ORDER MY STEPS IN THY WORD

God’s Order for LeadershipThe Transfer of Leadershipforward. Nor will the enemies on the other side Joshua 1:4:of that river stop Him. The word was “Arise andFrom the wilderness and this Lebanon evengo.”unto the great river, the river Euphrates, allthe land of the Hittites, and unto the greatsea toward the going down of the sun, shallbe your coast.Many people might hesitate after this clippedcommand and say, “Lord, your Word is wonderful,but I’ve got to think this through. MaybeI’ll be ready tomorrow; or maybe the next day. Idon’t know if I’m up to it right now.” WhenGod gives you specific instructions, He expectsyou to take action. He doesn’t expect you to procrastinate.We could die by hesitating to act onGod’s Word. But, if we dare to rise now with thegreatness of God’s Word and hold forth thatgreatness, God will again conquer the enemy andwe will again victoriously cross the rivers oflife—even at flood stage.It’s a remarkable thing that God put Hispromise in the past tense—”I have already givento you”—and He still does this today. Many,many times He puts in the past tense what still isthe future for us. Things that God has promisedus in His Word are already God’s will for us ifwe’ll only arise and cross our personal Jordans.But most people hesitate to arise; they’re afraidof the obstacles with which they’re confronted,the problems which they encounter. They are putoff by circumstances rather than relying onGod’s Word. But not so Joshua.124God specifically named and described theboundaries of the land that He had alreadydesignated for the children of Israel.Verse 5:There shall not any man [women too,because it’s an inclusive noun] be able tostand before [against, as to obstruct] thee allthe days of thy life. . . .God promised Joshua that there would be noperson able to stand against him all the days ofhis life. What comfort and encouragement thisrevelation must have been to the heart of Joshua.Perhaps Joshua was reflecting on the great man,Moses. So God said to Joshua, “Why are youlooking at Moses? I want to tell you there’s notgoing to be a man able to stand before you.”There would not be anybody who would have theability to confront Joshua and outdo him in anyway, shape, or form.125