What did God say to Joshua?

 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses. (Josh 1:3)

Beside the literal ground, unoccupied for Christ, there is the unclaimed, untrodden territory of Divine promises. What did God say to Joshua? “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you,” and then He draws the outlines of the Land of Promise—all theirs on one condition: that they shall march through the length and breadth of it, and measure it off with their own feet.

 In 2 Peter, we read of the “land of promise” that is opened up to us, and it is God’s will that we should, as it were, measure off that territory by the feet of obedient faith and believing obedience, thus claiming and appropriating it for our own.

How many of us have ever taken possession of the promises of God in the name of Christ?

Psalm 80:19

Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. —

In the days of Jesus' birth, there was a group of devout and lowly people who still looked for God's redemption. They knew that salvation could not, and would not, come without great cost — not just to themselves, but also to God. Isaiah had hinted about this in his Servant Songs (see Isaiah 53). They had experienced in their own history. So with honest hearts, they confessed that they didn't have the power to bring salvation and deliverance. This power had to come from God and had to be released to people who were seeking God's transformation in their lives. They needed to ask God for it! They needed to seek his face, his presence, in their daily lives. So must we!

Thoughts 

+ We spend our whole lives trying to avoid anything that will hurt or be hard.  But there’s a better kind of life–a deeper, more fulfilling kind of life–that isn’t about avoiding every pain.  It’s about finding God faithful and powerful in the midst of whatever thorns He allows. - James MacDonald

+ "God does not waste an ounce of our pain or a drop of our tears; suffering doesn't come our way for no reason, and He seems especially efficient at using what we endure to mold our character. If we are malleable, He takes our bumps and bruises and shapes them into something beautiful." - Frank Peretti