Success in Life Guaranteed

“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

– Joshua 1:5

In the first chapter of Joshua we find the keynote message for this new year: God guarantees success to his people. This is what we understand from God’s charge to Joshua in Joshua 1:1-9. What God promises, he performs, and what he starts, he will finish. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

In the Hebrew text, the book of Joshua literally begins, “And it came to pass. . . .” Here we see the continuation of God’s work of salvation that began in Genesis, especially when God made his covenant with Abraham, and continued through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and now Joshua.

Just as Joshua faced new challenges and different situations in his time (around 1406 B.C.), we too, in this new year of 2005 A.D. face new challenges and difficulties, as well as new opportunities to glorify God.

Moses My Servant Is Dead

What is the context of this passage? Mighty Moses has just died at one hundred and twenty years of age and was buried by God himself. Since the people of Israel left Egypt forty years earlier, over six hundred thousand of them also died for their sins. Notice, judgment begins with the household of God.

The Lord calls Moses “my servant” (v. 2). There is no greater honor for a human being than to be called “servant of God.” But there is no servant who is without sin, except the suffering Servant, Jesus Christ. Why did mighty Moses have to die? Why did he fail to lead his people into Canaan? The answer is given in the Scriptures: He disobeyed God, and God will not tolerate his servants to disobey him. Numbers 20 tells us that when the people were thirsty, God told Moses to speak to a rock to produce water. Instead, he struck the rock twice. God, in his great faithfulness, produced water for them, but because of this sin, Moses had to die in the wilderness. He asked God to permit him to lead the Israelites into Canaan, but God said, “No.”

So Moses was the last person of the old generation to die in the wilderness. Of that entire generation of people who left Egypt, only two, Caleb and Joshua, entered the Promised Land. They did so because they had a different spirit and fully obeyed the Lord (Numbers 14:24).

God Calls a New Leader

Now the people were ready to cross the Jordan River. But how were they to do it? Moses was dead-Moses, who produced the Pentateuch; Moses, who saw God and spoke to him face to face. There was no one greater than Moses, yet this mighty leader was now dead.

But God does not die. God is eternal, immortal, immutable, and faithful. He cannot die, so his mighty work of salvation continues on in history. No man is indispensable. So when Moses died, God appointed Joshua to continue the task. God cannot be confounded; he always works according to his own eternal plan. Early on, God had chosen Joshua and ordained him to his service by filling him with the Holy Spirit. He appointed him as Moses’ assistant so that he could learn how to lead God’s people. Joshua was the general in charge of the battle the Israelites fought against the Amalekites just after leaving Egypt. Soon thereafter he was chosen to be one of the spies to enter Canaan, and he brought back a good report.

Now, thirty-eight years later, Joshua was ready for the challenge. So the Lord directed him to rise up and lead this nation of two million people across the overflowing river into Canaan. God had promised to bring his people into Canaan five hundred years earlier when he made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15). Later, he repeated the promise to Isaac and then to Jacob. And in Genesis 48:21 we see Jacob, also known as Israel, speaking to his son Joseph: “Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.'” God’s plan will always be fulfilled. And in Genesis 50:24 we read: “Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'”

God’s servants die, but God never dies. The Bible says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In faithfulness to his promise, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, saying it was time to bring his people out of Egyptian bondage. Moses did so, with full intent to bring them in to the Promised Land. Now God would complete the task by bringing them in under the leadership of Joshua.

So the Lord commanded Joshua to rise up, cross the overflowing Jordan, conquer Canaan, and distribute the land to the Israelites. In this charge in the first nine verses of Joshua 1, we find an outline of the entire book. The earth and everything in it is the Lord’s, and he will give it to whomever he wills.

How could Joshua perform such a mighty task? He is afraid, timid, and weak. We must ask the same question ourselves. We all face troubles and difficulties in life. How can we live a successful life and overcome our problems? In this passage, we find three things that will guarantee success. First, there is the promise of God-a promise given directly to Joshua. Second there is the Pentateuch. Joshua had the written word with him. At that time, the canon only had five books, called the Pentateuch, but it was the very word of God. Third, there is the presence of God with his people.

