Be Strong and Courageous
"9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
"6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
"20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished." 1 Chronicles 28:20 (NIV)
"6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them." Joshua 1:6 (NIV)
All these four verses, tell us to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS. And in case, if you did not understand, it follows with "do NOT be afraid, do NOT be discouraged". Ask yourself, when was the last time you were discouraged or afraid? Even while I was writing this article, a cloud of discouragement came over my heart when a gmail notification popped up with a declination from one of the jobs I'd applied for!
Huh! Discouragement is everywhere! Fear is too. But God, doesn't want these to rule over our hearts, in fact the very first sentence tells you that he had commanded you to be brave and strong! We all know what happens if we don't follow his commands! It means we do not Love him and that we do not trust him! But that's not the case! Right?
The good thing is, this command came with a reason of why you should follow it! If you keep reading these verses further, they say,
"the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.",
"he will never leave you nor forsake you",
"He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished."
So, there's your reason! It's as clear as possible! Yet, we still fear and are weak.
Let's look at this Bible verse,
"13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."
1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)
Here again, the scripture tells us to be strong and courageous and not only that! But also, to stand firm in your FAITH! I know we have Faith in Jesus. We also must have the same faith in his power!
NOTE 1 Your faith should see that the Lord your God is indeed with you and that he will never forsake you!
"7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
The Spirit of the God that lives in us doesn't make us a coward! Then who does? Who are you letting in, into your hearts?
NOTE 2 Our firm Faith should see that the Spirit gives us POWER, LOVE and SELF-DISCIPLINE!
"4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 (NIV)
NOTE 3 And lastly, your Faith should see that the one who is in you, is all powerful than anyone in this world!
When your faith focuses on seeing the power of God who is in you and who is with you on your side, it should be very easy for you to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS! It's fascinating to find that by following this command, we can overcome anything or everything in this world! So let's start being brave through our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and never again let fear rule over our hearts! :)
