"Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory" -Josh 1:3-4
Moses has died at the age of 120 on Mt. Nebo. God is now calling a new servant to lead the Israelites into the promised land. This new leader is Joshua whom Moses had been raising up. Deut 34:9 says "Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses." Joshua was to now lead about three million people into the land God had promised them. Moses being a type of the law could not get the people over into the promised land. Joshua (Hebrew for Jesus) being a type of the savior was able to "cross" the people over into the promised land, something the law could never do. Similarly Christ is who crosses us over into the promises of heaven and all the blessings under grace here on earth. God spoke to Joshua and gave him a very encouraging word, a word that would help cross over with confidence into all that God had for him. Whatever soil Joshua stepped on would be his and the nation of Israel's. His every step would be a realization of God's word to him. However if we compare all of the land that God promised them to the land they ended up possessing we can see that Israel settled for less than all God had in store for them, about ten percent less would be the common calculation. Israel ended up taking about 30,000 sq. miles of the 300,000 promised to them. If they had all of the land promised to them today Israel would possess all of the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, parts of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and part of Saudi Arabia. Surely there is a time coming when another Joshua (Jesus) will step down on earth once again and lead His people into all of God's promises.
This same Jesus is our victor and our conqueror who leads us and will continue to lead us in all of His promises. However if we are to experience much of what God has for us here and now we must be faithful in taking steps of faith and obedience as we follow closely behind Him. Every time we choose to linger in our walk, call it quits on our faith, or stray from the path, we are settling for less than what God has set before us. God has more for you than you can imagine, His plans for us are greater than we can see and perceive, He sees not who we think we are but we can be and will be if we tread on faithfully in His footsteps.
This same Jesus is our victor and our conqueror who leads us and will continue to lead us in all of His promises. However if we are to experience much of what God has for us here and now we must be faithful in taking steps of faith and obedience as we follow closely behind Him. Every time we choose to linger in our walk, call it quits on our faith, or stray from the path, we are settling for less than what God has set before us. God has more for you than you can imagine, His plans for us are greater than we can see and perceive, He sees not who we think we are but we can be and will be if we tread on faithfully in His footsteps.
- WHAT HAS GOD PROMISED YOU IN HIS WORD? HOW DOES PRAYER COME INTO PLAY WITH RECEIVING ALL THAT GOD WANTS TO GIVE US?
- “Even as an entire generation of Israel died in the wilderness, so many Christians die in the desert dryness of spiritual experience, never walking in the fullness of what God has for them.” -Guzik