The Old Testament is not my strong point, so I figured I would study it a little more. I have been hanging out in Leviticus and Psalms and decided to take a look at Joshua. My goal in the study was to see what happens in communication between God and whomever He is calling to do something. I narrowed my study to Joshua 1:1-9. Here are some things that I noticed.
God said: (verses 1-3)
1. The time has come - Has the time come in my life to do something?
2. Lead the people -Who am I leading?
3. I will be with you. - God is with me.
Basically through observations I found, God encourages Joshua, empowers Joshua, and backs up Joshua(I am with you), and commands him to stay in the Book of Instruction and in the things Moses has given him and he will succeed in all he does. We need to realize that we will succeed, if we stay in God's Word, not just on our own good idea's.
God totally encourages and empowers Joshua, so how does Joshua respond to what te Lord said? Verse 9: He told the leaders to tell the people to get ready because in three days they will go and possess the land God has promised them. He immediately got up and responded in a strong and courageous way.
-note: He got other people to spread the word (good at delegating).
Application:
1. God has enpowered us and speaks through His Word to us. Do we immediately follow like Joshua follwed after hearing from God?
2. It is good to encourage people and empower them like God did with Joshua, then they will feel confident in carrying out any situation life has to offer.
3. Just as God has said 3 times to Joshua "Be strong and courageous", as we lead we need to speak in a strong and courageous way not in an afraid and discouraged way. When people are challenged from a man who can "bring it" in a strong and courageous way, there is probably nothing that they would not do
As Pastors and leaders we can take this and change the world. So many churches are dead like Moses (verse 1) or they are at least sleeping. God is calling up a generation of people to be strong and courageous. Do not be a wimp, Joshua wasn't.
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