Posts Tagged: Joshua
“Courage in Little Bits”
The verse of the day in the YouVersion Bible App is Joshua 1:9. “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (New Living Translation)
Joshua needed some courage for sure. Moses had died, and Joshua was to lead the Children of Israel across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. What a task!
I used to think of Joshua as very courageous. However, now that I’ve actually slowed down and looked at the text, I’m not so sure. God has to tell Joshua (three times in chapter 1 alone) that he is to be strong and courageous (verses 6, 7, and 9). At the end of this chapter, some of the leaders of the tribes also tell Joshua to be strong and courageous. Would a courageous person need to be told so often to be courageous?
Well, maybe we all need encouragement in that regard. I am told that there are approximately 365 commands in the Bible to not be afraid. This sounds like the flip side of the command to be courageous. (I haven’t counted them myself to see if there really are 365 of them. This may be an old preacher’s tale.)
There is a lot that could be said about this command in Joshua 1:9. Here are a few observations.
- Apparently, courage is not a feeling. It is a command, and feelings can’t be commanded. So, a command relates to action.
- A command implies that the one doing the commanding is in a position of authority.
- A command implies that the one receiving the command has only two choices: either to obey the command or not.
- Notice that the command is related to meditating in the Law of the LORD and careful obedience/doing of what God says (vss. 7-8). We might think of courage as relating to military prowess. No, it is not. Courage is instead about obeying God.
- Courage comes in many forms. For Joshua, I don’t doubt that it took courage to refuse to lose his temper when some of the Ephraimites (from his own tribe, no less!) whined that they hadn’t been given enough land (Joshua 17:14-18). Sometimes, putting up with a whiny extended family takes as much courage as conquering a city!
My last observation leads me to an application which is stretching Joshua 1:9. I hope that it isn’t stretching the text too far. Here is my application. It may or may not fit you. I suspect that we need courage even for little things.
To hold your tongue when you would like to use it as a lash, to eat in a healthy manner, to write a blog post when you’re not sure you have anything to say—these and a thousand other small things require us to choose courage every day. Courage is not reserved for soldiers and fire fighters. It is required of us all.
Courage in little bits is the name of the game. That is what our lives consist of mostly.
“No Boundaries to This Promised Land!”
“You are my promised land.” (Zach Williams, “Let the Redeemed of the LORD Say So.”)
I was reading one of the most boring sections of the Bible this past Sunday morning before church. When I went to worship at Hyde Park United Methodist Church, the section of the book of Joshua that records the dividing up of the land that God had promised to Israel suddenly became a lot more interesting.
The praise band was leading us in the song “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So.” I had heard the song several times on K-Love Radio, but had not paid much attention to the words. May God have mercy on my inattentive soul!
“You are my promised land,” the singers sang.
And I immediately thought of Joshua and the dividing of the land. Boundary lines in the promised land were all over the place. But God is infinite—or so the theologians say. And if God has no limits, then there are no boundary lines in God. And if God is our Promised Land? We have no limits either in exploring this promised land.
I have not yet watched the final show of “The Good Place.” However, I’ve read some analyses of the last show, and if I’m understanding things correctly, the show turns on the fact that Heaven is hellaciously boring. That probably is what a lot of people think. Mark Twain has Huck Finn pretty much say that in one of his books.
However, if God is infinite, if God has no boundaries, we can explore God for eternity, and never reach the boring border. There is no border, and no border lines. No borders; no boring!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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