Last week we started a 4-week series on the Old Testament character, Joshua, called “Josh Journey”.
• He was one of the 12 spies that checked out Canaan.
• He was the one that led the Israelites into the promised land.
• The Jordan River parted for him
• He led them into victory over Jericho
• The sun stood still during one of their battles
Josh had quite the journey! Last week we talked about how all 12 spies were in the same place, saw the same people, experienced the same sights, sounds and smells but 10 of them had a much different report from Caleb and Joshua. We learned that:
WHEN YOU SEE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO SEE, YOU CAN DO WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO
When we see God correctly, it puts our difficulties in perspective
Today, we are going to look at another snap shot of Joshua’s life. The young man that was Moses right-hand assistant, who was one of the 12 spies that went into Canaan has aged a little. He is now 40 years older having wandered in the wilderness with the rest of the Israelites. Moses has died. Joshua has been named the leader who will take God’s people into the Promised Land.
Have you ever been asked to do something that was:
• WAY beyond you?
• WAY bigger than your experience?
• WAY more than your skill set?
• Perhaps it was a job promotion or transfer
• Maybe it was starting a new Bible study at work
• Taking over a thriving business from your retiring boss
“Now put yourself in Joshua’s sandals for a moment and let the reality of Moses’ death and his new role sink in. The only leader Joshua (and the Israelites for that matter) had EVER known was Moses the friend of God (Ex. 33:11). Moses had led them out of Egypt while Joshua was just a boy. Moses had led them through the Red Sea. God had used Moses to provide water, food, clothing, and shelter. Under Moses’ leadership, the Israelites had experienced the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Under Moses’ leadership, the tabernacle had been constructed and the ark of the covenant and the various elements for worship fashioned. Moses had come down from the mountain of God with the Ten Commandments engraved by the very finger of God. And on and on and on it went: Moses this and Moses that, and now Joshua was supposed to step into Moses’ sandals and take up the mantle of leadership.”
How would YOU be feeling?
Joshua 1:1-9
What did God speak to Joshua in these first 9 verses?
Lead my people
• Everywhere you go, you will be on land I HAVE given you
• No one will be able to defeat you because I WILL BE WITH YOU
• I will not fail you or abandon you.
• Be strong and courageous
• Be strong and VERY courageous
• Obey my laws and you will be successful
• Study my Word continually
• Be strong and courageous.
• Do not be afraid or discouraged for I am with you
BELIEVING WHAT GOD SPEAKS, GIVES STRENGTH AND
COURAGE TO THE WEAK!
It’s NOT ENOUGH to HEAR what God speaks. We must BELIEVE!
Let me tell you or perhaps remind you that Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus, Yeshua. It means “Jehovah is salvation”. The words that God spoke to Joshua sound similar to words that Jesus spoke to us.
• “I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age.”
• “But Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ He said. ‘Take courage. I am here!’”
• “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
• “Jesus replied, ‘But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’”
• “So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
• “I will never leave you or forsake you”
Why did God have to tell Joshua all the things that He told him?
If you felt courageous, would you need someone to keep reminding you to BE courageous? If you felt strong, would you need someone to keep telling you to BE strong? Joshua felt weak. Joshua felt fear and it was very natural. This huge responsibility was being placed upon him. However, it was CRITICAL for him to know ONE thing.
V. 5 – “No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. FOR I WILL BE WITH YOU as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.”
Joshua evidently BELIEVED what God said, because the next thing he is doing is commanding the leaders of Israel and having them get ready to enter the Promised Land. It’s hard to fake that kind of confidence. Look what it did for the people.
V. 16 – “They answered Joshua, ‘We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us. We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses.”
BELIEVING WHAT GOD SPEAKS, GIVES STRENGTH AND
COURAGE TO THE WEAK!
It has been said that each of us is at least 4 different people:
• The person we think we are
• The person others think we are
• The person we think others think we are
• The person we really are
But who are we really? Is there any better way of answering that question than to say that:
WE ARE WHO GOD SAYS WE ARE
So what does God speak about you? And do YOU BELIEVE it? Here are just some of the things that He speaks of you:
• You are a child of God.
“But to all who have received Him--those who believe in His name--He has given the right to become God's children” … (John 1:12).
• You are a friend of Jesus.
“I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father” (John 15:15).
• You have been justified and redeemed.
“But they are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
• You are a fellow heir with Christ.
“And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)--if indeed we suffer with Him so we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).
• You are a new creature in Christ.
“So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away--look, what is new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17)!
• You have become the righteousness of God in Christ.
“God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
• You have been set free in Christ.
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
• You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
• You are chosen, holy, and blameless before God.
“For He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in His sight in love” (Ephesians 1:4).
• You are God’s workmanship created to produce good works.
“For we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them” (Ephesians 2:10).
• You have boldness and confident access to God through faith in Christ.
“In whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ's faithfulness” (Ephesians 3:12).
BELIEVE that you ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE!
BELIEVING WHAT GOD SPEAKS, GIVES STRENGTH AND
COURAGE TO THE WEAK!
What Promised Land does God want you to enter?
Will you believe what God speaks about you?
Maybe you have found it hard to believe what God says. You have heard people say that “God loves you” but you have mixed feelings about that. Sometimes you feel like He hates you because of what you think or what you do, or what you’ve done. Or you feel like He must be really disappointed in you, or that you have let Him down.
God’s ways are way higher than our way of thinking. We need to TRUST what He says. And in regards to this, He said:
Eph. 2:4-5 – “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)”
I John 4:9-10 – “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
Part of believing what God speaks is believing Him when He says that we NEED HIM. That grace comes ONLY through Jesus Christ. That salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. That it matters what we do with Jesus!
