Sermon Info:

Responsive Reading: Joshua 1:1-11
Key Verse: Joshua 1:9
Background Scripture: Revelation Exodus 3:10-17

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Courage is Required
– Be strong and of good courage
3. God Given Courage
– Courage through God’s assurance
– Courage through God’s presence
– Encouraged to be steadfast
4. Moving Forward With Courage
– When you lack the courage

Watch & Listen

Introduction

Stepping out in faith is not easy for a lot of us.  Personally speaking, I would say this is the case due to our unease of the unknown.  You see, the unknown creates uncertainty and we struggle greatly in dealing with uncertainties; we love guarantees!  On the other hand, uncertainty drives up our anxiety and fear which makes it difficult to step out in faith.  

Courage is Required

There are only a few certainties in life with God and His blessings being the main certainty — God and His blessings are always there. With that in mind, I want to focus on striving to take possession of the certainty of our blessings; we must have courage when it comes to stepping out in faith to possess what God has for us.

When it comes to taking possession of what God has for us, we should understand that courage is required.  I say that because the truth of the matter is that we face challenges in many forms – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  These challenges present themselves for no other reason than to thwart us, especially when we are striving to take possession of our blessings.  So, in order for us to overcome those challenges we must have faith.

Faith, as you have heard me say before, does not sit still — it is not paralyzed.  At the same time, faith should be stubborn; it should not easily be destroyed as it should keep plowing forward through all obstacles.  To get to that point, we must have the courage to take the first step in overcoming those challenges!  Do you have the courage to take the first step out in faith in the Lord to overcome your challenges?

Be strong and of good courage

I don’t know what you may be going through today, but I want you to be encouraged in stepping out in faith today. So, in my key verse for today’s message, we will see where the Lord said to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be dismayed…” This is what God is saying to us today.

You will notice in this passage of scripture that God told Joshua to be strong and of good courage – or be very courageous – three times (Josh. 1:6-7, 9). So why was God so adamant that Joshua be strong and courageous in this passage of scripture?

Let us consider what Joshua was going through at that point in time. Moses had just passed away (Deut. 34:1-5). Joshua was now stepping into the role of leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land (Josh. 1:1-2). So, Joshua was in a very challenging position to, firstly, lead a people and then he was leading a people into a foreign land that, while it was a good land, posed many challenges (Num. 13:26-29).

I would tell you that all of us share many similarities with Joshua.  No, we aren’t leading a people to that Promised Land but we certainly have been commissioned to help guide people to the Lord and the land of His heavenly kingdom.  Not only that but all of us are on a journey where on this journey, we are essentially journeying into the unknown all of the time.  Life is a journey, and again, one of the few certainties about life is that life is always changing; no day is exactly the same and tomorrow is never promised.

Though we may have some idea of the challenging landscape ahead of us, we, like Joshua, have to keep pushing forward.  What this means for us is that there will be days where we will have to cross a mighty river.  There will be days where we have to hike up a tall hill and over a tall mountain or go through a treacherous valley; we must keep pushing ahead through all challenges to take possession of what God has for us.  

God Given Courage

Through every challenge, we should know that God is constantly encouraging us to be strong and of good courage just as He did with Joshua.

Courage through God’s assurance

We will see God’s encouragement first came through His assurance. God said to Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses (Josh. 1:3).” God assured Joshua of the same blessing He assured Moses — the blessing of the Promised Land was theirs to have; all that the children of Israel would need to do to have the land (blessing) was go in and possess it.

There is something major here for us to take away from this assurance from God. What is that? God has made the same assurance to all of us about our blessings – they are there for us to have! Don’t believe your blessing is already there to possess? Jesus said to us that if we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, we will ask what we desire, and it will be done for us (John 15:7).

You see, our blessings have already been assured to us by the Lord!  In order for us to receive our blessings all we have to do is move – go and take possession of them!  So, do you have the courage to step out in faith to possess your blessings?  Many of us will say that we are, but at the same time, many of us are not stepping out in faith to take possession of our blessings.

Courage through God’s presence

Let us notice that after God assured Joshua of the blessing being theirs to possess, He said to Joshua, “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 (Josh. 1:5).” So, why did the Lord make this statement to Joshua? God knew what it was that could hinder Joshua and the children of Israel from possessing their blessing.

 To explain this thought, let’s take a brief look at Moses as the Lord had some ‘previous experience’ with this situation before.  You see, when God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, there was much trepidation coming from Moses; when the Lord called on Moses to go into Egypt, Moses expressed a great deal of fear.

What was that Moses feared? In Exodus 3, we will see that Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 3:11)?” Moses doubted that he was the man to go and stand before Pharaoh; he doubted himself and feared another man! To calm these fears, God said to Moses, “I will certainly be with you (Ex. 3:12).”

Moses’ fears were yet to be calmed down as he then expressed how he was afraid to go before the children of Israel. Moses asked God, ‘What if they question who sent me?’ To calm that fear, God said to Moses to tell the people that “I AM has sent me to you (Ex. 3:13-14). Moses’ trepidation didn’t go away as he feared what would happen if they asked for proof that God sent him. This is when God showed him his power through a staff and told Moses to take it and show it to the people (Ex. 4:1-5).

