[1] #312, Ready or Not, Pastor Mark Boucher, Sunday 05-25-2008

Text: Joshua 1:1-9
Theme: With God’s help I can change.

INTRODUCTION:

The story of Henry Ford: Change is inevitable, growth is optional.

1. God spoke to a man named Joshua.
   1. “Moses my servant is dead.” Joshua 1:2
   2. Life for Joshua and the Israelites would change.
   3. Moses was the dominant person in 4 of the 5 first books.
   4. Moses died, but God’s plan did not die with Moses.
   5. God’s next word to Joshua was …
   6. “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River.” Joshua 1:2
   7. How are we to “get ready” for change?
   8. (God did not give Joshua a detailed plan. First He spoke to his heart.)
2. Readiness begins by how we perceive change (attitude).
   1. We don’t feel an urgency to change.
   2. We can try to refuse to change.

God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay that way.
Theme: With God’s help I can change.
Text: Joshua 1:1-9

1. Don’t let the past prevent you from change. (The past is important. Learn from it, don’t live in it.)
   1. The desert wanderings were all they knew for 40 years.
   2. Life would be very different from what they knew.
   3. No Moses / There would be:
   4. No cloud, fire / Battles to fight
   5. No manna / Land to divide
   6. No large group / Temptations to overcome
   7. But also …
   8. No wandering / Great opportunities
   9. No discipline / Multiplied blessings
   10. Joshua could have been “stuck in park.”
   11. “I was always Moses’ assistant, his aide.”
   12. “I’ve already been in a battle or two … and won.” (he would have been older than almost all the others.)
   13. Philippians 3:12b-13 “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
2. Anticipate the future with faith. (With God’s help I can change.)
   1. After God said, “get ready”, He filled Joshua’s future outlook with promises (vv 3-5).
   2. “I will give you every place you set your foot.” (v 3)
   3. “I will give you extended territory.” (v 4)
   4. “I will give you my abiding presence.” (v 5)
   5. “No one will be able to stand up against you …”
   6. Will we believe God or our fears?
   7. Joshua could have filled his mind with doubts. (What if … I fail, the people lose confidence, our enemies get together … ?)
   8. But what about right now?
3. Receive strength and courage from God now. (vv 6-9)
   1. God commands strength and courage three times
   2. How do we receive strength and courage?
   3. You make up your mind you’re going to obey God.
   4. “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave to you.” (v 7)
   5. Obedience in the present prepares you for a great change in the future
   6. Joshua, as one of the 12 spies, obeyed God by being positive about the promised land. Because Joshua obeyed God, he lived to change the future.
   7. You receive strength and courage from His Word.
   8. The Word is to be in our mouth. (v 8 )
   9. The Word is to be in our mind. (v 8 b)
   10. You receive strength and courage now by believing that God wants the best for you.
   11. “that you may be successful wherever you go.” (v 7 b)
   12. “then you will be prosperous and successful.” (v 8 b)

CONCLUSION:

There is a promised land. There is a desert. You can be a believer in both.
Thrive? Or just survive?

My heart: to let Christi change me from the inside out … to lead us into lives of:

1. being true disciples
2. making true disciples of others

What is the one thing God is saying to change?