The Promises of God

In verse 2 God says to Joshua, “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them.” That is God’s promise. In other words, God was saying, “The time has come. There is no more delay. I am about to give this land to you and you must believe in this promise, Joshua.”

We find another promise in verse 3: “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” There the phrase “your foot” is plural, meaning not just Joshua’s feet, but the feet of all the people of God. God gives us his gift, but we must fight to appropriate it. We must believe and cooperate with God. It is not something we passively receive automatically; we must go out in faith and appropriate the promise. Nevertheless, it is a sure promise: “Every place you walk, it will be yours. I promise!”

Verse 4 describes the extent of the territory God promised to Joshua. It was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, the River Euphrates on the east, Lebanon on the north, and the wilderness on the south. This large area had already been promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.'” God promised Abraham, “I will give this to your descendants,” and now the time had come for them to take possession of it. So God tells Joshua, “I will give it to you.”

The next promise is, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life” (v. 5). We must believe this promise and live by it. If we are servants of God, no one shall be able to oppose us or defeat us. No one! That is a promise we can rely on.

Verse 5 contains an additional promise: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Man is powerless; he is nothing. But with God, we can do all things. The question we should ask is whether God with us or not. If God is with us, everything will be all right.

Next we read, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” which the writer to the Hebrews repeats in Hebrews 13:5. In the Hebrew the meaning is, “I will never make you sink; I will never drop you or abandon you.” As we face a new year, with its new challenges and trials, and perhaps even death itself, we must believe this promise of God: “I will never forsake you.”

Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas and forsaken by all of his disciples. In 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul says that Demas abandoned him, and that everyone in Asia forsook him. Then he says, “At my first defense, no one came to my support” (verse 16). But read on: “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength” (verse 17). Do not worry. Our Lord shall never let us sink; he shall never leave us nor forsake us. If he is for us, who can be against us?

In verse 6 we find another promise: “You will lead these people to inherit the land.” That is an indicative statement with no contingency: “You will,” not anyone else. God had chosen Joshua many years ago for this task. God trained him, ordained him, and filled him with wisdom and the Holy Spirit. Now he gives him this promise: “You will lead the two million people across this turbulent, overflowing river and conquer the land and divide it up as an inheritance for my people, so that I can fulfill what I promised to Abraham on oath.”

It is important to consider who is making this promise. I have heard many human beings make promises, but when the time came, I could not lean on them. Do not trust in princes, for they are but men who can lie and forsake us. But God cannot lie. The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are his everlasting arms. He will sustain us to the end.

Whose promise is this? It is the word of the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He spoke, and the universe sprang into existence out of nothing. It is the word of the Lord who upholds the universe by the word of his power. It is the word of the Lord who governs all the affairs of history. It is the word of the Lord who made a covenant with Abraham five hundred years earlier to assure him that he would have descendants, and that through him would come a Savior in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. It is the promise of the infinite, personal, covenant Lord who cannot lie.

Joshua needed only to look at history to believe that these promises of God would be fulfilled, for what God promised Abraham did come to pass, in due time. God has always proved himself trustworthy. He appeared in the burning bush and telling Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob . . . I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:6-8). He delivered the Israelites from Egypt through mighty miracles: the ten plagues; the parting of the Red Sea, which Joshua himself witnessed; and the defeat of the Amalekites. God provided them with water and manna daily for forty years. He guided them continually by his presence, and gave them everything they needed so they lacked nothing. We can trust our God.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 we are told, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.” Yes in Christ! That is what our prayer should be: “O God, you promised, and I believe in your promise. Please do what you have promised.” That is praying according to the will of God.

The Pentateuch-the Word of God

The second point God wanted Joshua to keep in mind is the power of the written word of God. In verse 7 he says, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.” At that time, the canon of Scripture had only five books. By the time Joshua died, it increased to include the book of Joshua, and went on expanding until, by the end of the first century A.D., God’s people had received the complete Bible as we have it today.

We must understand that the Bible is the result of the creative activity of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is not a human work; it is God’s work, and God is its primary author. Our job is to believe it. So we believe that Scripture alone is the authority-sola Scriptura. That is why this church is centered on it and we must regulate all aspects of life by it.

