Keys to Living Victoriously
by | February 7, 2024
After a time of sabbatical, it’s great to be speaking and writing again. Over the next several weeks we’ll be looking at the book of Joshua for Keys to Living Victoriously.
During my time away I had the opportunity to draw near to the Lord and focus on what He is speaking to me. And, as the faithful God that He is, He gave me peace, He strengthened my faith, and most fulfilling of all, He reminded me of His promises.
What has God promised you?
I encourage you to take some time this week and ask Him to remind you. Get in His presence, wait for Him to speak, and listen with an open heart. Write down what He shares with you.
That’s the first step but knowing God’s promises is not enough. We, like Joshua and Caleb, must possess what God has already given.
As we think about what the Lord has promised us, it’s not unusual to feel like it’s impossible, to not see the way forward or see the way through. There are walls and giants; there is fear and uncertainty.
We, like Joshua and every other person of faith in Scripture, have a choice:
We can possess the promises or we can choose not to.
Let me assure you, God will love you and bless you either way, because that is who He is.
But if we go, God WILL go with us.
That’s where I’m headed, church, to the fullness of God’s promises. I hope you will, too.
Priceless Inheritance
To begin our teaching, keep in mind that in Christ, you have a priceless inheritance—this is both a present reality and a future promise.
The Apostle Peter declared,
“3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” 1 Pet 1:3-4 NLT
Your born-again experience brings you into God’s family and into Kingdom inheritance.
We live from expectation of eternal life because of Jesus! This new life in Christ is pure and undefiled, beyond change and decay.
Which means our mistakes, failures, and sin won’t separate us from God’s love and our inheritance in Christ!
There are promises and prophecies which God has spoken to you, they are part of your inheritance now, and you must learn how to possess them.
Re-read the words spoken over your life, pray, and declare them afresh this new year!
Jesus said His words are Spirit and they give life—words from the Father, when spoken through the Spirit, are life giving and they build faith.
I heard it said by another pastor once, “You must say it before you can see it!” In other words, declare with faith and expectancy what God has promised—then you “see it” come to pass!
God is wanting us to become what He says, to apprehend what He has promised. The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans how Abraham, against hope, became what God said he was—by faith. (see Rom 4:18)
Hope dispels discouragement and attracts what we hope for. We are now the light of the world because Jesus, the light of the world, has changed who we are the moment we believed!
Let’s examine principles behind Joshua’s success to glean Keys to Living Victoriously (Josh. 1:1-11)
Remember that an entire generation of Israel wandered 40 years—longing, wishing for the Promised Land, but they died wishing. Faith is not “wishing,” but acting on God’s promises!
Their wandering turned the Promised Land into a mere Fantasy Land. Disney Land and Disney World are wonderful places to vacation, imagine and dream, but you can’t live in fantasy land!
During those same 40 years, Joshua nurtured a victory within himself. He was becoming what God declared and promised.
When God commissioned Joshua, he responded and turned others’ dreams and wishes into land, cities, homes, and possessions—the inheritance for generations to come.
Remember, Joshua and Israel had been on the east side of the Jordan for 40 years, an entire generation. They were used to thinking of the other side of the Jordan as Fantasy Land.
They had even become “grasshoppers” in their own sight (see Num. 13:33).
Joshua and Caleb believed God’s promise 40 years earlier that the Promised Land was theirs, they and the nation of Israel had to cross over and posses what God had promised.
If you think you are a grasshopper, you are; because as a person “thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). But in God you are not a grasshopper—ever!
You are never alone, never abandoned, and never out matched in God! A renewed mind sees the impossible as the environment for God’s miracle power to be displayed!
Realize what was happening when God called Joshua. “The Lord [said] to Joshua: ‘Moses … is dead. Now therefore, arise, go’” (Josh. 1:1-2).
What a moment for purpose to unfold, for inheritance to be received—it began with a funeral!
It was a disastrous hour for Joshua and the people of Israel. Their leader, Moses, has died, and perhaps for some their vision died also. However, God specializes in bringing life out of death.
Sometimes it’s in the transition, even the death of vision or the uncertainty of situation, that God’s purposes begin to become clear and unfold. Trust Him!
I’ll resume next week, but if you missed the message this article comes from, you can click on the link here to watch it.
Remember, you have a priceless inheritance in Christ that is reserved for you, beyond decay, mistakes, and sin!
