Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. Joshua 1:3
This passage is one of my favorites because I feel like it is a challenge to anyone who needs the courage to step out in faith. The Children of Israel had been wandering for 40 years and Moses and had died and leadership had been transferred to Joshua. The time had finally come, after 40 years of wandering in the dessert, for them to take possession of the promised land that God had promised to Moses and their ancestors. God is calling Joshua to take possession of the land that He has already claimed for him. The land had been claimed and was waiting for Joshua and the Israelites to step out and take what God had given. In order for them to enter the Promised Land, they had to cross the Jordan River, and at this time it was at flood stage, swollen and treacherous.
Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. Joshua 3:15-17
Taking possession of anything requires us to take the first step and often into raging waters. The beginning of victory is always in our mind and having the faith to take the first step in confidence. God had already claimed the land for Joshua, but he still had to do some hard things to get it. God often calls us to the edge of the water, but He never leaves us to cross by ourselves. He always goes with us. He gives us promised lands to possess too if we are willing to go in faith and claim them.
We can also go and possess the things that have been taken from us - the things Satan has stolen from us. The Bible tells us in John 10:10 that the thief (Satan) comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. Make no mistake about it, he will rob you blind of everything he can and all too often we help him. This year make it your desire to fight to become stronger, healthier, in a deeper relationship with God and to speak life and love into earthly relationships. Taking possession of the lost areas of your life will require courage in the face of fear. It will require strength in the face of exhaustion and weakness. It will require victory in the face of defeat. It will require you to take a step – even if it is one foot at a time. Fight the enemy for your ground. Own it and take possession of what your Heavenly Father proclaimed yours and gratefully surrender it back to Him.
Therefore understand today the Lord your God is He who goes before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.
Deuteronomy 9:3
