GOD Is With You

Joshua 1:1-9

The Lord’s Charge to Joshua

After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea* in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Recieves a Word from the Lord

Verse one tells us that God began to speak to Joshua. The Bible does not specifically say whether this first communication was by divine revelation or to the mind of Joshua. In either case we can know that the Lord told Moses to declare Joshua his successor in Numbers 27:18-23.

As we pick things back up in Joshua Chapter 1 verse 1 the Lord speaks to Joshua and in verses 2-4 God tells Joshua to lead the Israelites across the Jordan river to the land He had promised Moses. This land is to span from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west and will include the land of the Hittites.

You see as the people of God we are also to keep our ears open to hear a word from God.

In the case of Joshua as in many cases in the Bible and in the life of a believer we need to experience a season of preperation or waiting before the Lord gives us a more specific call to our lives. You see Joshua did not just wake up one day , decide to believe in the Lord and immediately recieve the mantle of the annointing of leading God’s people. Rather Joshua faithfully served under the man of God who was Moses for many years . Not because he was made to and not because Joshua had any lack of faith or ability but rather because the Lord was preparing Joshua to lead the right way which is God’s way.

There is a process that occurs in the life of a believer. As humans we have a fallen nature and live in rebellion against God. Then at some point we hear the Lord calling us to him through the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Next, we are to put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior to recieve Salvation from our sins. Upon recieving salvation we recieve the gift of the Holy Spirit who begins the sanctification process in our lives to enable us to better understand the word of God and to walk in His holy ways. And while the sanctification process takes more time for some than others overall this process happens fairly quickly. That is not to say our pursiut of living in God’s ways is not a lifelong journey because as humans we will all mess up at some time and need to repent before the Lord however there does come a point and it should come rather quickly where we surrender our hearts to Jesus and no longer make sin a part of our lifestlye.

It is God’s will for every believer to be saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Spirit, to give Him proper worship, to help those in need, support the church and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. These are the instructions which God gives to every Christian and should be our lifestyle as servants of the Lord.

In addition to us living a good godly lifestlye, there are also specific things God wants specific people to do for specific periods of time.

This is what I mean when I speak about receiving a word from the Lord. A word from the Lord is a specific message from God.

This message could be a word for yourself or a word for someone else .

As a Pastor, I am in prayer on a daily basis for the Lord to give me a word or message from Him so that I am able to seve others effectively in preaching, teaching, counseling and also that I am being spiritually sensitive for God’s will in my life also.

Said differrently part of of our walk is to ask the Lord to meet our needs and He will but the larger part of our walk should be listening to hear His voice.

Simply put we can never do all that the Lord wants us to do if we do not take the time to hear His voice and submit to His will for our lives.

God Will Not Abandon You

In verse 5 the Lord tells Joshua that no one will be able to stand against him for as long as he lives. The Lord promises Joshua that He will be with him as He was with Moses and that He will never fail or abandon Joshua.

Never forget brothers and sisters that because of your faith in Jesus Christ that you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. That means that God has given you the power and authority to defeat any and all enemies that come against you both in the natural and in the supernatural.

I know that there are some of you here today or someone watching online that are dealing with all sorts of challenges. For some you may have a good quality of life but you are wrestling with choices on matters of great importance. For others you may be dealing with mountains that seem so tall that you don’t think you will ever get to the top. For some you are tormented day and night by struggles or temptations and while you love the Lord the devil is doing everything he can to cause you to stumble and fall. For others your health or finances may be in decline and in the natural realm your choices seem very limited.

Hear me today you have victory in Christ Jesus! There is not any demon or devil or substance or temptation that can conquer you. There is not any sickness or disease or depression that can stop you from receiving all that God has for you. Whether on this side of heaven or the next when you trust Jesus as your God heaven will be your home and you will be in paradise forever with no more tears or pain or sickness or disease but instead you will have love and peace and joy in the presence of the spotless sinless lamb of God! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Strength + Obedience = Success

In verse 6 the Lord reminds Joshua to be strong and courageous and reassures Joshua that he is the one which the Lord chose to lead the people to posess the promised land.

Then in verse 7 God instructs Joshua to be careful to follow all the instructions of the law which He gave moses. He promises Joshua that if he remains faithful then he will have sucesss in everything he does.

In verse 8 God specifically tells Joshua to meditate on His word day and night and obey what is written and only then will success come.

