GO WITH GOD
“…proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.” 2 Timothy 4:2 msg
We all want to be effective, faithful servants of God! Living in the moment and being prepared for those instantaneous opportunities takes two players – God and us.
Consider once again that we have been brought back into a relationship with God through Jesus – so when we represent God anytime, it is Jesus who is working through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20a)
We have questions about timing and our specific responsibilities in those moments and we wrestle with when to act and what to do.
Am I in the right place and the right time?
Am I offering my hands and positioning my feet where God can use me more effectively for Him?
Am I getting ahead of God – forcing the moment?
Are we making decisions for God, or are we waiting for God to work through us?
We would be much better at faith living if we would just go with God’s leading. Let God do His thing, and…
Just do
job
God has given us all the
God’s Word
God told Joshua as he was preparing to lead the Israelites into the land of promise – and He says to us…
“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.” Joshua 1:7 NIV
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 4:16-17 NIV
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is working in you right now to do what God needs done.
Paul writes, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25 NIV“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3 NIV
By the instruction of the word of God and by the dwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in you…
God reassures Joshua
“Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NIV
The book of Numbers records that Moses was commanded by God to send out a leader from each tribe of Israel into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Among those twelve men were Joshua and Caleb, who were from the tribe of Judah. (See Numbers 13:26-31)
“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’ 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’” Numbers 13:30-31 NIV
The grumblings began…
(See Numbers 14:1-5)
“That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Numbers 14:1-2 NIV
[Then Joshua and Caleb] “said to the entire Israelite assembly, ‘The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.’” Numbers 14:7-9 NIV
God’s favor rests on the ones who trust.
“because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:24 NIV
Trust and obedience bring blessing and reward.
Wait for
Moses interrupted them and said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! 42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,” Numbers 14:41-42 NIV
All of them were defeated by the enemy when they looked over the mountain toward the promised land.
Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him. Psalm 32:10 NIVThe LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 NIV
God punished the people of Israel for their impatience and disobedience and they waited 40 years before they could enter the land He had set aside for them. Not one of the generation of adults would see the Promised Land. (See Numbers 14:30-34 NIV)
To know how to be in the blessing of the Lord and ready for the Lord’s service,
• You must be a student of the word,
• Be obedient to God,
• Accept your responsibility,
• Trust Him, and Him alone – not yourself,
• And Wait on Him to work for you, with you, and in you!
“We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20b-21 NIV