Transitions — God Will Speak to You Through Your Efforts

The word of the Lord says in Joshua 1:1–7: “…After the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, ‘My servant Moses is dead. Now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. Just as I told Moses, I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread. From the wilderness and Lebanon as far as the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea where the sun sets, shall be your territory. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall apportion to this people as an inheritance the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it either to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper in everything you undertake. This Book of the Law shall never depart from you, from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to keep and do everything written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and everything will go well for you. See, I command you to be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go…’

The word of the Lord for us. I have chosen this passage because it is a passage that speaks to us about transitions. The key word here is transition—changes, going from one space to another, making a transition from one era to another, with everything that entails. Here we have a key moment in the history of the people of Israel. They have spent decades in the wilderness; they have lived through memorable events; they have seen the manifestations of God’s power, glory, and provision; they have fought battles; they have had moments of disaster; they have lived through epic moments; they have been led by a very special leader, full of anointing and full of the power of God; they have lived with the expectation that something awaits them on the other side of the Jordan. And for decades, that young generation born in the wilderness has grown up hearing the stories and promises of their ancestors and of what God is to fulfill in the future.

And now they are at a key moment in their history, and God has chosen a man named Joshua, born and raised along that journey through the wilderness. And it is a moment of great uncertainty and also of great potential for the people of Israel. There are dangers, and there are possibilities too. And unknown things await them on the other side of the Jordan.

And the Lord approaches Joshua and speaks to him the words we have here, but He is also speaking to the people of Israel and, by extension, He is speaking to us as well. How many know that Scripture is not simply a record of historical things that happened some time ago so that we can look at them and say, oh, how good that they happened? No. The Bible tells us that these things are examples, that biblical, spiritual principles are recorded in these events and are applicable to us as well.

And there are certainly some very powerful principles here that we can also use at this time, because we are entering a new year; we are in a new year. We are just taking off in this year, and we know that, as I was telling the brothers and sisters last night, time does not have divisions as such; time does not know that today is January 1. Time flows like a river that has no barriers; it simply flows. We assign divisions to it; we divide life into cycles of one year, a month, a week, 24 hours, a minute. These are conveniences of ours, and that is important. They are cycles of life, and it is good to mark life in that way. And we have marked life in years, and in all the cultures of the world, perhaps the years do not coincide, the beginnings of the year do not coincide exactly—in Asia, in China, they have a year different from ours and celebrate it in another way—but we do know that it is important to distinguish those moments in life and to know when something begins and when something ends. That helps us live life better and take stock of things, of life’s experiences.

So we are now at the beginning of a new year, and like Joshua and the people of Israel, there is an unknown land before us, just as there was for those people. Before them opened a marvelous land of promises, dangers, and possibilities as well. And this year that we are beginning to live now is also a year of possibilities, dangers, and promises.

Actually, to tell you the truth, I do not want to know what is going to happen this year. I believe there will be a bit of everything, but perhaps there will also be difficult moments. I would rather that, if they come, I confront them in the name of the Lord when they arrive, and God will be faithful.

But there is a bit of everything. The good thing, however, is that one of the things we see here is that God is in control. But what is important at this point in the text is for us to understand that, like Joshua and the Hebrew people, we too find ourselves in a space, a time, a land. This land is not physical, although it could be; it is a dimension of experiences that lie ahead of us. It is a virtual territory awaiting us there: 365 days of experiences, struggles, wars, and giants that we are going to conquer in the Lord; rivers that we are going to cross; things we are going to discover within ourselves that we did not know were there.

You know that in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, the Lord speaks of how He kept you in the wilderness to test you, to know what was within you, to teach you to depend on Him, not to depend on yourself. And some of the experiences that God is going to bring this year are so that you may discover yourself, know yourself better, and know when to go to the Lord and ask for mercy, assess yourself, and know how much you need to change, how much you need to surrender to the Lord.

Not everything is going to be good, but I assure you that everything that happens in your life happens because God has a purpose for it—everything. Everything, everything. The Hebrews did not know what awaited them out there. God had told them, I am giving it to you, but a vast body of experiences awaited them there, a mixture of things that were evidently good and things that were apparently bad, but which in the long run were all fashioned by God for the sublime, benevolent purposes He had for His people.

And so you and I now find ourselves looking toward this coming year, which is already here with us: Lord, this promised land that You have for me—what does it hold, what things does it hold?

