“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be  conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” ~ Romans 8:28-30

We all would like good to come our way. Good things, good people, good circumstances or good places. However, we don’t always know what is good for us. Not to mention our definition of good can be misleading. We don’t know the future and can’t predict how things will turn out. We are so limited in our understanding, so our efforts are feeble at best.

Good has only one source. All good flows from God. There is no good outside of God and all that is good is good because of God. Knowing this then helps us to find good. For a Christian, as our text states, “All things work together for good.”

This means that over and above all our circumstances in life is God working on them. He takes all our circumstances like ingredients and works them into a great masterpiece. Every single thing, with nothing left out, when it’s in God’s hands, He applies good to them.

Not that “all things ARE good,” because they are not. Living in a fallen world broken by sin, we experience what would have never been experienced by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. All things were good then and in Heaven, and the New Heaven and New Earth, all things will be good again, but not now. So, God works it all for good.

The important thing to see is that there is a certain classification of people to whom He “works all things together for good,” for. It’s for “those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.”

Every Christian “loves Him and is called according to His purposes,” because when a person becomes a Christian they are responding to God’s love toward them first. “We love Him because He first loved us,” the Bible says. When we become a Christian we are given the Holy Spirit, which the fruit of the Spirit is love, and we are given an internal thirst for God that cries out to Him, “Abba” (Daddy) Father. The evidence that we have the Holy Spirit inside us is the desire to obey Him as scripture says, “if we love Him we will obey Him.”

Not that we are perfect but that we “want to” obey and do His will. A Christian then places His life in God’s hands and allows God’s plan to unfold. This requires a surrendering of our own plans for our lives. This is why it says that, “God works all things together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” So then, it is to those who have given their lives to Christ, allowing Him to work out His plan that, “All things work together for good.”

Finally, at the end of verse 30, we have the target that God is heading toward, glorification. When God takes all our “stuff” and works it, what He is doing with it is glorifying us. What does that mean? It means He is conforming us into the image of His Son, Jesus. What “good” is then, is making us like the source of good, Jesus Christ. How much better to be good than to just have good given.

That’s why being “made good” can hurt and why we don’t always get what we want. Good is not us getting every earthly desire, it is getting Jesus and being made like Him. Whatever gets in the way of our ultimate goal, glorification, God works to remove.

This process of God “working all things together for good” will not seem “good” if we don’t see the importance and priority of glorification and making us like Jesus. However, when we do, we can trust that all things “are working” for our highest good. It is true then, that for the Christian, “it is all good.”

ACTS 12:24- “But the word of God grew and multiplied.”

The early church was in constant awe of God’s work. With nothing to rely on but God Himself, they were moved by the Holy Spirit to do God’s will. The church might have been it’s purest then, being without many of the modern churches tools and techniques. Every day was like watching a parade, wondering what exciting encounter would come next. Things were growing, things were happening and souls were being saved.

Their formula was simple, let the Lord work. Watch what He can and will do. Follow and don’t lead. Follow step by step, walking in agreement with the Lord. I don’t believe it was too difficult to do because there weren’t as many distractions and side shows offered in place of a simple relationship. Persecutions are fertilizer for growth whereas times of ease and comfort seem to bring about complacency and lethargy in the church.

In our text we see the early church growing through the multiplication of the Word. Historically, revivals will center around God’s Word. An interest in it, a desire to know it and to do it. This is what builds the church. The work of God can’t be manipulated or contrived, but it can be multiplied by a commitment to the teaching of it. There is a big difference between teaching FROM the Word and actually teaching the Word. We have the assurance that the Word of God will not return void or empty. It is a powerful weapon and will have a a great impact on those who turn to it in faith.

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THE LESSON here is that the Word of God must be central to your life, to your church communities and activities. Be careful of replacing the Word with other superficial things. The Word is not replaceable and nothing will do what it can do.

Commit to it, build upon it, watch it grow and watch it multiply. This is the simple formula of the church that turned the world upside down, and it will turn your world upside down too. Watch and see God work through it. 

Isaiah 28:13

“But the word of the Lord was to them,
‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,’
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.”

The Word of God is the foundation that a Christian builds their life on. That foundation is built on Christ, the Word made flesh, and is written by the Holy Spirit. The Word is essential to a Christian in order to grow, be strong and healthy. Without it, there is no growth, strength or health. It’s just that simple.

