

Well… I’m a part of a program this summer called Mission Adventures. Mission Adventures is a program that is focused on giving a taste of missions to youth, and also preparing them to do just that. In doing this we have three days of preparation for them at our base of YWAM of which I am apart. We teach them about having a relationship with Jesus, how to live with purpose, how to live in purity, how to live passionately for our Savior, and how to proclaim the gospel. So, every year there is always a specific theme to help us best articulate these principles as we share. Two years ago it was Trek, last year, React, and this year…. Forward.
So, this is a post on where I explore my ideas and concepts of what this means to me right now, and hopefully you’ll not get to lost.
So… forward. At first when I found out what the theme was for this year, I was not really sure what to make of it. I might have actually thought that the people who come up with the themes had just pulled a random word out of the dictionary, but my friends assured me they didn’t and that this was going to be a quality theme. So normally they also pick out a theme verse or chapter for the theme (Example, Trek Micah 6:8, React Isaiah 61:1-3). So this year they decided to kind of have to theme Scriptures. The entire book of Joshua (ok if you want to narrow it down it could be narrowed down to Joshua 1:9, but it really is about the entire story of Joshua), and Philippians 3:12-14. So I decided that if I’m going to be sharing about this theme, I better dive into it myself and embrace it and learn what God wants to share with me personally about this theme of Forward. So I read the book of Joshua, and the book of Philippians, and I meditated on them, and I have decided to share some of what God is sharing with me.
Forward, first of it is not about a final destination, but the journey of getting there. Because basically that is the Christian life, right? I mean, this is the thing in both the passage in Philippians and the story of Joshua, the final destination was somewhat known, but there is this unknown journey in which we are exhorted to partake. In Joshua, it is the takin of the land, but the book of Joshua starts right after the death of Moses. Joshua was Moses’ aid, his right hand man. Joshua was with Moses all the time. Joshua saw and heard God speak to Moses, he diligently served God and Moses faithfully, and when Moses was barred from entering the promise land, it was obvious of who God would choose to lead the people of Israel into the promise land, Joshua. But the thing that I am noticing is this, it looked completely different than what Moses did. When Moses lead the Israelites, at night there was the pillar of flame that was always before them leading and gaurding them, during the day, a pillar of clouds leading them and gaurding them. Pretty cool. And when Moses was leading them in the wilderness they were on one side of the Jordan, ready waiting for the command of the LORD to cross to the other side of the Jordan, and then he dies.
Their commander-in-chief died, and God says there is nothing to do, but go forward.
But this is the thing it looks completely different when Joshua leads them.
The people are still the same,
God is the still the same,
but the way they do it is completely different.
On one side of the Jordan Moses leads, the other side the torch is passed to Joshua.
On one side a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud physically guides them, and on the other those disappear and it is just the voice of God and Joshua that lead.
On one side God physically sustains them, their clothes and shoes never wear out, He supplies them with manna to eat every morning, and sometimes even splits open a rock to provide water for them, and now on the other side it is a land flowing with milk and honey and they partake of the land, and the manna ceases, and they work the land for food.
It is a completely different scenerio.
Joshua, the new leader, has the same goal as Moses was given, bring God’s people to the promise land and take it, but the scenerio is completely different.
It is a whole new game for Joshua then what Moses had. So the book of Joshua begins with this:
“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It is the same goal as Moses’, but as I read and meditate on this and the changs that come and are to come I can’t help but hear Joshua’s head thinking, “Yeah, sure God, You say that now, but Moses is dead, things are completely different, how is this going to work, how are You with me just as You were with me Moses?” And then after saying I will be with you as I was with Moses, and I will never forsake you, God charges him with this:
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9 NIV)
It is like God does hear this question that is running through Joshua’s head (my own interpretaions though) and says, “Listen, it’s different. But be strong. Be courageous. Obey me. You will see me bring this plan to completion. Don’t get discouraged because it is different, do be scared, trust Me. I will be with you through it all, no matter where you are.” And then the story goes on, and Joshua does just that, and God is faithful to His word. But as I read it, I realize it is starts with this call to go forward, and then the rest of it is the story of it, and even at the end of the book, the destination of completely inhabiting the promise land and kicking out all other nations from it has not been reached, and sadly it never did get accomplished. But I am not making a point about the fact that Israel failed at the goal, but as you read it and see God’s intereaction with Israel and Joshua, I see that He isn’t just worried about getting to the destination, but the emphasis, is on the journey, on the how the journey is being walked out, and also the story is open about how they failed to go forward at times as well, and what the reprecussions were for that.
