Part 4 - Entering the inheritance God has for you. Move out of your position.

May 9, 2020
7 min read

Part 4 - Entering the inheritance God has for you. Move out of your position.

Joshua 3:1 “Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.”

We focused on the following 3 steps to enter into the inheritance God has for us.

The Acacia Grove Mindset – Renew Your Mind

What you feed your mind with becomes a mindset. What you feed your mind with becomes a mindset.

Move the edge of the Jordan River – Focus on God

We focus on God through a life of Prayer. We put God first in our lives when we trust Him to take care of us. We put God first in our lives when we seek Him because we know He cares—when we go to Him for comfort on a tough day. We put God first when we seek to find His direction and ask Him to change our hearts. Putting God first in our grief is allowing Him to be in control of our circumstances. God has a good plan for those who love Him. When there is hardship, we put our hope in Him.

Lodging at the river. Spend time with God

Before we can enter the promise of God, we need to lodge before crossing the river. We need to spend time with God.

Look at your problem and know that God is greater than it.

Know that God is always greater than your problem.

Move out of your positions

Joshua 3:2-4 (NIV) 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.

Today we are going to focus on step 5. Move out from your position. Before we can move from our positions, we need to

Receive instructions – Three days later the officers went through the camp, giving instructions. We must start hearing the voice of God. Like never before we must receive instructions from God.
Need to see - When you see the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord. We need to Pray and Watch.
Act – Move out from your positions and follow

Why? Since we have never travelled this way before. Never in our lifetime have we experienced something like this.

I am not sure in what position you are finding yourself today. Maybe you are finding yourself in a position of trouble, problems and the wilderness. Maybe you have a river that is uncrossable. It is time to move out from your position.

I would like to take you to 1 Samuel 30, David found him in Ziklag. Ziklag means pressed down. The Bible says when David arrived at Ziglag it was burned to the ground. All their women and children were carried away.

1 Samuel 30:1 NKJV) Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters.

We see that David is in great distress. Currently the whole world, world leaders are in great distress. Like David we are at Ziklag. Maybe you are pressed down. Maybe you feel that everything and everyone is against you. I don’t think we understand the position that David found himself in. We are not sure that we know what is waiting for the world. The world finds itself in Ziglag.

The Bible continues and says that David in, 1 Samuel 30:6b “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

How do you encourage yourself? To move out of your position you must encourage yourself.

Remember what the Lord has done.

Picture David’s situation. His enemy seemed to have conquered him. His family was captured. His own men turned against him. David knew that no chariots or horses could help him unless he had God’s blessing.

He remembered his past. Here’s what he had said to Goliath so many years ago.

1 Samuel 17:46-48 (NLT) - Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” 48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.

When David remembered the Lord he was absolutely fearless. He said,

Psalm 27:1 (NIV) - The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

Romans 8:31 - “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

David encouraged himself by remembering God’s past deliverances.

When you feel distressed and discouraged, remember how many times God has delivered you, and you will be encouraged.

Do you remember this old song we sang? Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains, you cannot tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. And He can do what no other power can do

Remember now, the Bible says that David was out and down. He was so weak that he could not weep anymore, but suddenly he encouraged himself in the Lord.

2. Receive instructions from the Lord, by asking God what to do?

1 Samuel 30: 8 (NKJV) Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?” And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”

Remember David does not have much left, he is tired, his men have left him, his house has been burned, but what is David asking? Should I chase after this band of raiders?

Hear what the Lord said to David: 1 Samael 30:8 David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

I am hearing the Lord saying: Move out from your position, encourage yourself and move. Here is the key, before you can move, you have to hear the voice of God. Only by hearing the voice of God, receiving instructions from God, will you be able to take hold of your inheritance.

You will certainly overtake them and succeed. Remember David has been defeated, but hear the word of God, you will certainly overtake them and succeed.

Psalm 34:4 (NLT) - I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.

3. When you see the Ark moving

Joshua 3:1 3b When you see the Ark of the Lord you must move.

1 Samael 30:8 David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

1 Samael 30:8 (NLT) Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?” And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”

You will certainly overtake them and succeed. Remember David has been defeated, but hear the word of God, you will certainly overtake them and succeed. What did David see. He saw victory. What are you hearing from God? Wait upon the Lord, once you have heard the voice of God, and you see the Ark of God moving toward your Jordan, you will know it is time to move out of your position of dismay.

4. Once you have heard the voice of God, it is time to act.

Move out of your position and follow the Ark. Follow the instructions of God. It is time to move.

See what happens if we obey and act on the instructions of God. Your Jordan will open-up.

Joshua 3:13 (NLT) The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”

The moment we move in obedience, God will provide.

1 Samuel 30:11 “Along the way they found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. 13 To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” David asked him.

“I am an Egyptian—the slave of an Amalekite,” he replied. “My master abandoned me three days ago because I was sick” 16 So he led David to them, and they found the Amalekites spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah. 18 David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back.

Our ability to receive from God is based upon our faith and obedience to His promises. We will prosper and thrive when we yield to His ways. Disobedience can hinder us from receiving all of the wonderful things that He has for us. God’s covenant with Abraham was based upon obedience. By faith, Abraham obeyed and obtained the promise.