1. We are to obey God’s word. God warned Joshua in verse 7: “Be careful to obey all the law.” Here God was, in effect, reminding Joshua that Moses couldn’t take the people into the Promised Land because Moses had disobeyed God’s word. Joshua had a copy of the law; now God was warning him not to rely on his subjective feelings and ideas, but on the objective, historical word of God.

   The last verse of the book of Judges says: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” That is autonomy. Even today in the church, many people prefer subjectivism and autonomy to discipleship. But autonomy is not Christianity. Obedience to God’s word is the key to success, power, courage, and wisdom. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The righteous are as bold as a lion.” The righteous means one who does the will of God. Such a person is confident and bold, one who moves forward, not backward. The obedient person sets goals and achieves them. He is unafraid, for it is sin and the guilt of sin that makes us afraid.

2. We are to obey exactly. Verse 7 continues, “Do not turn from it to the right or to the left.” God takes no pleasure in a person who deviates from his direction as revealed in his word. When we travel, we are very careful to follow the map so we can reach our destination. God’s word is the road map for human life. To arrive at blessing, fellowship with God, and eternal life, we must follow his map, studying it carefully, understanding it, and ordering our lives according to it. This narrow way leads to life, success, and prosperity. We cannot be selective in our obedience to God’s word.

   In Deuteronomy 12:32 Moses says, “See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.” And in Deuteronomy 17:11 we read, “Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.” We have no freedom to interpret away the meaning of the word of God, nor to add to it or subtract from it. That is why I do not like “promise boxes” or “promise books.” Such collections are selective. They usually include only verses that give us a lift, not those that speak about repentance, the wrath of God, or obedience to God’s word. We are to submit to the whole Scripture.

3. We are to diligently study the word of God. True Bible study means putting in hard work to understand the meaning of it so that we can do what it says. We must study daily, systematically, and comprehensively as we go through the entire Bible.
4. We are to speak the word. Verse 8 says, “Do not let this Book of the Law should depart from your mouth.” Fathers, it is your job to speak the word to your children and to your family. Speak it, because it alone is light and gives guidance: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). Speak the word of God-not human philosophies, which have no authority or power. They cannot guide us in life. Everlasting principles are found only in the Holy Scriptures.

   We must speak God’s word to our families. Joshua faithfully spoke to his family, and at the end of book he declared to the people, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). And as Joshua taught, not only his family, but the whole nation of Israel, so we also must speak the word of God to all people, opposing heresies, lies, and human philosophies. We must declare boldly, “The Bible says,” and “God says,” and “It is written.” Rather than embracing modernity, we must embrace the everlasting word of God.

   Why do some churches not preach the gospel? Because they have made a conscious decision not to preach anything that would offend people. What are some of these offensive things? First, there is creation. Right there we have a problem, because the schools teach evolution. But the Bible speaks about creation, so if we preach it, we may offend people. The Bible also speaks about the fall of man and sin; if we preach that, people will be offended. What about repentance? Oh, people do not like to hear that they must repent. And certainly we must not speak about hell or the wrath of God. The Bible speaks about obedience. It tells us how we should conduct ourselves as believers in Christ. All of these things are offensive to modern man. But in this church we have made a conscious decision to preach the whole gospel.

5. We are to meditate on the word. Verse 8 says, “Meditate on it day and night.” Meditation means to reason and bring our minds to bear upon the Scripture, making deduction and application. The Scriptures were written for our encouragement, hope, and warning. The word of God is profitable to us if we meditate on it, and God has given us minds for that very purpose. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” What is good and right and noble? The word of God.

In Psalm 119 the psalmist declares,

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.” That is true. If you are a Christian, and you go to the university, you will have more insight than those who are teaching you. “I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path (vv. 97-104).

When we love the word of God and meditate on it, we will avoid every sin. When I see someone sinning on a regular basis, I know that person has nothing to do with the Bible. Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (vv. 1-3).

1. We are to do the word. Verse 8 tells us why we are to meditate on the word: “so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” It is not enough to be a Bible student or a theologian, skilled in exegesis. If we know the word of God but do not practice it, we are sinning. It is better not to go to church and not to open the Bible than to understand the word and not do what it says. (PGM) Unless we do the word, we shall not be blessed. In fact, knowing the word without obeying it results in greater judgment.

