Reason to be Strong and Courageous: The Lord YOUR God Will Be With YOU

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9, NASB It is strange that the phrase “be strong and courageous” was repeated here three times in these four verses while it didn’t appear at all in the previous verses yesterday. Why is it that they need to “be strong and courageous”? It is not to cross of the Jordan River, and it is not because of the “place on which the sole of your foot treads”. The first “be strong and courageous” refer to the responsibility we have: “for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Why me, you may wonder. Through out history, God has always chosen to work with people and through people, especially the ordinary and weak people. God is personal. To know Him is to personally get involved with Him. Let’s get more personal with God, shall we? Please fill-in the blanks below with your name and re-read the passages: “Be strong and courageous, for ____________ shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Oh my – what a responsibility and privilege! How shall we fulfill such a role? Re read what God spoke and imagine that it was directed to you personally and not just Joshua: “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded YOU; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that YOU may have success wherever YOU go. This book of the law shall not depart from YOUR mouth, but YOU shall meditate on it day and night, so that YOU may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then YOU will make YOUR way prosperous, and then YOU will have success.” No matter how much we wish for a miraculous short-cut to answer all issues of life, Godly men and women pointed us back to the basic nutritional law from God: We are to read God’s Word (the text said “not depart from mouth”), we are to ponder about it (“meditate day and night”), and we are to take action (“be careful to do”) according to that Word. Think back on all the problems (not persecutions) you’ve encountered in your life, school, work, in your family or your church. There is no way you could say, “I/we have carefully read, studied, and followed what the Bible said, yet the problems were unavoidable.” We instinctively know the good standard, yet our natural tendency is to drift away from the Word of God. This is why God said, be “very courageous” when it comes to the renewal of our obedience to God. But then there is more than just your effort to follow God’s law. We can never attain righteousness by our own effort. God invites us to yet another level of being “strong and courageous!” He encourages us, saying, “Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” God wants to travel with us on the journey, strengthen us to follow His way. God is with us – Immanuel. Will you trust Him enough to follow His way in every personal aspect of your life? Is the Lord your God? Fill out the final blanks with your name here: “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord _______’s God is with _______ wherever _______ goes.” Godspeed!