Sermon Tone Analysis

STRETCHING MY IMAGINATION

!! from ‘50 Days of Faith’

!! Part 2 of 2

!! February 4, 2007

* *

* *

*2.

LOOK FOR ____________________________________________________________*

 

/“I promised Moses I would give you this land, so I will give you every place you go in the land.”/

Josh.

1:3 (NCV)

 

/“Now my time has come to die.

Every one of you knows... that God has given you all the good things that He promised.

Every promise He made has been kept; not one has failed.”/

Josh.

23:14 (GN)

 

!!!!                                                         3 Promises to Those Who Live for God

 

1.

Josh.

1:5

 

2.

Josh.

1:7

 

3.

Josh.

1:9

 

/“Always remember what is written in this Book...  Study it day and night to be sure to obey everything that is written there.

If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything.”/

Josh.

1:8 (NCV)

 

* *

* *

* *

*3.

LEAN ON ____________________________________________________________*

/ /

/“No one will be able to defeat you all your life.

Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you or forget you.

“  Josh/.

1:5 (NCV)

 

/“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him.

And He will make your paths straight.”/

Prov.

3:5-6 (NAS)

* *

*4.

LAUNCH OUT ____________________________________________________________*

/ /

/“Then Joshua issued instructions to the leaders to tell the people to get ready to cross the //Jordan River//.”/

Josh.

1:10-11 (LB)

 

/“If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done!”/  Eccl.

11:4 (LB)

 

/“God can do anything, you know –far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.”/

Eph.

3:20 (Mes

\\                                

STRETCHING MY IMAGINATION

!! 50 Days of Faith

!! Part 2 of 2

!! February 4, 2007

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             1923 words

 

Last week we began to stretch our imagination by considering how God could use you in ways you’ve never thought of and I suggested that by looking at the life of Joshua from the HB, if you follow the four steps he took, you can expect God’s blessing on your life.

The first step we looked at last week was: *YOU MUST LET GO OF DOUBT, *why?* -because doubt causes you to miss out on God’s dream for your life.

*The second secret of being used by God is:

*2.

LOOK FOR A PROMISE*

Look for a promise of God.

The word “promise” is a very important word in the life of Joshua and it’s a key to his success.

Thirteen times in the book of Joshua, the word “promise” is used.

If you were to summarize the life of Joshua it would be “Capture the Promised Land.”

God had promised it to him.

And at the very beginning as they were standing on the edge of the Jordan River getting ready to go into this major campaign, God says, “Let’s just remind ourselves of the promise that I made.”

In Joshua 1:3 God says, /“I promised Moses that I would give you this land.

So I will give you every place you go in the land.”//

/

/ /

If God makes a promise to you He keeps it.

If He says He is going to use you, He will use you.

If He says He is going to bless you, He will bless you.

If He says I will protect you, He will protect you.

Because God cannot lie.

At the end of Joshua’s life many, many years later when he was very old and he was about to die he looks back over his life and sees that they have conquered all of Palestine.

At the end of Joshua 23 he says this, /“Now my time has come to die and every one of you knows that God has given you all the good things that He promised.

Every promise He has made has been kept.

Not one has failed.

“ /

 

 

 

 

The Bible is a book of God's promises, so if you’re wise and want to be used by God you’ll need to take it seriously.

I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, there are over 7,000 promises in this book.

If you’re going to grow in faith, you’ve got to build it on the promises of God.

What does God promise us if we say, “I want to be used.

I want You to use me for the purpose You put me on earth for.”

What does God promise?

He promises you three things.

Those three things are all found in Joshua 1.

 

            *First* He promises strength.

Verse 5 /“No one will be able to stand against you.”/

In other words, what God asks you to do He’ll give you the power to do.

He’ll give you the strength to do.

Where He guides, He provides.

*Two*, God promises to give you success.

In verse He says, /“You will be successful.”

/God wants you to succeed in serving Him.

He doesn’t want you to be a failure.

He wants you to succeed.

Twice in this chapter He says, “You will be a success.”

You can count on it.

Now He’s not promising to make you a success at what you want to do.

If you’re not succeeding you need to change course and get in on what God plans for you to do.

*Three*, God promises to give you support.

In verse 9 He says, /“I will be with you wherever you go.”/  God's word done God's way will not lack God's support.

God has many, many promises for you in this book but you’ve got to discover them.

This weeks’ promise to memorise is Joshua 1 verse 8 /“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth.

Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

/I hope you will memorize this verse this week because you need to get some promises of God under your belt, in your

mind so that when you start to doubt, when you start to feel discouraged, when you start to feel depressed God can bring that to your memory.

That’s quite a promise!