Recognizing God's Call Series

Scripture Reading: Joshua 1:6-9 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips;meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

INTRODUCTION:

Last week, I gave a short introduction on the book of Joshua.

Today, we will study the first chapter of Joshua.

The title of our Message is "Recognizing God's Call"

Have you ever heard God calling you to do something such as to go to the mission field and serve Him?

You probably recognized it and accepted it but you felt you are inadequate to fulfill it.

A lot of questions come in your mind.

You say, "No way, will I go to the mission field. I am NOT equipped for that."

Finally, you have decided to ignore or not do anything about it?

Probably, you have even entertained fears and apprehensions in your mind not to accept the call.

And later on, after many years, as you reflect upon that incident that happened in the past, you begin to regret the lost opportunity in the ministry.

You say, "If only I could go back to the time when I responded when the Lord called me.

I would not have been in this situation.

I should have used my time more wisely to bring souls for God."

But it is too late, once you have lost the opportunity, it might not even come back.

That is why it is always important to be ready and respond immediately when God calls.

God is calling us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

That is our mission.

Here in this chapter, God called Joshua for a special mission.

He called him to be the next leader to take over the position of Moses.

It was a great opportunity that has been opened to him.

He was to lead the people to go to the Promised Land.

But it was just a moment's notice.

There was not much preparation at hand.

Moses, the leader that he had been following for many years is dead.

The position was open and offered to him by God Himself.

God wants him to take over leadership and complete the task that was left undone.

Will he accept the call?

Is he qualified to do the job?

Joshua was an ordinary person just like us.

He never attended a school on mission or on leadership.

He was just a hands-on person, learning on the job from his mentor, Moses.

He was just an assistant taking notes of his daily experiences.

The next day, he was already assigned to the big challenge of leadership over millions of Israelites.

He had to bring them from point A to point B.

What is he going to do next?

We all know that at the end of the Book of Joshua, he succeeded in bringing Israel to the Promised Land.

He fulfilled his mission.

God never made a mistake in choosing His man.

There are three secrets to his success.

1. Joshua recognized God's call.

2. Joshua received God's challenge.

3. Joshua respected God's command.

I. RECOGNIZE GOD'S CALL

Joshua 1:2 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites."

The first thing we can learn from this verse is that when God called Joshua, he listened very carefully.

He had to understand the significance of the call of service.

There is a personal touch for that call - "Now then, YOU..." It is not for others. It is for him.

When God calls us, it is always personal.

Then, there is an instruction of urgency for that call - "GET READY..."

Don't whine. Don't grumble. Don't be lazy.

Act. Do something now.

Then, there is a purpose for that call - "TO CROSS the Jordan."

In order for them to go to the Promised Land, they must first cross the Jordan River.

Joshua had to take the instructions one step at a time.

There is no short cut to God's call.

We had to take time absorbing the call.

In all these things, Joshua listened very carefully.