Joshua's Call

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

God says no one will be able to stand against you

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1058 No Fear

Into the granite that marks the grave of one of America’s greatest astronomers is carved these words: “I have lived too long among the stars to fear the night.”

God says I will be with you and will never leave

God says be strong and couragous

God says lead the people to their inheritance

God says to obey all the law Moses gave them.

God says do not turn to the left or the right then u will be successful

For most of us though fear doesn’t seem to lessen as we get older. There seems to always be things that we are afraid of. Some people fear talking in front of a crowd, some fear spiders but, when God calls us to something we should have the faith and trust in Him that He will get us through it.

God says keep the book of the law always on your lips and meditate on it day and night

God says meditation causes us to do what were meditating on

As Christians we have nothing to fear. When Jesus rose from the grave He defeated death so why have fears that look so minature to that?

God summarizes- i command.be strong. dont be afraid.dont be discouraged. i am with you wherever youre at.

“God said that he has not given us a spirit of fear but, of love, power, and a sound mind” Also he has said that “perfect love cast out all fear”

Fear keeps us from attaining all God has for us.

God doesnt call us to a destination but, he calls us to receive a blessing.

(NIV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

You see Satan will do everything he can to keep a Christian feeling miserable. Satan will do everything to make sure Gods children are kept from the riches found in Christ Jesus. Because he knows then the Christian will have salvation as their song, prayer as their conversation, and Gods Word as their sword to slice and dice the father of lies, the devil himself!

So, why does God bless us with every spiritual blessing in Christ? It is so that we may in turn bless and glorify Him, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Blessed by God, we bless God by blessing others.

Our blessings should flow to others

God doesn’t bless us so we can fill comfortable and happy. He blesses us so we can pass it forward. That is the heart of God. That in his generosity he would send his only son to die for us so we may have eternal life. It truley is more blessed to give than it is to receive. It is so ingrained in our culture though that the blessing is something physical and materialistic but, that isn’t so. The true blessing in when we give Christ away.

God blesses more then we currently see

No one can take what God wants to give us(except ourselves)

Parable of the mustard seed()

Hiding of yeast in a mass of dough()

Sowing of wheat seed in a field()

Imminent Domain: The Story of the Kingdom of God and Its Celebration Chapter Two: The Place of the Presence

in the parable of the mustard seed he compares the Dominion to the sowing of a seed that later grows and produces a large mustard bush (Luke 13:19), or again he draws an analogy with the hiding of yeast in a mass of dough (Luke 13:20) or the sowing of wheat seed in a field (Mark 4:1–9)

Sometimes in the big mess of things we can’t see how God is working. But he is. God used a tragedy in my life to help me see and come to know him. I was a teenager and my dad was sick with heart disease. Some of his last words to me echoed what God told Joshua. My dad said “Scott, be strong for you are about to become the man of the house”. Those words caught in shock and uncertainty. But, you know what. At that precise moment God was working in me. God was forming my mind and heart to see Him in this messy situation.

When God seems the most distant is usually the time that he is the nearest. We just need to trust that he is working

God promises to be with us and not leave or forsake us

Their is a difference between leaving someone and forsaking them. To leave someone is to get up and literally leave the room but, to forsake someone is to be present but, to emotionally distance yourself from the other person and to turn your back on them. God does neither of those things but, we can leave and forsake God. A lot of times when God feels distant it isn’t because he left the room but it’s because we have left the house.

God commands us to be strong and couragous

Gods blueprint to receive His blessing

be strong and couragous

Martin Luther King Jr. rightly assessed courage saying, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Could it have been that Joshua felt weak and incapable of this task? Could it have been that Joshua needed the strength and assurance to stand and take hold of God’s promises? Could this be the reason why God had to encourage him to fulfill his purpose and calling?

We need to have faith and not give up or give in. So many Christians today are so timid and politically correct that they would rather offend God then offend man. God calls us to go out in boldness. God has blessings he wants to give us today but we’d rather worry about something instead of having his blessing of peace. We’d rather keep our sorrow instead of recieving His joy. Its so easy to get focused on the wrong things.

dont get sidetracked

In other words dont get distracted. Their are so many voices and temptatians begging for our attention. We have internet, tv, sports, and so on…imagine if we treated our bibles like we do our cell phones and wouldnt leave home without it.

meditate on his word daily

We are to meditate on his word daily. It also mentions this in ‘But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

This means that when we meditate on his Word we will be fruitful and durable.

Our works will survive the test of fire

We are to meditate on the word that brings life. As we read the word and find revelation and treasure in the word it should captivate our heart and catapulte our life.

In our society we are impressed upon our minds with so much noise, hurry, and clutter. Thats why the discipline of meditation upon Gods word is so important We hear about the prophets of old who God spoke to but, it wasnt because of a special ability, it was because they were willing to listen.

We see in the life of Jesus, how he made it a habit of with drawing from all the crowds and the noise to spend time with the father and Jesus himself had a busy ministry and life but he knew where his priorities laid and that was communion with the father. What happens in our meditation is that we create a space in our heart for Christ to make his home there.

do all this & we will succeed

If we are strong, courageous, keep ourselves from getting sidetracked and meditate on His word daily we will be succesful according to God’s standards which isnt what the world see’s as success. God’s idea of prosperity is having a heart full of love which then receives blessings only His Spirit can give.

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching It’s Inside

Mike Douglas said in When the Going Gets Tough (Word, 1982) that the big houses and millions of dollars he has made don’t mean success to him. “Success is something inside you. Success is the good things that people do for other people.”

and...

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Do Something!

In Poor Richard’s Almanac, Benjamin Franklin said,

If you would not be forgotten,

As soon as you are dead and rotten,

Either write things worth reading,

Or do things worth the writing.

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