Joshua was going to cause Israel to inherit the Promises God had for her. Without a man like Joshua, Israel would have never taken her possessions. God raises up people to cause us to be hearing His heart and doing His will. Joshua not only Heard the Word of the Lord, he also did the will of the Lord, and could say at the end of his life, "I wholly followed the Lord." I thank God for those in my life that cause me to inherit the blessings of God. Their zeal for God and His word are expressed every time they share the this God has taught them. They force me to examine my heart, motives and actions. They challenge me to be obedient to God's Word. They don't fear offending me, nor am I offended when I am challenged. We sharpen each other.
AW Tozer said; Cattle are driven; sheep are led; and our Lord compares His people to sheep, not to cattle.
It is especially important that Christian ministers know the law of
the leader--that he can lead others only as far as he himself has
gone....
The minister must experience what he would teach or he will find
himself in the impossible position of trying to drive sheep. For this reason he should seek to cultivate his own heart before he attempts to preach to the hearts of others....
If he tries to bring them into a heart knowledge of truth which he has not actually experienced he will surely fail. In his frustration he may attempt to drive them; and scarcely anything is so disheartening as the sight of a vexed and confused shepherd using the lash on his bewildered flock in a vain attempt to persuade them to go on beyond the point to which he himself has attained....
The law of the leader tells us who are preachers that it is better to cultivate our souls than our voices. It is better to polish our hearts than our pulpit manners, though if the first has been done well and successfully it may be profitable for us to do the second.
We cannot take our people beyond where we ourselves have been, and it thus becomes vitally important that we be men of God in the last and highest sense of that term. The Price of Neglect, 151-153.
Thank God for men who cause us the Enter into God's Promises. Without them, we would have a tendency to want to give up and fall short of God's best. Have you helped someone else to enter into the promises of God?
