Arise
After the death of Moses, the servant of the
Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My
servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this
people, to the land which I am giving to them. (Joshua 1:1-2)
It’s time to
declare war on the pestilence that goes by the name, "I can't." It
attacks our self-control: "I can't resist the bottle." It attacks careers:
"I can't keep a job." Our marriages: "I can't forgive." Even
our faith: "I can't believe God cares for me." "I can't."
The phrase hangs out at the intersection of Discouragement and Despair Boulevard.
Had Joshua mumbled those words, who would have blamed him? Even his book begins
with bad news: "After the death of Moses …." (Josh. 1:1)
There was no one
like Moses. When the Hebrew people were enslaved, Moses confronted Pharaoh.
When the Red Sea raged, Moses prayed for help. When the ex-slaves were hungry,
thirsty or confused, Moses intervened and God provided food, water and the Ten
Commandments. Moses meant more to the Hebrews than Queen Victoria, Napoleon,
and Alexander the Great, combined. Even George Washington shares Mount Rushmore
with three other presidents. To lose Moses was to lose the cause.
And yet, with
the grass still yet to grow over Moses' grave, God told Joshua, "Moses . .
. is dead. Now therefore, arise." (v. 2) We probably would’ve taken a
different approach. "Moses is dead. Now therefore, grieve . . . or retreat
. . . or reorganize . . . or find a therapist." But God said, "Now
therefore, arise." That’s the major theme of the book of Joshua – God’s power
changes the score. Moses may be dead, but God is alive. The leader has passed,
but The Leader lives on. Even so, Joshua still had reasons to say, "I
can't." In fact, he had two million of them.
According to a
census in the book of Numbers, there were 601,730 men aged twenty and older,
not counting the Levites, who crossed into Canaan. Assuming that two-thirds of
these men had a wife and two or three kids, the number was about two million
Hebrews. So Joshua wasn’t leading a Boy Scout troop through Canaan. These were
two million inexperienced Hebrews. They had never passed this way before. They
could fight snakes, leopards and windstorms, but breach the walls of Jericho?
Wage war on the bloodthirsty barbarians across the river? Perizzites, Hittites,
Canaanites, Amorites . . . just odd names to us, but names that struck fear in
the hearts of the Hebrew people. These tribes were a cesspool of evil. They
sacrificed babies in worship. They had orgies in the city, and dedicated themselves
to witchcraft and idolatry. They were ruthlessly devoted to using the most
innocent and vulnerable members of their community, like babies and virgins, to
manipulate God, or the gods, for their gain.
But Joshua never
declared defeat. And before Joshua could even start to assemble any fears, God
gave him a reason for faith. "Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this
people, to the land which I am giving to them." (Josh. 1:2) Not "the
land I might give them." Not
"the land you must conquer." Not "the land of
which you must prove worthy."
Not "the land you must earn,
confiscate, or purchase." But "the land which I am giving to
them." In other words, the transaction was already complete. The land had
already been transferred. The conquest was a
fait accompli. Joshua wasn't sent to take the land, but to receive the land
that God had already taken. Victory was certain, because the victory was God's.
The Hebrews had
a new land because their Father declared it. And about the time Joshua lifted
his jaw off the ground, God explained the dimensions of the gift: “Every place
that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to
Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the
River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the
going down of the sun, shall be your territory.” (Josh. 1:3-4) Keep in mind,
the Hebrews were gypsies. They didn't even own a sandlot. Yet in one grand,
divine fiat, they were given the deed to the land of their dreams. And in one
of Israel's finest moments, Joshua said, "Yes." He received his
inheritance.
The word inheritance is to the book of Joshua what
Starbucks is to where you live:
everywhere. The word appears nearly sixty times. The command to possess the
land is seen five times. The great accomplishment of the Hebrew people came
down to this: "So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own
inheritance." (Josh. 24:28) And isn’t it time for you to receive yours?
You have one, you know. If you’ve given your life to Christ, God has given
Canaan to you. He "has blessed [you] with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ." (Eph. 1:3) And note the tense: "he has blessed." Not "he will bless, might bless, or someday could
possibly bless." The Promised Land property has been put in your name.
The clerk’s office in heaven has already recorded the deed.
You already have
everything you need to be everything God desires. You have access to
"every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." That promise may
very well be the best-kept secret in all of Christendom. We underestimate what
happened to us upon conversion. As one writer wryly observed, "Many
Christians view their conversion as something like a car wash: You go in a
filthy clunker; you come out with your sins washed away – a cleansed clunker."