Look at what it says here. It begins, “My servant Moses is dead.” I already see several things there. I see that at the beginning of this new land that God has for Joshua and for you and for me, when we look back, there are things there, things that happened last year that were perhaps also negative: Moses is dead. Moses was not given a retirement package with Social Security and a pension for the 40 years he spent serving the Lord in the wilderness. It is not as though he had a mansion in the promised land bearing his name and a brand-new car.

No, Moses—his death was a somewhat problematic death because Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, since he had failed in a very serious way before the Lord. Because to whom much is given, much is required, and he had committed an offense against the majesty and lordship of God, and God had a purpose for this very special man; therefore, Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land. He dies, but God already has the replacement: Joshua, whom Moses has trained, whom Moses has prepared. A man with a heart such as God required.

And in the same way, there are things in your life that have had to die. That is why I say, brothers and sisters, let us always remember something about God: God is sovereign. That is why, every day, as I was telling you in our sermons about complex faith…

I understand one thing, and that is that I cannot control God; I cannot totally control the events of my life. I cannot believe that everything that is going to happen in my life necessarily has to be good. God is sovereign. God is faithful. The one thing I tell you again is this: know that if God does something in your life, if something has had to die in your life, if you have had to leave something in the wilderness, if there has been death, or if there has been failure or lack, if there has been a failure to hit the mark itself, the center of the target, God has mysteriously been involved in all of it. And He already has good things that will come out of it.

Because from Moses comes Joshua. From death comes life. From the difficult experiences you have had, there are good things that God has prepared for you. Life is like that; life is complex. There are losses. Just yesterday, I learned of the death of a person very close to my family, murdered here in Boston, a young man full of promise and with a bright future. He gets into a fight to separate two people, and he ends up dead. Life is like that, brothers and sisters; it is complex.

Christ says, in the world you will have affliction, but He added, but take heart, I have overcome the wall. So I see here that the first thing is this: there is death, there are problems. I believe we can all point to the little black spots in the past year, but I also advise you to look at the blessings. God is the great recycler; that is what I always call Him. God recycles everything. Nothing is ever lost to God, and God is also the alchemist par excellence; He turns crude and ugly things into gold. He loves to take our wounds, our shortcomings, our losses, our tragedies, glorify Himself through them, and bring something even better out of them.

But we have to let things die. And we have to bless them, mourn them, and then move forward, because Joshua has to step into his role, and Moses has to die so that Joshua may come to life. So remember this: ultimately, you have lost nothing. If you and I have the faith to believe it, God will be glorified in everything that has happened in your life, and He will be glorified this year as well.

Entrust yourself to the grace of the Lord and say, Father, if I live, I live for You; if I die, may I die for You; whether I live or die, I am Yours. Amen. And for those who love God, all things work together for good. To me, that is the final card I always play. I can ask the Lord for any number of things, and I ask Him for them passionately, and I put all my effort into the things I long for and desire, and I fight for them; but I know that up there, in His records, the Lord has a card that I signed and left blank, which says, Your will be done, not mine. Amen.

And that gives me peace. You can fight for your longings; battle for them, plead for them, fast for them, cry out for them, but in the end tell the Lord, but Father, I know that You have the final word. And I entrust myself to Your grace. I entrust myself to Your mercy; I place my trust in Your mighty arms. I do not know what awaits me, but I know that it will be good in the end.

The Lord Jesus, looking at the cross, says, Father, deliver Me; I do not want to go there, but may Your will be done. Listen to me, and what benefit God drew from that cross! Here we are, benefiting from it. That is the mystery, and that is what we have to understand.

Because here in this passage there are, as I say, promises and possibilities, but there are also dark, dangerous, and frightening things. That is life. But how wonderful it is, brothers and sisters, that amid all of that, what prevails is a positive tone, a tone of victory. There is a minor key somewhere in there, but in the end it is a major key of resolution, of everything being all right. God is in control.

Because throughout this passage I see blessing waiting, but God is a great painter, and you know there can be no painting without shadow. Contrast is needed in order to enjoy beauty. All art needs contrast. Every drama needs a villain. That is necessary. And the Christian life has to be marked by moments of struggle and suffering in order to enjoy truly, sublimely, what life is. We do not want those shadows, but shadows are necessary for the Christian life.

