The Steps God Makes When He Calls Us

Joshua 1:1-9
¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: ² "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. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up 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.

⁶ "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ 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. ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 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. 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 go."

1. He makes us face the facts (verse 2a)

2. He tells us what to do (verse 2b)

3. He gives us His promise. (verse 3-4)

4. He reassures us that He will be there with us (verses 6-7)

The times we actually doubt Him is when we come face to face with our challenges.

But when we actually look at these steps, that he used on Joshua, we can really relate with them. He makes us face the facts, then He tells us what to do, then He gives us His promise, then He reassures us. So when there is a new challenge for us, it is only the first step, when we see the next steps we dont have to feel worried anymore.

God Is For You

"God is the strength of my heart." Psalm 73:26

God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.

Push Forward

Philippians 3

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul, the apostle of Christ who has accomplished so many things for Jesus said this, "not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect." (v12) He could have boasted about how many churches he has built and the thousands of lives he saved by preaching the gospel but even with so many achievements, he humbles himself to nothing. So what should you do if you're not perfect, and you still make a lot of mistakes?

What was Paul's secret to keep himself going?

His secret is in verse 13, "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." Paul says that he will forget what is behind him. Not only the bad things that happened to him but even the good things.

We like to forget about the mistakes that we made and only want to remember the victories we have obtained. But Paul says both, good and bad will be forgotten and he will strain toward what is ahead.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." This last part is really important. We as Christians were called to serve our God, whether in school, in jobs, careers, we were given gifts and talents to worship our Lord. And its important that in our calling, we do our very best. Notice verse 14 did not say "I press on toward the goal to be close to winning the prize, or to try my best to win the prize," but it said, to win the prize, because this isn't just an ordinary calling, its a calling given by God. And its our responsibility to put our heart, body, and soul into what he has given us to do.

What is your calling? Are you pursuing it to win the prize? There were will be tough times and good days but let's take the advice Paul gives us, forget what's behind us and always push forward.

Listening to God

Psalm 81:8-14 (New International Version)

⁸ "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you—
if you would but listen to me, O Israel!

⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god.

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹ "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.

¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

¹³ "If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,

¹⁴ how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!

In this Psalm we could really feel the heart beat of God, asking us that we should listen to Him. Most of the time when we are busy, the things that goes out first are, prayer and our personal time with Him. When that happens it is difficult to move with our own strength. and when the Psalm said (vv 13-14) "How quickly would I subdue their enemies." If we just listen to Him everything will be fine. When we are really busy the more important it is to listen to Him.