It is not an accident God’s Word is often minimized and even denied within the pale of Christianity. Satan attacks that which works and is effective for the Christian. The Word is front and center in his assaults, knowing that if a Christian stops reading his Bible, he stops growing and becomes vulnerable to all the other attacks he has in his arsenal.

In our text we see the rebuke to those “Men of God” who refuse to teach the Word of God. This “oxymoron” was common in Bible times as it is today. A “true Man of God” will teach the people the “Word of God” without compromise. The Word of God brings rest and refreshing as vs. 12 states, but it also rebukes those who deny it or compromise with it “they fall backward and be broken, snared and caught.”

The way to teach is simply, where the hearer can hear and understand. Then to teach in order, systematically,building truth upon truth, like a child’s building blocks. There is an order to it and a flow where the Word is speaking for itself and not man speaking. The teacher is to present God’s truth and not their own version.

The lesson here is the importance of God’s Word in a believer’s life. To say it’s “foundational” is an understatement. Nothing can really happen for a Christian until they have an appetite for God’s Word. This is often where God begins with the believer. A healthy Christian, like a healthy baby, will crave food.

Be leery of a Pastor or Church fellowship where the Word is not regularly taught. As we see in the text, there has to be a place in the “Body of Christ” where the whole congregation is going systematically through the Word, verse by verse, line by line. This is called expository preaching.

There is a big difference in teaching “from the Word” and “teaching THE Word.” Make sure the Word is being taught and make sure you are prayerfully seeking God and allowing the Holy Spirit to minister and transform your heart. There is just no substitute for God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 11:22

“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him— “

When a person becomes a Christian they face challenges that they never had to deal with before.  They enter into the realm of Spiritual Warfare, as the enemy of our soul is not happy with losing his people.  The best Satan can do is to render the Christian ineffective and rob them of enjoying all God has for them.  God knows this and equips the Christian with spiritual weapons to conquer the attacks of the enemy.  Using these weapons will ensure a successful Christian life.

In this text we have three simple instructions for a successful Christian life.  The first is to love the Lord.  Christianity is built on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  That relationship is built on love.  It’s love that drives the Christian.  It’s love that restrains them.  It’s love that motivates them.  Be careful not to leave your first love.  Love is at the heart of everything a Christian does.  Love never fails.

Secondly, a successful Christian will walk in God’s ways.  This means that God has a way to live and we are to order our lives in accordance to what God wants to do.  The Bible says that, “There is a way that seems right to man but the end of that way is destruction.”  It also says, “God’s ways are not our ways and our ways are not His ways.”  So, to walk in God’s ways is to live by faith and not by sight.  We do this by getting into the Word and by following the Holy Spirit inside us.  The Bible says to, “Not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.”  Satan wants us to walk in his ways but Jesus has set us free to walk in light rather than darkness.  As we do, we will be walking in God’s love.

The last point here is to hold fast to Him.  This means that there will be pressure to walk away from God, to walk in the old ways we used to and to do our own thing.  Here we see that we are to simply not loosen our grip on God and the relationship with Him.  It’s really just keeping God as our center.  When He is first in our lives, successful Christian living will come.  There are many things to distract us from the Lord and make us loosen our grip, so beware.  Many are very subtle, but anything that interferes with our relationship with God will loosen our grip.  Be aware of your life and pay attention to compromise and neglect.

In the end, you are already a success in Christ.  Live out that success by loving God, living for God and holding onto Him.  Success will be a life well lived, a life after God’s own heart and a life that ends with God saying,”Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.”  That is what success is.

Ephesians 3:19

“To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;”

The greatest inner need of all humans is love. We are wired to have it and intrinsically we know when we don’t. Maybe it’s not realized that “love lack” is the problem, but behaviors will show it’s longed for and one will do almost anything to get it.

There are many substitutes for real love that only comes from God. Many love substitutes act as suitors, looking to take true love’s place. Without God’s love, however, the heart is in a constant state of restlessness, searching like a lost child for their mother. This frantic heart, untamed by God’s love, will be consumed by its need for satisfaction.

A heart without God’s love can only survive on a quest to find love, because like a body that’s dying of thirst isn’t concerned with anything beyond water, a heart without God’s love can’t live beyond searching for this love.

Many unhealthy and even diabolical behavior is rooted in the lack of God’s love and is therefore cured by God’s love. It’s a deep quest for something the heart knows it must have yet can’t find.

