It’s Time to Move On
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)
Praise God! The holidays are over and the presents, if you had any, are unwrapped. Friends and family have left your building and you are getting back to your routine. If you are like me, last year I had some experiences that were unexpected and not pleasant. But God saw me through them and His grace is sufficient for us as we stand on the borders of an incredible year in God.
Now that the new year has begun I would like to share with you a word for this year that the Lord has been percolating in my spirit for the last six or so weeks. It’s a word that’s easy to say, but very difficult to walk out. Most of us know that God has a plan for us and we desire it to come to pass. We believe in His power and grace but the reality is if we do not walk out this truth, then 2010 will end and find us no way near God’s plan for our lives.
This biblical principle is emphasized strongly in the life of Moses and Joshua. It speaks of the courage and strength in God to release so that we can receive. In the Book of Joshua chapter one, God sets the back drop for Joshua’s future…
1 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: 2 “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—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 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. (Joshua 1:1-4)
In these verses of Scripture, we see Joshua the servant of Moses, being given by Jehovah his future job and the boundaries of his authority. He has spent 40 years serving the greatest law giver, pastor, prophet, deliverer and servant of Jehovah that Israel has every had. He had lived in the shadow of God’s great man most of his adult life and now his mentor was gone.
God had pronounced Moses dead and told Joshua to release himself from Moses and move forward for God had not only given him an assignment, but was telling him who he would be assigned to and geographical boundary.
I know most of us can read these words and say, ‘Well God spoke and therefore everything was clear.’ But if we are honest with ourselves we will admit that giving up a good thing in our lives is much harder than walking away from an abusive situation. The enemy of your future is not the present, but the past that you have grown to know and accept.
To let go of your Moses, you must truly have courage in God to know that every Moses…
1. Can become your emotional crutch if you take your eyes off God.
2. Can weaken your faith in God’s grace for you.
We must learn that not everyone you start this year with, will be with you at the end of the year.
Joshua had to learn a lesson that we all must learn at one time or another. That lesson is that our future success in God will be determined by our capacity to let go of the past and trust God for the future. God cannot die but people and places and experiences must give way to a fresh flow of God’s grace and love towards us as we look forward to what God has for us in this new year.
I know most of you have had a year that you can only say by His grace and strength we overcame. Some may say I can’t go any further, I am totally unable to do any more, say another prayer, read another scripture or even just praise His name. You have come to the place where people you loved have died in your life and you are wondering how am I going to make it without him or her.
I believe God wants me to say to you that your Moses is dead and no amount of restitution is going to bring him back. God is removing the crutches from our lives and causing us to look to Him this year more than we have had to before. We are going to fast more than we have ever done, trust His power and grace more than we have ever done.
It’s time to let go of the pain in 2009. Behold the land is open to you. God has a people in 2010 that will respond to your life. He wants to bring out of your life signs and wonders, so that He may be glorified.
My prayer for you is ……that the Glory will spring up in you a new well of hope and power in 2010 that is fresh and ever flowing as you move as Joshua did into your destiny by His power and grace in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’ 28 Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew. 29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help
And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.” (Deuteronomy 33:27-29)
Apostle Anthony Nelson