The Daily Word of Righteousness

Preparation for Invasion, continued

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Joshua 1:5)

People are making millions today developing computer software. They are millionaires before they are thirty. Do you know what it is all worth? Nothing and less than nothing. They have wasted their life. They can't take one nickel with them when they pass into eternity.

All you can take with you when you die is your knowledge of the Lord, your position in Him. The wise person sets his priorities so he is not a fool at the end.

If you will pray the Lord will direct you how and when to seek Him until you are in the center of His will. He understands better than you your need of money to survive in a money-driven culture. He will arrange your life so you don't miss the important things, like His will and the needs of your family. But you will have to mean business with God. You will have to seek the Lord.

Every place that you walk in the Lord will be an everlasting inheritance for you. Do you remember that Abraham lived as a stranger in a land that was to belong to him at a future time? So it is with you.

Now we come to another important concept.

You don't walk just anywhere, you walk where the Lord tells you to walk.

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. (Joshua 1:4)

God did not say, "Here's a blank check, just fill it in," as sometimes is preached today. God told them specifically where to walk, to the land that today is still in dispute because the Jews lost it through their continual sin and rebellion against God.

So many times you hear the challenge to presumptuous faith: "Go out and do great things for God. God is waiting to see who is bold enough to believe Him. Buy a huge building on faith and God will send in the money," and so on and on. This is blindness. The blind are leading the blind. None of them knows God's will, they are daring God to act; tempting God to act. This is the temptation of the pinnacle of the Temple. "Jump off and God will catch you."

This is not what the Bible teaches. There is not one single example in the Bible of aggressive faithùfaith that really is presumption; faith that challenges God to act. There is an awful lot of this today.

But how about Joshua commanding the sun to stand still? If you will read the passage closely you will find that Joshua spoke to the Lord. Joshua was praying and he was in the middle of fighting the Lord's battles. Joshua was following the Lord. He wasn't out trying to "do great things for God."

Jesus does not want us to act blindly. If we will wait on Him He will show us where to walk. When we walk where He directs us, leaning on Him at every step, we will gain a fine inheritance.

Do you know clearly what God wants of you? If not, go slowly. Keep on doing faithfully what has been set before you, in the meantime looking to the Lord continually for His direction. This takes time, as we said, and it may require your giving up some of your activities so you can get involved in the one important activity of lifeùseeking the Lord.

God has promised us that no power will be able to stand before us. Under the old covenant the enemies were people. Under the new covenant the enemies are wicked spirits in the heavenlies. But God has promised under both covenants that the enemy will not be able to stand before us. This promise assumes that we are walking and that we are walking in the place God has designated. Nothing shall by any means harm us when we are walking in Christ.

To be continued.