Photo Credit: Ben White
On Monday, 7th May, as I researched our theme for the month, I came across a powerful teaching, which I promised to share with you. We will be learning about the application of a major ingredient recurring in our text — Joshua 1 — and that ingredient is courage. To take risk you will require courage and not just that, you will need to be “very courageous.” And what’s more, it is a command from God. Our God instructs us to be Bold and very Courageous! Be ye transformed as you read. Amen.
"Renew your mind"
Three things God gave Joshua
The first thing God said, He reminded Joshua of His faithfulness to keep all His promises. God reminds Joshua how He had been faithful in keeping His covenant and in keeping His promises with His people from the very beginning. God’s saying; I’ve pledged to give this land to my people and I’m going to fulfill that pledge. Yet your success will not rest indeed on a military strategy or even on a well-trained army but your success will rest on the faithfulness of My promises. That’s the main idea.
The second thing that God does is He commands Joshua to meditate on His word. You cannot really take risks of obedience if your mind is not being renewed in this world. If you are not embracing an eternal perspective in this temporal world your mind will be conformed to the world system and you will not be able to go against the current culture. To obey God means that you go against the current of the culture. It is often counter cultural, counter intuitive, for us to follow these things that He commands us to do for our good. Unless you are renewing your mind with this transcendent biblical perspective, you’re not going to do it and you’ll buckle under the pressure and give way to the ambient call of the world. You will not be a different man. You will be a man who is conformed not transformed. Conformed not to Christ but to the image of this passing world and that will not really give you the kind of courage, the greatness, the dignity, to which you’ve been called. You’re called to more than what this world invites you to pursue. He says; I want you to be a man of wisdom and encouragement and that you gain your insight and wisdom and stability and shalom from the word.
Besides the fact that God keeps His promises and is faithful and beside the fact that He has given us this word, this treasury so that we can begin and continue to renew our mind, He promises to be personally present with Joshua. In that promise He says; I, Myself, will go with you. I’m not just going to send you out there but I will be with you in the midst. My point is that we have the same 3 sources of courage in our lives today. Those sources of encouragement are summarized again in vs. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” — Dr. Ken Boa
My Commentary:
You know, I’ve had a major struggle for years in keeping the instructions of a certain scripture, which happens to be Joshua 1:8, the part that says, “thou shall meditate on it day and night!” The night part has been my struggle. Having to study the word and pray before going to bed. I have a culture of waking up past midnight… 2/3/4am to pray and sometimes study the Bible. I do this daily. 90% of the time. My body clock never fails me. But I wonder if this suffices to make up for the night part. Ken Boa says, God gave Joshua 3 things, which he has graciously explained to us above. And I see that all that is required of us to do out of these 3 things is just one thing: to meditate on the Word day and night! Perhaps you are like me who keeps only one half of the bargain… and gets away with defaulting the other. God’s faithfulness never fails all through the ages. He remains the same. He is the ever-present God, and we can testify that even when it seemed we were alone, from hindsight we always can tell that we were never alone. Through every valley and tunnel, though we walk through the shadows of death, our ever-present Shepherd is there with us at every turn in our risk-taking journey. However, one thing is required of us; that we daily meditate on the word DAY & NIGHT. This is where we are able to muster the courage that is required to go against the current of this world’s culture. For that is where the power of transformation lies. Where our minds are renewed, reformed and regenerated by the power of the Word. The only reason why you’d join them if you’re unable to beat them is because you are not completely free from the world. But the regenerated soul is constantly drawn towards God. And to be in consistent pursuit of God is to be in a steady and regular retreat from the world and its culture. If we lack the omnipotent power of the word resident in our lives, Dr. Boa tells, “Unless you are renewing your mind with this transcendent biblical perspective, you’re not going to do it and you’ll buckle under the pressure and give way to the ambient call of the world. You will not be a different man. You will be a man who is conformed not transformed…You cannot really take risks of obedience if your mind is not being renewed in this world.” It is my prayer that we find the will to begin to meditate DAY & NIGHT. For they are the little things that the Lord rewards, for then He gives more grace so we can do more. But he that isn’t faithful in little, who does nothing at all, even what he has shall be taken from him.
Luke 19:26 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
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