- [Narrator] The secret of Joshua that many do not know.
Joshua was one great man who knew how to move and act,
as soon as God spoke.
Everything God said to Joshua, he moved to do it,
which is why he could walk well
in Moses' shoes after his demise.
God desires an obedient lifestyle
where we obey His voice whenever He instructs us.
This is why we must desire courage, just like Joshua,
to overcome every form of doubt that keeps us
from moving forward with God's instruction or plan for us.
Joshua 3:1-17.
"The Lord said to Joshua, 'This day, I will begin to magnify
and exalt you in the sight of all Israel
so that they may know that just as I was with Moses,
I will also be with you.
You shall command the priests
who carry the ark of the covenant saying,
"When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan,
you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"
Joshua said to the Israelites,
'Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God.'
Joshua said, "By this, you shall know
that the Living God is among you,
and that He will, without fail,
drive out from before you the Canaanite,
the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite,
the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
Behold, the ark of the covenant
of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you,
leading the way into the Jordan.
So now take for yourselves 12 men from the tribes of Israel,
one man from each tribe.'"
Joshua learned how to move when God wanted him to
and it made all the difference in his life.
Naturally, a farmer doesn't have the luxury
of an entire year to plant certain crops
because there are only specific months
in a year that he can plant.
Sadly, if he misses the planting season,
that means he has missed out of his productive cycle
for that year.
He may have to wait for the next planting season.
Jesus helped us understand how precious time is
in John 12:35-36.
"So Jesus said to them,
'The light is among you only a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light.
Keep on living by it so that darkness will not overtake you.
He who walks in the darkness
does not know where he is going.
He is drifting aimlessly.
While you have the light, believe and trust in the light.
Have faith in it, hold onto it, rely on it
so that you may become sons of light,
being filled with light as followers of God.'
Jesus said these things
and then He left and hid Himself from them."
When He spoke of light, He meant we are children
designed to walk in revelation
so He admonished that they should walk
while they still have revelation,
because the revelation will not be there forever.
Abraham also had moments where he had to decide what to do
with the picture God was showing him.
Genesis 12:1-5.
"He obeyed God immediately."
Genesis 12:1-5 says,
"Now in Haran, the Lord had said to Abram,
'Go away from your country and from your relatives
and from your father's house
to the land which I will show you,
and I will make you a great nation,
and I will bless you abundantly
and make your name great, exalted, distinguished,
and you shall be a blessing,
a source of great good to others,
and I will bless, do good for, benefit those who bless you,
and I will curse, that is subject to My wrath and judgment,
the one who curses, despises, dishonors,
has contempt for you.
And in you, all the families,
nations of the earth will be blessed.'
So Abram departed in faithful obedience
as the Lord had directed him
and Lot, his nephew, left with him.
Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his nephew,
and all their possessions which they had acquired,
and the people, servants, which they had acquired in Haran,
and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan."
You don't have to procrastinate
thinking that you've your whole lifetime to respond,
because everything, including revelation, are time bound.
If you respond early enough, then good for you.
But if you respond late,
you may have yourself the blame at the end of the day.
Paul's attitude to revelation
Paul described how he responded promptly to God's directive
in Galatians 1:15-24.
"But when God,
who had chosen me and set me apart before I was born
and called me through His grace,
was pleased reveal His son in me so that I might preach Him
among the Gentiles as the good news, the way of salvation.
I did not immediately consult with anyone
for guidance regarding God's call and His revelation to me,
nor did I even go up to Jerusalem
to those who were apostles before me.
But I went to Arabia and stayed a while,
and afterward returned once more to Damascus.
Then three years later, I did go up to Jerusalem
to get acquainted with Cephas, Peter,
and I stayed with him 15 days.
But I did not see any other apostle except James,
the half-brother of the Lord.
Now in what I am writing to you,
I assure you as if I were standing before God
that I am not lying.
Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia,
and I was still unknown by sight to the churches
which were in Christ in Judea,
Jerusalem and the surrounding region,
they only kept hearing,
'He who used to persecute us
is now preaching the good news of the faith,
which he once was trying to destroy.
And they were glorifying God
as the author and source of what had taken place
and all that had been accomplished in me.'"
He responded in a business-like manner
because he saw it as a serious assignment.
When you see a revelation as a serious assignment
you won't procrastinate or delay in your response.
God won't take you seriously
if you do not take his revelation seriously.
Noah's attitude to revelation.
God spoke to Noah about His intentions to destroy the earth
but gave Noah a lifeline with very heavy tasks.
Noah didn't procrastinate,
despite not having the expertise to build the ark
and the enormity of the tasks,
but he went straight into action immediately.
God unveiled the plans to him in Genesis 6:12-22.
"God looked on the earth
and saw how debased and degenerate it was,
for all humanity had corrupted their way on the earth
and lost their true direction.
God said to Noah, 'I intend to make an end of all that lives
for through men, the land is filled with violence,
and behold, I'm about to destroy them
together with the land.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood,
make in it rooms, stalls, pens, coops,
nests, cages, compartments,
and coat it inside and out with pitch, bitumen.
This is the way you are to make it.
The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits,
it's width, 50 cubits, and its height, 30 cubits.
450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet.
You shall make a window for light and ventilation
for the ark, and finish it to at least a cubit,
18 inches from the top,
and set the entry door of the ark in its side,
and you shall make it with lower, second and third decks.
For behold, I, even I,
will bring a flood of waters on the earth
to destroy all life under the heavens
in which there is the breath and spirit of life,
everything that is on the land shall die
But I will establish my covenant, solemn promise,
formal agreement with you, and you shall come into the ark,
you and your three sons
and your wife and your son's wives with you.
And of every living thing found on land,
you shall bring two of very kind into the ark
to keep them alive with you.
They shall be male and female.
Of fowls and birds according to their kind,
of animals, according to their kind,
of every crawling thing of the ground,
according to its kind.
Two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.
Also, take with you every kind of food that is edible
and you shall collect and store it,
and it shall be food for you and for them.'
So Noah did this according to all that God commanded him,
that is what he did."
We must note that revelation fades
when we do not put it to work.
It is easy to blame others for the delays we see around us,
but it is much more necessary
to value the revelation our Father shows us
so that we can act on it urgently.
It is important to move when the revelation is fresh
so that the impact can be exactly the way God wants it.
Anytime God speaks to us or opens our eyes
to clearly see His purpose and plans,
we can't help the excitement that comes with it.
Whenever God shows us divine secrets,
it isn't for us to become happy
about our access to knowledge,
but it is the gift of a new responsibility
that has to be taken seriously.
God reveals depths about different issues to us
because in that season, there are different purposes
to accomplish that will not just change us positively,
but will also transform the lives of those around us.
Remember what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1,
that, "There is a season, a time appointed for everything
and a time for every delight and event
or purpose under heaven."
When God speaks to us about a change of lifestyle.
steps to take or on what to do in certain situations
but we waste so much time delaying
instead of summoning the courage to take the step,
we are simply forgetting that time and opportunity
are both very important tools
for the fulfillment of God's grand plans.
When we play with God's instructions instead of obeying,
we may never get that opportunity again.
Let us pray.
Father, thank You for being the rock of my help.
Thank You also for speaking to me
and opening my eyes to receive insights
that are meant to build me up.
Just like Joshua, I ask for courage
so that I can move when You speak to me
and so that I can act on every instruction You have for me,
the way Abraham did.
Help me to value time, in Jesus' name I ask.
Amen.