Stripping Off Our Plans

In Joshua 5:15 we read the angel’s answer as Joshua asked for God’s purposes: “Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so.”

God’s purposes begin by a “stripping off” of our own pursuits and plans. Joshua’s shoes were symbolic of man’s plans and man’s ways. In the presence of God, our plans are stripped away. Joshua’s shoes were taken off because the place was holy.

In the holy presence of God, we must remove what separates us from Him. Before we experience the power of God, we must experience the purity of God. Purity precedes God’s power.

In this last great move of God in the earth, God’s power is not going to be guided and controlled by men. Instead, we are going to be guided and controlled by it. We are going to have a revival of God’s glory and God’s presence. God is going to be at the center of this world-shaking revival. No man, or man’s plan, is going to overshadow God’s presence and power.

Before God gives us cities and nations, He purifies the motives of our hearts. As we allow God to work in us, He then can work through us. God is raising up men and women of character in our time. His purposes will not be stopped by our weakness or our undeveloped character. That is why there is a tremendous cleansing going on right now in the ministry.

And not only is this cleansing going on in the ministry, but it is also going on in the entire Body of Christ. He is purifying us to prepare us for His power and purpose. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)

In the past moves of God, many times God’s power was limited, or even lost, by a lack of character and purity in the ministry. That will not happen in God’s next great move. Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

God wants you to know His divine purpose for your life. God wants you to be a man or woman filled with divine purpose. We are living in the greatest hour the church has ever known. Don’t let this day pass you by. As you seek the Lord and submit your life to Him, He will meet you and speak to you, give you life, godly purpose and power, for our greatest hour.