From Here to There
By Pastor Devin Galloway
(Joshua 1:2-4a)
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…
- You receive where you’re willing to go.
Proverbs 16:9 NIV
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
The Lord determines the destination. You determine the departure.
Joshua 1:5-6 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.
- God demands strength and courage.
Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous…”
Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous.”
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.”
When God owns the outcome, you can be brave.
Joshua 1:10-11: So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
Joshua 3:2-4: After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
- God is way ahead of you.
Joshua 3:15: Now the Jordan was at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priest who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away…
Move out from where you are, and God will move the obstacles to where you’re going
Joshua 4:4-6a: So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.”
- We all have stones to carry.
Faithfulness to carry the load leads to building something that lasts.
Joshua 4:6b-7: In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord…these stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.
- Build something that stands for generations.
What we build in our lifetime matters.