Key verse:
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 NKJV
Introduction
Not sure if you have ever sung this song, but there was a song which we used to sing at the end of worship service, just before the benediction, “God be with you”. God be with you, that’s a phrase that has been on my mind as of late. God be with you, is a message that I want to share with you, today. Let’s take a look at the text out of Joshua today, and see what it means for God to be with you.
Joshua the spy
Joshua, the slayer of kings, and leader of the Israelites, after Moses’ death. Joshua is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated men of the Bible, but he teaches us a great lesson in being a person of faith. We are first introduced to Joshua when he was a spy for Moses. He was one of 12 spies that went into the land of Canaan to bring back a report to Moses; you will remember that Canaan was the land in which God had promised to the Israelites. Eventually the spies returned to Moses with their report of the promise land, and the majority of the reports were bad reports.
Ten of the twelve spies that came back from Canaan had an evil and fearful report about the promise land – remember, the land that God promised. They returned and reported to Moses that the land is indeed a land of milk and honey (fruitful), but there were a few problems that they wanted to report to Moses. First, they told Moses that the people that live in that land are strong people. The next thing they reported to Moses is that they couldn’t go up against the people of that land – they was fearful that they could not defeat the people in that land. The last thing the ten spies would go on to tell Moses is that the land was definitely good land, but they could tell that many battles had taken place on that fruitful land – they could tell that the land had devoured many.
This sounds like the right thing to do, right? If the land is dangerous, the best thing to do is to let somebody be aware of the dangers. However, there was a major problem with the report of the spies; their report showed a lack of faith in God, who had promised the land. There was no faith, from the spies, that God would actually be with them when they went into the promise land. The spies came back with a report of fear and danger instead of a report that showed that they had faith in the Lord. Only two spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back with a good report of the land to Moses.
Joshua’s and Caleb’s report was a report that displayed faith in the Lord’s promise. Where others were being faithless, we see that Joshua clearly had faith in the Lord. Joshua’s faith showed that he knew that God would indeed be with the Israelites – even while entering into a dangerous land and dwelling in a land where danger would lurk all about them.
Joshua the leader
Israel was punished and made to wander the wilderness for 40 years because of their lack of faith; the Lord let an entire generation pass so that the faithless can be removed and those of faith would remain. Joshua was eventually appointed to lead the children of Israel by the Lord, after Moses’ death. During his leadership, Joshua sat an example and led by the example that he and his house would serve the Lord. Joshua was a bold and unfearful man; do you know why? Because of where Joshua stood on the Lord, because of his faith that the Lord was with him.
Where do you stand on God? Do you know that God is with you?
I ask because I personally want to know where my fellow brothers and sisters and Christ stand on their faith in God. What bothers me so much, nowadays, is all the fear mongering and the support of such fear mongering from so-called Christians. What is it that you have to fear? The example has already been set for us, with Joshua and the 11 other spies. The ten spies that was of little faith in God, and wanted to spread fear were punished for their lack of faith. Joshua and Caleb were both rewarded for their faith.
We learn from their story that God is indeed there in both good and bad; this is why Joshua sets a great example for us. You will notice that this story also centers around a promise of the promise land which was promised to the Israelites. Don’t we have a promise that was made to us? What is that promise? Are we not promised a heavenly kingdom in which we will dwell eternally? Are we not promised that we will dwell with the Lord eternally? That promise not made merely by man but was made to us by the Lord! We have a promise that has been made to us, just like Joshua and children of Israel, and as the Lord delivered on His promise for them, He will do the same for us!
You will also notice that the land in which Joshua and the children of Israel were to enter in was going to be a dangerous land – danger would be on every side. Does that not sound a whole lot like the world in which we live in today? I’m not even considering the danger of going outside of your own house, going to get a bag of grocery, or getting in your car and going for a drive – I’m not even talking about the danger. You see, we live in a world that is filled with all kind of evilness and sin. Satan is like a lion on the prowl (1 Peter 5:8), and both evil and sin completely surrounds us. Do you see the similarities? They was going to live in a dangerous land, and we live in a completely dangerous world but know that God is with you!
God be with you
On this Christian journey, through all the trials and tribulations, understand and know that God is there with you. We must not be fearful or afraid of those trials and tribulations! Again, the example has been set for us, as the Lord told Joshua, the same hold true for us.
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. – Joshua 1:5 NKJV
Know that no man will be able to stand before you! Don’t worry about anybody blocking your path, knocking you off course, or defeating you because God is with you! No man will be able to stand before you! Not only this, but know that God will not fail nor will He forsake (leave) you! Truly, God is with you!
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 NKJV
Be bold! Do not live in fear! Yeah, sure, there are some things out there that will terrify you, but you do not have to live in fear of it because God is with you! Be strong and courageous – have no fear in the world in which we live! Why? Because God is there with you – there is absolutely nothing to fear because we got God! Again, do not let anything make you fearful – not life, not death, not whatever you may be going through! You got God and God dwells in you – within your heart (soul).
God be with you! This is a reminder of the strength that is with you every second, every minute, and every hour of your life! This is a reminder of the power that walks around with you – every step that you take. We are conquerors! Jesus’ death and resurrection is a testament to the God we serve! We serve an awesome God! It is this power that dwells inside all of those that believe in Him.