The (Spiritual) Battle is On

I must admit that I enjoy reading Chapter 1 of Joshua.  Joshua has been mentored by Moses for 40 years. His faith has increased and He knows that God is on their side as a people.  He and Caleb are the only survivors within their age group and now he has the job of being a leader and taking a large number of people into the promised land.  He will have to "clean house" of all the other little kingdoms who worship other gods. There is going to be a number of battles to be fought and Joshua was going to have to lead the way.  He wasn't feeling very comfortable about his role.  In fact he was afraid and God knew it.  (God knows everything!)

I love what God says to Joshua (and us). "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you (your name goes here); I will never leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous ... be strong and very courageous ... Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not  be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:5-9. Two times God says He will be with Joshua (and us) and three times he tells Joshua (and us) to be strong and courageous.  Don't be afraid.  I am asking you to lead.  I will be with you and instruct you and in fact you will see that I will fight your battles.

The people say that they will follow Joshua and also speak a word of encouragement to Joshua..."Be strong and courageous!" Sound familiar!  God encourages them and demonstrates that He is with them by allowing them to cross the Jordan on dry land.  God parts the Jordan just like He did the Red Sea when Moses was their leader. I think their God-confidence level just went up several notches.  The people who were currently occupying the promised land were now the ones who were afraid.

Many battles occur at Jericho, Ai, and many more other kingdoms - 31 in all.

We too are in a battle as we move towards the promised land the Lord has for us.  The world that we live in is currently run by the devil.  We are foreigners in it.  "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" - Ephesians 6:12.

The battles Joshua fought were often ruthless.  The city and people in it had to be destroyed because they were following and worshiping false gods.  We too must be ruthless when we root out the sins in our lives ...even the so called "respectable / acceptable" sins.  These days there are many sins that are done in secret and many sins of omission (i.e. not doing the things we ought to be doing).

Read Colossians chapter 3.  It provides a good summary of some things that we should "put to death" and things that we should "clothe" ourselves with to represent the Lord well.

In Colossians chapter 4 ... Paul also reminds us to "devote ourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful".  Guess who doesn't want us to pray and will do whatever he can to keep us from it.  You're right ... the devil.  He knows that there is power in prayer?  If we are prayer less (a sin of omission) he has us where he wants us..

Moses prayed much.  Joshua prayed much. Daniel prayed much. Jesus prayed much.  Paul prayed much. We ought to pray much. We need to make prayer a priority if we want to be the holy nation that God wants us to be while here on earth. Pray for one another. Pray to be filled with His Holy Spirit.


Don't be afraid.  Be strong and courageous as you set the example for others.  May they see Christ in us and want more of what we have as we let our light shine and reach out in love.  Our goal is to fix our eyes on Jesus and to know Him more and to become like Him in character and deed.


To do this we will have to be found praying and reading the Word and knowing the Word and meditating on it and doing it (applying it) by faith. He will transform us into His likeness as we trust and obey and root out any sin in our lives.  Be ruthless in dealing with sin ... confess it, repent of it and ask God to replace any bad habits with good / Godly habits.