The First Step Towards A Better Life

The First Step Toward a Better Life

Every meaningful change begins with a first step.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or wondered where to begin, this message is for you. In this teaching, we'll discover that God often leads us into a better future one step of faith at a time—not by revealing the entire journey, but by asking us to trust Him with the next step.

Using the powerful story of Joshua leading Israel across the Jordan River, we'll see how God calls us to move forward in faith before the waters part. The same God who made a way for them is still making a way for us today.

In this message you'll discover:
• Why change always begins with one courageous step.
• How faith grows when we obey God before we see the outcome.
• What can keep us from moving forward.
• How God meets us when we choose to trust Him.

No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, my prayer is that this teaching encourages you to take the next step God is calling you to take.

If this message encourages you, I'd love for you to subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope, and join me each week as we learn how to renew our lives—one step at a time.

Scripture: Joshua 3

#Faith #ChristianLiving #BibleTeaching #Joshua3 #TrustGod #WalkByFaith #SpiritualGrowth #RenewYourLife #LifeWithMax #Hope #Jesus #ChristianEncouragement #TakeTheFirstStep #GodsPlan #BibleStudy

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you for tuning in. My name is Max Marcou, and this is Life with Max. Today I have a teaching called The First Step Towards a Better Life. We all have opportunities in front of us that sometimes we put off because it's scary or difficult. And today we're going to look at a story that I believe will give you inspiration to seek God for his help in helping you to take the next step that you know that you're supposed to take. So it's a story in the book of Joshua. I'll start reading Joshua chapter 3. Joshua arrived at the banks of the Jordan River where they camped before crossing. Three days later, the Israelite officers went through the camp giving these instructions to the people. When you see the Levitical priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Now, a little backstory, real quick, is the Israelites were slaves for many, many years, for generations. And God spoke to Moses and said, I want you to set my people free. Moses, with the help of God, miraculously accomplished that. And he and God didn't just leave them out there in the desert. God said, You're free, but I'm going to bring you to a new land flowing with milk and honey. In other words, a land flowing with resources where you will be blessed. Moses tried to get them to that promised land, but he he ran into lots of challenges. Those challenges were the people that he was trying to lead. So this is very practical in the sense that we're seeing that God is speaking to people to help people, to lead people, but there's still the challenges that we face today. They had them back then too. Well, anyways, Moses had passed away, his time was up on the earth, and so Joshua is now put in the leadership position to get the people into that promised land. Let's keep going. Verse 5. Then Joshua told the people, Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you. I'm going to pause right there for a moment. If you feel like it's time for you to take a next step in your life, uh, whatever that is, into a new relationship or a new job or what moving, we whatever that may be. What does it mean for you when I read, then Joshua told the people, purify yourselves. For tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you. I want you to make that something real for yourself. I think purifying yourself can mean a lot of different things. But in modern time, maybe that means that you're going to say, enough's enough. I'm not going to keep doing the things that have been tripping me up and that have consumed my time that are not helping me to get prepared to take that next step. We can procrastinate so much in this modern world. There's lots of distractions, there's lots of comforts. And I think this is one to pause on. How will you purify yourself? Okay, let's keep going. Verse 6. In the morning, Joshua said to the priest, lift up the ark of the covenant and lead the people across the river. And so they started out and went ahead of the people. This is pretty cool. Because Joshua's going to be thinking, Moses, as great as he was, and all the miraculous things that Moses got to experience, he still was not able to get these people to the promised land. So Joshua, I if if I'm in Joshua's shoes, I'm thinking, how am I going to do that? And in verse 7, this is beautiful. The Lord told Joshua, Today I will begin to make a great leader, make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. Give this command to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant. When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there. So he's encouraging Joshua. He knew that Joshua needed some encouragement. By you listening to this, by you reading the Bible for yourself, uh, you can be encouraged by the Spirit of the Lord with whatever it is that you are hoping for and working on. One thing about the Ark of the Covenant that carried the presence of God. I thank God today we live in a New Testament time where uh the Holy Spirit lives in here. And we don't have to, um it's different. That's a study for another day. The main point today is the first step towards a better life is going to require you to get ready and then get moving. Okay, let's keep going with the story. Uh let's pick it up in verse 13. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of the water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall. So, you know, there's instructions being told that trust me, although the water, we'll find out in a second, is overflowing. It's at the river banks, it's deep. We got to get all these people across. There's gonna be a miracle. Verse 14. So the people left their camps to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point began backing up. So cool, a great distance away at the town called Adam. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Imagine being there and seeing this miracle. You were once a slave, now you're set free from slavery. You've been wandering around, probably wishing, like, wow, I wish we could just get into this land that God promised us. But there's an obstacle yet again. Life is full of obstacles. And you see a miracle right before your eyes. Verse 17. Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord's covenant stood on the dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground. Absolutely miraculous and amazing. I have four short points to share with you today. Number one, God often calls us to move before we see the miracle. Try to use your imagination here. Wherever you are, let's imagine you're you're standing at a river's edge, and across the river is where you want to be. And again, let's make this about you right now. It's that new job, that new education, that relationship, that you want to move to a different land, whatever it may be. It's across the river. And our prayers often will be, God, can you just bring that over here? In other words, can you can you take what is over there and make it easy for me? When oftentimes miracles happen when we get involved and we put our faith and mix it with some action, and we're obedient to what God is leading us. We're not fools, but we're willing to take those steps. I know for me, there have been many times in my life where I knew that I was supposed to do something, and it required action. It required me doing something. Now, it was going to be impossible even with my action, but with God, all things are possible, but I still had to get moving and take that step. In other words, even though I know that there are times when God calls me to do something, I could just say, well, then God just do it. That's not how it's worked for me. That's not how it worked for them. Chances are it's not going to work for you that way. It's going to require purifying yourself. In other words, straightening your head out, straighten things in your life out. Get your head on correctly, the right attitude, the right focus, no more excuses, and no more time wasters, and manage your the life that God has given you. Leaders or readers, I say that all the time. You got to be able to lead yourself before you can lead anybody else. And God often calls us to move before we see the miracle. Number two, God's presence gives us courage. My time in prayer, we talk about prayer on this show. My time in studying the Bible here, it helps me to feel closer to God. And God's presence gives me courage. Courage that I need in order to do the things in which I am called to do. And in order to manage my emotions, to say, fear is not gonna control me. I'm gonna push fear away and press on in faith. And you can do this. It's going to take little steps at first before you could take big steps often, but a daily habit of spending some time with God is going to help you. Number three, one step of obedience opens the way for others. Joshua is taking this step of obedience. The Lord is speaking to Joshua. I'm going to read to you something in Joshua chapter one that I think is great. The Lord is speaking directly to Joshua prior to the river crossing here. And he says in verse six, Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. And verse seven, what do you think he says there? In verse six, he said, Be strong and courageous. In verse seven, he repeats himself, Be strong and very courageous. Be careful not, rather, be careful to obey all the instructions Moses had given you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Have you been deviating, going to the left and the right, and the right and the left? Or even worse, just not taking any step of growth or faith. This is your day. This is your time. This is your night to say, enough is enough. I'm pressing for it. I'm gonna take that step because my life is going to get better. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Then he says this to Joshua, and I say this to you study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night, so that you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all that you do. That's deep, and that's relevant for today. I am a living testimony that God's word is true. One step of obedience opens the way for others. I am responsible for other people, my family, friends, at my place of business, at my church. You have an opportunity, and I would even go as far as say a responsibility to get your life right and walk with God, grow with God in a relationship so that you get to know the heart of God and you will be able to take the steps that you know you've been feeling that you need to take, so that not only you're blessed, but the people around you are blessed. Be a blessing. Number four, the last one, God leads us into better places one step at a time. You know, the Jordan River wasn't, you know, just a finish line. You know, he wanted people to not just have a land that had resources, but he wanted these people to see that he loved them. And he wanted to show them how much he loved them by giving them something quite beautiful and saying, I want you to take these steps because I want you to see that I want to shower you with a great life, with blessings. I want to shower you with blessings. Psalm 37, verse 23 says, The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their life. Have you ever thought God, Father, God, Creator of heaven and earth, cares about every detail of your life? That's beautiful. Life may not have turned out so far the way you had hoped, but I've seen so many people turn a mess into a message that God is alive and well and working still here on the earth. My prayer is that you'll take this to heart. Almost done here. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. This is a book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs. It says, Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will, meaning seek God's will in all that you do, and He will show you which path to take. I know that life can be challenging. I certainly know firsthand how life can be challenging. But I put my trust in the Lord and I seek out his guidance, just like Joshua and the Israelites were seeking out a plan to get into that promised land. And they did. Maybe you're standing at your own Jordan River as you're listening to this, and you're you want to see what God has has promised for you, what He has planned for your life. I want to encourage you in that. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you that today, whoever's listening to this, they can take that first step towards a better life. They can trust that the people in the Bible, although it was a long time ago, they're no different than us today. In other words, you're the same God today as you were then. And the people back then had challenges just like today. And Lord, if you could have helped them as you did, you can help us. And I pray for each person listening to this that they will be encouraged to take some steps of action. And they do it with a smile on their face, that they'd almost laugh in the face of fear and say, enough's enough. I I'm pressing forward. I'm gonna have a great attitude, and I am gonna have some joy, and I'm gonna trust the Lord and take a step of faith. I'm gonna get ready and take a step. So, Lord, I ask you to bless them and encourage them. In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if that encouraged you, I I hope that uh you'll just run with this idea that that God, He did something miraculous for the people back in Joshua, the book of Joshua, in that biblical time, and he could do something great in you and write you an amazing story, a new chapter. Again, my name is Max Barku. I pastor Elevation Chapel. It's a little church right outside Boston in Newton, Massachusetts. If you're ever around on a Sunday morning, come on by. I'd love to meet you. You can go to elevationchapel.org for more info. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you.