datethewordtest

Tag: Joshua

  • Verse to DATE the Word on October 25 (10/25) is Joshua 10:25

    “Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be 
    strong and of good courage, for thus the LORD will do to all your
    enemies against whom you fight.” – Joshua 10:25
    FIGHTING the good fight BY FAITH, NOT FEAR!

    Joshua calls God’s people to live lives of faith rather than to live in fear.  Yes, there is an enemy and there are enemies and yes, there are battles to fight.  Rather than letting fear paralyze us we fight by faith, trusting, and obeying God.  We are not to be weak but strong.  We are not to be cowardly but courageous.  We are not to be full of fear but full of faith!  We are not to be fearful but faithful. 

    I find it helpful to occasionally read over some of the verses about fighting and how we are to fight the good fight.  For instance:
    Exodus 14:14  “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
    Deuteronomy 1:30  ‘The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
    Deuteronomy 20:4  ‘For the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
    Nehemiah 4:14  And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
    Nehemiah 4:20  “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
    Psalms 35:1  O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me.
    1 Timothy 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
    2 Timothy 4:7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
    2 Chronicles 20:15  And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
    Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the LORD.

    Just as Joshua was to fight by faith without fear so too are we.   Here are a few more verses to be reminded to BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS, FULL OF FAITH!
    Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
    Joshua 1:9 “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 8:1 “Now the LORD said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.”

    I trust these verses encourage you to fight the good fight by faith.  Remember from Psalm 56:3 that “Whenever you are afraid, that you will trust in God.  
    Psalms 56:11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

    So today, obey and do what He has called you to do, trusting that where He guides, He provides. Let today be a day of “by faith” as opposed to a day of “I was afraid!”  
    Verse to DATE the Word on October 25 (10/25) is Joshua 10:25. It says, “Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”

    Continue Strong knowing He goes before You!
    And remember to DATE THE WORD!

  • Verse to DATE the Word on September 14 (9/14) is Joshua 9:14

    “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, 
    but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.” – Joshua 9:14
    Running Ahead of the Lord, acting like an Atheist

    Are you a practicing atheist? You may be a little taken aback by the question.  I won’t apologize though for asking as I am concerned (even for myself) that there are times we live life as if there is no God.  We find ourselves facing decisions and while we have an available Advisor to acknowledge and to ask for His guidance we make the decision without any consultation with the One who is supposed to be in charge of our lives.  In other words, we are living life as if there were no God.  In reality, when we live this way we are practicing atheists.   

    This idea of living life as if there is no God is the central theme of Joshua 9:14   They were facing a situation in which God needed to be involved.  Going from one battle to another in order to take possession of the Promised Land they encounter the Gibeonites who are seeking to deceive the men of Israel.  The men of Israel should have been acknowledging and asking God for His take on the situation. Joshua  9:14 makes this very indicting analysis as we read, “BUT they did not ask counsel of the LORD.”   

    Being honest with yourself, I ask if “BUT THEY (YOU) DID NOT ASK COUNSEL OF THE LORD” is a true evaluation of how you are making your life decisions.  Are you running ahead of the Lord in making decisions as you are relying on your own understanding?  

    As believers, we are always to be acknowledging God and asking for direction from Him. Pastor James rebukes his readers in James 4:13-16 with this challenge about running ahead of God.  These verse says, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas, you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”

    For the believer, we are to be putting Proverbs 3:5-6 into daily, yes, even hourly practice.  In case you need a reminder it says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

    Friends, Acknowledge the best ADVISOR in ALL your WAYS/decisions!!!

    Verse to DATE the Word on September 14 (9/14) is Joshua 9:14. It says, “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.”

    It is not good to be out of step with the Lord.  You don’t want to be falling behind and you don’t want to be running ahead.  To be in step with the Lord is to WALK WITH THE LORD after WAITING ON THE LORD!   

    Continue Strong acknowledging the Lord in ALL your ways/decisions!  
    And remember to DATE the Word!

  • Verse to DATE the Word on January 9 (1/9) is Joshua 1:9

    Our verse to DATE the Word on January 9 (1/9) is Joshua 1:9
    Joshua 1:9 says, “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.”
    You Don’t Have to be AFRAID to DO What God has called you to do!

    Doing what God is calling of us can be scary, yes, daunting to the point of being overwhelming and frightening.  We are prone to becoming FEARFUL. Fear freezes our attempts to act as God would want us.  Because we can become fearful God provided encouragement to have resolve and move forward and DO WHAT HAS BEEN COMMANDED!  His encouragement to Joshua here in Joshua 1:9 is a tremendous encouragement to us and worth noting.
    His encouragement included:
    Be STRONG!  Be strong is the encouragement to the believer because with Christ one can do all things because He STRENGTHENS US!   (Recall Philippians 4:13 and Nehemiah 6:9)
    Be COURAGEOUS! Be courageous is the encouragement to the believer because with Christ and His WORD abiding in us, we will OVERCOME the evil one!  (Recall Joshua 1:8 and 1 John 2:14)
    Be SETTLED!  Do not be AFRAID or DISMAYED because God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  (Recall 2 Timothy 1:7)

    As God told Joshua to obey His commands, He also gave Him the promise of promises as He promised His PRESENCE. The most precious promise of God to His people is His presence! The one serving the Lord will always have the Lord at His side!!!  And He keeps His PROMISES! 1 Corinthians 1:9 reminds us that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

    We, as believers, have been given the command to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD and MAKE DISCIPLES. We are to do so FEARLESSLY with the same promise that Joshua had as Jesus said. “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

    SO STOP BEING AFRAID and GO – DO what God has commanded you to do!

    Verse to DATE the Word on January 9 (1/9) is Joshua 1:9.  It says, “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.”

    Continue Strong knowing God’s promise of His presence,
    And remember to DATE THE WORD

    Bonus: As you fulfill your calling know that GOD IS WITH YOU AND HE HAS YOU SURROUNDED – SURROUNDED BY HIM!!! HE HAS YOU SURROUNDED, SURROUNDED BY HIM!!!
    Consider the following words to keep close to your heart:
    1 word:   GOD
    2 words:  I AM (told to Moses in Exodus 3)
    3 words:  I LOVE YOU (told to us throughout His Word)
    4 words:  I AM WITH YOU (Haggai 1:13 “Then Haggai, the LORD’S messenger, spoke the LORD’S message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.”)
    5 words: I WILL BE WITH YOU (Deuteronomy 31:23 Then He inaugurated Joshua ,and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”)
    6 words: I WILL CERTAINLY BE WITH YOU (Exodus 3:12 So God said to Moses, “I will certainly be with you)
    7 words: AND BEHOLD, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS (Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

    Bonus 2:  And in case you needed more encouragement to do what God is calling you to do notice the following statements God made to His servants. 
    To Gideon – Judges 6:16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
    To Joshua – Joshua 1:5 “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.
    To Israel – Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
    To Isaac – Genesis 26:3 “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
    To Jacob – Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
    To Jeremiah – Jeremiah 1:8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.
    To Jeremiah – Jeremiah 1:19 They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.”
    To Israel – Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’