• Life is made of seasons

Genesis 8:22 NLT

As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

Psalm 31:15

My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

• Joseph went through 4 seasons:
  • His dad put a Colorful garment on him… brothers took it away
  • Potiphar put a Slave garment on him, Potiphar’s wife took it away
  • The warden put a Prison garment on him, but the Lord was with Joseph and took it away
  • The Pharaoh put a Royal garment on him.

Isaiah 43:19 NLT

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

• I  believe that as a church, God is calling all of us to a transition. Shift From one season to another… to something new.

Joshua had to Shift 5 things to be able to walk into a new season.

#1) SHIFT FROM STRESS TO STRENGTH

• Anytime your life goes through changes, your stress spikes.

Exodus 33:11 ESV

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Deuteronomy 32:51-52 NLT

For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Joshua 1:1-9 NLT

After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

• God tells Joshua… “Obey the Book” “Study the Book” “Meditate on the Book”

Afraid = terrified, fear, frightened, dread, oppress, cause to tremble.

Discouraged = break down, beaten down, dismayed

New seasons expose new insecurities.

• New seasons bring to surface new anxieties, new fears you didn’t know you had.

God will always take you to a place that you will not feel prepared, equipped, qualified, and it’s too big for you to handle.

• God will not give you more than He can handle.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NLT

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NLT

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

• Stress is a sign that the demands placed on you are higher than your strength.

Isaiah 40:29-31 ESV

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

• God doesn’t remove the stress… He increases your strength. God renews our strength so we can meet the demands of our new season.

Stop asking God to remove your stress. Ask Him to increase your strength.

1 Samuel 30:4-6 ESV

Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Don’t run from stress; run to to strength.

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

• In this new season, we need to shift from Stress to Strength.

#2) SHIFT FROM MANNA TO MILK & HONEY

Joshua 5:12 ESV

And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

• What is manna? Manna = What is it?

Exodus 3:8 NLT

So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.

• When you live on manna, you get used to God providing all of your needs.

Manna is God’s miracle. Milk & Honey is God’s promise.

• Manna is a good place to start but not a good place to live for the rest of your life.

3 John 1:2 NKJV

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV

“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Prosperity = to be pushed forward; well-being; succeed;

God doesn’t bless your dreams. He blesses your work.

Psalm 128:2 NLT

You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be!

Psalm 90:17 ESV

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

• You must cultivate your land.

• In this new season, we need to shift from… 1) Stress to Strength 2) Manna to Milk & Honey

#3) SHIFT FROM SECRET SIN TO SECRET PLACE

Joshua 3:5 NKJV

And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

• Today’s sanctification is tomorrow’s supernatural.
• Today’s hard work is tomorrow’s prosperity.
• You don’t get today what you do today.

Today’s compromise is tomorrow’s scandal.

Today’s prayerlessness is tomorrow’s powerlessness.

Today’s flirting with sin is tomorrow’s falling in sin.

• God is holy; and if we want to have a close & intimate relationship with Him, our hearts need to be purified.

Leviticus 20:26 NLT

You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.

1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT

So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

If you want tomorrow’s blessing… then you got to get rid of the Egypt (the world) in you today.

• In the season that you are in, what do you need to surrender to God so He can do something new in you?
• Don’t get frustrated when you don’t see the fruit today… wait for tomorrow.
• When there is no accountability, sin stays secret.

In the story of Joshua, it has two secrets:

A) RAHAB (Joshua 2)

• The first was a prostitute, Rahab… possibly a temple prostitute. She hid & protected two spies. Rahab was in the wrong place at the wrong time because Jericho is going down.

Joshua 2:8-11 NLT

Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. “I know the LORD has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

You may be surprised or afraid with your new season. But God knows how it ends.

James 2:25 NLT

Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.

What you hide today will change your tomorrow.

Matthew 6:4 NLT

Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6 NLT

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Sanctify yourself today for your tomorrow’s wonder.

• Do you have good secrets or bad secrets? Godly secrets? Or demonic secrets?
• When you take your secret sin to the secret place, God will change you from the inside!

Hebrews 11:31 NLT

It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

B) ACHAN (Joshua 7)

• Achan was in the right place, at the right time, with the right leadership and he had a secret.

Joshua 7:1 NLT

But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.

• One man’s sin against God’s holiness can affect those around him.

Joshua 7:4-5 NLT

So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away.

Could we be losing our daily battles because we are not walking in complete obedience?

• Humble yourself & present yourself before the Presence of the Lord in prayer.

Joshua 7:6 NLT

Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the LORD until evening.

Joshua 7:10-12 NLT

But the LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.

You either choose to be set apart for holiness or you will be set apart for destruction.

• What things do you need to destroy in your life for God’s grace to remain with you?

Joshua 7:13 NLT

“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.

You will never have victory if you are holding on to unholy things or to things that belong to God.

• Is there anything in our lives that belong to God but we are keeping for ourselves?

You are either living in the secret place or living in a secret sin.

• Your secret will either make you sick or bring God’s supernatural into your life.

1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:26 ESV

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

• Don’t let the lies of the enemy convince you that secret sins only affects you… secret sins also bring destruction & calamity to others.

Psalm 90:8 NLT

You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.

Proverbs 28:13-14 NLT

People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

#4) SHIFT FROM VICTIM TO VICTOR

Numbers 14:24 ESV

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

You cannot go into your new season with an old mindset.

• We are in the season of moving in His obedience.

Acts 1:4-5 NLT

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Philippians 2:13 NLT

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

• We need to shift our mindset from WAITING to MOVING.

Numbers 13:30-33 NLT

But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.

We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Where there’s a promise, there are problems.

• For you to step into the new season, it will require a different spirit/attitude.
• Caleb— Different Spirit & Followed Fully.

Five Things About Dogs

1 — They always stay near their master

2 — They always goes where their master goes

3 — They have a better scent than sight

4 — Enjoy small pleasures of life

5 — They can be trained

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Philippians 4:13 NLT

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

#5) SHIFT FROM DELIVERANCE TO DOMINION

• He wants to Deliver you from Egypt; Develop you through the wilderness, so you can have Dominion over the promised land.

God did not create you for deliverance. You were created for dominion.

Genesis 1:28 ESV

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Romans 5:17 NLT

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

God will never deliver you from a battle. He will only deliver you from bondage.

• When you are in the promised land you are submitting to God and resisting the devil.

James 4:7 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

• In Egypt, you have a pharaoh to keep you in bondage & torment you. In the promised land, God gives you  giants to remove.

Deliverance is what He does for you. Discipleship is what He does in you. Dominion is what He does through you.

FINAL CONCLUSION:

If you are going through a Shift in Season

• Rebuke Unpure Thoughts (Don’t flirt with sin)
• Build Endurance — Obey|Study|Meditate the Word
• Don’t Settle For Plan B (Ishmael)
• Embrace Criticism & Misunderstanding
• Stop Negotiating with God
• Guard Your Emotions Carefully
• Don’t let fear try to manifest as Control & Manipulation

We must surrender to God and allow Him to change us from the inside out… Discipleship. It’s time to be mature Christians. No time for to play Christianity. No time Luke-warm Christians. It’s time to seek His Kingdom & His righteousness. Time to get to work. Time to shine His Glory with our surrendered lives.