6. "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these
people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.
7. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my
servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be
successful wherever you go.
It seems to be a vicious cycle. You make a promise to yourself with
good intentions and then -- ZING! You find yourself alone, at the computer, and realizing
that the only one who knows about the promise is you. Then you reason -- I've broken this
promise to myself so many times that it's hardly worth keeping. So the tally goes up --
broken promise number 183. But whose counting?
So how do you break this cycle?
Sometimes you just need a more dependable promise maker.
Joshua was in for some pretty tough challenges as the one God
selected to lead his people to his promised land. So how did he get Joshua ready to meet
those challenges?
Well, he starts by letting Joshua know what his attitude has to be:
- be strong -- It's going to take strength to face the challenges
- be courageous -- it's going to take courage to do it again after you
lose one
Then he shores up his confidence by letting him in on the outcome --
"you will lead these people to inherit the land". Not "you could", but
"you will".
You can be Joshua too. Be strong -- you'll have to
fight. Be courageous -- you going to lose sometimes. Know that the one
who died on the cross for your sins has promised you eternal life if you trust in him. (click here, if you you're not sure)
That's a promise that will never be broken!