Be Courageous

Be courageous

..The only way we'll ever stand
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)

 (Numbers 13:17-33)

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.