Joshua 1:1-18: After Moses death (Deuteronomy 34:9-12), Joshua took over the leadership of the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. Joshua passed God’s instructions on to the people including that God demands obedience, He will always be with them and be strong and courageous (1: 6,9,12). Actually, God commands us to be strong and courageous and He repeats this phrase three times. What does strong and courageous look like? Maybe like Jason’s phrase in the movie Galaxy Quest: “never give up never surrender”. God is in control.
God’s Word is our tool for being strong and courageous. In verse 8, God gives us the following three challenges:
- study His word continually
- meditate on His Word, day and night
- obey all that is written in it and your way will be successful
Our way will be successful because the more we study God and His Word, the closer our prayer desires will match His desires for our lives. We will be working with Him for His purpose in our lives and not our purpose. For myself, I have recently in the last couple years have begun using audio or reading aloud. This is so I do not read too fast only in my mind. It makes me hear or read every verse versus glancing over familiar ones I have read before. This also helps me learn more as known verses may teach me from a different perspective at different times in my life.
During this week, pray and meditate through verses 8 and 9. Time in God’s Word and meditating on specific verses will help you grow in your relationship with God. Add these two verses to your verse reference list. I have a pack of about 100 verses that I have listed on small cards over the years that I can refer to. Once in a while, my time with God may be to go over my verse list. Grow your verses list. What do you need to start or work on? Verse list? Daily reading? Consistent prayer time?
Inspirational Books - Moving us through Life's Ups and Downs 