Be
courageous
..The only way we'll ever stand
Is on our knees with lifted hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous…
Is on our knees with lifted hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous…
--Courageous
by casting crowns
Joshua
1:1-9
“Now
after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord
spake unto Joshua the son of nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is
dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto
the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said
unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the
river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward
the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able
to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will
be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good
courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which
I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very
courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses
my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left,
that thou mayest prosper withsoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then
thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success. Have
not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither
be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.”
** After Moses’
death, Joshua was told by God that He was to lead the Israelites to the
promised land. He was told to be courageous because the Lord was going to be
with Him and His people the whole step of the way. He was also instructed to
keep to the law accordingly, not departing from it. Meditate (pray and study
upon the Word spoken by God), and He will lead the way, no matter what the
circumstances may be. Being led by God’s hands, and obeying His law, He will be
lead a prosperous and successful path being not afraid to what was to come
before Him. **
((Moses sent
out spies, Joshua and Caleb being
among them for
report of the land)
Instructions
to the Spies
17"And Moses sent them to spy
out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way
southward, and go up into the mountain: 18And see the
land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be
strong or weak, few or many; 19And what the
land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what
cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;
20And
what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be
wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the
land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
The Spies
Explore Canaan
21So they went up, and
searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
22And
they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and
Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years
before Zoan in Egypt.)
23And they came unto the brook
of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and
they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the
pomegranates, and of the figs. 24The place was
called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of
Israel cut down from thence.
The Reports of
the Spies
25And they returned from
searching of the land after forty days. 26And they went
and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of
Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto
them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27And
they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and
surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28Nevertheless
the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are
walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29The
Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites,
and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea,
and by the coast of Jordan.
30And Caleb stilled the people
before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well
able to overcome it. 31But the men
that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for
they are stronger than we. 32And they
brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children
of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is
a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw
in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we
saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were
in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
** Most of the
spies except for Caleb came back with some negative views about their venture
to the land flowing with milk and honey. They had brought back the report that
the land was surely flowing with milk and honey, and the fruit thereof from the
land. But when told by Caleb that they should go forth and obtain the land, the
others had simply stated that they could not due to the stature of those in the
land. They were giants and were stronger than they were. They were comparing
themselves to grasshoppers against the giants that dwelled there. They spoke
out of fear, not remembering who was on their side that is more powerful than
anyone---God! Where Caleb spoke with courageous words that proved his Faith in
God; that with God on their side who can fight against them. They can do anything.
**
Romans
8:31
“What shall we then say to
these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He
that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things?”
Romans
8:35-39
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword?36As it is
written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter.37Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2 Timothy
1:7
“For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
** If God
tells you that you are to do a job and that you will obtain something of great
value, then you are to obey His words. There shall be nothing that stands in
the way of God’s plans for us. It has proven that 2 things has been a stumbling
block with the Israelites that would stall their retrieval of the Land that God
promised them. Number 1: The obvious account--SIN, Number 2: FEAR. **
** Remember
Achan’s sin, and what it led him to? He was the cause of their failed attack
against the Amorites; and it was right under their nose, and they didn’t know
it. **
Joshua
7:19-25
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I
pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and
tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. 20And
Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of
Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21When I saw among
the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and
a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them;
and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the
silver under it.22So Joshua sent
messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his
tent, and the silver under it. 23And they took
them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all
the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. 24And Joshua, and
all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the
garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen,
and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they
brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said,
Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel
stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them
with stones.
