Leadership Link

Article #13

Oct 14, 2022

Joshua 1:8, 9 — “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Joshua 1 continues to be a relevant chapter to help in the preparation process to possess the promised land. Verse 9 says, “be not afraid neither dismayed.” One of the most frequently used tactics of the enemy is the creation of fear. As the enemies that were present in the land were confronted, some were well equipped for warfare so God’s command was “be not afraid”. Fear is created when my focus is on the enemy, not on the Lord. The scripture declares, “The thing I greatly feared has come upon me”. Fear is the reverse of faith. What faith is to God, fear is to the devil. Fear is the thing that the enemy uses to create hopelessness, discouragement, stress, and depression. Verse 9 states, “Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be dismayed.” The devil’s plan is to get you to focus on the conflict so that your vision of the Lord will be hindered. Sight plus circumstance equals defeat. Be not afraid comes before neither be thou dismayed. Fear and dismay are twin brothers. The verse before this, verse 8, speaks of the meditation on the Word of God. Read the Word, meditate on the Word, live by the Word. This is the way you conquer fear and discouragement.

Article #12

Oct 10, 2022

Joshua 1:9 — “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither thou be dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

We are continuing this wonderful spiritual adventure of Joshua and the children of Israel. Verse 9 gives some great insight to God’s preparation of His people before they enter their promise. It begins with these words of authority, “Have not I commanded thee?” It is a question that contains an answer. The commands of God are never given without the enablement to fulfill the command. The command becomes a commission that leads to conquering. If God gives you a non-negotiable word, you can be assured if you follow the command through obedience, you will have a time of conquering. Command, commission and conquering are closely connected to each other. The command is to do it. The commission is to go in obedience. The conquering is the result of the former two. The following lines contain these revealing truths. “BE STRONG and of good courage, BE NOT AFRAID neither thou dismayed.” This contains a “BE and a “BE NOT”. In His wisdom, the God of the universe first states what I should be and then what I should not be. Be strong and of a good courage is the attitude I take in time of conquest. I understand that weakness and cowardice are the attitudes the enemy would try to place upon me and these are the attitudes that create a serious obstruction in receiving God’s gifts.