LEARNING DAILY

 

Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The Lord speaking to Joshua!

 

Four times in the first chapter of Joshua God tells him to be strong as he leads the people into taking the Promised Land. Remember Israel had no trained military, no weapons and little experience in warfare. That is a good reason to be concerned as they are going in to take the land promised them from kingdoms who were experienced in warfare, had weapons, chariots and were going to resist them.

 

Be strong! I am with you was God’s promise. Their strength was to come from Him and His Word. “The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” That was the command before verse 9. Joshua was to find strength and courage there and was to remain faithful by talking about it, meditating on it, and by being obedient to it.

 

I have written before on this. Again,I stress the importance of reading, studying, meditating on the Word of God. I cannot just read the Word; I need to meditate on it so it gets not only in my brain but it gets in my heart! Then I am able to apply it to my daily walk on God’s narrow way to His kingdom.

 

Joshua needed to know that God was with him as he led Israel against the nations to possess the land God had given His people. Please grab hold of what I am going to write next. You and I need to know God is with us at all times as we face the circumstance and obstacles in our life, and what is ahead. We come to know that, and live like it as we come to know God’s word and follow His Word. It is not just the knowledge that is important, it is the wisdom to know what to do with the knowledge that is also important. This wisdom enabled Joshua to be successful; it came through meditating on the Word of God.

 

Here is the summary for what was required of Joshua to prosperous and successful: 1) be strong and courageous (v. 6-7), 2) make God’s Word his authority, to guide all he did (v.7), 3) study and meditate daily on the Word (v. 8), and 4) determine to earnestly seek God every day (v. 5,9). That is exactly the same message the Father in heaven is sending you and me today! All of us want to be successful in what we do. This is what is required to be successful in God’s eyes; it is not a formula for material prosperity.

 

This is an important formula for each of us today. We, like Joshua, face the unknown of tomorrow. Fear is trying to control our behavior. There are storms all around us. Jesus even said in Matthew 6:34, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  The enemy wants us to focus our attention on the trouble and the storm and not on the Lord. Stop doing that; God is with you! Like Joshua, He wants us to accept the challenges before us, not dwell on them. Glorify Him and He will give you victory and “the land you step on”.

“Be courageous” God told Joshua. That is the opposite of being discouraged. I have read that discouragement is the devil’s attempt to take away your energy, your endurance and your strength. What happens when you become discouraged? You are looking at yourself, your goals, your wants – you, you, you. When you are courageous, you know God is with you and you are looking to Him for guidance, looking at His plans and His purpose.

 

God told Joshua to be strong and of good courage – to know He was with Him. I submit to you today that same message is for each of us as well.