How do you prepare yourself to receive what God has promised? For some it's all about assuring God that we are ready for all the blessings He wants to pour out in our direction. It's like a child that thinks he can handle all the quarters and loonies his father is willing to put in his pocket and is puzzled by the set of keys to the house and an airline ticket to paradise that comes instead. The child doesn't know the how to use them nor how to translate them into immediate pleasure. For others it's asking God to expand our spheres of influence that we could know Him more. For yet others they do not think that they will receive anything from God, they are just to persevere and demonstrate faith and steadfastness. We've been looking at the story of Joshua as he has been directed by God to lead Israel into a new, beautiful and challenging land. As we read the passage this morning the theme that becomes unmistakable is that they are about to receive from God and they are preparing the people for that experience. I look at this passage and think that though the event was unique and spectacular in scope, there are aspects to it that have everything to do with us here today in how we prepare ourselves to able to receive what God has for us. Look with me at Joshua 1:10-18 as we prepare to receive what God seeks to give.

I. Prepare to Receive by Preparing to Leave.

Joshua calls the officers of the nation and tells them to go and tell the people to prepare provisions for in three days they are going to move out. Just a couple of thoughts about what these people were about to leave.

1.     They were leaving the baby bottle and moving to solid food. For forty years this people had lived on the miraculous food called manna, a tiny coriander like substance that had nutrient and calorie. They had followed elementary instructions on how to gather it and how it would be their main diet. It was now time to leave the manna, to make provisions of solid food and get ready to leave behind this interim purpose of God for them (Exodus 16:32,35). Manna was a basic faith food, it only lasted for a day, it had to be taken in fresh every day. It declared the existence of God, the provision of God and the direction of God for them in basic obedience. The nation of Israel were spiritual infants for forty years, now it was time to leave the ?bottle? behind. The New Testament parallel would be Hebrews 5:12-14, it's time to leave the elementary the teachings about God and to train your senses to discern good and evil. This is the first step of preparing to receive what God seeks to give. Perhaps it's where you are today, perhaps ?preparing provisions? for you will mean it's time to get serious about this faith Christ has put in your heart. To change what you eat, spiritually, is a beginning point. Quality and amount will have everything to do with spiritual nourishment and growth. Is it time to prepare to receive in this way?

2.     Israel was about to leave where they had been encamped for a long time. They were dug in and it would take at least three days to break camp and ready them for the faith trip that lay ahead. Have you ever been to the brink of your faith before, only to peak over the edge and hesitate and then say, ?No, I could never do that.? Then God brings you back to that place again, though it might look a little different, and there you are again at the brink of your faith and God says, 'step across.? Israel had to leave where they had been dug in for so long, they were again at the brink of the Promised land. You can see this on the map. The barrier of the Jordan at full flood stood before them, the barrier of fortified cities challenged them. There will always be barriers to your step of faith but the invitation by the Spirit of God to your heart will be clear. The instruction to the people was plain, ?You do not belong in this waste land, I intend that you move by faith across the Jordan and then possess this which I am giving to you, I intend that this is where you should live and move and have your being?. For us here today we know that life apart from Christ is like a waste land, the intention of God is to by faith move into the life He has given in Christ Jesus. Perhaps the preparation to receive from God will be this very step here this morning. It's time to leave the waste land of my resources in the pursuit of my happiness.

II. Prepare to Receive By Preparing to Serve.   

Serving can be done either as a job or as a ministry. ?If you do it because no one else will, it's a job. If you do it as that which points to God, it's a ministry. If you quit because someone criticized you, it was a job. If you keep serving in love, it's a ministry. It's hard to get excited about a job, it's almost impossible not be excited about a ministry. Average churches are filled with many people doing many jobs. Exceptional churches are filled with many people involved in ministry.?(Bethany Beach newsletter) Why is that, what is there about serving with a ministry viewpoint that makes it so different? Consider the words of Joshua in verses 12-15.

1.     You prepare to serve by remembering who you are. In this case they were to remember that they were recipients of grace. They had been the first to be given a land of their own. They were the first to be given a promise of rest. They were among the smallest tribes of Israel, yet they were be the first to step into the Jordan, to show their solidarity with the other tribes as fought side by side, even though they already had their land. Remember who you are in God's eyes, remember who are to the peoples about you. It's a Galatians 5:13 kind of remembrance, ?For you were called to freedom brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.?

2.     You prepare to serve by protecting yourself. For these tribes they were to put on full battle array as they lead the rest of the nation. It declared their intent to fight and to help gain the victory. They were to act like a spearhead as they crossed over the Jordan , protecting those who came behind, inspiring those who would join them. If you will serve Christ you will need to be protecting yourself, you will need a spiritual armor that will help against the temptations, despairs, accusations and deceptions. If you will serve Christ you will need those who stand with you to be encouraged and also to be protecting themselves with faith, truth, the word of God, the sword of the Holy Spirit and the righteousness of Christ.

3.     You prepare to serve by counting the cost and entering in. Of the 40, 000 men who would lead across the Jordan , many would never return. The cost of sacrifice is always a part of serving, it would be a romantic notion to think that everybody comes home unscathed and unscarred. When Jesus Christ came home, when He rose, when He ascended into heaven, the scars were evident? but so was the sacrifice. It was His body broken for you and me, His blood the basis of our new covenant of grace and forgiveness through faith. He counted the cost and knew the very details. Because of His sacrifice we serve by entering the battle in an informed and willing act of sacrificial worship.

It's clear that Israel was being prepared to receive from God this great promise of a land. It's clear that in order to receive they needed to move in faith, leaving behind the old ways, readying themselves to serve each other. Is it possible that today God has a great promise to release to you, is it possible that you need to prepare your heart and life to receive what He seeks to give?  Are you prepared to receive by being prepared to serve?

Rev. Spence Laycock pastors at Church of the Open Bible, Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
www.churchoftheopenbible.ab.ca