT, for the Name of the Lord is a strong tower and all those who run into it are SAFE.
When JESUS rose from the dead he turned you and me into indestructible people. Stop living like normal, death avoiding people. There is no DEATH FOR YOU. Only life.
Should you walk into battle and be slain you are immediately with the LORD. And you will pop back out of that grave with speed and eternal strength and you will reign with Christ forever and ever.
——————-
Joshua 1 - Look at verse 6 - Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
GOD promised the new land. He promised that these meek Canadians will inherit the earth. I didn’t promise this. I didn’t make this up.
Be inspired. The LORD of LORDs, the GOD of gods, the KING of kings, He promised this. And he bolstered the disciples by saying that when you GO into all the WORLD I AM WITH YOU to very end of the age.
Never will He leave us, NEVER will He forsake us.
If John Glenn could strap a rocket to his butt and soar into space remember we have the jet fuel of scripture in our tank and the Holy Spirit ignites that fuel and propels us globally and heavenward.
Ed Stetzer, a pastor to pastors, leads a church as well as educates pastors all over the globe. His church plants a church every year. They step into every year knowing that they are going to do something new.
Hudson Taylor defied all the logic of family and friends and countrymen when he grew his hair long and starting dressing like a China man to reach people for Jesus. He lost two wives and learned languages and didn’t stop til the Lord said, “Okay Moses, you’re done, come home and rest now.”
You are a missionary who takes new ground just by doing your job and loving your family and loving these friends and co-workers that God has placed in your path.
You are their LIGHT. They don’t know Paul Paquette, They know you. They trust you.
They need you to step forward into 2018 and march on your knees and in prayer and faith CLAIM the promise that GOD MADE that He will grant new ground with every step on that ground that you take.
HOW TO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS
Joshua 1: 7 - Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
You will lead these lost children of God home to Jesus.
You. My very introverted friend Margo who is shy and would rather stay at home. She leads people she is friends with to church and Christ all the time. She isn’t bold by nature but she is strong. She knows JESUS is the only way that her friends will be saved so she invites them to movie nights, kids club and basketball and Christmas Coffee houses and helps organize them. And people come.
My dad always said there are probably 100 people you guys all know right now that are just ready to be saved. They just need to be asked.
By you. Not. Hey one day you should come to church with me. it should be this weekend you would come to this ladies tea thing. This weekend you should come to Alpha.
Again, they don’t know Paul - they know and trust YOU.
Tell them you are praying for them.
Tell them Jesus Loves you.
Tell them you love them.
Have them over for PIE and COFFEE. Take them muffins. LOVE ON THEM.
LOVE IS THE WEAPONRY and the WEAPONS are handled through prayer. NINJA warriors all. Prayer is unstoppable. Pray all the time.
Start your day with a focus on prayer and God will bring to mind the people who need His help. And there in the shower and over coffee and written in your journal pray the names of those He is going to save. He gave you those names and He loves them even more than you do.
But you know why you’re going to be strong and courageous? I will tell you now. The stirring in your heart that the Spirit of God is doing right now isn’t because of some faulty human messenger named Bob who is standing before you. NO.
Your heart is stirred by the TRUTH that you are hearing and you IMBIBE the word of God and listen to it FAITH is being ACTIVATED in your heart. The Truth of God is flowing through your veins.
Joshua 1:8 says that is the KEY to being strong and courageous in 2018, able to take ground and withstand any bombardment.
VERSE 8 - Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
This BOOK should always be on your lips. Mediate on it day and night. Do what it says. THEN you will be prosperous and successful.
Your emotions cannot fuel your success. They can help. They are like wild horses, when bridled can be turned into powerful allies. But your emotions must be corralled and inspired by this TRUTH. Your will must choose to read and listen to and sing and watch the LIVING TRUTH of the Word of God.
Truth powered action.
Your emotions, your stress, your fears, the way you are feeling physically, they all will get in the way of action.
GET UP, GET DRESSED, GET INSPIRED BY TRUTH OF GOD and GET GOIN’.
No matter how you feel you need to get the WORD OF GOD IN YOU. My wife does it by listening to Worship music and changing the dark atmosphere at 5:30am. She imbibes the truth of these songs. I do it by reading the Bible and listenin to sermons and praying and watching movies like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Star Wars and Superman and Rocky and the Lord of the Rings and having coffee with guys like Paul Paquette when I am down.
I inject TRUTH into my veins. When I start seeing people around me dropping like flies from the flu what do i do? I react. I start taking handfuls of vitamins and washing my hands like an OCD dude.
INJECT the TRUTH OF GOD into your daily routine and SHOWER Yourself with it.
You get VERSE 8 and you will get VERSE 9.
“Courage isn’t a feeling it is a God-truth powered obedience in action.”
‘’You want a change of heart then you need to change your habits.”
Mediate on the Word and then VERSE 9 - BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS, do not be not afraid, neither Be thou dismayed, for the LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.
You are stronger than you know. You are braver than you think. Don’t get discouraged when a sin sick culture gets you down. Strike back. Ask God to remind you of WHO THE LION of JUDAH is. Remember Jesus Christ who held back nothing but instead set his face like flint and headed into Jerusalem knowing it was going to be tougher than anything that He faced. And he was like you, facing it as a human.
When he became a man he knew he could be killed and that it was going to hurt. But why did he do it. Hebrews tells us that “He, for THE JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame.”
He had the joy in front of him.
Be a Christian who reads Acts and Revelation 1 and Revelation 12 and Revelation 19-22 and read to the end of the book to the happy ending where we win! And you know we do.
Get that JOY in front of You. When the current world crumbles and the renovated earth stands and Christ is King you are going to look around for the joy of seeing someone you love there with Christ and you forever and ever.
Get that JOY in front of you constantly. No more Death or sorrow or crying or pain. JOY. Sheer happiness.
BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS because HE IS WITH YOU NO MATTER the PLACE.
I feared going to Israel. I feared going to the streets of LA. I feared walking into the Wander Inn on Granville street with all its weird street youth. I fear when I approach people with the Good News. That man of fear is the OLD BOB.
The natural Bob. Then I remind myself who I am and who I belong to. I am a son of the living God, an agent of change, a man who can go anywhere or do anything for GOD is with me. It is just as safe in Africa as it is here in this room for God is everywhere you are and He is for us.
And if GOD Is for us - who can be against us?
No one.
If He did not spare his own Son to save us will He not gladly give us all things?
Your King, walked up to the White Witch and said, “I will die in this traitor’s stead,” then he took the blade and then He took His life back and He smashed her face in and cut off the head of Goliath and he rose up and said, “it is finished.”
Buck up.
You’re on the WINNING TEAM.
Jesus is with you!
Resurrection POWER leaving the building.
‘NUFF SAID, true believers!!!
