Joshua 1

The people of God are called to move forward. A new day dawns, and a new servant-leader takes the place God prepared for him. The man who was Moses' assistant must now bring the Lord's conquest into the promised land.

The promise of God does not change when a great man like Moses dies. The nation still has the Lord.

Moses became the Lord's great servant because of God. The Lord will now use Joshua. This is good news for all the people.

Joshua is called by God to be strong and courageous. As I began my first day of ministerial training, the President of the seminary preached this chapter to us. It was a natural.

The call goes out to the leaders of every new age. God has not changed with the passing of one great man or with the end of an entire generation. His promises will never fail. It is time for another man to take the place of the one who has died. But he must be strong and very courageous, being careful to follow the Word of God.

The Law of Moses has not been fulfilled with the death of Moses. Joshua must know that Law and follow it. This is the only way of success for Israel. The Law must be Joshua's meditation and his life.

The Lord will be with Joshua wherever he goes. This message is not only for those who serve Him by leading others. It is also a very important message for all who serve the Lord by following anointed leaders. The under-shepherds who follow Joshua in the chain of command repeat the words of the Lord back to Joshua. “Only be strong and courageous.”

We have a great Leader over the house of God in Jesus Christ. The Name that He was given by an angelic announcement, “Jesus,” is a translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua.

Jesus leads us into the best promised land through His death, resurrection, and ascension. It was very necessary for Him to be strong and courageous in the midst of great opposition from those who stood against Him, and great weakness and confusion among those who were His disciples. He needed to attend extremely carefully to the Word of His Father in that difficult ministry environment. He alone was the One who would perfectly obey the Law of God in order to fulfill it. Without that perfect life, His death would have had no meaning for us.

We must follow this Spirit-filled “Joshua” still today. He leads us forward into success. He is the Resurrection Leader who will never die again. We are leaders and servants under His command. He has promised that He will always be with us. He leads us in the way of spirit-empowered obedience and love. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us.