Are any of you sports fans? This time of year is one of the worst times when it comes to sports. Unless you watch NASCAR, regular season MLB, or Golf there really isn’t a whole lot going on. But before that we have had a very exciting year in sports. In January, we had the first ever college football playoff that ended with Ohio State winning the National Championship, which I know all you Gator fans loved watching your former coach do. In February, we had the Super Bowl with New England Patriots defeating the Seattle Seahawks on the worst play call in Super bowl History. I mean come on you got Marshawn Lynch in the backfield on the goal line just hand off the ball. In March, we had March Madness where the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats went in as the heavy favorites but couldn’t get out of the Final four and Coach K and Duke Blue Devils come away with another championship. In April-June, we had the NBA playoffs where the Golden State Warriors played team ball and beat King James, the best basketball player on the planet in the NBA finals.
Now what did all of these teams that won or made it to the championship game in their sport have in common? They all sat down before the season ever started and they came up with a Game Plan. Now all the teams in all the leagues all had a Game Plan that were less successful than the Champions but they all had a Game Plan with goals that they wanted to reach. All of the teams that won a championship only had Success because they laid out a Game Plan, set goals and they followed it.
As kingdom men or women or Jesus followers to be successful in our spiritual lives we have to have a Game Plan. Some of us have set a Game Plan for our careers where we want to be in 5-10 years, how much money we want to make. Some of us have set a financial Game Plan to buy a house or for our future or retirement. Some of us had a Game Plan for our families when we got married; how many kids we would have. As they get older, we have a Game Plan for their future. Whether it’s getting them through college, or just a Game Plan for getting them out of your house. But how many of you have actually set a Spiritual Game Plan on where you are in your walk with Christ? What I mean by that is “How am I going to glorify God and advance his kingdom in my daily life by exhibiting responsibility and leadership in my marriage, in my family, in my church and my community?”.
So…..today I want us to turn to the book of Joshua and talk about one of what I consider one of the Manliest Men in the bible, and personally one of my favorite Men in the bible to study and talk about and God’s Game Plan for him. After I was saved and I started truly studying the bible I set out a Game plan to study all of the Men in bible that God used in a great way, and I somehow started with Joshua. See Joshua did a lot of big things for God. But he didn’t just start out as the Leader of Israel, he didn’t just overnight become the General of the God’s army that led the people into the Promised Land. No God had a Game Plan for Joshua.
First he was a slave in Egypt, just one of millions that followed Moses out of Egypt across the desert and through the parting of the Red Sea.
Second he became a servant or an aide to Moses, it refers to him in the book of Numbers 11:28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth.
Third he was an explorer as God told Moses to send some Men to explore the land of Canaan he was one of the 12 men that were chosen as a leader of his tribe.
Fourth he became a spokesman, as the reports 10 of the returning men brought fear and doubt to the people, Joshua and Caleb stood up and told the people that the land was good, and God promised it us, and he warned them that they should not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, because the Lord is with us and if he is with us we shall not fear. But in their doubt and fear the people wanted to stone him. But for his faith he was sparred as 10 of the 12 men that were sent to explorer the land and came back and doubted what God had promised, and spread that doubt among the people. Those other 10 explorers were struck with a plague and died.
Then he became a conqueror after Moses died and he was given the task of leading the people into the Promised Land. And this is what I want to focus on if you will turn to Joshua 1:1-9
The LORD’s Charge to Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea[a] in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
A few key things that I think that we can draw from that scripture that made Joshua so successful in his Game Plan is
First God tells Joshua 3 times Be strong and courageous, Be strong and courageous, this is my command – Be strong and courageous! This as men is something we all need to include in our spiritual Game Plan every day we need to be strong and courageous for Christ at our work, we need to be strong and courageous for Christ in our Homes, we need to be strong and courageous for Christ in our marriages.
