“After Moses, the servant of the LORD, had died, the LORD said to Moses’ aide Joshua, son of Nun: Moses my servant is dead. So now, you and the whole people with you, prepare to cross the Jordan to the land that I will give the Israelites. Every place where you set foot I have given you, as I promised Moses. All the land of the Hittites, from the wilderness and the Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea, will be your territory.No one can withstand you as long as you live. As I was with Moses, I will be with you: I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. Only be strong and steadfast, being careful to observe the entire law which Moses my servant enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law depart from your lips. Recite it by day and by night,e that you may carefully observe all that is written in it; then you will attain your goal; then you will succeed. I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go. “(Joshua 1, 1-9).
It is a wonderful word which the Lord gives us, the theme of this preaching is, “Fear not, be strong and courageous.” There is one thing that scares us a lot in life because it catches us unprepared, it is the changing situation. This is not something easy to administer, God is giving Joshua a mission, before a change.
The Israel community is going through a time of grief, the great prophet Moses who freed the people of God from the hand of Egypt died. The people are without their leader without their reference. Joshua was a young warrior who could handle the sword, but was not prepared for what God was calling him to do.
If we want to walk in intimacy with God we can not forget three elements: purpose, promise, precept.
God has a purpose when he said: “Come on now, get up! Pass the Jordan, you and all the people into the land which I give the children of Israel “; The word purpose points to what is ahead, so God was speaking of something that was forward. God puts in front of Joshua the promised land.
“Every place where you set foot I have given you, as I promised Moses.” There is a promise to be fulfilled, but the way to achieve the promise is to go into the wilderness in a hard way. But God knows our sins, our miseries. Joshua was not the superman, he had fears. But God promised to be with him. This is what Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel, He remains with us.
The water that falls from us, God takes to irrigate the flowers that are in the way. In God’s economy, nothing is lost.
God is the God of promises, but He is also the Lord of the order. His Word is order, he commands Joshua to be strong and courageous. God makes us strong for us to manage the changes and accomplish what He commands us.
For you to accomplish what is needed in the midst of tribulation you need strength, is what God is saying in this word. You also need to be brave. Courage is to have the will to do what you need.
Maybe you have a hurt in the heart after you heard several sermons that spoke of forgiveness, and the speaker has driven you to look for the person and ask for forgiveness, but it was not because you had no will.
When we heard of God’s order, we think that He gives us an order and along with it tells us, “Go”. But it is not so, God is with us to help us to keep the commandments.
In the Gospels we see that Jesus was the encourager par excellence. When the Lord tells us today: “Be strong and courageous,” he is giving us the grace to be strong and courageous. He gives us all this through the Holy Spirit who works now in our midst.
How do you have the strength and courage? By the power of the Holy Spirit. We fulfill what God asks of us, because this God is not outdone in generosity. This word is life, God is with us now.
Do not think you are alone, God is with us, the angels are with us. The Lord not only tells a beautiful word, he tells us the truth.
Prosperity in God comes from not ceasing to speak of His Word. In our midst the devil anesthetizes us, we cease to be men and women of the word. We can not walk without our Bible, warrior does not associate without sword.
We can not take the Word of God only when the “callus presses.” You want a happy marriage, a successful life? Entronize the Word of God in your home. Dispose of the bar you have, do not have in your house an altar to the worldly, make an altar to the Lord.
Alexandre Oliveira