“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
March 19, 2025
There are different kinds of courage. There is battlefield courage. Joshua and Israel needed this as they faced the challenges of invading the land of nations hostile to them. The Promised Land lay before them. So the promise of Joshua 1:9. Not all promises in the Bible are to us, but they are all for us. God will give us the confidence we need as we face the difficulties of living faithfully before God in a world that sees Christians as a threat. Are there habits in your life that look like giants with a sword in their hand (e.g., David and Goliath)? A faithful follower of Jesus Christ will not allow failures and achievements in the past to stop him from keeping on. A faithful believer in Jesus allows disappointment to become the first page in a new chapter in his life, not the last chapter with a bad ending. We need what Joshua needed, the presence of God to fulfill His promises as we obey Him. The courageous child of God does not run away to find relief in the supposed greener pastures of escape. Funerals and the raging rivers of suffering are not to deter us, but instead exhilarate us with the opportunities to exalt Jesus Christ.
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“Confidence based on the promises of God is the essence of biblical faith.” The Reformation Study Bible
My father wrote the reference of Joshua 1:9 in my first Bible on February 3, 1957.