If we are going to be the men that God is calling us to be what role does courage play in this process Let's look at the story of Joshua and the children of Israel as they prepare to enter the promise land to see what we can learn from them.
Joshua 1:2 God tells Joshua that Moses is now dead and that it is now time for the children of Israel to step up to the call of God and go and posses the land that they should have inherited forty years earlier. The death of Moses signifies the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. The children of Israel need to put the past behind them and "arise' or go to a higher level so that they can now go in and posses the land. The same applies to us as God calls us to serve him, we need to forget our past mistakes, and were we have let God down, be prepared to step up to the next level, and go on and posses the land that God is giving us. In verses 3-5 God promises Joshua that he will give them all the land, that where ever they tread that land will be theirs. He assures them that the people that are already in the land will not be able to stand before them. As Christs Church, we too are called to go into the world and establish Gods Kingdom or authority where ever we go. We don't face a physical enemy, our enemies are spiritual but remember Jesus said he would build his Church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against us. As we go about establishing Gods Kingdom in our world then the kingdom of darkness will not be able to stand in our way. That does not mean that we will not face spiritual battles because we will, in the same way that Joshua and the children of Israel were going to face their enemies in taking possession of the land God was giving them.
Joshua 1:6-9 These four verses show us the keys to being successful in doing all that God is calling us to.
In this passage God tells Joshua that he is going to have be strong and courageous if he is going to do all that God is calling him to. The word courage means, to be steadfast in mind, strengthened, to prevail, to be alert.
God tells Joshua that they are not to let the word of God depart out of their mouths and that they are to meditate on it day and night and that they as they do that then they will be able to do all that it tells them to do. This is the key to their success, their speech, their thoughts and their actions are all to be based on Gods word. As they do this then God promises them they will succeed in all they do. The same applies to us as we go about Gods business in our daily lives, we are going to have be single minded in our attitude to Gods word. Like Joshua we are going have to meditate in Gods word day and night, watch what we say and make sure that we only speak out what lines up with Gods word, remember death and life are in the power of the tongue. We either speak life or death over our lives and the lives of those around us.
We notice something very interesting in verse nine God says to Joshua "Have I not commanded you? be strong and of a good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you where ever you go" God challenges Joshua here by asking him the question in the first part of the verse to realise that this is not an option. we do not have a choice in this, if we are going to succeed in what God is calling us to then we must rise to the next level, be strong and courageous, to do that then we are going to have to make Gods word our number one priority. We cannot afford to be slack or lazy in this. God says to Joshua "Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." If we slacken off in our commitment to what God is showing us here then we potentially open ourselves up to fear and if that fear is allowed to continue we will become dismayed, and the word dismay means to be prostrate by violence or confusion or fear, to be beat down or discouraged. Remember we have any enemy who only has one agenda, and that is to destroy us, to stop us from establishing Gods Kingdom in our world.
So let us all be encouraged that God has called us to men of courage, men of great strength spiritually, men who can achieve all that he has called us to be. Remember what the Angel said to Gideon in Judges 6:12
"The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor" Let us all arise, go to the next level and see our God do great exploits in our world. AMEN.
