Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey ALL the law, do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful.
The Message
Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out the revelation Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going, then you’ll succeed.
Hey Lord, can I have that thing I asked for now?
A common image that people tend to see God as is a genie, or wish-granter. That whenever we call on Him, he will answer to our liking, and immediately at that. I’m guilty of this. I very often pray for the Lord to reveal himself to me in ways I could never imagine. Or a more practical prayer would be for a revelation or an answer as to what I am supposed to do, or what my next step in life should be. I expect an answer very soon, if not immediately from the creator of the universe. But I have come to learn that the Lord does not always work the way I want him to, in fact, he never does. But He works way better then the plan in my head, and His answer and blessing is always better then my idea of what it should be. In Joshua the Lord is telling us to obey His laws. We have heard that often, the ten commandments right? The ten rules that many see as rules that steal our fun. As I draw nearer to the Lords heart, and learn His desires for me, His word is revealed differently each time I read it. I believe the Lord is trying to tell his girls that He wants to bless us, and answer our prayers, whatever they may be. But in order to do that we must learn to obey all His laws, all of His commands. In order to obey those commands, we must know them. These are not there to dull our life, but to launch us into a life of purity, joy and pure blessing, rather then heartbreak from a toxic relationship, regret from a drunk night out, trouble with the law because we did not obey the law of the land. When we are in these situations we tend to pray a little more and a little harder. This is not how our God works. His commandments are in place so that we may follow them and be led to a life of our dreams, and be successful in those dreams. By success I don’t mean all the money, the dream car, or the dream house. I mean success by a life lived In joy, rather then depression. Love rather than hate. Passion rather then indifference. A life of purpose, and life giving, rather than dull and meaningless. We all have a purpose, and that is to become more like Jesus. In doing that, all of the successes in the world that the Lord has for us are right at the grasp of our hand. But without obeying all of his commands to the left or to the right, we will stumble into darkness, and there is no way we can expect to be successful in that. So take heart, we serve a God who deeply desires to walk us through that. In fact right after he tells us to follow his commands in Joshua 1:7, he goes on to say in Joshua 1:9, Be strong and courageous…For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” We are not doing this alone, the very God who created the stars in the sky, desires and promises to be with us wherever we go when we are walking in his commands and his love. Lets pray:
Lord, thank you for desiring to walk in life with me. Im sorry for portraying you as a genie, or wish granter. For you are so much bigger then that. Your desires and plans for my life are much bigger and greater then the little dreams I have for myself. Teach me your ways, Lord. Open my ears to hear all that you have for me as I read your word and learn about your heart. Thank you Jesus.