In our text Paul is praying for the church, that they would know this love in an ever increasing and deeper way. What a great prayer, going right to the oxygen of the Christian life. Notice that he wants them to know something that is passed knowledge. How can that be? Perhaps this is why so many can’t find it, yet need it.

This love, God’s love, cannot be reduced to intellectual understanding, it cannot be attained by reason and it cannot be contained by formulas. Without coming to God, Who is the fountain of this love, there can be no calming of our hearts. Resisting God is refusing the deepest need of the human heart, love.

God’s love is beyond human comprehension and can only be given, as a gift of God’s grace, and that can only come by being in a right relationship with Him. When one comes to Christ they come to the fountain of love which tames the heart. It takes humility to receive this gift, but the recipient is the most blessed of all. God’s love is the heart’s medicine.

Proverbs 17:22

“A merry heart does good, like medicine”

Joy is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.  The Bible stresses the importance of joy in what we do and what we go through.  In so many ways, joy is a gift and a blessing.  This is why the enemy, Satan, wants to steal our joy.  He will attack us so that life becomes one big drag, rendering us complacent, lethargic and indifferent.

Joy, as our text states, has healing properties.  It’s like medicine.  Joy will heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  This also suggests that perpetual sadness is the opposite of medicine and actually is harmful.  There are however, scriptures that speak of sadness, sorrow and mourning as good things.  This is true to a certain extent.  Jesus was a Man of sorrows yet the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was anointed with gladness above His companions.  Jesus was a joyful Man, yet also sorrowed.

We can reconcile these two by understanding that joy and sorrow both have their place, but sorrow that comes from our flesh, or sin nature, is not Godly sorrow.  Godly sorrow is beneficial and actually contributes to joy.  Godly sorrow is the sadness we feel over our sin which leads to repentance and then joy.  Sorrow that leads to brokenness regarding ourselves or self-desires frees us to truly live in joy if we turn to God through them.  Sorrow over others eternity and hardness of heart to God will lead us to pray, evangelize and trust God.  This is how sorrow can be productive by leading us to Jesus, the source of joy and removing self-centered bondage and worldly attachments from our lives.

On the other hand, sadness that stems from the lack of faith, sin, selfishness, self focus, jealousy, envy, bitterness and/or unforgivenes is a sadness that is debilitating and destructive.  This type of sadness can lead to hurting oneself and possibly others.  Satan will use this emotion to control people and keep them in darkness.

There are cases of chemical imbalances and mental disease that are physical problems.  However, this is not the discussion here.  Let me add however, that self focus, worldly focus, resisting God’s will and forcing our own will, along with a sinful lifestyle, can and will cause chemical changes to the brain and the rest of the body.  So, in some cases it is a matter of the chicken and the egg.  As we see in the text, joy can heal many of these cases regardless of the cause.  With that said, we should make room for those who truly have need of medication but even then joy will help heal.

The question comes, how do I do it?  How do I have joy?  The answer is provided in the scripture.  The first step is to know where joy comes from.  Joy has one source, God.  There is no true joy outside of God.  Knowing this then, we have to know that His joy is given and experienced freely, simply by being in a right relationship with God.  Starting with turning from our sin to Jesus by faith in order to be forgiven and to have peace with God.  Before we do this, we are enemies of God which means we are against the only source of joy.  When we are “born again” by turning to God in faith, trusting in Jesus and His work in dying for our sins and raising again from the dead, we are forgiven.

Then the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us and when we surrender to the Holy Spirit we will be filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is love.  God’s love, when experienced, gives joy that is unspeakable.  So ultimately joy simply comes from God to man through one’s faith and trusting in God allowing Him to have His way.  When we surrender to God we are surrendering to His love.

The lesson here is the importance of joy.  We are to inject joy into all we do.  The only way to do this is to do all we do for The Lord.  It’s not about what we are doing or what we are going through, it’s about faith, trusting that God has a plan and is working everything out for good.

Joy is beyond situational happiness and is found in surrender.  Whatever it is you are going through or whatever activity you are doing, invite God’s presence in.  No matter how big or how small the task, do it with joy knowing it is an opportunity to experience God and experience His joy.  Bathe all you do in joy and not only will you be healthy, you will help others be healthy.  Joy is the ultimate pleasure of knowing God.

Acts 8:26

“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is desert.”

The leading of the Lord is often impractical.  What we may think is right, God may not.  This is because God is doing MORE than meets the eye.  He has a bigger plan than we have.  Not only that, but God is also working from many different angles.  This is why it is so important to follow His leading even if it doesn’t make sense.

