Strong and Courageous.

     A few days ago I read my short devotional out of Hannah Whitall Smith's, Daily Secrets of the Christian Life, book. It was on Joshua 6 and the shout of faith that brought the walls down. Which I will write about soon. So I decided that I wanted to know what God was speaking to Joshua about before the walls of Jericho fell. I set on an adventure in the book of Joshua. There is so much to share from this book. I am amazed at the things God is teaching me from it, and I haven't gotten past chapter 6! Here's what I'm learning.

     

     Moses, a servant of the Lord, dies. Joshua is the son of Nun- who was Moses' aide. God begins to speak to Joshua and tell him these promises of what is to come:

1. You will cross the Jordan River.

2. I am going to give you (the Israelites) the land you cross into. 

3. I will give you every place you set foot.

4.Your territory will be great.

5. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.

6. I will be with you always.

7. You (Joshua) will lead these people to the land I have swore to their forefathers.

     Let's put ourselves in Joshua's shoes. God just revealed this to him. I can only imagine myself being in my prayer time and the Lord telling me that I will lead an entire people group to a land that He had sworn to their forefathers. Or that I was going to take Moses' place!? What kind of craziness is that? That just kind of blows my mind. I can hear my thoughts right now- "Where in the world did I come up with that? I am so crazy. Satan, are you tempting me? Jesus- surely you didn't just promise me that!? I can't do that.... so God you didn't tell me that. (LIE)" I mean- lets get real- these promises are going to carry some crazy responsibility. In an instant Joshua's life and future was changed. Pretty awesome and scary if you ask me. 

     So what happens next? I think that the Lord is so smart on the next few things that he speaks over Joshua. He immediately began to encourage Joshua to be strong and courageous. To not be terrified. (Instant reaction to those kind of promises.) So basically, Joshua gets a pep talk before the big game from the Lord. God works in great ways and will prepare you for them. (Truth) 

     And then....... Joshua obeys. Obedience is so key to our relationship with the Lord. We will never receive the things God has for us if we don't obey.... immediately. The big and the little things. To be faithful with the BIG things; we have to be faithful with the little things. So Joshua obeys and takes on the responsibility of being a leader to an abundance of people. Which will require the people to obey Joshua. See the scariness of God's promises to Joshua? They require faith. 110% faith. 

     So Joshua begins to lead his people. He teaches them. He listens to the Lord and shares what the Lord is telling him. He prepares and commands his people that God has blessed him with. And comes steps closer to walking into his calling, the promises over his life, and his destiny. Joshua was born to be a leader. He was formed and created to lead people. What is your calling? What are the things that God has promised over your life? Things that have been prophesied to you? Do we sit back patiently and wait for them to come? Or do we step out on faith and walk into them? I think we will learn from Joshua. 

     But for this post- Here are the things I learned from Chapter 1 in Joshua. God has promises and plans for my life. He will equip me when the time comes. It takes faith and obedience. I just have to be ready to take the step.