Be Strong and Courageous

What is your destiny? What were you created to do? What can we learn from looking at the life of Joshua? There are many things we can learn from the life of Joshua— much more than a few words of a blog could say. For this particular blog I am focusing on one portion of the life of Joshua. In this section of scripture the LORD gives Joshua his destiny assignment. Joshua’s previous assignment has ended because Moses has died. The principals GOD gave to Joshua apply to us today just as they did those many years ago for Joshua.
Joshua 1
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 Riverinto 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.”

I WILL

Joshua, up until this time, had been an aide to Moses. Being an aide was not his final destiny. That was his training for greater destiny. Now that Moses is dead, the LORD begins to instruct Joshua on his next phase of destiny. Before the LORD ever tells Joshua his assignment, He tells him what He will do.

GOD assures Joshua

1. I WILL give you every place you set your foot on.

2. As I was with Moses so I WILL be with you.

3. I WILL never leave or forsake you.

GOD also adds an assurance:

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.

What some awesome promises! When we are in GOD’s will the “I WILL” of GOD becomes ours. These are the things that will hold us up when the going is tough. What GOD said is what we are to believe in faith because, we can be sure, what we will see with our natural eyes and hear with our natural ears many times will be the opposite of what GOD says. We have GOD’s Word, the Bible, filled with promises of what GOD will do. What are your “I WILL” promises from GOD?

Instructions

After the assurance of what He will do GOD begins to lay out His instructions for Joshua. The LORD begins with, “Be strong and courageous”. He will tell Joshua this three times, each time with instruction in what to do. We can apply these same keys to our lives as we walk in the destiny GOD has for us.

In order to walk in destiny we will have to be strong and courageous. We must never loose sight of what GOD has said He would do, for, this is how we can be strong and why we can be courageous!

Write these things down. (Habakkuk 2:2-3) Write it out plainly. It will be helpful in remembering when the enemy comes to steal or you become weary and want to give up, not on GOD, but the dream the vision He has placed within you.

The Assignment

In verse 6 after telling Joshua to be strong and courageous the LORD tells him what He is assigning him to do– to lead the Israelites to inherit the promised land. What has the LORD spoken to you through His Word, prayer, a message, a song or prophetic word?

What to do

Again Joshua is instructed to be strong and courageous but, what he is told next will assure his success. In verse seven Joshua is instructed to be careful to obey and in verse eight he is instructed to meditate on GOD’s Word. Joshua is assured that if he does these two things he will be prosperous and successful. This is all about walking with focus. As long as Joshua is focusing on doing what GOD said and meditating on what he has been given in GOD’s Word he can’t also focus on the giants and the battles against the enemy. We must keep our focus on what GOD has said being careful to obey, ever knowing that GOD wants us to be prosperous and successful in what He has called us to do (not what we just decided to do and want His blessing).

What not to do

Verse nine is the next be strong and courageous and is followed by what not to do. Like Joshua, we must not be terrified or discouraged because fear and discouragement will hinder and may even thwart our promise. We must identify any place we have fear or discouragement and in those places look to the LORD for strength. We do this by meditating on the I WILLs of GOD, remembering His Words to us as we turn our focus completely to Him.

At times we may feel like we are not being prosperous or successful. No matter what things look like we have to keep our focus on what GOD said. Before Joshua ever got what he was to do He got what GOD was going to do. GOD will always do what He says He will do. That’s why we must not look to the right or to the left (verse 7) because we will begin to walk where our focus is! When we focus on GOD’s Word we focus on JESUS because He is the Word (John 1). When He is our focus we will reach our destiny!

To walk in Destiny

1. Remember what GOD says He will do.

2. Don’t loose sight of our assignment– where we are going because GOD said.

3. Focus on what we are to do— obey and meditate.

4. Do not be terrified or discouraged.

When we remember who GOD is we can walk in His strength. When we remember what GOD said we have courage!

Be Strong and Courageous

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Published by Lisa