Into 2013 We Go With God

Joshua 1

Moses, my servant, is dead, now...
An new era, a new time, the end of one portion of Israel's history.
Crossing the wilderness is over, the Promised Land is before them.
Under the leadership of Moses the nation had journeyed to the border of the Promised Land. Due to unbelief what should have taken a month took 40 years.

The nation is in transition. Traveling is over, progress now is going to be measured by conquest, not by distance. It is a time for settling into the land.

God's purposes and plan are unfolding. His will is being done.
They have arrived at the place where the LORD wanted them and what a place it was and is!
The country into which Israel entered was of a very choice kind. The Land of Israel is the world condensed. Within that narrow strip of territory, you get plains and hills, frosts and snow of winter and heats of summer, with products both of the semi-tropical and temperate zones. Israel, is the whole earth in miniature, and all the advantages of all lands are gathered into it. It was, in Joshua's days, as today, a place of extreme fertility: "A land flowing with milk and honey." That is not all; while it was fertile on the surface, it was rich underneath. It was a land "whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig brass." The useful metals were near at hand, and every other convenience. The minerals in the Dead sea are worth Trillions of Dollars. You see the Israeli young people in the malls here selling it! Besides being fertile and wealthy, it was prepared for immediate habitation. The tribes had not to build houses, they inhabited what others had built; they had not to plant vineyards, but to eat the fruit of former labors. All things were waiting for the true heirs of the land.

Now it is time to move in.

The word, "Now" in verse 2, is power packed. It is part of this transition of leadership but also giving instructions and promises for the immediate future and the distant future. You see how the LORD transcends time? This was a culmination of years of Israel's history-v.6 Promises made to Abraham, Issac and Jacob were about to be fulfilled.

With the death of Moses, Joshua took on the God ordained position of leading Israel. He learned by serving as Moses' aide. He stood at Moses' side the past 40 years. He observed the man of God firsthand and close.

Most people are too big for God to use.
Too full of their own schemes.
They have their own way of doing things.
He was a long time in training.
40 yrs. in Egyptian bondage.
One of the spies; Endured wilderness, led in defeat of Amalekites.
After eighty years of faithful behind the scenes service God said "Moses my servant is dead" vs.2.

Who can know what God is preparing you for?

God's will never comes through big things. If we will be faithful in the smallest tasks.

Now Moses had died. They had mourned for him. God is telling Joshua not because he did not know. He is telling him because it is now time for Joshua to step into the leading role. The era of Moses' leadership had ended. Joshua's time had begun.

There is a difference between God choosing a leader and God allowing the people to have what they want. Joshua was the man for this time. He was God's choice after Moses was forbidden to enter the Land.

The nation needed to accept God' choice and get ready to move out into the land.

How are we to face the New Year?

1. Understand the Times.
They are a changing! Big changes.
Don't fight it, learn, with God's help, to flow with it.
Family dinner... Xbox, iPhones doing what crayons used to do.


The LORD does not change! He transcends time but wants us to adjust to it.
Things were about to change for Israel. They were getting their own land!

Verse 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you
Strength
Courage
Don't give into terror, discouragement
Remember the Promise of His Presence

2. Keep an Open Heart
God is at work.
He is desiring to work wonders.
He is still looking for those who hearts are perfect towards Him.
II Chronicles 16.9

He was doing a new thing in Israel with Joshua.
Isaiah 43.19

We are not the same world or the same country we were several years ago, or even last year. Lunch with my friend Rudy, "Just when I thought I had heard everything!"

The human need of Christ as Savior has not changed. Everyone needs God.
In the year 2013 this is true. The greatest need in the human heart is for Christ Jesus.

3. Watch Him work.
Pray for open eyes.
Be on the holy prowl!
Be alert to human need. Jesus was.

4. Join in the work!
Pray Luke 10.2
Pray the LORD of the Harvest
Pray the LORD of the Harvest to send forth workers into His Harvest Fields
Matthew 5
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."


5. Expect an Outpouring of His Spirit! Acts 1-2
Pray for it.
Greatest need
Solves so many problems.
Empowers us with His Spirit

Here we go into 2013 with God.
He will be with us.
He will lead us.