Here's the backstory on the book of Joshua. After being led out of Egypt by Moses, the people of Israel have been wandering through the desert for 40 years. They are now camped along the east bank of the Jordan River, at the very edge of the land that God had promised them 4 decades earlier -- Canaan land -- a land flowing with milk and honey. Joshua is their new leader, and he is preparing his people to take the land that God has promised them. The book begins with God telling Joshua how to make his first move.

Joshua was a brilliant strategist and an outstanding leader. He was also boldly, absolutely, and unapologetically committed to serving the God of his fathers -- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As a result, God used Joshua in ways that he used no other man. In fact, it was Joshua that took the people of Israel into the Promised Land, not Moses. And it is through following Joshua's example that you can begin to possess the Promised Land that God has in store for you.

What is this Promised Land that I'm talking about? It's a place of happiness, a place of blessing, a place of peace. It's what the book of Hebrews calls "entering God's rest." This is a place where you feel good about your life, you find satisfaction in your work, you experience joy in your relationships, and you're relaxed about your financial situation. This is the life that God desires for his people -- a life of contentment.

King Solomon described it this way. "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil -- this is the gift of God." (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

Pretty simple, isn't it? To be happy, to help others, to have enough to live on, and to enjoy your job. This is the gift of God. Unfortunately, many people -- including many Christians that I know -- aren't living in this place. They don't like their jobs and they don't look forward to going to work each day.  And maybe they have enough to live on, but not enough to make them happy, so they always want more. Neither are they systematically involved in "doing good" and helping others. The result is that they aren't happy, they aren't satisfied, they aren't content.

Here's what I want all believers to understand. Just as God promised the people of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, he has promised you a place of peace and contentment and abundance and joy ... and if you're ready to make your move, you can begin to take possession of the Promised Land today.

Leaders, today's message is for you. Some of you are facing the challenge of taking a group of people or an area of ministry from point A to point B. The project that you lead has been floundering in the desert for too long, and it's time now to make your move. Today's message will help.

It's also about taking leadership in your own life. Some of you here today feel like you left the bondage of Egypt long ago, but you have never made it to the place of abundance in your spiritual life. You're stuck in a rut, stumbling through life. You're living off manna instead of feasting on God's abundance. You're wandering through the wilderness instead of inhabiting the holy land. It's time now to make your move. It's time now to receive what God has for you. It's time now to enter the promised land.

Open your Bible to Joshua, chapter one. Today we'll look at three necessary steps for making your move from the way it is to the way you want it to be. Three things I challenge you to do in order to take leadership of your life and your situation. First of all, you need to ...

1. Turn the Page.

You need to be able to accept change in your life. You need to let go of the past. You must be willing to move forward, to start afresh, to take a new step when the time calls for it. Listen to the first words God speaks to Joshua...

(v. 2) "Moses my servant is dead."

Moses was a great man of God; God used him in many marvelous and miraculous ways; the anointing of God was on his life. As a child he was saved from the sword of Pharaoh and, in fact, grew up in his royal household -- because God was preparing him for a mighty work. Through Moses God saved the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, through Moses God parted the waters of the Red Sea, through Moses God delivered the Ten Commandments and the books of the Law. Moses was a great man, but he didn't live forever. He died in Moab at the age of 120, and the nation of Israel mourned his passing for 30 days. And then it was time to move on.

(v. 2) "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan into the land I am about to give them..."

God was saying, in effect, "Turn the page, Joshua. Moses was a great man, he was my servant, but he's gone. It's time for you to move on."

For those of you who are still in the desert, God is saying this to you today: "Turn the page. Let go of the past. It's time to move on." The greatest obstacle to experiencing the abundance of God in your life today is your refusal to let go of yesterday. You can't steal second base with your foot still on first. At some point, you've got to take your foot off and start running forward. It's the same in life. You've got to let go of the past if you want to move into the future that God has planned for you.

I see churches struggle with this quite often. A new pastor comes in, but some folks never accept that the old pastor left. His name comes up at every meeting. "Brother Bill used to do it this way, not that way..." Do you think Joshua had that problem, too? I wonder if the Israelites ever said, "Wait just one minute. That's not how Moses would have done it."

I've also seen some come into churches from another fellowship and spend their time trying to get their new church do everything the same as their previous church. They'll say, "At my old church we used to have the offering after the sermon. Why don't we do that here?" Or, "At my old church the children's ministry was run this way...why don't we do that here?" I always want to ask (nicely, of course) "If you prefer that way, why don't you go back to that church?" It's not that we're not open to suggestions, but at some point you need to realize that you're not at your old church anymore and you don't have your old pastor anymore -- and it's time to move on.

Edmund Burke said "The past should be a springboard, not a hammock." He's saying that we shouldn't live in the past, but we can use the lessons we learned in the past to move us forward. It's what helps us turn the page.

One day, as  a young college student, I was complaining about how demanding life had become and was lamenting the loss of the good old days. My faculty advisor wouldn't tolerate it. He told me that I need to learn to say, "That part of my life is over; this is what my life is about now." He was saying, basically, "You're not in high school anymore. Get over it." The funny thing is that now I'm often tempted to look back on my college days and think, "Life was so easy back then. What happened?" That's one of the tricks the past plays on you: it always looks better than it was.

God said to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead...it's time now for you to move on. Turn the page." You need to ask yourself today, "What page in my life needs to be turned? What part of the past am I hanging on to? In what ways do I allow yesterday to hold me back?" Whatever is in your past that is blocking your future, let go of it. Turn the page. Here's the second thing you need to do.