So, when God assured Joshua that He would always be with him, Joshua could rest assured in all that Moses had overcome because God had been with him. Consider that with God being with Moses and the children of Israel, they overcame Pharaoh and his army, the Red Sea, several adversaries along the way, and even overcame sin within their camp.

Joshua was to move forward in the courage of God being with him and he did. Because he had the courage to move in faith, Joshua and the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River (Josh. 3:7-17). Joshua and the children of Israel began to take possession of the blessing which began with the fall of Jericho (Josh. 6:15-21). There was no kingdom or army that could stop Joshua and the children of Israel as they moved by faith in taking possession of their blessing.

I want you to understand today that because God is always with you, you can move with that same power by your side when stepping out in faith.  I tell you that there will be nobody that can stop you from taking possession of your blessing though they may try!   So, don’t fear that you are incapable of possessing your blessing and don’t let the thoughts of others or their actions stop you!  When we as sincere believers have the courage to put the first foot forward, know that God is going to take care of the rest!

Encouraged to be steadfast

After those words of encouragement, the Lord said to Joshua, “Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you (Josh. 1:7).” Within this word of encouragement from God, there is an even greater similarity that we sincere believers share with Joshua. What is that similarity?

Well, Moses had “face to face” visits with God which began at the burning bush that was not consumed, continued on Mount Sinai, and at several other locations.  Joshua, on the other hand, did not have the “face to face” visits with the Lord though he did hear from God.  Like Joshua, we don’t see God face to face but we are able to discern His voice through the Holy Spirit.

As I mentioned earlier, Moses was armed by God with a staff to prove He was sent by God and perform miracles with. Joshua, however, was armed with the Book of the Law which God commanded Moses to record (Deut. 31:24). With the Book of the Law, God told Joshua to meditate in it day and night in order to observe all that was written in it so that it did not depart from him (Josh. 1:8). As believers, we are armed with the Word and told to be diligent in our studies so that we can be ready in season and out of season; so that the Word of God does not depart from us!

Should Joshua have meditated in and lived by the Book of the Law, God said to Joshua, “you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Josh. 1:8).”  Guess what that means for you if you meditate in the Word and live by it!  When you meditate in and live by the Word of God, your way will be prosperous and will also have great success!

By stepping out in faith, Joshua enjoyed great success and boasted that he and his house would serve the Lord (Josh. 24:15). By stepping out in faith, you will also prosper and enjoy success! So, what about you and your house, will you serve the Lord?

Moving Forward With Courage

Now, I truly understand that it is hard for a lot of us when it comes to stepping out on faith.  Yes, some of us worry about the uncertainties about what’s ahead and others let the mockery and laughter from others stop them when they should not.  However, I want you to understand, your blessing is here, don’t stop!  

As Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians, God has already blessed us with “every spiritual blessing” in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). All we have to do is have the courage to step out in faith towards taking our blessing.

When you lack the courage

Sadly, as shown through the children of Israel, so many of us are not truly possessing all of our blessings from the Lord. You see, the children of Israel only possessed a fraction of the land that was promised to them by the Lord (Josh. 1:4). You may be wondering why they only possess a fraction of their promised blessing? Well, the truth is that the courage to move in faith dwindled away with the passing away of Joshua, the elders, and Eleazar, the high priest who was Aaron’s son.

Sadly, this is a similarity the Church shares today in that many of those who raised us – the elders of today’s church – are beginning to pass away. Sadly, with their passing, those who are of bold faith in the Church are dwindling down. As I said last month, the fire of the Church is starting to dim at an alarming rate.

For the children of Israel, those that were left behind, fell into becoming servants of the way of the world rather than servants of the Lord.  So, they began to stop caring about taking possession of all of their blessings and became complacent in their hearts.  With their complacency came very great struggles.

You see, when you lack the courage to step out in faith, you will end up not truly possessing your blessing.  What happens to many people today is that they never fully possess all of their blessings because they don’t have the courage to push all the way through for it.  Some get hung up paralyzed in fear of the mighty rivers, tall mountains, and treacherous valleys while others don’t have the courage to overcome their adversaries that’s blocking their path – they begin to settle and become complacent.

 When you lack the courage in stepping out in faith, this is a sign that you’re struggling to trust the Lord.  The number of those that do not believe or trust in the Lord is exponentially great and that’s very concerning to me.  The lack of trust in God today is why so many people are hurting in their souls.

Let me say to you today that the Lord has made it clear that you should not be dismayed; be strong and absorb the mockery and be courageous to keep on moving no matter how uncertain things are to you.  Just because you can’t see what is ahead doesn’t mean that God does not know what is ahead.  God most certainly knows what is ahead of so trust in Him!

Like Joshua, we may not have the staff of Moses but we have been armed with the Word of God.  As with Joshua, God has said to us that our way will be prosperous and we will have great success if we live according to His.  I implore you today to have the courage to put your feet forward and step out in faith!

When you go out to step forward in faith, I want you to do as Paul encouraged the Ephesians to do. Paul encouraged the Ephesians to put on the whole armor of God and to be sure to grab the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:10-17). I encourage you today to be filled with confidence and courage with the assurance we have received from God. Put on the whole armor and be armed with the Word in order to step out in faith and take possession of what God has for you.