Now then that is only the first part of the theme, the second is the passage of Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
For me, at first I just saw this superficial connectedness between the story of Joshua and this passage in Philippians, mainly just because Paul plainly uses the term forward. But as I look at it more, I see something deeper. I see this idea of the journey. That the Christian life is really the story of people journeying forward till they are with their God, and Lord and Savior, completely new creatures as they were intended to be. And our journey there is what Paul is talking about. Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained it or been made perfect.” He isn’t saying using the word perfect as we use it today. He isn’t directly saying he still has some flaws. The word in the original lage that we translate perfect has to do with wholeness, completeness, maturity. To be completely what it was intended to be. He is talking about completely dying to oneself and completely living in the new man for God, and eventually to be in the glorified body that God will give. It is like this idea recipie that has been perfected, it has exactly everything it needs it be what it was intended to be. Paul is saying, I’m not there yet, I still lack from being the man created in God’s image that he intended me to be. Paul is saying, no I haven’t attained this glorified state of being one with Christ or having my glorified body, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Why did Jesus take hold of Paul? Simply, but profoundly put, because of His love. Paul talks about his mission in other places as being like a crazy person who is compelled by the love of Christ. So what does Paul do with this? He turns it around and runs with it and says, I press on, to completely grasp hold of Christ’s love…. His love for me, His love for the Jew, His love for the Gentile, His love for the Roman, His love for the Greek. It this passionate forward motion of Paul’s journey that is so well portraied in the words “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Because it is this image, of if I’m still on this journey moving forward, I’m gonna be sharing Christ love, and continuously pursuing it, and if I die, my journey is complete. But of course Paul later goes on to describe this thought a little more about how he longs to continue in this pursuit of which Christ took hold of Him, but he passionately loves Christ, that if death comes He know the joy that will await him as he will be with His Lord and Savior, and God.
So, I hope my wandering thoughts have not lost you quite yet, because as I am diving into this myself, this idea of forward is a challenge to me. It is a challenge to press forward, to blaze the trail, to continue on the journey toward my Savior. At first I have this image of it being this race in which that I need to press forward. Which is true, but my mind so often takes it to the extreem. It takes it to the place where I need to press forward to reach this place, and if I mess up one step, I’m a gonner, and will lose. But as I sit here and here God speak to me about this, I hear Him telling me that it’s not quite like that. The image I have is that it is this kid running into his Daddy’s arms with all the joy that comes in finally reaching that long awaited embrace. But there is more to it than this. God doesn’t just stay out there with His hands open and make us run to Him, no! He runs to us. I see this image in my hand of a father who has his arms wide open and this little kid who can barely walk, is so happy to see his father that starts out running and gets going faster than his legs can take him, and ends up falling down, doing a face plant. But God, our Father, does not just sit there waiting for us to get up and dust ourselves of until we are clean again and then start the process over of running to Him over. No we have images of Him running to us. Of Him coming to us, and picking us up, kissing our boo boos, and then staring smiling at us and telling us how fast we ran. Maybe, I’m realing now as God is speaking to my heart, the truth about this pressing forward, is the cosmic, heavenly pursuit of a child for the arms of His Father. Now my heart tells me that this is the case, but how did I get here from Joshua and Paul? (…pause for regropuing my train of thought…)
Because this is a true picture of what moving forward is, a pursuit of father and child. This image is a lets run this race, lets press forward till the day that we are at the side of our Abba Father and He just pulls us to His side and says, “Son, you ran so good, you went so fast. Yeah, you fell down a couple of times, but here you are, in my arms and no one can take you from me.” We experience this here on the earth through God’s Holy Spirit. But the push forward is because there will come a day, where faith becomes sight. Where the Holy Spirit’s embrace of the Father, actually becomes His physical arms. The sense of God’s love, will be a physical embrace of Him pulling our heads close to His chest and saying “Well done My son.”
But until that day, let us press on. Let us not focus on “foward to where?” But, let us know only press on and be compelled by and into Christ’s love. Let us be strong and courageous. That is our eternal destination. A story, a journey, a passionate pursuit forward to the fulness of the love of God. Yes, it is going to look different for us and it isn’t always going to be the same as our parents, granparents, brothers/sisters, pastor, mentor’s story, but the destination is. Let us throw off everything that so easily besets us. Let us throw of f the hinderances, the sins that entangle us. Let us run to the arms of God. Let us run deeper and deeper forward into the love of God, that we may grasp the width, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ Jesus which is a love that surpasses all knowledge.
So, I don’t know. I hope you were able to follow my thoughts as I was going through this time of processing this. These are just the ideas I had of this years Mission Adventure program that are coming to my mind as I have come to this theme of “Forward”. So, I guess, come, lets move forward into His love my Brothers and Sisters.
Blessings,
Luke







