Joshua 1-5

The Lord promises so many blessings to His people. Still, we live as though we doubt that He will fulfill them. The complete and total faith that Joshua and his people put in the Lord just astounds me! They followed every instruction the Lord gave them to a T. They did not stop to ask why or ponder the idea of this all being for nothing. Their automatic response was to go, simply because the Lord told them to. If the Lord promised He was going to do something, then without a doubt, that would be the inevitable end result. I desire to have a faith like that of Joshua and his men. Firstly, however, we must acknowledge that everything we have, God has given to us. We did not earn any of it. The Lord was their everything and they acknowledged that all they possessed came from the Lord. The Lord wants to be our everything, but it begins with our complete and utter trust and obedience in even EVERY seemingly miniscule detail (Joshua 1:7-8). The fear of the Lord is necessary to the obedience that is required of us (Joshua 4:24). If we do not fear the Lord, He can not entirely work through us because we still rely on ourselves. The Lord desires to do great things through each and every one of us, just as He did through Joshua and his people. In order for that to happen, we must dedicate our lives FULLY to Him (Joshua 3:5). We must not only follow God for ourselves, but also to show others what the Lord will do if we allow Him to be our constant necessity (Joshua 2:8-11). It is difficult to place and keep God as our number one reliance. Once we do, I know that God will work through every single one of us for His glory. Joshua and his people are fantastic proof of that fact. Once you try God by fully relying on Him to be your all in all; then and only then will you receive blessings to the fullest extent that He has promised us.

My constant reminder: Faith in and fear of the Lord is interwoven with the meeting of every single one of our needs. Strength, courage, hope, blessings and faithfully kept promises all come when we give of ourselves in thoroughgoing obedience to the Lord.

"No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
~Joshua 1:5~