God's Word for 2023 - The Year of Joshua
God’s Word for 2023
By Apostle Colette Toach
This is a decree into your life that will shift circumstances for you. God has ordered your steps over the last three years and now you stand in front of an open door.
The last couple of years brought you through the fire and you said, “Lord, what is the purpose of that fire?”
Now, if you are a Next Gen Prophet, then I have God’s answer to that question. You see, I’m not called to everybody in the body of Christ. However, I’m called to you, and today I want to help accelerate your process into 2023.
The Year of Joshua
Joshua 1:1 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.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.
Moses handed his mantle to the one most qualified. Like you, Joshua paid a price that no one else cared to. You went through the fire when others ran from it. Today God honors you. Today God reminds you of where you’ve come and where you need to go.
Why You Qualify to Be a Joshua
First came the call. God called you out from your people, your normal, from mediocrity and complacency. He called you out of the shades of gray. The first thing you had to do was serve. That was your great reward for stepping up to be counted.
That is exactly what Joshua did. He served Moses every step of the way. He followed him everywhere he went. If Moses went up the mountain, Joshua went up the mountain. If Moses came down the mountain, Joshua came down the mountain.
Joshua never left the side of Moses. He was his assistant before he was the general of the army. He was like a bodyguard that helped and assisted him every step of the way. His beginnings were very small. He began by serving man as he served God.
There were many who had the opportunity to serve Moses in the same way, but not many took that opportunity. Joshua did. Joshua humbled himself. When the going got tough, Joshua continued to serve.
How many times did the children of Israel complain against Moses? How many times did they want to go back to Egypt? Joshua had to stand up against the status quo. He had to, again and again, say, “Guys, I’m staying with Moses.”
You served when the status quo got rocked. You served when you weren’t comfortable and when you didn’t agree. There were many other people that could have served as you served, but they didn’t. Not all of them were prepared to stick it through. They went with the crowd.
Not you. You pushed through and served. Like Joshua, you asked yourself, “What am I doing here? What am I doing this for? Am I crazy to keep serving and pushing through in this way?”
Moses went up that mountain for forty days and nights. Joshua went with. Joshua was the only one who wasn’t down in the camp worshipping the golden calf. Both Joshua and Caleb qualified to go into the promised land, but only Joshua qualified to lead.
Joshua qualified because he was the only one who didn’t bow. Aaron bowed. The people bowed. God forgave their sin and cleansed them. However, Joshua never bowed to that golden calf. He obeyed the rules even when it was unpopular.
He obeyed the rules and stuck to the protocols of his leader. He was not disobeying protocols behind the leader’s back and in the leader’s face pretending that everything was ok. Those protocols, laws, and rules became his own. He followed them to the letter.
It’s this stackability that qualifies you to enter into this Joshua era that God has for you. So, please do look at where you’ve come from. Trace your steps and recognize that you aren’t here by chance.
If you’re still going through these steps, recognize that there’s a price to pay. You know that God has asked you to pay a price that others are not willing to pay. What really qualified Joshua was that he stayed the course.
Your Price? The Old Must Die.
Joshua’s greatest price wasn’t to obey the rules. The greatest price he paid was to stay the course when everybody else died. He saw generations die in that wilderness. People he grew up with, his friends and those he believed in. Joshua couldn’t go into the promised land with anyone except Caleb.
He couldn’t even go into the promised land with Moses. Of all the prices Joshua paid, the greatest was letting people go. He didn’t have a choice. God brought the sword. He could not go into the promised land until the old generation had died.
However, we don’t want the old generation to die. I’m leading you forward because God is leading us into a new season, through a new door.
To walk through this new door means letting go of the generation that stays in the wilderness.
You stand on a threshold today with one foot in the promised land and one foot in the wilderness. You’re trying to decide which way you’re going to go. Let me ask you, child of God, “Are you of the old generation or are you next gen?”
God is leading you to the next gen to take this promised land. This requires a next gen mindset. This is why I love how Joshua 1:2. starts with, “Moses, my servant is dead.” What a way to start a prophetic decree for your new season, Joshua.
A Prophetic Decree: Moses is Dead!
