Joshua 1: Your Ceiling Can Become Someone Else's Floor

Introduction

"I'm not saying we need to add another floor to the church." Béryl Rutscho makes it clear from the start: the ceiling she is talking about is not part of a building. It is a concept for your life. How can what you have reached with God become the starting point for those who come after you?

This message is part of a series from Centre de vie on inheritance: how to take hold of the promises God has for us. The week before, the church had heard God say to Joshua: "Be strong and courageous." Béryl Rutscho continues in Joshua 1, verses 12 to 18, with three tribes that already had their territory and yet chose to go into battle ahead of their brothers.

Her idea fits in one sentence, one she has often said to her own parents: may your ceiling become my floor.

Outline of the message

1. Tribes that already had their inheritance

Joshua takes over leadership of a people of about a million, only days away from crossing the Jordan to enter the promised land.
Joshua reminds the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh of what Moses had commanded them: their wives, their children and their livestock would stay on this side of the Jordan, but their mighty men of valor would cross over armed, ahead of their brothers.
This territory had been taken from two Amorite kings in the days of Moses. The tribes, which had large herds, had said: "This land is really good for our livestock. We'd like to settle here" (Numbers 32).
The people answer Joshua: "We will obey you completely, just as we obeyed Moses. [...] Only be strong and courageous."

2. Not repeating the story of discouragement

Moses sets a condition: you are not allowed to repeat history. When Israel came out of Egypt, ten of the twelve spies discouraged the whole people: "Next to them, we were like little grasshoppers." The result: "40 years on a merry-go-round" in the wilderness.
Moses tells them, in essence: you have no right to lounge around with "a little deck chair, a little cocktail," building your houses while the rest of the people fight.
The tribes do not want to become a source of discouragement, but a source of encouragement. They say so themselves: "We ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place" (Numbers 32:17).
They did not say: "We'll come once our houses are built," or "Give us a call if you need anything," or "We'll stay in the rear as reinforcements, closer to home." They chose the front line of the battle, where it is most intense.

3. They had already seen God fight for them

Why such a commitment? For Béryl Rutscho, it is because these tribes had already seen God act for their own territory. So they had the faith to see him act for the rest of the people.
Facing the Amorite kings, God had said to Moses: "Do not be afraid, I am delivering them into your hand." God had fought himself, at the head of the people.
Moses reminds Joshua: "Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. [...] You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God, he it is who fights for you" (Deuteronomy 3:21-22).
That victory was the ceiling of these tribes and of Moses: their last great victory, the one that had given them a country.

4. The already and the not yet

The Old Testament is very often a picture of what happens today through Jesus' victory on the cross. For us, the promised land is eternal life with Christ, a land "flowing with milk and honey," a land of abundance prepared in advance.
We enter it through Jesus Christ, who died on the cross carrying our sins, our sicknesses and everything that keeps us from entering.
The people knew the land was already theirs, but they still had to fight. This is the tension of the "already, not yet": we already have the victory in Christ, but we are not yet in a perfect life, with no sickness, no challenges and no problems.
Romans 8:17: we are "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him." The condition is being ready to follow his example, to die to ourselves, to take up arms and to believe for the victory.
"Life in Jesus is not a fairy tale." Jesus did not promise an easy life, but he promised that he would always be there, at our side, to fight with us.

5. Your victories are not trophies

The battle is surely present in your life: your physical or mental health, your finances, managing your time and priorities ("that's my current battle," she admits), your choices, your sexuality, an addiction. "We all have ground to conquer."
But if you have challenges, you surely already have victories. Whether they seem small or big to you, "in God's eyes, a victory is a victory."
You can choose to go into battle alone or with an army at your side. Someone who was healed of a bad back will pray for you with stronger faith, because they have already seen God do it and know he can do it again.
A healing, a breakthrough in your finances, a family reconciliation are not meant to be put on a shelf and shown off around the house. Your breakthrough is "a raised floor," a springboard so that others can start from where you are and go further.

