Taking Ground | Week 1
Day 3
“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.’” -Joshua 1:1–2
Some moments in Scripture grab our attention because of how direct God is. Joshua’s introduction as Israel’s new leader is one of those moments. After decades in the wilderness and after losing the greatest leader Israel had ever known, God speaks to Joshua with blunt clarity:
“Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then…”
It almost sounds abrupt, but God wasn’t being harsh. He was moving Joshua from the weight of what had been into the calling of what would be. In Sunday’s message, we said it this way:
“Yeah he’s dead. It’s time to move on.”
Not move on from the memory. Not move on without honoring Moses’ legacy. But move on from the idea that the past season defines the next.
And that’s where taking ground always begins, by acknowledging that a chapter has closed and another has opened.
Joshua had just watched an entire generation fade away in the desert. He had experienced forty years of waiting. He had grieved the loss of home, opportunity, and now, Moses himself. Yet God speaks into that moment with a forward-facing direction: “Get ready.”
Joshua didn’t feel ready. He probably didn’t look ready. But readiness, in God’s eyes, has very little to do with emotional certainty and everything to do with willingness.
It is the will of God that we take ground in every area of our life this year.
God never said, “Joshua, if you feel up to it, think about crossing the Jordan.” He simply pointed to the river and said, “It’s time.”
And that’s the tension many of us feel when God invites us into new territory. A part of us is hopeful. Another part hesitates because the unknown feels intimidating. We’re tempted to hold onto old patterns, old hurts, old disappointments, not because we want to stay there, but because they’re familiar.
But what God told Joshua is the same truth He whispers to us: You cannot take ground while living in yesterday.
And then God says something even more striking: “…the land I am about to give them.”
Israel wasn’t heading into a battle hoping God would show up. They were heading into a promise God had already prepared. Joshua’s job was obedience. God’s job was the outcome.
The same is true for you. There is ground God wants you to take, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, habitually, and He’s not asking you to manufacture the results. He’s simply asking you to step.
On Sunday we said, “God gave Israel the land but it was their responsibility to go and possess it.” God wasn’t asking for perfection, He was asking for participation.
Maybe today, your “Jordan River” isn’t a physical body of water. Maybe it’s a difficult decision you’ve put off. Maybe it’s letting go of a disappointment from last year. Maybe it’s walking toward healing, consistency, discipline, or forgiveness. Maybe it’s moving from spiritual survival mode into intentional growth.
Whatever it is, God is not asking you to have it all figured out. He’s inviting you to stop camping in the wilderness of what used to be and to step into the ground He’s already prepared.
This is how ground is taken:
one surrendered season,
one obedient step,
one “yes, Lord” at a time.
So pause for a moment today and ask the Lord, “What part of yesterday am I still carrying? And what step are You asking me to take?”
That’s where your Jordan begins to part, not when everything makes sense, but when you decide to move with God into what’s next.