But in the long run, the wonderful thing about this passage is that its final tone is positive. Look at what He tells him in verse 2. It says, “into the land that I am giving them”; that is, not that I am going to give them, no, I give it to them; that land is yours. I am giving it to you. I have already given it to you. There is a title deed that says, this land belongs to My people.

God always speaks in the present tense. The Bible says that for Him everything is yes and amen. I know that in the mind of God there is victory for my life; there is victory for your life. God gives you your land; you live in God’s positive eternal present. You have to live with that confidence, that assurance that, yes, trials are coming, giants are coming, someone is going to throw a stone at me over here, someone is going to try to stab me over there, but God is with me, and in the end I have the victory because God gives me the land. God delivers the land to me.

Verse 3 says, “Just as I told Moses, I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread.” Hallelujah! How many can believe that? Amen. Look, you can say, God has given me the 364 days that lie ahead this year; God has already given them to me. When you wake up in the morning, you are entering a virtual, temporal territory that God has already given you. The question now is simply that you have to deal with the particulars of that territory.

Because that is where the contrast lies. God tells them, “Every place you set foot on is yours; I have given it to you,” yet there were a whole lot of giants waiting for them to cross the river so they could start attacking them with everything they had to defend their land. But there was that contrast. God had told them, spiritually and judicially, I have given you that; now you are going to have to fight for it.

And that is the paradox of the Christian life. On the one hand, we move within the goodwill, the blessing, the promise of God. Brothers and sisters, I believe that should be the governing posture of every son and every daughter of God. Our default posture, our primary, essential posture, must be one of victory, blessing, sufficiency, God’s love, and God’s approval. You do not have to earn God’s approval; you already have it. You live within God’s approval. You do not have to earn God’s goodwill or good purposes; God has already given them to you.

Now you live and move within them. Your life, and the results in your life, will depend on the attitude with which you enter it. If you enter life with a mentality of insufficiency, scarcity, and limitations, always seeing the glass as half empty, you are going to have problems in life. But if you, as a son of God, as a daughter of God, move and live within the idea that I am God’s favorite, I am the apple of God’s eye, God has engraved me on the palm of His hand, as the Bible says.

The Lord says in one passage, look, can a woman forget the child to whom she has given birth? Could I ever forget you? That has changed a little nowadays; it is no longer quite as valid, because there are women who forget their children and abandon them. But in that cultural context, the mother loves her child and will not leave him for absolutely anything, and God says, look, I will never leave you; I will never forsake you, the word of the Lord says here.

He also tells Joshua, “I will be with you wherever you go. I am with you. I have blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” You have to cultivate that posture of faith in your life.

Now, within that posture of faith, difficulties will come, struggles will come, giants will come, because that is the conflict. I have delivered it to you; I have given you every place you set foot on, but that has to be worked out on the ground.

That is the paradox of the Christian life. But I advise you to cultivate it. I believe one of the distinctive features of the Pentecostal mindset is that positivity, which we sometimes exaggerate because we fail to see how problematic things are, but it is the positivity of the Christian life. I believe the essential posture of Scripture is that of a benevolent God who loves His creation, who loves His children, who gave His Son for His church. We are part of that church. We can believe that the years ahead are good years, positive years, years of blessing. God is going to bless my children; He is going to bless my family, my work, my health, and my finances, because He has promised it.

I have given you the land on which the soles of your feet tread. Trust in the Lord and enter this year believing in God’s goodwill, because living with a mentality of sufficiency is like a magnet that attracts good and positive things. If you live with uncertainty, fear in your life, and insecurity about whether God will do it or not, whether He will love you or not, and this and that, you are going to fail.

You have to cultivate that positive mindset. That is why it is so important, brothers and sisters, to continually feed on the word of God. Listen to good Christian music. I am not saying you cannot listen to other things too; that is fine. But you know, brothers and sisters, I have learned that my physical condition reflects how I nourish myself, and the same is true spiritually. As Christians this year, I advise you, and I advise myself: let us consume good material so that our minds will be filled with that positive posture.

If you start reading a lot of things in which the villain always wins and you do not know whether God is with you or not, or whatever, that is what your mind will be like: confused. That is fine; you can do that to enrich yourself and to learn, but the very foundation of your life must consist of things that nourish that posture of faith and positivity in you, because when you acquire that positive posture in Christ, it will bring good things, it will motivate you to take risks, it will motivate you to undertake great things for the Lord, and when the giant comes, it will motivate you not to look at his size, but to look at the power of God within you, which is greater than any giant.