   Jesus Christ, the greater Joshua, said, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29), and “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). When he was tempted, Jesus told the devil, “It is written.” Jesus was saying, “The Scripture tells me, and God the Father tells me, that I should worship and serve him alone, and that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

   In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. . . .'” He is not speaking about pagans who have no understanding, but about those who know the Bible but do not obey it. They want to enter into the kingdom of God, but Jesus Christ will tell them, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” In verse 24 Jesus says, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” How many churches have abandoned the idea of a holy, obedient life! Such churches have subscribed to antinomianism.

2. Doing the word brings blessings. Joshua 1:8 says, “Then you will be prosperous and successful.” When are we successful? When we know God’s word and do it. When this happens, we will not have to worry. Then and then only will we be truly successful. If we are word-regulated people, then whatever we do shall prosper. We will be like trees planted by streams of water, which brings forth fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither, and God’s purposes will be fulfilled in our lives.

The Presence of God

In verse 9 of chapter 1 the Lord declares, “Have I not commanded you?” God himself is the supreme authority, and there can be no doubt about the outcome of the mission he is charging Joshua with accomplishing. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The third reason for our comfort and encouragement is the presence of God with us.

Imagine yourself in Joshua’s situation. There is the vast Jordan River. There are no boats, but God wants you to go across now, during the flood stage. Thus, you must somehow cross this river. Of course, we would rather sit around and say, “Let’s figure this out first. I think God said to go there. But that doesn’t mean we have to go right now. But if he insists we go now, what should we do? Maybe we can build boats or a bridge or something.” All of this is leaning onto our own understanding. Our nature is to plan projects and programs. But Joshua was assigned a most difficult task, and it is good to know how he solved the problem.

Additionally, Joshua faced another problem. There were giants in the land-the powerful Amorites. When Joshua went to Canaan with the eleven other spies, they came back saying, “Yes, it is a beautiful land that flows with milk and honey. That is all true. But the cities are fortified, and there are giants there. In our own eyes we seemed as grasshoppers.” When God does not figure in our plan, this is the type of natural understanding we come up with. How can Joshua lead two million people across this great river and defeat all the enemies?

God tells Joshua three times, “Be strong and courageous” (vv. 6, 7, 9); also, “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged” (v. 9). Why did God say that? Because Joshua was terrified and discouraged. By nature we are all timid and weak. God understands that. But he commands us, “Be strong. Be not terrified. Be bold.”

How do we get this boldness, this confidence? The answer is given here: “For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” We must believe this.

If we really believed that the eternal, infinite, almighty, all-holy, all-just God is with us, our entire outlook would change. When we believe God is with us, then our lives will change. Our thinking will be different, our speaking will be different, our work life will be different, and our marriage and all our relationships will be different. All our behavior will change for the better, because now we will be living to please this God who is with us.

Do you believe that God is with us? I am sure that we would all agree to that statement. But let me put it differently: Are we living in the reality of this affirmation? If so, we shall be strong and courageous. We shall not be terrified or discouraged; rather, we shall be bold. We shall not do evil, but what is right. The blessed presence of God will guarantee our success.

Once, in anger at the stubbornness of his people, God threatened, “I will not go with you” (Exodus 33:3). Moses understood the consequences, so he prayed, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (v. 15). “The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'”

If you are practicing sin as a Christian, you are doing so because you do not believe that God is with you. When we realize the truth of God’s presence with us, it will keep us from sinning. When God came to Mount Sinai, the whole mountain smoked and quaked, and there was thunder and lightning. The people were told not to touch the mountain, for it was holy. What was the reason? God was there. So the people told Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Exodus 20:19).

God is holy, and in his presence there is trembling and fear of the Lord. What passes today for piety is a superficial, happy-go-lucky attitude. It is true that Christians should have joy, but when we really see God, we will tremble in holy reverence. So in Exodus 20:20 we read, “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'” Why do we sin and go counter to God’s law? We do not fear God. If we feared him, we would obey.

So Moses told God, “If you do not come with us to Canaan, please do not send us there. We will be defeated, destroyed, wiped out! Please come with us. We know there are giants and fortresses. We know they are powerful and we are nothing.” How true this is also of us! Try to go anywhere without God: you will be finished.

