March 22, 2025 -Be Strong and Courageous Connections

DEUTERONOMY 33:1-34:12

JOSHUA 1:1-2:24

Chronological Bible Readings

Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Imagine being put in the shoes of a great man of God who you have known all your life. Someone who all the people look up to. Heck, who leads all the people and has direct communication with God and the responsibility of seeing to it being followed. No wonder God needs to tell him to be strong and courageous. He is filling some big shoes. God is now speaking to him directly and that had to be a scary thing as well. Moses had told the Israelites to be strong and courageous before this, now Joshua hears it from God. That would make it even more scary that it is being repeated. I wonder if he noticed the connection.

Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Now not just repeated but stressed. Be strong and very courageous. You are going to need lots of courage to do what I am calling you to do. I mean really, it's one thing to say that you believe God's promises it's a different thing to live like you believe those promises. Our lives should demonstrate our faith in God's promises. When God says tithe and we don't because we are worried about paying our bills are we being strong and courageous? When we are in a place that we need to stand up for truth and have integrity in a situation where the world says you can cut corners or should be quiet and we don't because it is easier or we are worried about what might happen, are we being strong and courageous? When God brings a call to service to Him that we don't think we are able to do (speaking in public, teaching, missionary work, sharing the gospel etc.) and we say no, are we being strong and courageous? How can we be strong and very courageous? We do the same thing that God told Joshua to do. Keep God's word on our lips and meditate on it day and night. The more we do that the easier it is to be careful to do what is written in it. The more we focus on God and His word the more courage we will have to do what He calls us to do. The better we will be able to remember His promises and His faithfulness which will give us the strength and courage to do what He would have us do.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Oh no 3 times directly from God plus saying it a different way by saying what not to do. Do not be afraid and do not to be discouraged. So that means he will surely face things that are scary and things that will be frustrating and discouraging. Things are not going to go exactly like he would like them to go. Same for us. We will face things that are scary. We will have to face that fact that things are not going to go our way and in our timing. Instead of being afraid and discouraged when we run into a wall or when something doesn't happen as we would like, if we are meditating on His word day and night, we will remember that God is with us wherever we go and that He has it all worked out. Then we will be able to be strong and courageous, not afraid and discouraged.

Joshua 2:17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.

God gives the people the words to encourage Joshua. The same words over and over again. I wonder what his thoughts were about "Just as we fully obeyed Moses...". Did they? Did they really FULLY obey? Just a thought.

Joshua 2:8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Those who were against God were not strong and courageous they melted with fear and their courage failed. These words from Rahab are also words to Joshua from God to make him strong and courageous because they would help him to see the hand of God through the connection of the same words. The same message over and over again is reinforcement of knowing it is God's words. He will do that for us as well. How often has someone said something that spoke directly to or about something that you read in your bible or heard in a sermon, or felt convicted of in prayer? That is to help you to be strong and courageous and know that God is with you wherever you go. He will make the connections we just need to be looking for them and then live like we believe Him.