New Mission

Intro: This morning we come to look at the subject of having the courage to accomplish new things in the cause of the Lord. In the passage before us it is important to see the God told Joshua on three occasions in only four verses that he was to, “Be courageous”. Why would God say this to Joshua? After all, Joshua is one of the most courageous men in all of Israel. That lead me to this. Why is it necessary to tell a believer a Christian who has seen God do great things in and through his or her life to be courageous when facing a New mission.

1. One Must Be Reminded

God reminded Joshua to be courageous as the Hebrew people are ready to cross over the Jordan to occupy the promised land. Joshua was facing a totally new challenge and needed to be reminded of the source of his strength. Yesterday‘s strength and victory will not suffice for today. One must always look again to the Lord in each battle in every situation. Only in this way can we find true faith, power and peace to serve God effectively.

Joshua needed to realize anew that he was not depend on old habits, former experiences, pass glories, or personality traits to get him through the present situation. He was to turn in a new way to find strength and direction from the Lord.

Example: A preacher once went to visit a man who had fallen out of church and had not been in the church for many years. When the pastor questioned the man about his validity of his faith in God, the man assure the pastor that he had in his past a blessed experience. He told his wife to go out to the garage and find a copy of his blessed experience and let the preacher read it. The wife returned without the copy of the blessed experience and when her husband asked why she had not retrieved it, she replied, “Husband I think the blessed rats ate your blessed experience.”

Men and Women we need to be careful least we are depending upon past glories rather than present grace. We need to be careful, with what we think that what we have been in the past determines what we will be or do for the Lord in the future. To truly possess all that God has planned for us, we must keep our walk with God fresh, current, and real.

2. Determination In The Heart

when the Lord told Joshua that he was to be strong in courage, he was sharing with him the place where victory for the Christian begins. Where is that? It is in the heart! It is in the will! And, courage for spiritual work can only come from God spirit. We must have the fullness of his spirit in our heart, in our will, if we are to accomplish his task.

Be Strong

The word for strength is a word that means to seize or hold to. The word can mean to catch or to bind. The Lord was telling Joshua that he needed a fresh determination in his heart to lay hold of the commitment necessary to gain victory in Canaan.

Victory belongs to the Lord, and yes God has given them the land, but they could not possess their possessions without determined faith in God to do so. We find the same message in other contexts. For example, the Lord tells us that those who seek him will find him. God does not hide from us, so what does he mean by that statement? He means that we cannot fully see him, experience him and know him while we are so deeply engaged in this world that we shut out the spiritual in the heavenly thoughts in our daily lives.

2. Be Alert

The word courage means to be alert. It means to set up a priority, which nothing can be removed.

God told Joshua that he needed a special courage in order to reach the goals that the Lord had for him. This is something every believer must possess in order to obtain that which God has promised. We cannot reach our divine destiny in this world without God strength and courage.

Courage that is needed only comes from a love for and commitment to the Lord. It’s not my strength what makes work for him possible, it’s rather his strength working in me. The enemy in this world will seek through all means to bog you down in this world and will create an atmosphere in which you failed to reach God‘s greater goals and plans for you.

3. Meditation

Joshua was told that he must also practice meditation. I’m not talking about yoga or some form of humanistic meditation, but rather the Lord was leading Joshua to plant the Word in his head and in his mouth. God knew that Joshua needed to divine Word of assurance in order to gain the full victory that was planned for God’s people.

Psalm 119:15 NLT

I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.

The word meditate in this passage means “to bow down”. We are to bow to His commands and to his Word. We are to take this word from him and keep it so close that we are speaking it in our own mouths. The idea here is one of musing and muttering the Word of God as you go along the way to victory.

4. Activating God‘s Word

Finally, we must put into practice whatever the Lord teaches and shows us. It’s not enough to think good thoughts about the scripture and about our God. We must live out what he tells us to do. Yes, we must work at this matter of truly walking with God in victory.

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

The word of God clearly states that God delights in obedience and not in ritual activity among God’s people. when I speak of activation, I am not simply saying that we are blessed because we do certain things. God desires that first and foremost our hearts are His. It is possible to continue to do spiritual things without living spiritual lives. God wanted Joshua to know something essential about gaining success in the Promised Land. That essential thing was that the Lord will for Joshua was that Joshua’s hands were controlled by the love he had in his heart for God! Going through rituals and religious activities without true devotion to God leads to defeat every single time!

Conclusion

Simply going through motions will not bring about miracles. God wants to be the God of your whole life.