2. Stake your Claim.

God made a bold promise to the people of Israel. (v. 3) "I will give you everyplace where you set your foot..." I want you to know that God is making the same promise to you today. He wants to give you every place where you set your foot. Here's what I mean.

God wants to give you ownership of every area of your life. He wants to give you authority and power in every area of your life. And, if I can use a word laden with connotation, he wants to give you dominion in every area of your life.

Paul once used a phrase that we would do well to repeat every day of our lives. He said, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37) God made you to win. He made you to succeed. He made you to thrive. He wants you to walk in victory.

When my youngest son went to college, he was nervous about his future. The truth is, he wasn't real excited about the idea of moving out of the house and living in another city. He wasn't completely convinced that he could get to class on time every day without his mother's gentle reminders that the clock is ticking and it's not getting any earlier. And he was a little concerned about measuring up academically.

A few weeks into his first semester, his attitude had completely changed. He sent me an email one day that said, "I had a history exam yesterday and just thought I'd let you know: I own that class. I own my English class, too. In fact," he said, "I'll own this whole school by the time I'm done." Actually, for what I'm paying, I should own the whole school when he gets done, but that's not my point. My point is that even though he has moved out of his comfort zone into a place where he is being challenged academically and is being stretched to develop new disciplines -- he's going through the process with confidence and assurance. He's going through the process with a sense of ownership, a sense of dominion, if you will.

This is what God wants for you -- in every area of your life. For example, God doesn't want you to be defeated in your job. He doesn't want you struggling in a work environment where you're always on the brink of failure, where you can't perform effectively, where you never see results. God wants you to thrive in the work place. Remember the words of Solomon: "...to find satisfaction in all his toil, this is the gift of God." (Ecclesiastes 3:13)

Neither does God want you to be defeated at home. He doesn't want your family life to be filled with stress and tension and resentment. He wants husbands and wives to enjoy each other; he wants children and parents to laugh together. He wants to give you ownership, to give you dominion, in this area.

It's the same with your finances. You don't have to be rich to live in financial abundance. Of course, you do need money, there's no question about that, but you also need the ability to experience contentment. God wants to give you peace in your financial life; he wants to give you ownership in this area.

It also applies to your spiritual life. For those of you who are struggling with sin, struggling with obedience, struggling with burnout, struggling with living in an emotional vacuum, I want you to know that God will give you dominion in this area, too. You can experience love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. These are your inheritance; he's waiting for you to take them.

It's time to stake your claim. Look at your life; look at every place you set your foot: home, work, church, ministry, Little League, the golf course, your neighborhood, your social life, your health, your finances, your extended family, and on and on. Decide today to believe that God wants to give you dominion in each of these areas. And as he promised Joshua, (v. 5) "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life." Does that mean Joshua never lost a battle? Of course not. But it does mean that he lived his life in victory, in the shadow of God's provision. You can too. Stake your claim. Thirdly...

3. Claim your promise.

God said to Joshua, (v. 5) "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." These words were echoed in the book of Hebrews, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) And they're similar to the last words spoken by Jesus on planet earth: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

Believers, whether you realize it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, you are never out of God's sight. He sees you all the time. He's with you all the time. He watches over you all the time. I want you to understand this, and accept it, and believe it, and claim the promise: God is with me always. Don't make me start reciting the Footprints poem, because I will if I have to. Remember the part where there was only one set of footprints in the sand? During his darkest day? And the Lord said, "That's when I carried you" -- remember that? That's the way it is.

God said to Joshua and the people of Israel ... and he's saying to you: "Every step you take, every place you go, I am with you. In your victories and defeats, in your good times and your bad times, in your dark days and in your bright days, I am with you. You can count on me."

You might want to say, "But I don't feel his presence."

But he says, "I am with you always."

You might want to say, "But I don't deserve his presence right now."

But he says, "I am with you always."

You might want to say, "But I'm no Moses and I'm no Joshua."

But he says, "I am with you always."

In order to make your move into the Promised Land, you have to get in the habit of living your life in the presence of God. But here's what I want you to understand -- a little distinction I want you to make. Right now, you already are in the presence of God. He is with you at this moment, as we speak. Day after day, when you wake up, he is there with you. As you go about your routine, he is nearby. He never leaves you. You don't have to make a long journey to get into God's presence. You're already there. Begin to acknowledge it.

I had a friend who comes from a large family: there are 7 brothers and sisters. He told me once how two of the sisters didn't get along -- they had hardly spoken in over a year. They lived in the same house, ate at the same dinner table, watched TV in the same den, but they spoke to each other only when absolutely necessary. For the most part, each refused to acknowledged the presence of the other. Strange way to live, isn't it?

That's what we try to do with God, sometimes. We pretend that he's not right here with us. We pretend that he's not watching us. We pretend that we're all alone and that we can't lean on him for help. By failing to acknowledge his presence, we miss out on the blessings of his provision.

If you want to make your move into the promised land, then claim the promise of God's permanent residency in your life. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Acknowledge his presence. Expect it. Live in it. This is how you make your move into the Promised Land.

CONCLUSION

For those of who you are wandering in the wilderness, who need to make the migration from the desert land to the holy land, I want you to know that today is the day that you can begin. A place of promise awaits you: a place of contentment and joy and peace and abundance and satisfaction. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. And God is waiting for you to enter. It's time for you to make your move. This is how you begin to experience the fullness of God's promises -- and in the weeks to come we'll see how all of his promises are fully realized.

Turn the page on the past: Look ahead to what God will do in your life today and tomorrow.

Stake your claim on your territory: Begin to expect God to give you dominion in every area of your life.

Claim the promise of his presence: You're not in this alone, and you never will be. He is with you always.

Are you ready to enter into his abundance? It's time to make your move.

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