For those of you who are following me weekly, you will recall that last week I mentioned that I have been studying Chapter 1 of Joshua along with my husband and our congregation. This week’s sermon began with verse 10 of Chapter 1 and that is where I wish to focus our attention in this week’s blog. Joshua is commanding the officers of the people and he is admonishing them to prepare themselves, their food, and make all necessary provisions for within three days they are going to pass over the River Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord their God has given them.

I believe that most people have high aspirations and expectations for their lives. No one wants to live sub-standard or beneath their God given privilege. Yet, it is evident that sometimes we lack knowledge of what to do in order to achieve or “possess” our blessings. So, what do we do while we’re waiting? Of course, one would say that first and foremost an individual must pray and then believe that God will supply the need or desire. I do not disagree with that point at all. But when read verse 10 the key word here is “prepare”. While we’re waiting, as time grows near, we must PREPARE.

I firmly believe that we create our own delay because we fail to prepare for what we are expecting or hoping to receive. Dictionary.com defines the word “prepare” in this manner to put in proper condition or readiness. Would it not make sense that if God has promised to bless us and answer our prayers, that He has every right to expect us to be in the proper condition to receive it. The children of Israel were about to exit out of the wilderness of poverty and lack and enter into a land of abundance and limitless possibilities! Their 40-year confinement in the wilderness is just hours away. How close are you to your promise? Are you making the necessary preparations to show God that when He decides that this is the appointed time, you are in a position of readiness to receive?

If you are waiting for God to send your long-awaited spouse, are you doing all you can do to be the best possible individual you can be before that special person enters your life. If you desire to be a parent and are waiting for a child, are you observing others who appear to have well balanced lives and are raising or have raised healthy children. Perhaps you desire to be a home owner. The path to home ownership takes determination and discipline. Spending patterns will have to be revised and savings habits must be strict. Even how to care for what you already have must be taken into close consideration.

Preparation must be wholistic in nature. Your mind should transition from limited to limitless. Your mentality must first expand to be able to even anticipate what God has next in store for you. God wants us also to be physically ready to handle the blessings that have our names on them. If you’re physically exhausted, not getting sufficient rest, and refusing to do what is necessary to live healthy how will you even be able to enjoy the blessings once you take possession?

Last but certainly not least, is your spiritual relationship with the Father what it should be? An attitude of gratitude for what God has already done is paramount. Have you given God your solemn vow that how He chooses to bless you, and what He gives you will be used for His glory? We were created to be instruments of His glory, and vessels to bring honor to His name. When we are at our best, the blessings and promises He bestows upon us brilliantly reflect the magnificence of who He really is! As we move further into this new year, let us begin each day with anticipation, striving to put our lives in proper condition while existing in a perpetual state of readiness for what God has for us NEXT!

Source: First Lady Denise