BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Be strong in the Lord!

INTRO:

Life brings the good and the bad, the great and awesome, and the terrible and horrific. Alone we can become overcome and feel like there is no hope or reason to still exist, but God!

With the Creator of all on your side nothing is impossible!

We will be looking at Joshua after He just lost His Leader and best friend.

It is good to remember the past if you use it to learn from and not to keep you from your future.

All of us have a purpose God placed us on this earth for, it is time to find out what it is and move forward with our lives in peace and confidence.

FOUNDATION SCRIPTURES:

Joshua 1:2-3 Modern English Version

² “Moses My servant is dead, so now get up and cross over the Jordan—you and all this people—to the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. 

³ I have given you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread, as I said to Moses.

Joshua 1:5-9

⁵ No man will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not abandon you. I will not leave you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you shall provide the land that I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance for this people. 

⁷ Be strong and very courageous, in order to act carefully in accordance with all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or the left, so that you may succeed wherever you go. 

⁸ This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may act carefully according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way successful, and you will be wise. 

⁹ Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:18

¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your command and disobeys your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death.

Only be strong and courageous.”

I.                 BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS:

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall provide the land that I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance for this people.

Strong – (Hebrew – chazak) signifies not just physical or mental firmness, but spiritual and moral fortitude derived from trusting in God’s promises and His presence. It is a command to be resolute in faith and courageous in action, particularly in the face of daunting challenges.

Courageous – Act in faith and obedience to God’s commands despite fear or uncertainty, trusting in His promise to be with you.

1.  God speaks to Joshua after a loss of Moses.

2.  He tells Joshua who was Moses minister that He was to replace Moses.

3.  He is to continue what Moses originally led the children of Israel into the wilderness for.

4.  He was to provide for them the inheritance that God had promised Abraham all those years before.

5.  Believing God and His Word will get you out of your wilderness into your promise land.

6.  There comes a time to move on and take what God has promised by Faith and by force.

Matthew 11:12

“From the days of John, the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has forcefully advanced, and the strong take it by force.”

7.  Notice that gave them the land, but they had to go and take it from those who lived in it and make it theirs.

II.              BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS:

7 Be strong and very courageous, in order to act carefully in accordance with all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or the left, so that you may succeed wherever you go.

8 This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may act carefully according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way successful, and you will be wise.

·       To be strong and courageous

1.  prepares you to act carefully.

2.  To line your life up with the Word of God in every area.

3.  To keep yourself on the right path and not get side tracked by the distractions of this world.

·       So that you can

1.  Succeed wherever you go.

2.  Keep God’s Word in your heart and coming out of your mouth.

3.  Meditate (think about continuously) the Word of God.

4.  Again, act carefully according to what is written in the Word of God.

5.  Then you will make your way successful.

6.  You will make yourself wise in the ways of the Lord and in this life.

III.          BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS DO NOT BE AFRAID OR DISMAYED:

9 Have not I commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

·       Be strong and courageous.

1.  Do not be afraid!

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control.”

2.  Do not be dismayed!

Dismayed – to be suddenly overcome by fear, alarm, discouragement, to lose courage or resolution, and to feel shattered or broken down by the circumstances.

Deuteronomy 1:21

“See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and possess it, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, spoke to you.

Do not fear or be discouraged.”

3.  The Lord your God will be with you!

Hebrews 13:5

“Let your lives be without love of money, and be content with the things you have.

For He has said: “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

CONCLUSION:

Joshua 10:25

²⁵ Then Joshua said to them,

“Do not be afraid or dismayed. 

Be strong and courageous! 

For this is what the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”

Then we see Joshua became strong in the Lord and very courageous so that He was able to step into the place of leadership and lead God’s people into the promise land.

When God gives us a promise He also gives us direction and the power to possess the promise.

We have to do our part and fight for what God says is ours and not let the enemy and this world take it from us.