LEARNING DAILY

 

Joshua 1:3-4, “Everywhere you go, you will be on land I have given you – from the Negev Desert in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and all the land of the Hittites.” God speaking to Joshua (from the New Loving Bible)

 

 God instructed Joshua to cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan (the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey) and possess it. God’s promise was He would be with Joshua and “Everywhere you go, you will be on land I have given you”.  That is a pretty straight-forward plan, in my opinion. The execution of the plan would happen only by faith in the One who said it and obedience to His direction. Anything less would result in failure. It is also to remember that God had given this land to Israel in His covenant with Abraham as seen in the book of Genesis. God reminded Moses of this in the Exodus (Exodus 6:4-8).

 

Consider this statement in the DJSB, “Israel had no official army and no weapons, and the territory was inhabited by seven more powerful nations than them. Yet, because God had promised, Joshua could boldly lead Israel to occupy the land.” Joshua had been with Moses through the exodus from Egypt and had witnessed that God was with Moses. Now God promised Joshua that He would be with him as He had been with Moses. God’s past faithfulness to Moses would be a source of great strength to Joshua as he led the people across the Jordan River into Canaan.

 

Warren Wiersbe has written, “The book of Joshua is about the victory of faith and the glory that comes to God when His people trust and obey.” We are living in difficult times. We are seeing events happening that Jesus said would be the birth pangs that would happen before His return (Matthew 24). We are seeing the writings of Paul in 2 Timothy 3 happening. Christians around the world, and even in the Untied States, are being persecuted and killed for their faith. The verses from Joshua remind us that God is with us at all times. Joshua was to move forward -wherever he stepped, God gave him the ground he stepped on, that was God’s promise. You and I must move forward on the promises of God. Each day, regardless of the circumstances, we move on the promises of God. To do that, you and I read and study His Word; we do so to be encouraged and know what He has done for those who walk with Him in faith. “Every Believer who is doing God’s will can be strong and of good courage, knowing that, just as for Israel and Joshua, God will not leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)” (notes from the DJSB). What a promise! God never leaves us to do the work He has for us to do alone.

 

I found a good little book titled The Jordan Rules written by Robert Morgan. Let me finish with a quote from that book. “Why on earth, then, are you and I insecure about anything in our lives? We have rivers to cross, challenges to face, problems to confront, giants to fight, and promises to claim. But why should we be insecure, afraid, or discouraged? We have a repeated promise from God, and the final repetition of it is underlined by doubles and triples of grace” (referring to Hebrews 13:5). It encourages me to know God is with me in every circumstance I face!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.