The Word: Joshua 1: 1- 2 (KJV)

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

² Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Dig Deeper:

³ Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

Think about it

MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD!
Still on Vision, Planning, Strategies, Goals, Timing

The Exit of Moses created a NEW BEGINNING for a nation and also presented an opportunity of NEXT LEVEL for Joshua. It brought mixed feelings. In some sense it was negative because the Israelites were going to miss the only leader they had ever known. Joshua was also going to miss his mentor, guide, confidant, personal leader…. Yet it was a positive thing for Joshua because it was a promotion. Also for the children of Israel, the barrier (Jordan river) they couldn’t cross into the promised land for 40 years under Moses leadership, they were now able to do within 3 days of Joshua Leadership. So yes it was a sudden change and a massive loss but it was also a promotion and a step in the right direction. So something that appears negative may not be completely bad. From inside bitterness (or negative experiences) sometimes comes sweetness.

Also there is a distinction between a NEW THING and a NEW BEGINNING. The 2 words seem similar but they are different. A new thing is something brand new. It has never happened before. So Joshua becoming a leader was a new thing. He had never been their leader before. A new beginning though is a new start. You have had it good, there was a problem, God is now giving you another opportunity to hit the reset buttons. So the children of Israel had a leader in Moses before but now they have a new leader in Joshua that would take them across the Jordan.
 
So God came to Joshua and announced: ‘Moses my servant is dead!
I would have thought Joshua knew that Moses was dead. It does not fully make sense. But remember Moses demise was not normal. In Deuteronomy 34 after God announced to Moses that he would not lead the children of Israel into the promise land, Moses was told to go to the mountains where he could see the promised land from afar off and God buried him afterwards. So there was a possibility that Joshua was thinking: ‘Maybe God may change his mind. Maybe Moses may come back all of a sudden’. So God’s announcement to Joshua that Moses was dead was a way of drawing a line and saying: That chapter is closed. It will not be reopened. You need to now move on!. There is no point in grieving over what God in his wisdom has moved on from. Samuel was also grieving for a long time for King Saul, Then one day, God came and said ‘How long will you continue to grieve over something I’ve moved on from. Arise, go and anoint  David my new chosen (my paraphrase). We must be sensitive to know when God has decided to close a chapter and not stay in the old when God has moved to the new. If not we may lose the new.

Also remember (Isaiah 43:18-19) – Forget ye the former things, behold I do a new thing…. Well the easiest to move on from the former is to focus on the new. The power of focus has a way of helping us to re-adjust. Now there is so much lessons to be picked up from this story. I encourage us to read from Deuteronomy 32 to Joshua 5 personally. So they needed to send spies into Jericho which is the first city in the promise land once you cross the Jordan. In the time past Moses sent 12 spies (perhaps one representing every tribe because he didn’t want to offend any tribe) That was what led to all the massive problem that time because 10 spies came back with a bad report. Only 2 spies (Joshua and Caleb had a good report). This time around, Joshua did not make thesame mistake Moses made. He chose only 2 spies that he could rely on. And sent them to Jericho. He didn’t bother too much about offending some tribes. He stuck with the formula that worked. (Joshua 2:1). In going to the NEXT LEVEL we would have to make decisions that is beneficial on the long haul and not be sentimental. Those spies stayed in the house of Rahab the harlot and eventually brought back good reports. You will hear good news back shortly IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Nuggets:
We must move when God is moving and not stay in the past  

Our memory verse for January 2018
Habakkuk 2: 2

² And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 2 lines:
Line 1:  And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision,
Line 2: and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Once you say it a few times it will stick.

Prayer focus: Our prayers for the next level project: 
We are praying for all of our programs, services, events that the Lord will take absolute control IJN

On Grace: 
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study: Masterlife now on the 2nd workbook: The Disciple’s personality