Joshua Chapters 1 – 5

Joshua Chapter 1 ~ What it Takes to Walk with the Lord

So wherever we go, whatever situation we face, we have the victory. The Lord encourages us to be strong and face it with courage. And what gives me the strength and the courage is the Lord is with me. There is this constant battle, "I don't know if I can do that." But we are not taking into consideration that the Lord is with us. The Lord knows we cannot do it. He says, "I will give you the strength. I will give you the power. I have already given you the victory." We go through this battle.

And we see through Joshua what it takes to walk with the Lord. To press forward based on the promise of God's word. Based on the fact that Christ is with us wherever we go, He will never leave us nor forsake us. Based on the fact that we are told to face life with courage and to be strong in Christ.

Joshua Chapter 2

This would make anybody say say, "Gee, I don’t know, it seems to me like religion ought to do you some good and not cause suffering and hardship."  Jesus said, "No, it is going to cost you."  Jesus said, You cannot be My disciple except you deny yourself.  You have to reject what you want.  Take up your cross daily and follow Me, Jesus said.  He said it is going to cost you.  It is going to cost you to follow Christ.

But see, that is the proof that the Holy Spirit has hold of a person's life.  You can kick, and fight, and deny Him, and try to get away from Him, and rebel against it, and say, "I don’t want to do it!"  But if you are born of the Spirit of God and filled with the Holy Spirit you cannot get away.  You can't.

Joshua Chapter 3

We will see this throughout this book, the children of Israel experience victory when they did exactly what the Lord told them to do. And they were defeated - even though it be in a small battle - they were defeated when they took things into their own hands and did not do what the Lord wanted them to do. This is life or death now. You see, once you crossover, that is it. It is life or death. No more going around the mountain. Those who crossed over had to live by faith.  And living by faith was doing exactly what God said to do. Period. No questions asked. But the parting of the waters when their souls hit the water was a sign to the people that God was going to keep His promise and deliver them; that God's presence was with them.

Joshua Chapters 4 – 5

And so we get into the groove of going only with where our desires and feelings are. The problem with that approach is that if you don't have a desire for the things of the world you stop. And as soon as you have the desire for the things of the world again, you go back to them. There has never been a point in time when you have actually realized, "I have lost my desire for the things of the world.  They were of the world and of the flesh and I ought not to be in them and I repent of that. I know that it is not of God." It is a crossover point when you come to the realization, and you make a commitment, and you make a decision about what God wants you to do.