6. A floor for the next generation

About fifteen years ago, Béryl Rutscho's parents, then around 40, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Until then, the Holy Spirit was for them "something you put away in a cupboard."
They told their children right away. She prayed alone and received nothing. Her mother sent her to her father, who came into her room, explained who the Holy Spirit is and prayed in tongues for her for several minutes, without putting any pressure on her. That same evening, alone in her room, she received the Holy Spirit and prayed in tongues for the first time. She was 11.
Her parents could have said: "We waited 40 years to receive the Holy Spirit, you can wait until you're an adult," or kept this new thing to themselves. Instead they told themselves: if our 11-year-olds can benefit from it now, "it saves them so much time."
For her parents, those fifteen years are only a part of their lives. For her, it is almost her whole life. Your victory can not only become a floor, but let the next generation "put the pedal to the floor" and speed up.

7. From two kings to thirty-one: testifying and fighting together

Moses had defeated two Amorite kings. Joshua, in the conquest of the land, defeated thirty-one. What you are living today can allow others to live three, five or twelve victories, and not just for one person, but for a whole congregation.
Hence a double call: do not envy the victories of others, and do not hold back the blessing you received, even after years of perseverance. The testimony says: "God did it for me, so he can do it for you."
At an evening of the International Association of Healing Ministries, with which she works, a woman healed of a bad back was handed the microphone to pray for those suffering with their backs. She prayed simply, and several people raised their hands, healed on the spot. "One victory can become a multitude of victories."
Do not settle for the "don't worry, I'll pray for you" that we forget afterward ("me first," she admits). Dare to say: "Do you need to see a breakthrough? I'll stand with you." That is why we need the Church and one another.
Romans 8:37: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Being more than a conqueror means going into battle knowing you are going to win. Jesus' ceiling, his total victory over death, is our present floor: you fight from a position of victory.
This changes how you speak: no more the complaint "Lord, if only you could do something," but "with you, I am more than a conqueror." It is not you who changes the situation; the situation will adapt to the kingdom of God.
The message ends with a time of activation: the congregation divides up by area of need (physical health, mental health, finances, relationships, family, addictions), and those who have already experienced a breakthrough in that area pray with faith for the others. "If God did it, he can do it again."

Key takeaways

Your ceiling, your greatest victory with God, can become someone else's floor.
The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh marched at the head of the battle because they had already seen God fight for them.
We already have the victory in Christ, but battles remain: we fight from a position of victory, more than conquerors.
Testimony says: "God did it for me, so he can do it for you." Holding it back deprives others of a blessing.
What one generation receives late, the next can receive early, provided it is passed on to them.

Personal application

What victory have you already lived with God, small or big in your eyes, that you are keeping on your "shelf"?
Who around you is going through the battle in which you have already seen God act?
When you say "I'll pray for you," do you follow through? Who could you concretely stand with this week until the breakthrough comes?
Is there a victory in someone else's life that you look at with jealousy rather than with faith?
What do you want to pass on to the generation that comes after you, so that they do not have to wait as long as you did?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "your ceiling can become someone else's floor" mean?

For Béryl Rutscho, the ceiling is the greatest victory you have lived with God. It is not a trophy to put on a shelf, but a raised floor: a springboard from which others can start from where you are and go further, faster.

Why did the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh go into battle?

They had already received their territory on this side of the Jordan, but Moses had set a condition for them: do not discourage the people. They chose to march at the head of their brothers until all had entered their inheritance (Numbers 32:17, Joshua 1:12-18). According to the preacher, they had the faith for this because they had already seen God fight for them.

Why is testimony so important according to this message?

When you testify, you are saying: God did it for me, so he can do it for you. Someone who has already been healed or has lived a breakthrough prays with stronger faith, because they know God is able to do it again. Holding back your testimony means depriving yourself of a blessing and depriving others of one too.