That is why God chose Joshua and Caleb. The only two people from the older generation who entered the Promised Land were Joshua and Caleb. Everyone else died and stayed behind; those who entered were a new generation. Why did Joshua and Caleb enter? And why did God choose Joshua? It says it was because there was a different spirit within him. When God sent those 12 spies, only two gave a good report about the land to which God was calling them. The 10 said, no, there are giants there who are basketball players; they are 6.8, 6.7, and 6.6, while we are 5.2. They are going to eat us alive and destroy us; we looked like tadpoles next to them.

Yes, it is true that there are good things there, but no way—forget it. That land devours its inhabitants. Joshua said, if God is with us, we are going to spread butter on them and eat them like bread, he says. Joshua had a mindset of faith and sufficiency. He said, if God is with us, we are going to beat all of them with bats, and in a minute they will be running away from us. Even if they are big, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, Joshua said.

And that pleased God, just as those 10 who said, well, yes, it is true, there are good things, but the truth is that the bad things outweigh the good things, displeased God.

I advise you to cultivate a positive mindset in God and consume everything you can to foster that in your life. If you are going to serve the Lord, try to spend some time fasting and praying, preparing your mind. If you are coming to church, do not watch a soap opera before you get here. No, spend 10 minutes in prayer, bless the service, and come wrapped up in and filled with good things.

We are at war, brothers and sisters, and we need to strengthen ourselves so we can have that positivity that says, no, the land is mine. This year is good; it is going to be a good year. The land flows with milk and honey. There are giants, but they will be defeated. Difficulties are coming, but God is going to give me the power to press forward. Hallelujah!

And that will please the Lord, and He will activate His power on your behalf. And you will see the blessing. I do not guarantee you a year free of problems, but I guarantee you a year full of victories. To the Lord be the glory. Receive it if you are able to receive it. I have given you every place, every day, every hour, every job, every relationship, every situation, every difficulty on which the soles of your feet tread; you are going to hit it out of the park. Everything the devil throws at you, you are going to knock out of the park, because I am with you.

And God goes from the wilderness and Lebanon all the way to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea where the sun sets—shall be your territory. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Hallelujah!

I have always loved that. As I was with Moses, so I will also be with you. You know, sometimes we think that, yes, the blessings and the power and the victory are for pastors, evangelists, and those who have some kind of special ID card, an exceptional means of access to God. Look, the Lord is with every one of His children, the greatest and the humblest. God is with you. The God who was with you last year will be with you this year. The God who pulled you out of the pit last year is going to pull you out of the pit again this year.

God’s mercy is continual. God’s goodwill and good purposes are eternal. He says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. The God who manifested Himself at the Red Sea manifests Himself today on North Hampton Street, in Roxbury, in Dorchester, in Jamaica Plain, in Hyde Park, in Roslindale, in Chelsea, in Lawrence—wherever you come from, name the place. The Lord is with you. Just as He was with your father or your mother who served the Lord, He is with you too.

Do not put obstacles in the Lord’s way. Just as He was in the book of Acts, the Lord is with us too. To me, this word is simply a starting point; that is all. Because this word is something you have to live within. I have to put my name there where it speaks of Joshua; I have to put my name where it says Joshua, where it says Moses, where it says Paul, where it says Jesus, because He is the same God. This is simply a way for me to begin experiencing God’s dealings.

And these people are simply pretexts; they are scaffolding that helps me understand what God wants to do in my life. So do not put obstacles in His way. Do not say, oh, that was for those days; the gifts were for those days. May the Lord rebuke that doctrine. The gifts are for today. The gifts of God are for today, for your life. Today God can give you revelation. Today God can give you wisdom for the problems of life. Today God can deliver you from the demons that want to destroy your life. Today God can give you your children miraculously, just as He gave children to those great heroes of the faith. Today God can bless you, prosper you, open doors for you, provide for you, heal you, deliver you, enlighten you, support you, and defend you. The same God who was with Moses is with you today, will be with you tomorrow, and will be with you all year long. Believe it and live that way in the name of the Lord. Launch out and undertake great things for the glory of God. Dare to do it in the name of the Lord.

