Be Strong and Courageous!

May 12, 2021

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

~Joshua 1:6~

The time in which Moses had passed away the Israelites still had yet to enter into their promised land, Joshua was left in place to fill in as lead. Before Moses had died he laid his hands on Joshua and imparted the spirit of wisdom to him so that he may be able to take over, fully blessed and chosen.

"Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses." (Deuteronomy 34:9)

Joshua was told several times by the Father when he stepped up in leadership to, "be strong and of good courage," the message was important enough that He had spoken it back to back and then Joshua went on to repeat this message to his people as they were instructed to cross over. Just as they were in need of courage to flee from the egyptians, they were in need of courage to take what the Lord had given to them. It wasn't just going to be easily given to them, it was to be taken; "until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord ’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.” (Joshua 1:15)

God was telling them to take their blessing. To not be afraid but that God would be with them as they did. When we are instructed by the Lord to go and declare something, we know that means He will be there to back us up and it will happen. He is faithful to give as we are faithful to receive. There are moments in life we tend to feel as though we are not capable of taking a blessing in which God is telling us to. There are prayers we pray that we wait on Him when He may be waiting on us. He was now officially waiting on Joshua and his people to do as instructed. If they refused to cross over, armed and ready to possess what was theirs; would they have ever received this land? I do not believe it would of gone that way. Clear instruction from the Lord is important for us to follow.

We know Moses did not even make it to the promised land for disobeying clear instruction of the Father; "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” (Numbers 20:8)

Moses went on to act in anger when he was instructed to merely speak to the rock in front of all and it would produce water. This he didn't do; "And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank." (Numbers 20:10‭-‬11)

Simple instruction from God was disobeyed due to humanly emotion and in turn God refused to allow Moses to bring these people to the promised land; "Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)

Here was a man who had walked with God many years and because he decided to go aside from simple instruction, he lost his opportunity. I do not believe God messes around with us when we choose to disobey or to do things our own way. When we put our trust in how the Lord leads us down a path, we can step out in courage and do exactly as He instructs us to; we will then see victory!

We must be bold enough to partner with Jesus in life to take the blessings in front of us in a manner that says, "I fear the Lord and trust Him." There are times where we continually beg Jesus for things when we may be instructed to fight in battle and take what He has for us. We may be hindered by the devil from receiving fully what God has stretched out to give us. We can take our stand courageously and go into spiritual warfare to claim what is ours in Christ Jesus;

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)

Our enemy loves to make us believe in lies, to think as though Jesus does not wish to bless us. There may be a time and place for His blessing, most definitely. There may be a different, more abundant way He is bringing said blessing. There may be a need to fight for it like Joshua and the Israelites fought for their promised land. This is why being persistant is key; "Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God .”

(Ezekiel 15:8)

We must believe that God is good and willing to give us what we pray for. We must be willing to be strong and of good courage, to stand up against the devil and resist any interference to our blessing; because that is all he wants to do each day. We have Jesus, something more powerful then anything else trying to stop us. Let us obey, believe and be willing to fight for what He has for us. He is looking for us to perservere and endure for the glory set before us; "to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness." (II Peter 1:6)

Let us learn from the smallest mistake Moses had made when he lacked self control and disobeyed God. Let us pray, persevere and be led in godliness as we take the advice of our Father being strong and courageous, trusting that wherever He leads us to fight He is there to fulfill the plan as He did for Joshua; "And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:4‭-‬5)

Prayer:

Gracious God, I thank you for filling me with divine strength that allows me to endure when I need to, to wait as I am told to or to persevere as You instruct me to fight. I pray for Your guidance every step of the way as I truely walk in faith. Help me in any area of unbelief that is keeping me from a blessing You have already released to me. If there is any hinderance blocking me I take a stand in the Name of Jesus to break this and I receive what the Lord has for me. Lord I vow to be strong and courageous as I am willing to stand for what You did at Calvary. As You have said it is done! I now partner with You to do the works of heaven. I give You all praise as I could not do it alone and I am honored to have Holy Spirit dwelling inside me teaching me each step to take. Help me to hear clearer Your voice only so that I may listen to Your instruction as Joshua did. I am receiving blessings over this day and I decree the devil cannot take that from me, in the Mighty Name ofJesus my Lord. Amen.