Moses is dead! Old gen is dead. The old visions, relationships, paths, and way is dead. You can’t drag a dead body into the next season.
If you want a Joshua mandate, recognize that Moses is dead. Are you going to be part of the Moses generation or the Joshua generation?
There was nothing wrong with the Moses generation. Without that generation, there wouldn’t be a pattern. It had its season. However, it’s expired. The job has been done. The relationships did the damage or the blessing in your life that they needed to.
God’s work is done. Moses is dead. Joshua must step up and cross the Jordan into the promised land.
Numbers 27:22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation.
23 And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
There comes a time when God commissions you and you transition from the old to the new.
I’m here to call you out of transition and into your mandate to take the land. Are you ready to move past the old, through the transition, and into the new? God has gone through a lot of effort to lay His hand upon you and give you the commission for the mandate on your life.
If you’re a prophet, you got that commission as you came out of the wilderness. Now, you’re ready to implement your training during your called phase.
You stand in an awkward, ugly duckling phase trying to figure yourself out. Everything has been so spirit-led up to this point. So you wonder what you have to do next. When God called you, you went through preparation and training.
God buffeted you to shape you and condition your flesh. Then you’re commissioned. Now it’s time to go out!
Now, something interesting happens. You move into your mandate. This is where it gets confusing. This is where I push you out of the nest so that you can fly. You’re so comfortable in your calling and commission.
“This is what I am. I’m a prophet, apostle, teacher. These are the tools I have. God, what’s next?”
It’s Time to Plan
What did Joshua do next?
Joshua 3:7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”
When you read further up in passages before these, you’re going to find Joshua making a plan. Before God promised that the Jordan would be stopped and before Joshua received the rules of engagement, he already made a plan.
If you spent time with the Lord for the New Year, it’s likely you received incredible promises from Him. You say, “Yes Lord! May it be done unto me.” You wait for God’s hand to come on you, but this time God sits back and waits for you. Right after Joshua received the word, he got out of the presence of the Lord and made a plan.
God said, “Cross the Jordan.” I’m sure he didn’t know how he was going to cross while it was in full flood. Yet, he knew what God told him.
“It doesn’t make sense to me where I’m standing now and where I need to be tomorrow. I don’t know quite how we are going to get there, but let’s make a plan.”
Joshua arranged everybody. He got the priests in shape. He got the tribes set up. He said, “This is where we will meet. This is what we will do. This is the time we will do it. Consecrate yourselves and let’s go.”
Then, they marched themselves to the Jordan. I can imagine Joshua thinking, “What are we going to do when we get there?”
That is where we see Joshua 3:7. This is the line I want you to remember:
“…This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel…”
The reason why Joshua qualified to be exalted is that he made a plan based on God’s promise. He made a plan by faith. Stop waiting for God to make the plan for you. He can’t open the Jordan if you never put the tips of your toes toward it.
You can’t be on the mountaintop and think He’s going to stop the Jordan when you never got yourself to its edge. Make the transition in this season!
How many times have you missed the transition in your spiritual walk?
Not this time. This time, you’re going through because you’re going to make a plan for your Joshua experience in 2023.
You’re not going to sit on your mountain saying, “Oh Lord, that I would just experience your glory.”
They had the cloud in the old gen. It’s time for next gen.
Now, put away your cloud and pick up your sword, prophet.
God is Not a Micromanager
God is not in the business of micromanaging us. He will give us instruction and wisdom, but it’s for us to take that wisdom and lay it out clearly with steps. There are 365 days in a year. What do you plan to do with these days?
Are you going to sit on your porch and wait for the hand of God to come and say again, “Go and take the land?” You can’t take the land from your porch. You have to get yourself down to Jordan.
“How’s the Jordan going to open? How’s God going to provide? How can I do this ministry without a team? How am I going to take care of my kids and family?”
I don’t know. That seems to be a planning problem. Perhaps you should start planning. What is your plan for tomorrow or next week? Are you just going with the flow?
Do you know who went with the flow? The people that died in the wilderness!
They wandered around that mountain going with the flow until they died. If you want to be next gen, you have to stop going with the flow. You can’t be a Joshua in this generation without making a clear plan and strategy of attack.