Many people today will say we are under grace not the law which is true for our salvation and how we are judged but the wisdom which is contained in the Law is still from God and it is still good and practical to our modern lives.

Furthermore, we are such a blessed people because we have access to the entire Bible which is God’s word in multiple translations with expert commentary and historical resources easily available to us. For some people like myelf I keep Bible apps on my phone so I literally have God’s word with me wherever I go. The ancient world would have loved to have this opportunity.

As Christians we should have an appetite for God’s word. The Bible helps us to better know God’s character and that we are loved and made in His image and not just some random occurence in the universe. The Bible teaches us what the Lord expects from us and what we can expect from Him. Scripture gives a true understanding of right and wrong that we will never get anywere else especially from mainstream society. The Bible teaches us the only path to recieve salvation from our sins which is through putting our faith in Jesus Christ. The word of God teaches us that God is love and that He has many promises for us both in this life and in heaven if we will just put our faith in Him and submit to Him as Lord of our lives.

The same promises which the Lord made to Joshua and many others in the Bible still extend to you and I today. God is still God and God is still faithful to His word. This means when we study God’s word and we walk in His ways we will have success in all we do. I can testify first hand that when you invite the Lord into areas of your life and you submit to His will then you will have success. This applies to business, relationships, health and any other area. God’s ways are the best ways and if we learn His ways and apply them to our lives we will have success, feel loved, have peace and hope.

The way I explain it to people is that on our walks there comes a point where we aquire the knowledge of the word of God and life stops being about right and wrong and starts becoming about what is best and let me tell you today that God’s ways are always the best ways. Amen!

God’s Command for Courage

Lastly, in verse 9 we can see the real anchor verse of today message and a powerful pasage of Scripture that we should all walk in.

9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

There are going to be times in our lives when the Lord is going to ask us to do something out of our comfort zone. Many times growth comes from being uncomfortable but as Christians we do not need to worry because God is with us whereever we go.

In these last days it takes strenght, courage and faithfullness to follow the Lord and even more so as we get closer to the second coming of Christ.

But as we read in verse 9 the Lord is not just advising us to be strong, courageous and not to be fearful rather He is commanding us to trust Him.

You may say Pastor Rich how can a person control never feeling afraid.

That is not what the Lord is saying because He know our human condition and all people will have moments where they feel fear when faced with great stressful or dangerous situations.

What God is telling us is to not live in a fearful state. For example, if something happens and you feel fear for a moment we are to quickly remind ourselves of the character and promises of God. We are to find that peace that passes all understanding and trust God knowing that He is bigger than our circumstances. We do not let fear or weakness become part of our identity or lifestyle or to stop us from moving forward and doing what the Lord has called us to do.

Said differently God is not asking you rather He is telling you to do what He asks you to do and trust Him that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do.

The truth is that if we cannot have a faith like that not only will we not do all God wants us to do it is also an insult to His character.

You might be thinking well how can I do this. Simply stated by having great faith.

Romans 10:17

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Therefore we can conclude that if we need faith to trust the Lord so we can be brave and not live in a fearful state then we need to be reading our Bibles everyday to grow our faith.

You see God knew exactly what He was asking Joshua to do and He knew Joshua was the exact person to do His will. But the Lord also knew the toll it would take on Joshua and the people. First off are the horrific sites, smells and experiences of warfare. Even in our modern times many suffer the effects of defending our freedoms and don’t think for a second that the Israelites did not endure those pains. Then there was the influence and temptation that comes from a new place and a new people group that did not follow Yahweh the one true god but rather false gods. Then there was the mantle of leadership Joshua carried. I have been in leadership for over 20 years and I will tell you there is a lot of stress that comes with leading people in general let alone when you are taking responsibility to lead them properly in the ways of the Lord.

Yes God knew what He was asking Joshua to do even if Joshua didn’t full understand it. This is why the Lord made it a clear point to remind Joshua to know His word, to walk in His ways and to trust His character and He would have success in everything He did. But if Joshua or you and I today do not meditate on God’s word, do what He tells us to do and trust Him then success on any level will be impossible.

In closing, I want to encourage each of you today to seek the Lord like never before. If you are lost then get saved. If you are saved then get sanctified. Start worshiping the Lord on a deeper level. Serve those in need. Help support the church. And no matter where you are in your walk become a student of the word. Obey God’s commandments and trust Him.

I declare to you today that if you trust the Lord and walk in His ways you too will have success in whatever you do because the Lord our God will be with you! Amen!

Prayer