But conversion is more than a removal of sin. It’s a deposit of power. It’s as
if your high-mileage, four-cylinder engine was extracted and a brand-new
Ferrari engine was mounted in your frame. God removed the old motor that was caked
and cracked and broken with rebellion and evil, and replaced it with a humming,
roaring version of himself.
Your best days begin
with a paradigm shift. In Canaan you do not fight for victory. You fight from
victory. In the wilderness you strive; in Canaan you trust. In the wilderness
you seek God's attention; in Canaan you already have God's favor. In the
wilderness you doubt your salvation; in Canaan you know you’re saved. You move
from wanting-to-have to believing you already do. When you were born into
Christ, you were placed in God's royal family. "As many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12) Since
you are a part of the family, you have access to the family blessings. All of
them. "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance." (Eph. 1:11).
Surprised?
The apostle Paul
describes the value of your portfolio. "The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs –
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." (Rom. 8:16-17) We are joint
heirs with Christ. The Greek term in this passage is sugkleronomos (sug –
together; kleronomos – inheritance.) We
share the same inheritance as Christ. Our portion isn't a pittance. We don't inherit
leftovers. We don't wear hand-me-downs. We aren't left out in the cold with the
distant cousins. "Our standing in the world is identical with Christ's."
(1 John 4:17) Christ's portion is our portion. Whatever he has, we have. But
then how do we explain the disconnect? If we’re co-heirs with Christ, then why
do we struggle in life? Our inheritance is perfect peace, but we feel like a
perfect mess. God promises to meet every need, yet we still worry. Why? I think
there’s a couple of reasons.
The first is
that maybe we don't know about our inheritance. No one ever told us about
"the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe." (Eph.
1:19) No one ever told us that we fight from victory, not for victory. No one
told us that the land is already conquered. Some Christians never live out of
their inheritance because they don't even know they have one. But now you do.
Now you know that you were made for more than the wilderness. God saved you
from Egypt so that he could bless you in the Promised Land. Moses had to remind
the people that "[God] brought us out from there, that He might bring us
in [to Canaan]." (Deut. 6:23) And that leads to the second reason.
God brought us
out so he could lead us in. He set us free so he could raise us up. The gift
has been given, but will you trust it? Depending upon your answer, that may the
second reason for the disconnect. We don't believe in our inheritance. That was
the problem of Joshua's ancestors. They didn't really believe that God could give
them the land. The best days of the Hebrews could have begun four decades
earlier, a point God alluded to in his promise to Joshua: "Every place
that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses."
(Josh. 1:3) The reminder? I made this
offer to the people of Moses' day, but they didn't take it. They chose the
wilderness. Don't make the same mistake. Joshua didn't. Much to his credit,
he took God at his word and set about the task of inheriting the land.
So do the same.
Receive yours. You are embedded with the presence of God. Don't measure your
life by your ability; measure it by God's. Even though you can't forgive, God
can. And since he can, you can. You can't break that habit, but God can. And since
he can, you can. You can't control your tongue, temper, or sexual urges, but
God can. And since you have access to every blessing of heaven, you, in time,
will find strength. Your best days are for the taking. Make the mental shift
from the wilderness to Canaan. The wilderness mentality says, "I’m weak,
and I'll always be weak." Canaan people say, "I was weak, but I’m getting
stronger." Wilderness people say, "I'm a victim of my
environment." Promised Land people say, "I'm a victor in spite of my
surroundings." Wilderness people say, "These are difficult days. I'll
never get through them." God's people say, "These days are my best
days. God will get me through."
Imagine what
would happen if a generation of Christians actually lived out of their
inheritance. Men and women would turn off Internet porn. The lonely would find
comfort in God, not the arms of strangers. Struggling couples would spend more
time in prayer, and less time in anger. Children would consider it a blessing
to care for their aging parents. A generation of Christians would vacate the
wilderness. "God's power is very great for us who believe. That power is
the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead."
(Eph. 1:19-20)
The same steely,
burly force that raised Christ from the dead will turn every "I
can't" into "I can." "I can do all things through Christ, who
strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) A new day awaits you. A new season of
accomplishment, discovery and strength. Leave your "I cant’s" behind
you. Set your "God can" ahead of you, and then get ready to cross the
Jordan.
Grace,
Randy
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