The way to be a winner

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua- The Power, Promise and Presence of God.

Joshua 1:1–9 ESV

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Who doesn’t want to win?

Do stats matter? Not unless it is your win/lose stats.

Nobody likes to be a loser. That doesn’t mean you can’t accept defeat, if necessary.

But we all want to succeed. We all want to win. We all want to reach our goals. We all want to prosper.

The following article posted on the NFL Pro-Football Hall of Fame Website illustrates the importance of the win.

The New England Patriots achieved extraordinary success to start the 21st century as the franchise captured three Super Bowl championships in a four-season span.

��QB Tom Brady was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2007 after throwing a NFL record 50 touchdowns. WR Randy Moss was on the receiving end of 23 of those passes to eclipse the record previously held by Jerry Rice.

It all began in the 2001 season when the Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. After failing to reach the playoffs in 2002, the club rebounded with back-to-back 14-2 regular seasons capped by victories in Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX respectively. The Patriots continued its run of AFC Eastern Division titles in 2005 and 2006. Then, in 2007, the club left a memorable and historic imprint on the game.

The Patriots did the improbable by going unbeaten through the regular season. It marked the first time since the NFL expanded the regular season to 16 games that a team went undefeated. The Patriots added postseason victories over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional playoff round and a 21-12 win over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship Game to run the streak to an amazing 18-0. In doing so, the Patriots became the first team ever to go 18-0 in a season. The New York Giants spoiled New England’s place in history with a narrow win in Super Bowl XLII.

Despite the loss, the Patriots joined an elite group of teams that have posted undefeated regular season records. The Chicago Bears accomplished the feat in 1934 and 1942 but both seasons the “Monsters of the Midway” lost in the NFL’s title game. The 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only NFL team ever to go unbeaten in the regular season and postseason when the club finished 17-0 that year.

A footnote to history is the accomplishment of the 1948 Cleveland Browns. The squad went 15-0 to win its third of four championships in the rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC). While the records of the defunct league are not recognized in the NFL record book, the Browns certainly merit mention when describing the game’s unbeaten teams.

You’re Up! Arise and Go!

Inherit the Land- Accept God’s gift

The Way to Be a Winner!

Strong & Courageous- unbending, firm, secure, uncompromising, it is the opposite of flimsy, opposite of wavering.

The Big Win = God, through Christ our Royal High Priest has paved the way for the BIG WIN!

discusses in detail the comparison of the Israelites not entering God’s rest because of their hard hearts vs. our opportunity to enter God’s rest based upon Christ’s work on the cross for us.

Those who have placed their faith in Christ as having paid the price of their sins, have been justified (just as if they had never sinned) in God’s economy.

Now we have the opportunity to continue in a progression of becoming more like Christ. We have been made alive, and are now able to walk in God’s way. To live lives that are set apart and pleasing in His sight.

Therefore, our chief end, what it take for us to be winners, as Joshua is referring to is to glorify God by enjoying Him. . . to emulate Him by living according to His law.

God set the Israelites apart as His chosen people so other nations could see His glory. We too, as His children have been set apart to bring glory to Him.

So how do we do that? God tells Joshua and the Israelites very clearly and repeatedly how that happens.

Be careful to do everything that is written in the Book of the Law that Moses has given you.

Deuteronomy 28:1–14 ESV

1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Deuteronomy 28:14 ESV

14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Deuteronomy 28:25 ESV

25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 31:9 ESV

9 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

Joshua 1:7–8 ESV

7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8 ESV

1Tim 4:1-11

1 Timothy 4:11–14 ESV

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

1 Timothy 4:11–13 ESV

1 Tim 4:God has told Joshua, I am going to be with you, be careful to listen to my commands as you go in to take the land I have given you. Don’t depart from my ways, and you will have success.

God told Joshua, I am going to be with you, be careful to listen to my commands as you go in to take the land I have given you. Don’t depart from my ways, and you will have success.

In the Gospels we are told that Christ summed up the Law this way, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. . . love your neighbor as yourself.”

We win when we obey His Word

His Word gives us a solid foundation, a consistent standard, an unmoveable basis for our lives to be built upon.

Unlike the woman shown in the news recently who was screaming, “Go home! Go away! Leave us alone! We accept everyone in this neighborhood, we care about everyone. . . You’re not welcome here! This is our neighborhood, you don’t belong here! We welcome everyone here.”

Literal, Historical, Grammatical Interpretation of the Scriptures!

Literary type, genre, context and content need to be critically evaluated to come to a proper understanding of the Word of God.

39 writers over thousands of years have compiled the Scriptures under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

God has preserved His Word, throughout all the years of translation.

Isaiah 40:8 ESV

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

1 Pe 1:24

1 Peter 1:25 ESV

25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:24–25 ESV

24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

If you want to succeed. . . I you want to prosper. . . If you want to know the way to win. . . then you need to listen to these three verses

Joshua 1:8-9

Joshua 1:8–9 ESV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:7–9 ESV

We have the Word, will we stay true to what it says or trust in our own wisdom? In order to win, we have to stick to God’s Word. In order to stick to it, you have to be in it! Day and Night

Define the win- Receive the best God has. This isn’t about earning salvation, we receive that by God’s grace through Christ

1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have the victory in Jesus Christ but we are also blessed in other ways when we obey the Word of God. His precepts are for our good and for His glory .

Beginning in verse 10 we will see Joshua’s reaction to God’s discourse in verses 1-9.