Today we continue our series entitled, “Back to the Bible,” with Part 6: Joshua’s Formula For Success (Part 1). Joshua 1:8 was my favorite scripture when I first became a Christian and it is still one of my favorite scriptures today. We are going to take our time with this verse. So let’s get into Joshua’s story.
As a young man Joshua was selected as one of 12 leaders who would spy out the land God was giving the nation of Israel. God made it clear that HE was giving them the land. All they needed to do was take possession of it. However, 10 of the 12 spies allowed fear to grip their hearts. Instead of focusing and meditating on what God said, they chose to focus on the opposition, the giants in the land. The 10 fearful spies (leaders) infected millions of Israelites with fear and a generation died in the wilderness because of it.
40 years later, God was, once again, ready to give the Israelites the land. Joshua was still around and by this time he had been promoted to national leader. It was Joshua’s responsibility to lead the nation into the Promised Land. God was giving them the land by grace – unmerited and unearned. But in order to take possession of it, they were going to have to use their faith. To ensure the new leader remained focused, God said to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8). In one succinct scripture the Lord instructed Joshua to keep the Word of God on his mind and in his mouth. Further, the Lord made it clear that he was not after lip-service. The Lord was not looking for someone who just “talked” a good name. No, the Lord’s instructions to Joshua were to have His Word in his mouth and on his mind, but only for the purpose of DOING what is says. In this way both he and the national of Israel would be prosperous and successful.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- God loves you so much that He did not allow you to be born without a purpose. He made plans for you before the world began. Once you are Born-Again, and you are able to hear God by His Spirit, He freely offers you the life He planned for you to have. He offers you His best. He does this by grace. Not because you earned it, deserve it or worked for it. Not because you are so good. God does this simply because He is good. This is what He did for the nation of Israel. He led them out of Egypt, He made sure they did not come out empty handed (they came out with gold, silver and precious stones), and He then freely offered them the land that was promised to their forefathers. In many ways, God does the same for us when we are Born-Again. He begins to reveal to us the blessed plans He made for us before we were even born. We must then accept and pursue those plans by faith.
- Grace does not alleviate you from doing anything. Grace actually empowers you to do more! God offered Canaan to the Israelites by grace. He then required them to use their faith to take possession of it. The land was theirs, but it was inhabited with giants. If they we were going to take possession of God’s promise, it was going to require a fight. That’s the way God does us all the time. He gives us a promise, the promise is amazing, He tells us it’s already ours, but we must then have the faith to go FIGHT to take possession of it! This is why it is critical that we meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night. If we don’t believe God, we will run from the fight. If we do, we will miss out on God’s best, and it won’t be God’s fault.
- What you focus on matters. Joshua chose to focus on the promise (Canaan) instead of the problem (giants). As a result, he was able to experience Canaan, while millions of his contemporaries died in the wilderness. What will you focus on today?
- As a key to Godly success, when the time came for Joshua to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land, the Lord instructed Joshua to meditate on His Word, and to do it day and night. Your promise may not be Canaan, but the counsel still applies today. If you choose to meditate and medicate on God’s Word day and night, you will look at your challenges through the lens of faith, and you will see them as small in God’s eyes. There is nothing you cannot do when you are looking at the challenge from God’s perspective.
- You are the way you think you are (Prov 23:7). This is why it is so very important that you meditate on the Word of God. The more Word you get down in your heart, the more you will see yourself the way God sees you. And the more you will believe what God believes about you!
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. I choose to give my attention to Your Word. Your Words are life to me. They are health and healing to all my flesh. Your Words give my life meaning. Your Words provide divine direction. Your Words build me up from the inside-out. I meditate Your Word day and night. As I do, I am literally medicating on it. Your Word ministers peace and power to me. Like Joshua, You made great plans for me by grace and You require me to use my faith to access those plans. Because I meditate Your Word, I am in position to take possession of every promise by faith. Today I take possession of my Promised Land and I am ready to kill every giant in the way. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
