Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Confidence”
Our Bible verse for today: “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Stop striving in your own strength and rely instead on the Lord.”
Joshua is an interesting case-study in courage, strength, and confidence. He certainly needed it. Joshua was a relatively young man who was chosen by God to take the mantle of leadership from Moses, the greatest leader the nation of Israel would ever have. Additionally, Joshua was then to lead the nation in the capture and conquest of the Promised Land, which was at that time in the possession of the Canaanites, one of the most advanced and militarily strong societies of that day.
How could Joshua, or anyone else, succeed at such a daunting task? Only by the power of the Lord. Three times in four verses God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous. First in verse six, “Be strong and courageous …” then in verse seven, “Above all, be strong and very courageous …” Then in verse eight He tells him how to achieve that strength and courage, “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.”
Then in verse nine, for the third time, God commands him to be strong and courageous, only this time God includes the caveat, “… for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua could be strong and courageous and confident in the middle of that impossible situation because God was with him. Joshua’s part was to know and obey God’s instruction. God’s part was to give the victory. Therefore Joshua’s confidence was not in his own strength but in God’s.
That should be true of us too. Stop striving to accomplish things in your own strength. Put your confidence in the Lord instead. Know His instructions, obey His instructions, and then go forward with confidence that God can and will bring about His purposes in your life.
Hasn’t He commanded you to be strong and courageous? Yes He has. That command wasn’t recorded simply as an historical account of what He said to the man Joshua 3500 years ago. It is there for you and me today.
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you.”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 