Joshua 1:6-9

“Be strong and courageous, for you will divide this land which I swore to your fathers to give them. Be strong, therefore, and courageous to guard yourself and to do as Moses My servant commanded you; then you will not turn away from them, to the right nor to the left. In this way, you will have understanding in whatever you do. The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may have the understanding to do all the things written therein. Then you will both prosper, make your ways prosperous, and have understanding. Behold, I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be cowardly or fearful, for the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you go.”

Encouraging Words

The early church fathers taught that the person of God that was speaking to Joshua here was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus is telling Joshua to be strong and courageous in the face of pending wars and battles because God was with him. Several thousand years later, Jesus, as a human being, would stand before Pilate and His own death sentence and would Himself demonstrate strength and courage, Jesus never asks of us something that He has not already faced when He walked on this earth in a human body like ours. He will give us the strength and courage that we will need to face any challenge. Glory be to God?

St. Maximos the Confessor

Matthew 18:1-6

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Personal Challenge

Greatness! Let’s face it, Whether we want to admit it or not we all desire to be great. Sometimes it is at work as we jockey for that next promotion. Sometimes it is in our home as we try to be the one who is always right or who gets to make all the decisions. Sometimes it is in our church or other community of people where we compete with others to show how much we know or to get the position at the head of the table. Here Jesus tells His disciples, and us, that none of these things will give us greatness. Actually, He tells us that greatness is the last thing that we should desire if we want to be like Him. What should we desire then? To be like a child sitting at the feet of his Father. We should desire humility and the ability to put others before ourselves. We should desire God above all else. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Psalms 30:11-12 (29:12-13 LXX)

You turned my lamentation into dancing for me;
You tore up my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
That my glory may sing praise to You,
And not be pierced with sadness;
O Lord my God, I shall give thanks to You forever.

Encouraging Words

We so often confuse consequences with punishment in our relationship with our Lord. We still live in a physical world, even though the hearts and minds of those who follow Christ have been transformed to try to live in the spiritual world, And since we are still living in a fallen state and a fallen world we still choose to sin. It is the sin that we commit that brings consequences into our lives. Every action taken, or not taken, still has its results. It is these consequences that wake us up to the fact that we have transgressed against our Lord and if we are striving to be close to Him that drive us to a state of lamenting over our sin and mourning for the rift that we have created between God and ourselves. However, as the psalmist proclaims, our loving and merciful Father is there to turn our lamenting into dancing, our sackcloth of mourning into gladness, and our piercing sadness into songs of praise. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have Mercy on me, the sinner?

Joshua 1:5

No man shall be able to oppose you all the days of your life, and as I was with Moses, thus I will be also with you. I will not forsake you nor disregard you.

Encouraging Words

Here we have Joshua, preparing to take over the leadership of the nation of Israel. He had followed Moses as he led the people out of Egypt. He had watched the people rebel against God and Moses over, and over, and over again. He was one of only two spies that had gone into the promised land to scope it out who claimed that they could truly possess this wonderful land while all the others scared the people to not more forward. And now, Moses is stepping down and passing the baton to Joshua. What must have been going through his mind? And now, God speaks into his mind and heart these words of encouragement that still ring true to us who give our lives over to Christ day after day. We are promised that no one will ever be able to oppose us in our commitment to Christ. Even if they take our physical life from us, they cannot touch our spiritual life. God promises to always be with is, to never forsake us, and to never disregard us. Now that is the ultimate promise, Glory be to God!

Matthew 16:24-28

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Personal Challenge

Wait a minute! You can’t make me do that! I am an American! I am a modern, enlightened Christian! Do you mean to tell me that I must participate in that class before I can teach it? Are you telling me that I need to vacuum the carpets after the service or clean the tables after fellowship before I can be recognized as a leader in my church? Jesus, as usual, does not mince any words here. If we want to be counted as one of His disciples then we have to deny ourselves and do what He asks while following Him. Surely, He must be talking to everyone but me? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner!

Psalms 30:5 (29:6 LXX)

For there is wrath in His anger,
But life in His will;
Weeping will lodge at evening,
But great joy in the morning.

Encouraging Words

Our God is not capricious or judgmental but He does get angry with evil and wrongdoing. It is the kind of anger that is encouraging and directing to lead us to be obedient to His will. When we live in His will we find true life, a life that is abundant and pure. And as we strive to live our lives we will encounter those days when the evil of the world presses in upon us and cause us to end our day with weeping. Sometimes that weeping is for our own pain and suffering as we press on against the negative flow of the world, but as we grow closer to Christ our weeping becomes more for those who do not know our Lord, And as we continue to press on this weeping turns into great joy every morning as we begin a new day.

Deuteronomy 31:8

But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified.

Encouraging Word

Deuteronomy finishes out with the transition of the leadership of the nation of Israel from Moses to Joshua, In this transition, Moses encourages Joshua multiple times on who God is and how God will be always present and always active in the lives of the people who follow Him. In this verse, we are reminded that God goes before us and paves the path of our lives. The psalmist repeated this in Proverbs 3:5-6 when he said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” My God is not some fickle, big man in the sky, distant, judgmental, dictator that has given me all kinds of rules to follow and who never gets involved in my life. He is compassionate and merciful. So much so that He sent His only begotten Son to be born of a virgin, to live His life as a human being, to die a vicious death after living a sinless life, and then come back to life destroying death. Jesus makes my path straight. He goes before me. He is with me. He never leaves or forsakes me. So I am never afraid or terrified. Thank You, God!

Matthew 15:7-9

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Personal Challenge

It can be so easy to slip into the mode of being a hypocrite. I know that I must constantly watch how I live my life so that what I do matches what I say. And believe me, I miss the mark more than I hit it. Jesus asks that we be different than the world around us. He asks that we love one another, even those who are our enemies. He asks that we put Him first and that we give of ourselves and our abundance to those in need, such as the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the destitute. It is easy to say that I am a follower of Christ and then go on living my life as if I am the king sitting on the throne of my heart. This is what He was challenging in this passage. This is the ultimate of hypocrisy. It is an entirely different thing to live my life in such a way that I never have to say that I am a follower of Christ, but that everyone I meet in my life recognizes by my actions that Jesus is the King sitting on the throne of my heart. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!