Hallelujah! And do not let yourself be intimidated by battles you have lost or will lose. That is a word I want you to engrave on your heart. Do not let yourself become discouraged by battles you have lost or will lose. Because what matters is that you win the war and learn from the battles you are going to lose or have already lost. Because when these people were about to enter there, they were going to lose battles. A whole lot of horrible things were going to happen. No sooner had they set out for Canaan than they had a problem. They had the great victory at Jericho, then came the accursed thing: one man kept a gold ingot and a Babylonian robe, and there were deaths and turmoil; there were problems. That is the life of the people of God. In the life of the people of God, you find everything.

I said somewhere that anyone who wants a high bun has to endure having it pulled; anyone who wants a high bun has to endure having it pulled. Anyone who wants God’s blessing has to struggle and fight too. All kinds of things come. There will be losses in life, but that does not mean God will not be with you.

Do not stop dreaming of great things; that is what I want to tell you. Even though you lost a battle, keep dreaming and keep believing that God will be with you in the future. Trust in the Lord. He has given you all the land, and He who is with Moses will also be with you.

That is why you have to be strong and courageous. It says, be strong and courageous. There is a paradox here: God tells him, I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads, but He also tells him, be strong and courageous. And Joshua could have asked, well, how does that work? If You have given me everything, why do I have to exert myself? All I have to do is enter into the blessing.

Where is that house You told me is mine? I am going to enter it and possess it. That is the paradox. Look, God blesses people who work hard, brothers and sisters. That is a little asterisk: God’s blessing is with you, His goodwill is with you, but you are going to have to work hard, you are going to have to pay the price, you are going to have to invest. God’s blessings have a cost. Salvation is free, but you have to roll up your sleeves and work for the extra blessings.

God likes people who work hard and are courageous. It is something that has followed me all the days of my life: God does not do everything for me. I have to work; I have to exert myself; I have to burn the midnight oil. Sometimes I have said to Him, Lord, why don’t You make things easier for me? He says, no, because I am forging a mighty man, a courageous warrior, and if I give you everything, you will be a parasite, like a young eagle opening its little beak for its mother to come, chew its food, and drop it into its mouth.

God does not like that. God honors hard-working people—people who really roll up their sleeves, as Caribbean people say. You have to give to the Lord; you have to read the word to extract the little gold nuggets inside it. You have to get up a little earlier. You have to give, you have to invest, you have to agonize, brothers and sisters. I do not know whether it is my worldview, but you have to agonize in the Christian life.

And if you want to serve the Lord, if you want to be blessed by God, you have to roll up your sleeves and work hard. There are people I wish I could somehow get inside and wake up, because that is what they lack in order to receive God’s blessing. But there they are with their “Oh, bless their heart,” and nothing moves them. Someone dies of a heart attack and they remain calm. They will reach old age nice and peacefully, because they do not suffer, they do not cry, they do nothing. If God wills it, amen. That is how they spend their lives, brothers and sisters.

I have learned one thing: God honors the hardworking and courageous man or woman. I see that throughout all of Scripture, brothers and sisters. I always see God finding his servants at work. He finds Moses out there tending goats. He finds Elisha tending some oxen. He finds Gideon threshing wheat so that the Midianites will not take it from them. He finds Paul persecuting the Christians and knocks him off his horse. Everywhere you look, you see people working. He calls Levi while he is working at the money-changing table. He calls Peter when he is washing the fishing nets.

Why does God always seem to call his people while they are working? Because they are hardworking and courageous people; they are at work. He reveals himself to the shepherds while they are tending their sheep. And I believe he revealed himself to the wise men while they were exploring the stars and taking notes on the configuration of the heavenly bodies. What is that? A star. How strange—it is not moving. And he spoke to them.

God is going to speak to you through your efforts. Work. Generally, God is not going to call you while you are there wrestling with your pillow and the sheets, not knowing what to do with them because they are tired of you, while you cling to them and fight to keep them from getting away. God is going to speak to you when you are praying, when you are reading the Word, when you are serving, when you are preaching, when you are investing. That is where God is going to tell you, “This is the moment. I want to tell you something: be strong, be courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged; God will be with you.” Do not say, “Oh, I am too tired; I cannot go to church. I do not have enough money; I cannot give. I am too busy; I cannot serve.”

Look, launch out in the name of the Lord. Invest in the name of the Lord. The more tired you are, the more you should give to the Lord. God will give you new strength. Hallelujah!

