The CrossRoads Connection

The CrossRoads Connection: Provision to Promise!

In the first chapter of Joshua, God is preparing Joshua and the people of Israel for what is to come. He is setting the stage. God knew that very soon they would take hold of the promised land, but they needed to get some things in order. They needed to get their lives in order.

I believe during this time we are in right now, that God is preparing you and I for some great things to come. Before we can see what God is wanting to do, we must prepare ourselves spiritually. God wants us to prepare ourselves first. He wants us to go beyond where we have been living! He wants to take us past ourselves and what we can do! He desires to take you beyond just provision to a promise that you have been sitting on for a while.

God said, Be strong and courageous! He is telling Joshua you have had provision in the desert, but now I’m taking you to the promise! God is a God of promise. He does everything on His terms, according to His will, and according to His timetable.

After Moses died, God's plan did not die. God was committed to see it through. God still had a plan for the people of Israel. How many of you realize that God's plans will always succeed! The question is not, will God's plan be completed? The question is, will we be a part of it? When God makes a promise, He is always faithful to fulfill it. All they saw was sand for 40 years, but it was time that God would raise up a man to be the man to carry forth the plan of God.

When God sets His plan in order, no devil, or no force of evil has the power to overcome God's plan. God's Word to Joshua and the people of Israel is “be strong and courageous!” When God wants to bless His people, He first prepares His people. God sees things far ahead of what we can see, and He prepares us for what is to come. We must Trust God, this is no time to doubt His promises, even with this virus!

When we start following The Lord, we realize He is our provider. We experience miracles of God provision. Israel experienced the same. They found themselves in the wilderness, and that is where they began to know their God as their provider. He provided all their needs and the people literally survived by the hand of God. When they were cold, a pillar of fire by night. When they were hot, a cloud above. When they got thirsty, water from a rock. When they were hungry, He provided manna. When they were sick, He healed them. The Lord was indeed their provider.

Time after time, we’ve known God as our provider, and we learn this while we are in the wilderness. But there came a time when the manna ceased. Why in the world would God stop sending manna? When He wants us to move up, we are going to see some things stop. Because God is getting ready to do something else, to take you to another level, from provision to the promise!

I praise God that every time I faced a wilderness experience, God has provided for me. Praise God. But I don't want to stay in the wilderness. God has greater things for me than staying in the wilderness. God desires to take you beyond provision to progress.

Now that you've received enough provision and enough spiritual food and enough ministry, it's time to move on.

God is preparing to do a new thing with you. Progression requires you to discipline yourself. God wants to take you from one level to the next. God wants to take you from provision to progress. It's time to spiritually grow up.

Tests and trials make us strong! There are many Christians who refuse to grow up. They refuse to go beyond provision to progress. God is telling each of us, "It's time to go to the next level."

To Progress will require some Courage! The Lord told the people, Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous.

It takes courage to stretch to higher levels of spiritual maturity. It takes courage to lengthen the realm of your ministry. It takes courage to strengthen others in the body of Christ.

It is God’s desire to take you beyond provision to possession! God told Joshua, get your supplies ready. The Lord is saying to me, “Get your resources ready.”

If you are willing, you will possess the land.

It's time to go beyond provision to possess the promise! It's time to take back possession of what the enemy has stolen from you. Many of you the enemy has stolen your resources and your blessings.

We must realize that the enemy also steals precious years of our lives, years without Christ, and the enemy has stolen those years from us - it's time to take possession of those years back once again.

Some of you have lost years of your life in the wilderness. You've been saved. You've been serving God, but you've been living on the level of provision for years and years and years.

But now, God wants to take you to the new level. It's time to take those years back.

Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years. God is restoring, God is providing, and God is taking and moving us into His promise! How many of you are ready to advance forward to the promise! Let’s go!!

If you don’t have a home church, CrossRoads is a growing, loving, caring community of believers, located at 4238 St Hwy J at Braggadocio Mo. Come see us!

Until Next Week, Pastor Danny Neal