Wake up every day with the Game Plan of being strong and courageous in all you do for Jesus, because he was strong and courageous when he was hung on a cross and died for me and you.
The second thing if we look closely at the scriptures for Joshua to be successful at executing God’s Game Plan in verse 1 Joshua 1:7 after he tells him to be strong and courageous God says “Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.” Many think success is how much money you make or how much stuff you have, a lot of people define success from other people’s approval. But God defines success in a very different way. David tells Solomon before he dies in
1 Kings 2:2-3
2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go. 4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
See God defines our success in pursuit of obedience to him. Not deviating to the right or left of his Game Plan for our lives. Are you doing everything that you can to follow him with all you heart and soul? Are you sticking to the Game Plan that God has set for your life?
The third thing that we need to do to follow the Game Plan that God has for us and this one is very simple in
1 Joshua 1:8 it says, Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper in all you do.
When he says study this book day and night how do we accomplish this even if we have our quiet time with God in the word every day. How do we meditate on it during the day? For me it started with scripture memory. Before me and my wife started dating, she invited me to a bible study class. Now I was newly saved and looking for a way to continue to grow in my relationship in Christ, and it didn’t hurt that she was really cute and interested in me and I in her. When I first started going they told me we are going to do one lesson a week and memorize a scripture to go with that lesson. At 39 years old my first thought was I am not going to be able to memorize scriptures, I have been out of school 20 years this is just not going to go well. But she was really cute and this is how I got to spend time with her so I did it. Now at the beginning of every class we had to go around the room and say out loud, in front of everyone the scriptures that we had memorized. I would break out in a cold sweat before it was my turn, not because I didn’t know the scripture but I had a real fear of talking in front of people. Can I tell you that was a part of God’s Game Plan for me, it’s a step I needed to take that lead me to where he has brought me today and I give him all the credit for who I am and how he has grown me. But memorizing those 13 scriptures putting God’s word in my heart allowed me to start not only to speak God’s word but it’s how I am able to meditate on it and apply it to my life, to my kids lives, to my work, to situations around me. That is how we are to meditate on it daily.
How do we Meditate on it a night? Do you ever remember watching a scary movie as a kid? What happened most of the time if I was allowed to watch a scary movie before I went to bed as a kid, I woke up with nightmares. Because it was the last thing I did before I went to sleep. So the images I seen were on my mind as I slept. The Word of God should be the last thing you should read before you go to sleep. If you do a daily devotion or just read your daily scripture you are putting the word of God in your mind right before you go to sleep. And if that is the last thing you do your mind will rest on his word while it rests.
To complete God’s Game Plan for our lives in 1 Joshua 1:9 he says do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. When I read this part of the verse as a man I say to myself afraid, I am a man I am not afraid of anything. Ultimately I am not in control things happen in the world that we live in. There are bad things going on all around us. We are called to be a light to this dark and scary world so when things do go wrong, we can be the people that show’s God’s love in this very lost and broken world. So encourage those around you when things go wrong. Do not judge those around you, stand out for loving them even when no one else will. Stand up and be a pillar of strength in this world, to your family, in your church, in your community.
See Joshua was a mighty man of God that was able to part a river, he brought giant walls down with trumpets, he called out for the sun to stand still during battle and it did, he led God’s people into the Promised Land and destroyed anything that army that he faced not because of who he was, it was because of his faith and unwavering obedience to his creator. God had a Game Plan for Joshua’s life and he was faithful and obedient to all that God called him to do so he was able to accomplish great things, because the Lord was with him wherever he went.
To review to follow God’s Game plan for our lives and be successful in all we do we must be
1 Strong and Courageous
2 Obey and follow the Word of God
3 Meditate on God’s Word Day and Night
5 Do not be afraid or discouraged
To have faith like Joshua to tear walls down or make the sun stand still, we must follow God’s Game Plan for our lives, so as Men or Women of God we are the examples to our Family, our Church, or Community and then we will be successful in God’s way.
Amen