It is important to be clear of His leading as we are prone to move upon emotional or fleshly reasons.  We can want something so bad we imagine God must be in it and leading when in reality it’s just our own plan that we want God to bless.  The best way to avoid this is to ask yourself if you would be ok with a yes or no answer.  Ask yourself if what you really want is God’s will.  Pray through things and don’t make impetuous decisions.  Don’t force things to happen for if it’s the Lords will, it will happen without forcing things.  Enlist Godly friends who can pray also and ask for their advice.  Those who are not emotionally involved in a situation and are mature spiritually will be a big help.  Ask the Lord for confirmation and be in the  Word. This will all help in discerning the Lord’s leading.

In our text we find Philip with clear leading but with unclear reasons.  He may have wondered why he was supposed to go to the desert and what awaited him.  I’m not sure what his thoughts were, but maybe he was excited to see what the Lord was going to do, knowing that God always has something extraordinary at the destination of His leading.  This is exactly what happened to Philip.  While God was leading Phillip, He was also leading an Ethiopian man to find salvation.  As God is leading the Ethiopian, He led Phillip right to him to explain what the Ethiopian was reading in the book of Isaiah.  In the end, the man gets saved and baptized.   God’s leading was God’s blessing.

In the end, there may not be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but if you follow the Lord through simple obedience, you will find much better.  The most satisfying part of the Christian walk is walking in harmony with God.  Matching Him step by step will lead us in constant fulfillment and joy.  God is at the end of every step and where the Lord is, there is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore.  God’s leading and your following is the ultimate life there is.

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” ~ Luke 14:11

Pride is such a malicious disease.  It eats away at all that is good.  It is like cancer that eats away our souls and interferes with all other functions of our being.  Pride is evil for it blinds one to their need for God.  Pride is what caused the once beautiful angel, Lucifer, to fall from heaven and be damned forever.  Pride is the strength of the flesh and  is opposed to the Spirit.

There are many things that feed our pride giving us a distorted view of ourselves and of reality.  Knowledge is one of those things that feeds the ego.  The feeling of superiority may come when we know something others don’t.  The need to feed our minds with knowledge is not a bad thing in and of itself, but must be watched carefully as knowledge without humility puffs up, and God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Anything that makes us feel better than another is pride.

Talent can feed our pride, making us feel as if the skill or talent was our doing, instead of recognizing that we simply received the gift or talent from God.  It’s good to remember that everybody is uniquely gifted by God and perfectly equipped to be awesome at something.

Beauty can be a handicap to our spirituality.  In a culture that emphasizes beauty to the point of obsession, beauty is rewarded like nothing else.  A beautiful person is told they are beautiful so often that beauty can become their identity.  One can begin to rely on the compliments and status to find their happiness and security.  It’s good to remember that anything we find our identity in, that can be taken away, is a false identity.

Success is very difficult to deal with.  People worship successful people.  Success can be such an idol that one would be willing to sacrifice their eternity for.  Success can be a god that drives a person to be a slave to it.  Success breeds pride and feeds ego.  It’s an endless road to nowhere.

There are many more things we could list but ultimately pride is our desire to “exalt” ourselves instead of God.  It is where we want what is rightfully God’s.  The best way to deal with pride is to use whatever we have for God’s glory recognizing that He made us and gave us what we have.  It’s not us, it’s Him.  We didn’t choose our DNA and genetic make up.  We didn’t choose our looks, our talent, our size, our personality, our eye hand coordination, our ability to carry a note, our speed or our strength.  We didn’t choose our biological parents nor the place and time we were born.  It’s all part of our uniqueness that we are to embrace and use for God’s glory.  The real question is “what are we doing with what we have?”

Don’t make it about you, make it about Him.  Realize that with what you are given comes responsibility.  The more we have the more responsibility we have to give God the glory.  What we do with what we have is really a test to see who and what we worship, God or self, humility or pride.  He must increase and we must decrease.  This is the secret of success.  The humble will be lifted up by God, the prideful will be brought low.

Are you stuck in a rut or have you settled for less of an existence than you were called by God to live? Have you ever thought, “Is this it, is this all there is?” Maybe this year it’s time to get going and move forward.

The Children of Israel were in such a place. Having seen God do amazing things in delivering them from slavery in Egypt, they came up short in entering the land of promise, the land of abundance.

