Be Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1: 1-9 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them —to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates —all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The essence of your strength is the presence of your God!

If you are going to do anything for God, if you are going to know His victories, you must stand on His promises. What Joshua fulfilled was God’s promise to Abraham 600 years earlier (Genesis 12):

1.      The promise of a large amount of land for the Israelites.

2.      The promise of God’s presence.

We must trust in Him because He WILL keep His promises. But we must also realize that when we do trust in Him we will be tested! If we expect this it won’t throw us! And then we must be obedient. If you believe – you obey! “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.”

1.      Hear the word. Receive massive amounts of God’s words.

2.      Know the word. Meditate on it day and night. Process it! Memorize scripture.

3.      Do the word. It’s not the hearer of the word, but the doer of the word that is blessed. Make disciples! Forgive people! Love them! Serve!

4.      Blessings will follow. “Your way will be prosperous and you will have success.” (Just remember this is not earthly, but eternal success.

Red Sea Rules – Part 9

Exodus 14:30 -31 30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

The author says that from this verse we learn that we should view our current crises as a faith builder for the future. We may not always know why God allows problems, but we do know He intends for them to deepen our faith, make us more mature and more like Christ. They make us stronger after we’ve come through them.

The Israelites benefited from the trial. It says they “feared the Lord and believed Him.” Their faith was beefed up for the challenges ahead. Faith grows. It gets stronger during different seasons of our life.

One definition of faith is found in Luke 1:45 and it’s what Elizabeth said about Mary: Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!

In Romans 4:20 – 21 Paul wrote about Abraham: 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

And of course the most well known definition of faith in the Bible is Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

For Christians, faith is making reasonable assumptions about God’s care and control over our lives, based on His scriptural promises whether we understand or appreciate what’s going on.

God is like a teacher. After teaching awhile we get quizzes and tests to see how much we’ve learned.

In this Bible story, God gave them instructions through Moses and then brought them to the edge of the Red Sea and there was the test. Would they apply His promises to their problem?

In another Bible story Jesus taught the disciples on the mountainside, then loaded them into a boat and sent them into a huge storm.

Same with us. At church we hear the Word of God, at home we do our devotions and study scripture. And then the trials come to see how much we’ve learned. They give us the opportunity to put His teachings into practice. As we trust Him and pass each test we are strengthened for the future.

So here’s the principle: our faith grows when we choose to apply God’s promises to today’s problems and use the experiences to mature us for tomorrow’s challenges.

That’s why the Bible is so full of promises. We never encounter any situation for which God has not provided a promise to bear us through it. There is no condition we can be in that we don't have a promise for. The way to strengthen your faith is to focus it upon particular promises that speak to what you’re going through. Find and claim a promise of God for your situation.

A Lesson from Abraham’s life

God has blessing, joy, love and fulfillment in store for those who fully respond to Him, which far exceed our expectations when we first set forth deliberately to commit ourselves to receive His promises by faith and to follow where He leads in complete obedience at any cost.

God promises to forgive

1. Jeremiah 31:34
“No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord” because they will know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”

2. Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

3. Psalms 103:12
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

4. Ephesians 1:7
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Why do we study prophecy?

28% of the Bible is dedicated to prophecy. About 100 prophecies predicted Christ’s first coming and Jesus fulfilled every one of them. There are five times that many prophecies in the Bible that concern His second coming, and if Christ came back today, no prophecy of the end times necessary for His return would go unfulfilled.

Although Jesus tells us in the New Testament that we aren’t to know the day, only the Father knows that, we can know the season. And we are in the season.

Why do we study prophecy?

We study prophecy that’s already history to show us we can believe God and trust His promises.

We study the prophecy of the end times because; it challenges believers to holy living in an unholy age. Ephesians 5:17-21 tells us to walk in the spirit. We need to be in God’s will. Studying future prophecy also gives the church a greater challenge to evangelize and to fulfill Christ’s great commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) When we share our faith with others, not only do we help others, but also our own convictions are strengthened.

And we study prophecy so we are not deceived. Jesus said the truth shall set you free. We are to know the Bible! Daily reading of the Bible is a must for Christians. Proverbs 3:6 tells us to seek God’s guidance in life and teaching. 1 John 4:1-3 tells us to ask if the message or teaching glorifies Jesus Christ.

Doing all of this keeps us in a state of readiness. In Matthew Jesus tells a parable of a servant who expects his master’s return at any minute. He doesn’t waste time running to the door, but diligently pursues his work so it’s completed to the master’s approval at His coming. We are commanded both to work and watch so we are ready.

God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to behold!

There is much that we can know in this life, knowledge upon knowledge, but unless we discover the love of God and a love for humanity and of all God’s creation, we are nothing. 1 Cor.13