Practical Faith - Living God’s Purposes Series

Practical Faith

“Living God’s Purposes”

Joshua 1

With all that is happening and still is happening with this COVID-19 shut down and how it has impacted the church, along with all that is going on in all of our lives, this message, or the basis of this message, as it deals with our faith and trust in God, has had me up quite a lot in the late night and early morning hours.

And so, living God’s purposes is to understand that God put us on this earth for a reason. God has a plan and a purpose for our lives. God wants to use us for a great purpose beyond what any of us could every possibly imagine.

However, we have a problem when it comes to God’s purpose, and that’s because of the barriers we put up in our minds and hearts. Barriers that say, “How could God ever use someone like me?”

And so, for God to use us for His great purposes, we have to change the way we think. The Bible says as a person thinks in their heart, that is who they are going to be (Proverbs 23:7).

Since God has a purpose and a plan for our lives, what we need to do is to find out what that purpose is, because if we’re not being used by God, what are we being used for, and what then are we doing with our lives, or even better, what are we doing with what God has so graciously given.

The Bible says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV)

What the Apostle Paul is saying that God’s plan and purpose for our lives is mind-boggling. In fact, it’s so fantastic that we can’t even imagine it.

Through Jeremiah the Lord says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)

And in Ephesians 3:20, Paul says that God is able to do abundantly more for us than what we could ever possible ask or even imagine.

Now, the Bible says in the beginning we were made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), and seeing that God is the Creator, He has made us to be creative as well, and in that creativity He’s given us the ability to imagine. So, let’s start imagining what God can and will do in and through our lives?

Unfortunately, many people have no imagination when it comes to what God wants to do. Even though we can marvel at man’s imagination, we still can’t imagine God using us.

However, God wants to use us in great and mighty ways. Therefore, we need to employ that imagination. Where is our imagination for God’s kingdom? And then when God starts revealing it, will we start living it?

Todays, I’d like to do a 3 part series within this series on practical faith by looking at the life of Joshua, and today I’d like to look at his beginnings in Joshua chapter 1, and the four things we need to do if we desire to be used by God for His purposes. And know this, that God has done remarkable things through ordinary people who imagined their lives as something more.

1. Dump the Doubts

One of the biggest purpose busters there is, is doubt. We must let go of our doubts so that we can to move forward into the plans and purposes of God.

Doubt limits our potential. It causes procrastination which causes us to miss out on God’s best. We see this doubt in the words we say, like the excuses we use when opportunities arise. It’s where we say, “I doubt that God could use me like that.”

The Apostle James says that if anyone lacks wisdom they need to ask God, and God will liberally supply whatever wisdom is needed. But then he adds a qualifier, a warning if you would.

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt…That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:6-7 NIV)

Therefore, before God can use us we’ve go to deal with our doubt issues.

Joshua had a doubt problem as well. In the military they would say that Joshua had a confidence problem. And who wouldn’t. Look who he was following, Moses.

None of us would like to be the follow up act to Moses? Moses was like Johnny Carson with Joshua being Ed McMahon. Or if you’re into super heroes, Moses would be Batman, while Joshua was Robin.

And then there’s God’s assignment. He was to lead the children of Israel into the Promise Land, something Moses failed to do. And so Joshua begins to doubt thinking who does he think he is to do something Moses was unable to do?