Has something kept you in the place of mediocrity? Have you settled, gotten sidetracked or disappointed to the point of paralysis?

Perhaps it’s time for you to move forward like the Children of Israel did.

A. W Tozer said, “Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”

The Apostle Paul saw that moving forward was a continual pursuit of all that God had for Him or, “The prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 Philippians 2:12-16

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.    Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.  Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,* let us be of the same mind.

Here are eight things to consider from Joshua 1; where the Children of Israel are urged to move forward, after 40 years of running in circles in the wilderness because of their lack of faith.

1.  A Time to Move Forward – Death is the opportunity for life, renewal and opportunity.
Verse 1  – After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:  2  “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them – the children of Israel.

Death, disappointment and loss are not the end but the beginning. Moses meant so much to the Children of Israel, yet it wasn’t until he died that they were able to move forward. I imagine that they thought without Moses they were done, however God was doing a new thing.

Never let a “let down” cause you to stay down. It’s merely a new thing God is doing and he wants to show you that you can trust Him and not man. When things look bad it gives God the opportunity to show us He is all we need.

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2. A Time to Move Forward – Claim all YOUR territory.
Verse 3 – Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.  4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

Paul put it like this, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”(Philippians 2:12)

God has so much for us that we can keep continuously moving forward. Not that we won’t have setbacks, and go through different seasons in our walk with The Lord, but as we keep persevering we will never exhaust the wealth of God’s goodness that is available.

He invites us to come, and then to keep coming, and then to come some more. There is continual revelation and new and wondrous things He wants to show us.

Go for it. If there is something that has stopped you, get up and get going. That’s where you will find your strength and renewal.

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3.  A Time to Move Forward – Nothing can stop you.
Verse 5  – No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.  6  Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

You are invincible in God’s will. You may have become afraid of trying new things. You may have been burned, or let down. You may have a fear of failure. Whatever it is, “Be strong and courageous” because where God commands you to run is where you are invincible.

Patience is good, but never let patience turn into stagnation. When it’s time to move, go in the boldness of The Lord. Nothing can stop you.

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4.  A Time to Move Forward – follow God and you’ll move forward (obedience).
Verse 7 –  Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left,that you may prosper wherever you go

The way forward is to simply follow God in simple obedience. If you concern yourself with that, you’ll always be moving in the right direction.

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5. A Time to Move Forward – Success (Advancement, Progress) will be proportional to your interaction with the Word.
Verse 8 – This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,but you shall meditate in it day and night,that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

It’s amazing that our success and prosperity is connected to God’s Word. We have this promise; that living according to His Word gives great results.

The emphasis here is on  “doing” the Word. It’s not just reading it, and listening to it, but it is living according to it. Moving forward, then, is growing in God’s Word and applying it to your everyday life.

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6. A Time to Move Forward – Be Prepared
Verse  10  – Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11  “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying ,’Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

Preparation is key. When God moves us forward, He has also prepared us for what’s ahead. We will never be led where we haven’t been equipped. If God is moving, that means you are ready.

Much of what happens to us is to prepare us. So don’t despise these times that may be unpleasant. Embrace them by faith, knowing that you are being prepared to move forward.

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7. A Time to Move Forward – Forward is a fight.
Verse 12  – And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying,  13  “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’  14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, 15  until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

On the road to moving forward are many obstacles. It’s not the easy road of the least resistance but the hard road of great resistance. Why? Satan does all he can to prevent our growth and development.

He knows how great that path is so he resists every step forward we take. In fact, we can look at resistance as a mark of Godly progression as the Bible says “All those who desire to live Godly lives will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

The Children of Israel were stuck because they feared the enemies they would encounter in the Promised Land. Instead of trusting God, they shrunk back into disobedience.

No need for retreat as faith will always carry you through. You have all the weapons of warfare you need to carry on for, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17) “If God be for you who can be against you?” (Romans 8:31)

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8. A Time to Move Forward – Have no stopping points.
Verse 16  –So they answered Joshua, saying,”All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17  Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you.Only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. 18  Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

The final key is having no stopping points. There will be plenty of reasons to stop, but none of them are good. The way to go is forward.

Don’t let anything get in the way and have no boundaries. The sky is the limit, especially with God Who wants to do more than you can ever imagine.

May this year be a year of new normals, greater territory, higher heights and deeper depths. May you look back this coming December and see 2015 as the year you moved forward.