I WILL BE WITH YOU Bill De Zavala
Joshua 1:1-9
LET THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART BE ACCEPTABLE IN THY SIGHT OH LORD MY STRENGTH AND MY REDEEMER Psalm 19: 14
I will be with you
The Secret Service, a part of the Treasury Dept., employs 4,300 people to protect the president and to safeguard the nation's money supply. -- In order to give the president constant protection, these agents stick extremely close to him wherever he goes. -- When he's walking, when he's riding in his limousine, when he's on vacation at a ski slope or a lake, the Secret Service is there surrounding him, jogging by his car, skiing or fishing right beside him. -- If the president goes scuba diving, agents put on masks and tanks and go w/him under the water.
Wouldn't it be nice to have someone who would always be with you, protect you, and help you not out of duty, but because you were friends? -- Joshua knew God to be just such a Friend as he stood at the border of Canaan, ready to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land.
In Joshua a passage says God makes the greatest promise of all: "I will be with you."
- What does God mean by this wonderful promise?
FIRST GOD'S PROMISE BRINGS US STRENGTH and COURAGE
God tells Joshua that he needs to be strong and courageous. -- In fact, we find that this is a theme throughout the book of Joshua. -- Five times in this book God repeats these words to Joshua.
- God said the same thing to Moses in Deut. 31 verse 6, "Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee nor forsake thee." -- The one important fact in God's commandment to be strong and courageous is that this command is attached to God's promise to be with them, and to never leave them or forsake them.
- What we learn from this is that we can be strong and courageous, not because we are strong and courageous people, but because we know that in our weakness God is right there beside us and that He will never leave us.
SECOND WHEN IS IT THAT WE NEED STRENGTH AND COURAGE?
For Joshua it was when he was called to take over as leader of the people of Israel and lead them into the Promised Land you would need a lot of strength and courage for a job like that.
For Jesus it was when He had to face the cross, and in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed to God.
For Jesus' disciples it was when they had to face a hostile world with the message of the Gospel.
- But what about us? When do we need to draw strength and courage from God's presence? -- When we have decided to do something great for God. -- When we find ourselves with the opportunity to be a witness -- When we are dealing with some sin that has taken control of our lives -- When we have lost our job and don't know where our next paycheck is going to come from -- We need strength and courage in both the good times and the bad times. -- And we need to understand that we can be strong and courageous in any and every situation because:
Our strength and courage come from knowing that God is with us.
- Joshua would not take the Promised Land, God would.
- Joshua knew that it was only through a reliance on the presence of God that he could be strong and courageous while facing the enemies of Israel.
- Oftentimes instead of being strong and courageous we find ourselves weak and afraid because we face the unknown. -- But know that God makes us the promise, "I will be with you", helps us to know that no matter what comes our way God is by our side.
THIRD . GOD'S PROMISE BRINGS US COMFORT
In Psalms 139 verses 7 through 12-- David realized that no matter where he was and no matter what he was doing God was there with him, bringing him the comfort that he needed. - I know that God being with us brings us comfort in difficult situations.
The 9th Chapter of Psalms verse 9 says "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."
And in Psalms 121:verse 5 through-8 it says "The LORD is thy keeper:- the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand; The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil:- he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."
God's promise to be with us is a comfort in our times of heartbreak.
- Psalm 34 verse18 says "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart: and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
- Psalm 23 verse 4 says "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me..." God promises to be with us, is a comfort in times of failure.
The Message in Psalm 37 verse 24 is "though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: For the LORD upholdeth him with his hand."
FOURTH . GOD'S PROMISE DEMANDS OUR OBEDIENCE
On his 16th birthday the son approached his father and said, "Dad, I'm sixteen now. When I get my license, can I drive the family car?"
- His dad looked at him and said, "Son, driving the car takes maturity, and first, you must prove you are responsible enough. And one way you must do that is to bring up your grades. They are not acceptable. Second, you must read the Bible everyday. And finally, I want you to get that hair cut; it looks outrageous."
- The son began the task of fulfilling his father's requirements knowing that the last might be impossible. -- When his grades came out he came to his dad with a big smile. -- "Look dad, all A's and B's on my report card! Now, can I drive the family car?" -- "Very good, son. You are one-third of the way there, but have you been reading the Bible?" -- "Yes, dad, everyday", the son said.
- "Very good, son. You are two-thirds of the way there. Now when are you going to get that hair cut?" -- Thinking he could outsmart his dad, the son said, "Well, I don't see why I should get my hair cut to drive the car. Jesus had long hair, didn't He?"
- The father looked at his boy and said, "That's right son, and Jesus walked everywhere He went".
- God expects obedience from His children.
- I am not saying He is not with us when we are disobedient, but I do believe the Bible teaches us that when we are obedient God's promise to be with us becomes an ever-increasing reality in our lives.
- In other words, God is always with us, but when we are obedient to Him we are much more able to recognize His presence than at times when we are disobedient.
- Looking back at Joshua it is clear that there are at least two primary areas where God expects obedience, and they both are connected with His Word.
First, We are to Obey His Word.
- Joshua and the people of Israel's victory depended on their adherence to the Word of God, and this is just as true today.
- We have so much more of God's Word than they had.
- They had only the five books of Moses and probably the book of Job.
- This is all of the Bible they had, and God said if they would be obedient to it, they would have no need to fear anyone, for God would be with them.
- Now you and I have the whole Bible, and God calls upon us to search His Word let it be the man who counsels us, the food of our souls, and the sword with which we face our enemies.
- If you do not have victory through Jesus Christ I can tell you why. -- It is because you are neglecting reading and obeying your Bible. -- Read your Bible as you ought to and obey it, and you will be able to live a life of victory.
Second, God expects us to meditate on His Word. The 8th verse of Joshua says "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night..." -- It is by meditation that we really make this Word our own. -- To read attentively is like eating the Word. -- Meditation allows us to digest the truth. -- Mere intellectual acquaintance with the letter of Scripture does us little good.
- It is only as we weigh carefully what God has revealed to us that we obtain from it the spiritual power that enables us to rise above our difficulties and triumph by grace over all our foes.
Now God makes both Joshua and us a promise in this regard. -- In verse. 7 He tells us that success comes to those who follow His Word. -- And in verse. 9 He says both success and prosperity will come to those who are obedient.
- Now, I know that God was promising Joshua success and prosperity in the matter of obtaining physical land and riches. -- But the greater application to both Joshua and to us is that if we obey God's Word He will grant us spiritual success and prosperity like we've never even dreamed of. -- We will begin to understand in a deeper way than we ever have before, that God is with us in a real and personal way.
When we talk about losing someone in a crowd I know that Some of us feel that way about God as if we've lost Him. But God's promise to be with you is very real He's just waiting for you to receive this promise from Him.
AND NOW UNTO GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON AND GOD THE HOLY GHOST BE ASCRIBED AS IS MOST JUSTLY DUE, ALL MIGHT, MAJESTY, DOMINION AND GLORY, NOW AND FOR EVER MORE. - AMEN