In Exodus 33:14 the Lord promised Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Rest means salvation, peace, inheritance, and joy. The Lord made the same promise to Joshua: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (1:5). That promise is still true for us today. As he was with Joshua, so God will be with you and with me. That is the greatest reason we have to be confident and unafraid of the future, of enemies, of persecution, and of death itself.

God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Human beings give birth to their children and abandon them; they even kill their own babies in the womb. But God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That ought to make us very happy. People may forsake us, but God will not.

In the last chapter of the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). The Christian life is based on this reality of God’s presence with us. The One who is Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth and governor of the universe, the One who is the Lord of history, who defeated death itself by his death on the cross, the One who rose from the dead-this One says to us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

From the beginning of the Scriptures to the end, the most distinguishing reason for us to rejoice and have strength, confidence, and courage, is the promise of God: “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages.”

God Is Our Warrior and Savior

Who is this God who promises to be with us always? The self-existing, self-sufficient, covenant Lord. The “I AM THAT I AM” is also our great Warrior and Savior who fights every battle for us and delivers us out of the hand of our enemies. So Moses said to Joshua as he prepared to enter the Promised Land, “Do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God himself will fight for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22).

In Joshua 5:13-15 we see Joshua looking up at the towering walls of Jericho and wondering how such an imposing fortress could be conquered. All of a sudden a man with a drawn sword appears. “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” Joshua inquires. And the answer comes, “Neither!” In other words, “You don’t recruit me; I recruit you. If you surrender to me and come under my rule, then everything will be all right.” Who is this person? He is the captain of the army of the Lord, the captain of the heavenly host, of which Israel is only one division. He is the second Person of the Trinity. And he has a sword drawn out, ready for combat.

What do many people do with Jesus today? Oh, we change him a little bit. We take away his sword because it is too offensive. We think we can hug him and play with him, and he will never offend us by telling us to repent or obey. But this is a false view of Jesus Christ. The One who is with us is both Warrior and Savior.

Moses uses this language in Exodus 15:3: “The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea.” Here Moses is not taking credit for all the miracles God performed; he knows it was God who fought the battle and taught a lesson to the Pharaoh who challenged him, saying, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” (Exodus 5:2).

I hope we will never forget that our Savior is also a Warrior. His sword is drawn, ready for battle. Before him the Red Sea parts, the Amalekites lick the dust, the River Jordan becomes dry ground, and the walls of Jericho crumble. He will defeat all our enemies for us. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord, this mountain shall be removed. All mountains, all rivers, all seas must make way for the great God, who leads his people into the Promised Land.

All God’s Promises Fulfilled

So people of God, as we face this new year, be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified or discouraged: God is with us! Trust in his promises. Trust in his everlasting and eternal Scriptures. Rest in his presence. Move forward with him; our success is guaranteed. The captain of the Lord’s army shall never be defeated. He has promised to save us, and all his promises shall be fulfilled.

In Joshua 21:43-45 we read this summary: “So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” And finally, in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born to obey the law, came the greater Joshua. By his life and death on the cross, he destroyed the devil once for all and freed us from death itself. It is this Joshua who gives true rest to all who trust in him. He calls the weary to himself: “Come unto me; I will give you rest.” He gives an inheritance to us in him. He brings us into his Promised Land of eternal salvation, and in him we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Be strong in the Lord and fight your spiritual enemies, for Christ has already defeated them. Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you. Overcome the devil and his minions by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. We are told that neither death nor life nor anything else in all creation is able to separate us from the love of God. We have the power of God’s promise, the power of God’s word, and the power of God’s presence. God has poured out his Spirit on us; may we, therefore, go forward and follow him who calls us. Our Warrior/Savior goes out conquering and to conquer and none of his promises shall fail. He always leads us in triumph, and finally he shall present us before God’s glorious presence without fault in glory and inexpressible joy. This is God’s purpose, and he shall achieve it.

What about you? Are you still wandering and restless? Is your life without meaning or purpose? Are you confused and lonely? Our greater Joshua, Jesus, is here. He is the Savior. Cry out to him, and he shall forgive your sins and clothe you with his righteousness. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Mark it down: From this day forward, he shall make you successful and prosperous as you follow him. Amen.