May 21, 2011
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The Victorious Life of Joshua Part 13
This brings us back to the beginning of the book of Joshua, because here, an era has died, in verse one. Everyone’s expectations have died with Moses, or are in the process of dying. They have a new leader, who does not coddle them, who is not a peacemaker, and who does not put up with whining. Their past (parents), or, the past (dependency) way of doing things are gone as well. They’ve got to learn a new way of walking.
Look at the instructions God now gives to Joshua.
Jos 1:2 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.
The Message bible states it this way:
“Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel.”
Its a call for action. It’s like God said, “You’re ready. I’ve already prepared you for this moment. Make the transition. Cross over into a new land. Now go!”
Jordan = “descender”
In my mind, the “descender” would have to be doubt; lack of faith. Its like, “Get past your doubt, or proceed beyond your lack of faith into the place I have provided for you.” Basically, He’s commanding them to stop looking backwards at what was, and move forward into what He’s already provided.
Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
The NIV says it this way, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.”
The word “give” here, is the law of appropriation. God gives, but we must go in and take. I had never seen this before; never understood it in this way before.
Deu 11:23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
Deu 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
Deu 11:25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: [for] the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
Robert Kiyosaki says there’s 3 types of attitude: Climb attitude, Cruise attitude, and Dive attitude.
The people with the Climb attitude are the employees who came in early and stayed late.
The people with the Cruise attitude are the ones that reached their “plateau” in the company and were not going any higher. They were comfortable and planned to be with the company until the day they retired.
And then, there are those in the Dive attitude. These are the ones with the bad attitude. They don’t like their job, their boss, or the people they work with. They come to work just for the paycheck and benefits, and let everyone know how much they hate being there. They are slow and have high resistance to anything positive. They gossip and spread rumors, and talk badly about anyone they don’t like, especially the employees with the Climb attitude.
What Robert found interesting about these three types, is that even after a rumor spread throughout the company that indicated that earnings per share were down on Wall street, and the company was going to lay off some people; even when faced with the threat of losing their jobs, the people did not change; not even after the layoffs actually happened. The climbers kept climbing, the cruisers kept cruising, and the divers kept diving.
Crossing over the “descender” certainly looks to be an action step of faith. It appears to be a call to change one’s attitude; to get past your past; to “adjust your sails and chart your course.” The mindset had to change. With the death of the previous era and generation, came the birth of new opportunity. One only has to rise from the dust, lift their cast down eyes up and see it.
