Three consecutive times the Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous. Joshua 1
God does not partner with the weak and cowardly.
Conquering of the Promised Land demanded strength of character and determination.
Isn’t it the same when we want to possess the Kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus teaches that it is taken by force, and only the violent take possession of it. Matthew 11.12
Religious feelings are the weapons of the weak. What warrior would dare go to war with a guitar strapped to his back?
Just like salvation of the soul demands an uncompromising attitude, so does conquering God’s promises.
God chose Abraham because He knew that when it came to a choice between His voice and the voice of his heart, Abraham would not hesitate to obey His voice.
Now it was Joshua’s time.
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land…” Joshua 1.6 (ESV)
God is spirit, not soul.
For this reason, in our relationship with Him feelings of the soul (heart) do not count.
He puts His trust in people who think and decide to hear and practice His Word.
It’s not easy.
It’s not easy because this requires confronting the appeals of the soul.
This is why He puts His trust in the strong and courageous…
People who are accustomed to using reason instead of the heart…
People who are ready to risk their all, for God’s All.
They have to be single-minded in their faith, determined in what they want and unyielding with their goal.
This means being strong.
Courage means standing your ground in the line of battle, regardless of the circumstances.
This is perseverance.
God does not put His trust in those who “follow the crowd”...
Cristiane Cardoso
IMEE - SIMEON -UCKG HK
When we are facing any kind of problems we should fight for it and rebuke.keep ourself strong and brave because the more we are near to God, satan do everything to take away us to GOD. that's y we need to eat and drinks the word of GOD as our weapon to our daily life.God will always use his power to help us. He can do things we can't even imagine. There's nothing he can't do!
I have to be single-minded in my faith, determined in what I want and unyielding with my goals. Definitely this requires me to use my reason and not my emotions. I realized how my emotions always cause me to be a coward before my problems. Instead of me acting in faith the feeling of fear or failure try to impede me from taking action. It is true Bishop that God does not partner with the weak and cowardly the battle is for those who are fear-less, people who think and decide to hear and practice His Word without this victory or any achievements become impossible. Every time I behaved in a way that was 'fearful' I saw no results and as a matter of fact many times the situation would got worse.
Thank you for the message Bishop. In the same way God commanded Joshua to be strong and very courageous to take the promise land, He wants us to adopt the same strength and courage in the war that we are fighting. When we start to use feelings with our faith, little by little the feelings become the priority over our faith and thats when we face more doubts and discouragement. Therefore to persevere untill the end of this war we need to be totally dependent on God and not following the crowd, we must have a supernatural faith, be strong and very courageous like Joshua and be determined in our spirit in the same way as God is spirit not feelings.
This is really deep. Our God does not waste time with people that are weak shy and those with undefined faith. Now I know that in order for me to walk with God i have to be a courageous and a spiritual soldier! He loves those that are willing to sacrifice their will for the sake of His.
Amen Bishop.
I want to be like Joshua. He is dead and I am alive. Thank you Bishop.
Well understood Bp I came to realize when I was reading this post the reason why the Apostle Paul said" So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin" Romans 7:25..May God keep using you Bp and others to save as many souls as possible for the Lord.
Thanks for sharing this Bishop.The fact that you mention God is Spirit not soul opened my eyes.I see how I have been using my feelings and emotions to get a reaction from God,but to no avail.Because ultimately only our faith pleases God not our feelings.Our faith(putting it into action)is the only thing that will change our lives.So we have to persevere,be strong and courageous.
Afternoon Bishop, This message reminds me of that message that Bishop previously posted that God is Spirit. If He were soul then we could communicate and 'touch' Him through feeling, from soul to soul. But he isn't. So it must be done by Faith! Spirit to Spirit.
Paula Mateus,UK
Morning Bishop
This is a true fact bishop, feeling sorry for ourselves or religious actions won't help anything. Will not change any situation. We need an attitude of faith, this is being strong and courageous.
I'm not going to be a hyprocite to say that I am bold and courageous, because if I'm honest I am quite fearful especially when it comes time to exercise my faith, reading this is just reminding me that I have something great a muscle of faith which can help me overcome. Many times I get scared because I am afraid of the consequences, or even when I attempt they are so many setbacks, which discourages me, in the end leaves me confused and question if what I have been doing what is right and this is where I get stuck. My desire is not to follow the crowd but always end up in the stage of uncertainty it seems like I haven't done anything to act my faith. What can I do to overcome? help please
We should be strong to face our problems and courageous continue fighting and overcome them. That's why we can see many times in the Bible when God tell us to be strong and courageous because He knows that in our way till we reach His Kingdom, there will be and we will pass through many temptations, struggles etc, etc... We must always look at Him and never be Maria goes with everyone, if not one day we can end up giving up as many one day did.