Joshua: Moving Forward into The Promised Land
Review of Navigating Through Life
First night: Jonah - rebellion of south
Second night: Moses - questioning and excuses of the west
Third night: Peter - faith but distracted by the winds from the east
Who are you acting most like right now?
Tonight: Joshua - moving north or bust
Joshua 1:1-9
Verse 2 - pack and get ready to move
Big point - The sign is AFTER obedience; the promise is before
Joshua means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh brings salvation"
Joshua will bring salvation to the people by conquering the Promised Land
Verses 3-4 - God's promise now it's time for obedience
Verses 5-9 - God promises again to be with them
Verse 8 - Do not let the Word of God depart from your mouth, meditate on it
Verse 9 - same promise as Exodus 3:12 and Matthew 28:20 (God will be with us)
Did Joshua rebel like Jonah?
Did Joshua make excuses like Moses?
Did he get distracted like Peter?
Joshua 3:1-5
Verse 3 - following the leader
Congo line
Coming back from Delta X YOU are the leaders (whether in 7th-12th grade, YOU are)
If the 105 of you here lead back at home, SHIFT Students will follow
Verse 4 - we want to have a F.D.F. on every campus in the Valley
We haven't been there before, we must follow God and obey so we may lead others
Joshua 3:6-13
Verse 13 - remember that Yahweh is "the Lord of all the earth"
He provides gorgeous sunrises and sunsets here
He placed each of the stars in the sky and knows them by name
Also remember this generation was after the Exodus generation
They have heard stories of the plagues and Red Sea but hadn't experienced them
Only Joshua and Caleb had been there before (they were the unquestioned leaders)
Joshua 3:14-17
Verse 15 - flood stage means the river was full
"as soon as" is reminiscent of story of Peter and how Jesus was there "immediately"
Verse 16 - "heap" is the exact same word used in the Red Sea passage
Town called "Adam" is 20 miles away
This means that God stopped the water hours before to coincide with the priests' steps
God is doing amazing things RIGHT NOW in your life, you just can't see them yet
Are you obeying and stepping in the river?
Or are you acting like Jonah, Moses, or Peter?
Me and my brother
God wants to do things in your life; He's just waiting for you to step into the river
Verse 17 - how amazing would this be?
Camp high or mountaintop experience
Have you ever felt God's presence so clearly at church or camp that you would never deny His existence?
Matthew 17:4 - Peter and the Transfiguration
Peter wanted to set up camp because it was such a camp high for him
What happens when you come back home?
The winds and the waves hit right?
Matthew 17:17 - even Jesus gets this to a degree after the Transfiguration
He comes back down to a demon possessed man that the disciples couldn't heal
He wishes they could have a greater faith
What if the Israelites tried to set up camp in the river? They couldn't.
Why do we try to live our whole lives from camp high to camp high? We can't.
We MUST move north and move forward
How has God called you to move forward from here?
Reconciliation? Devotionals? Stepping out in sharing your faith? Loving enemies?
You CAN'T stay here
There has been a theme throughout Navigating Through Life
Jonah 2:2 - Jonah rebelled and cried out, God answered him
Exodus 3:12 - no matter the excuse or the self-doubt, God promises to be with him
Matthew 14:30-31 - when Peter gets distracted Jesus is with him immediately
Joshua 1:9 - Joshua is commanded to be strong for God is with us wherever we go
The only way to Navigate Through Life is to remember that God is with you no matter what
Only Jesus can help you Navigate Through Life
Jesus is the second Joshua
Jesus also means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh brings salvation"
He doesn't save by conquering armies but by conquering the sin in our lives
He doesn't save by bringing us into a physical Promised Land but by bringing us into life and life to the fullest
He yearns for you to move north and to move forward
How is He calling you to move north?
John 5 - idea that an angel would stir up the water of the pool and heal
The paper and the buckets of water
Write down what God is stirring in you
Put the paper the water and stir
John 5:8-9 - "Get up and get well"
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