Mount Isa Baptist Church

Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1

If you have ever read through the Book of Joshua, you would have possibly discovered that the main character of the Book of Joshua isn't Joshua. The main character is God. And I hope for you, the main character in your life, as you face the opportunities and challenges, that the main character in your life will also be not you but God. Let's pick it up in vs.1 where it says, “After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord.”

Now, let's just take a few moments to remind ourselves of Moses. Moses, as we know, was a great leader. He was one of the great men of history, one of the great men of the Bible, and we know he was a man mightily used by God. But now he's dead, and you can read that story in Deuteronomy chapter 34. So, in a sense, a chapter's come to an end. A season has come to an end. Moses is dead. That season is over, but the journey continues.”

So, a couple of thoughts for us to consider today.

1st: Respect, not reverence

What do I mean by that? I mean that we should respect our spiritual leaders but never revere them. Never place any spiritual leader on an unhealthy pedestal. Why? Because there's only one who is worthy of our reverence. Only one who is worthy of our lives and devotion, and his name is Jesus. Only one who will never fail us, who will never disappoint us. And his name is not Moses or Joshua or anyone else. His name is Jesus Christ. Elevate him. Love him. Follow him. Lay your life down for him because He alone is worthy of your worship and devotion. Respect, not reverence.

2nd: Make peace with the past

Yes, Moses was a great leader. Yes, Moses did lead the people out of bondage in Egypt. Yes, he led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years. But now you need to make peace. That season is over, and that leader is dead. As we enter this new season, with new challenges and new opportunities, none of us can afford to live one single moment in the past. Praise God for what he did in our lives in the past. Praise God for what he did in our church collectively in the past. We thank God for that. But this is a new season with new opportunities, with new challenges. We can learn from the past, but we cannot live in the past.

So, let's personalize it a little bit today.

For some of us, maybe last year was one of the best years of your lives. For some, last year was a year of great sadness, a year where tears were shed, where loved ones were lost, and there were great struggles on different levels for many of you or for people you may know. And I pray that if that is your story, that God would settle your spirit and fill your heart with His joy and enable you to make peace with what you cannot change. None of us can rewind the clock. By His grace and through the power of His Holy Spirit, may God give you the strength even this morning to lift up your eyes and to move forward into a future filled with hope and faith. Moses, the servant of the Lord, is a phrase used of Moses at least 12 times in the book of Joshua. And I just love that because my prayer for us collectively as a church family is that we would live with a spirit of servanthood. We would be contributors, not consumers. That we would be looking for opportunities both in this church and outside of this church to serve God and to serve others. May this be the year where we reach a point in our lives that we will live for the glory of Jesus. Giving of our time, giving of our resources, giving of our energy, giving of our very lives for the benefit of God and for the glory of His name. And as we do that, may we serve from a place of overflow. Like the song we sing, “Let Your Living water flow,” may rivers of living water flow in us and through us as we remain rooted and anchored in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's Moses, but now let's move on to Joshua. Joshua is an elderly man, and he spent his entire career serving under the leadership of Moses. When Joshua was a younger man, he was one of the 12 spies. Remember those 12 spies who were sent out to go and spy out the promised land. Moses sent him into the land and said, “Come and report back.” Only Joshua and Caleb came back with a positive report. They came back with a faith-filled report because the other 10 came back with a negative report. Remember what the others said? It can't be done. The vision God gave us is not achievable. There are strong people living in that land. There are fortified cities, and in fact, there are giants living in that land. In their eyes and in our own eyes, we look like mere grasshoppers. We cannot do it. We cannot fulfill the plan, the purpose of God. So, here's what we recommend: let's give up on the dream. Let's give up on the dream of being used by God and moving into the promised land. Forget about that, let's go back to Egypt. Let's go back to a place of bondage and slavery. It always amazes me how two people can visit the same place or face the same set of circumstances or go through the same difficulties, and yet they're seeing two completely different things. Because Joshua and Caleb went to the same place. They saw the same things. And yet they came back with a completely different report. A report defined by faith and hope. In fact, Joshua says to the people, “Come, let us go up at once, for we are well able to take the land because God is with us. He has promised this land to us.” It’s not us on our own, because God is with us and He has promised to be with us.

And so, I would just challenge you this morning. Where's your focus? Be honest with yourself this morning. Where does your focus tend to drift to? Problems or promises. Where's your focus today? Because what you decide to focus on will have a massive impact upon the direction your life takes or the direction we go as a church. Do we look at the problems, or are we focused on the promises of God? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Who are the people who are speaking into your life? This might be something for us to consider this morning. For 40 years, Joshua served under the leadership of Moses. 40 years of character development. I would encourage you today, as you think about your life learn to be faithful in the small things. Learn to be faithful in the hidden things when no one else is watching you. Learn to serve under someone else's leadership. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may lift you up when the time is right. Another key for us today, vs.7: “Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” The Word of God needed to be on their on their lips. In other words, we needed to speak the Word of God. And not just speak it, but to meditate on it. We need to think deeply about the Word and the truths of God. I pray that this week, this month, this year is where I'm going to speak the Word of God over my marriage, over my family, over my grandchildren. I'm going to speak the Word of God over my life and over my circumstances, not people's opinions or empty philosophy. I'm going to speak the Word of God. I'm also going to think deeply about the Word of God. I'm going to meditate on the Word of God. And then I'm taking it to the next level. I'm going to start living the Word of God. I'm putting the Word of God into practice. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.