"SundayReflection"
21st January 2024
'Meg Bucher asks'
************************
"How Can Christians Be Strong and Courageous
as Deuteronomy 31 Says?"
"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 or forsake you."
Moses spoke these words to Israel, and to Joshua, as he passed the torch of responsibility to lead them into the promised land.
Imagine having to fill the shoes of Moses.
Often, when we find the tasks God purposes for our lives insurmountable and impossible, our reaction is to shrink away, feeling unqualified and undeserving of such roles and responsibilities.
"Who am I," Moses said to God, "that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
In every 'who am I' moment, we can remember our 'I am' God.
He is the God of miracles, the God of the impossible, the God of creation, and the God who rescues us.
Out of His great love for us, He involves us in His eternal plan that every ear should have a chance to hear the Gospel.
When we feel afraid to climb the mountains and accept the missions God has called us to, we can embrace and recall this truth:
"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 or forsake you."
After Moses addressed the people of Israel, he turned his attention specifically to Joshua:
"Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
We all need mentors in the faith to encourage us.
"What God has made our duty," Matthew Henry explains, "we have reason to expect opportunity and assistance from him for the doing of."
Those who have gone before us can take the weight we bear off of our shoulders and speak peace and truth into our lives.
God speaks through many, just as he did Moses to Joshua, to equip and cheer us on in our mission for the gospel.
Strength and courage flowed through Joshua as He obeyed the Lord via the laws God left with Moses.
The Bible records God urging him not to stray from His laws and commands.
God's boundaries and commandments are the guardrails that keep us from careening over the steep side of a mountain on account of black ice.
Jesus says in the New Testament when we abide in Him and His Word abides in us, we can ask anything.
Jesus is the Living Word of God.
Strength and courage flow through a life lived within the love of Christ.
The Lord encouraged Joshua several times with the same words!
After Moses spoke them to the people of Israel, he then turned to Joshua and spoke the same words to him in front of all of the people.
The phraseology is repeated multiple times in the same passage of Scripture, and throughout the Bible, an important attribute to watch for in God's Word!
Strength is surrendering to our Lord Jesus and allowing God to work through the talents He's planted in us, and ways He's gone ahead to prepare.
Paul wrote about the way God formed and purposed him in his mother's womb.
We can take courage in the fact God knows who we are, who we were always supposed to be.
Everything He does and allows is meant to draw us closer to Him.
Courage comes from the core of 'Who He is' and 'Whose we are.'
Strength and courage come from a dedicated and obedient heart, through Christ.
"I'm a slave to Christ," Paul passionately wrote.
He knew he had to be, for every ounce of strength and courage Paul needed to face dire circumstances came from the Lord.
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Meg Bucher Writer and Author
Crosswalk.com
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