Have you ever considered how organized every one of Joshua’s plans was compared to Moses? When Moses prayed, the cloud came down on the tent of meeting. The people saw it and each one would stand in the entrance of his tent to pray. When the cloud lifted, they packed up their tents. They just waited to see what God did.
“Is today a moving day?”
“I don’t know. Jesus knows. Let’s see. God’s will be done. God is good all the time. Let’s just go and see what God reveals.”
“What’s God got planned?”
“I don’t know. Let’s wait for the next sign.”
There you go wandering around. This is called the Moses generation.
Remember Joshua 1:2… Moses is dead.
Strategy is Required to Cross the Jordan
Joshua strategized as an army general. He strategized their approach to the Jordan. He strategized how they would go across the Jordan. Even when the priests stepped into the Jordan and it stopped, the people went through and he strategized an altar that was built in the middle of the Jordan as a remembrance.
He strategized who would stay on that side of the Jordan and who would follow through to the other side. He strategized Jericho, along with every attack and clan. He strategized which land they would take and where they would take it. He told them where to fight and who to fight.
Every tribe had to fight for their own land.
If you don’t strategize, how do you know if you’ve won the land? Do you know what land you’re fighting for?
How many promises has God given you?
What are you going to do this year to bring that promise to pass?
Moses is dead. The Moses season is dead. The Joshua season is upon you.
You have twelve months that you can break down into four quarters of twelve to thirteen weeks per quarter.
If you are approaching 2023 saying, “Let’s see what God does.” You are not going to make it. You are going to be the old generation that dies in the wilderness like everybody else.
I told my team, “If I hear, ‘Let’s see what happens. Let’s see what God wants to do this year.’ I will call them to the cross because the word of God told you what’s going to happen. It’s up to you to make it happen.”
He's told you what He’s promised. Go to the Jordan. He’s given you the answer. Find your way there. Then, He will exalt you in the sight of His people. Then, He will give you the plan, stop the Jordan, and the miracles will come.
Joshua experienced mighty miracles, but he had to make a plan first. Then, God blessed his plan with signs and wonders. God will bless your plan with signs and wonders.
Let’s Plan Together
1. List 3-5 promises that you want to be completed by the end of 2023.
It’s easy to get distracted and start wandering again. We’re not doing this year what we did last year. As you commit to this, the Holy Spirit will help keep you to that commitment.
2. Now break it up into quarters.
3. Now ask yourself what needs to be done by the end of each month in the first quarter?
4. Now break that down into thirteen weeks. There must be a clear goal for each one of those visions at the end of each week. By the end of each week, do you know what you need to have done? Use that to keep yourself on track.
Be Mindful of Distractions
The first thing that will happen after you’re done reading this is that the devil will throw another three things at you. Of course, he will and will continue to.
This is why you went around the mountain last year. You end up distracted by something you shouldn’t be that wasn’t set up by God. You come to the end of the year and you’re frustrated with yourself.
On some counts, you think it was a good year. However, overall, you think to yourself, “I could have done more. There are so many things on my list that I could have gotten to.”
You aren’t making a new year’s resolution for 2023! You’re saying, “What does the end of 2023 look like for me?
Moses is dead. The season of Joshua lies ahead. Pick up your sword in one hand and your pen in the other. Plan for the victory that is at hand for you this year.
A Decree from the Father
“I remove you from your wilderness wanderings. I remove you from seasons past. Indeed, they brought you to the threshold. They brought you to the Jordan. Now, it’s time to cross. How many times have you come to the Jordan and turned back again? Every time you turned back, you went on a long journey around to come back to the same point.
This is the year when you will cross. You will take down the enemy and capture the promise I’ve given you. I’ve equipped you and given you a strong arm. I’ve given you wisdom and understanding. All I need is for you to step forward now.
I remove the old season from you. I remove and sever those relationships from you. I remove the old positions from you. I remove the mountain that you’ve become secure wandering around. It was once a mountain that you went up to experience me, but now it is a mountain of death.
You continue to wander around in the past. It’s time to let the mountain go, go into the promised land, and to cross the river Jordan into this new era”, says the Lord.
