Deut. 31:7-8-Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
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.”
Dismayed- to fill somebody with alarm, apprehension, or distress, a feeling of hopelessness, disappointment, or discouragement, a sudden loss of courage or confidence
A child when they get a certain age, they want to do things themselves.
You will hear them say, “I can do it!” or “I want to do it myself!”
When some people get older and someone offers them help, you can hear them say, “I can do it myself!”
I believe God has instilled that independent spirit in all of us, but if we are not careful we can be to independent, so much that we leave God completely out of our lives!
We must come to the realization that…With God we can do all things and without God we can do nothing!
Vance Havner-The word "Christian" ends with IAN and that stands for "I Am Nothing." We are zeroes until we relate to him.
If Joshua’s confidence had been in himself and his military experience, he may have resisted God’s unorthodox plan to defeat Jericho.
Isaiah 41:10-Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Fear Not-Fear can grip us, it can immobilize us!
Fears of death, fears of the future, fears of losing a love one, losing our job, our health, our freedom, our home, our car and the list goes on.
Remember this…God was here before there was anything to be afraid of, and He will be here after everything your scared of is gone!
My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground
For I Am With You-We must remind ourselves of this great promise!
Just like He had promised Joshua that He would be with him (Remember, this promise was before Jericho, before over taken the land of milk and honey!)
God is promising that ones who follow Him, those one trust Him, those ones who depend on Him, He will be with them!!!
No matter what the circumstance, no matter what the trial, no matter how deep the valley, He is with us!!
For I Am Your God-He is our personal God…What does that mean? He is personality invested in our life!
Your relationship with God is one on one.
I Will Strengthen You-You may feel weak, but He will strengthen you!
You may feel feeble, but He will strengthen you!
You may feel faint, but He will strengthen you!
You may feel fragile, but He will strengthen you!
You may feel frail, but He will strengthen you!
You may feel puny, but He will strengthen you!
I Will Help You-I love to read about God helping Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, the Israelites, but I got to tell you, I love it when I get to tell about the times God has helped Jimmy!
I Will Uphold You With My Righteous Right Hand.
John 10:28-My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand
When you are in God’s hand, no one can remove you from His hand! Not even yourself!!