I have a struggle in my life because, on the one hand, I know the importance of resting and of also taking care of family matters and all of that; but I have also learned that God has blessed me most when I enter that place of sacrifice and give the Lord the fruit of my weariness and sleeplessness. It seems that this is where God blesses. I understand that this is somewhat problematic, because many times I have preached about the importance of rest and other things. But I have also learned, brothers and sisters, that it is mysterious how God renews you in flight when you give to the Lord.

And there is a promise in the Word of God of renewal, blessing, and strength. That is why you can dare to be generous with God and give a little extra. Give it to the Lord; do not give it to the deacon, do not give it to Roberto Miranda, do not give it to León de Judá—give it to the Lord. Say, “Father, this is my offering, my sacrifice to you.” And God says, “Even youths grow weary and tired, and young men stumble and fall, but those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.” Hallelujah! “They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” Even in their weariness, God will renew them in flight. Live at that level.

Because it is the same thing when we give to the Lord: sometimes we wait for our bank balance to rise before giving to the Lord. No, give when the balance is low; that is when God will visit you and bless you. Go to church when you are tired and bored and do not want to go. Then say, “You know what? Now is precisely when I am going to go, and I am going to glorify God with that sacrificial investment.” That is where God is going to bless you.

I am going to ask the musicians to come up here, and the people say amen. Come up here, and let us celebrate Holy Communion. But brothers and sisters, I want to invite you to adopt an aggressive, militant posture toward life, trusting in the Lord. There is much more in this passage—much, much more. I am going to resist the temptation to keep ruminating on it.

I will only point out the importance of the Word of God: “This Book of the Law shall never depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may observe it and act accordingly.” God’s blessings have their preconditions: effort and meditation on the Word. Do you remember what I was telling you? We must meditate on the Word, feed on it, and saturate ourselves with it.

The patterns of the Word must also become our nervous and neurological patterns. Our brains must be reprogrammed by the Word of God so that we can think the way the Word of God thinks, because then you will make your way prosperous, and everything will turn out well for you.

Listen, in one sense I wish that phrase were not there—“and everything will turn out well for you”—because it is problematic, since apparently not everything turns out well for us. What God says is that it will turn out well for you; in the end, it will turn out well for you. In the end, you will win the prize. Do not worry. There will be problems along the way, but everything will turn out well for you. That is how I understand it.

But the important thing is that you believe it will turn out well for you. If you undertake things in the name of the Lord, everything will turn out well for you. That is God’s promise. People of God, Congregation León de Judá, as you look toward this year, do not be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

That is God’s promise for us. We receive it, we celebrate it, and we want to live in that depth and at that height of God. Let us stand, if only for a moment, and welcome that Word into your heart and your life.

Say, “Lord, I receive your goodwill toward me. I have lost battles; I have failed you in some things; at times I have not clearly seen your blessing; and I know that difficult times await me. But thank you, because you have said, ‘I have given you all the land. I have given you every day. I have given you every circumstance. I will be with you on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And just as I was with your ancestors, as I was with those great men and women of the Bible, or with your mentors and examples from the past, I will also be with you. My grace will be with you as it was with Moses, as it was with Joshua, and as it was with the person you were last year, who experienced victories. I am also with the person you are now.’”

“I only tell you: be strong, be courageous, believe my promise, and live your life according to the principles of my Word. And you will not be defeated in any situation you face, because when all is said and done, I will make sure that my faithfulness is revealed in your life.”

So dare to undertake great things. Do not look back; look forward, toward the land that I set before you this day. Thank you, Lord, thank you. We receive your Word, Father.

Help me to believe what I myself am preaching, Lord. Help me internalize it and live it. Make it real in my nervous system; make it real in my brain; make it real in my emotions; make it real in my will; make it real in the tissues of my body; make it real, Lord, in the muscles of our bodies; make it real in our daily decisions; make it real in the everydayness of life. Make it real when we put our feet down, when we lower them from the bed, Lord, and step onto the cold floors of our homes. May we be able to say right there, “God has given me this little piece of land on which the sole of my foot treads, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one, because God has promised to be with me every day of my life.”

We receive it, and we thank you that we can live life as that great Canaan lying before us. Canaan is mine because you have given me the land. My life belongs to you and belongs to me; it does not belong to the devil, to circumstances, or to men. You and I, Lord—we together are more than conquerors. We want to live our lives this way before you, Father. We want to spend ourselves before you in this way.

We love you and bless you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Give thanks to the Lord. Hallelujah! For his goodness and mercy, for his goodwill and favors—thank you, Lord Jesus. Be seated, brothers and sisters.