Morning Meditation: Trust Fall.

Joshua1:5-9
5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
 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. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Be Strong and very Courageous, and be careful to obey all the laws Moses gave you.

These were the two things that would ultimately give the Israelites success for their Promise land. I personally see the world very black and white and also have much difficulty multi-tasking. Quite literally..I cannot walk and text-message at the same time. So when I read a text like this it causes me to think about it differently because God is giving them two very different callings in both orders... Be Strong and Courageous is written in a very physical sense here, while obeying the laws is about the inner person.
The thing is God calls us as believers to trust and believe his word. If you trusted in a chairs stability you wouldn’t be opposed to sitting in it but often we believe in God’s calling but lack the trust to act accordingly... There is a disconnect because we like to believe its ok just to believe and not trust!!!
You see here in the text God calls the Israelites to be Strong and very Courageous in a physical sense, to be prepared to physically walk out the commands he gives them. He tells them, “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God WILL be WITH you wherever you go.”
Sooo what does that mean exactly?


The text tells us right underneath the calling to be Strong and very Courageous, to be careful to obey all the law Moses had given them, and not to turn from it to the right or to the left, THAT you may be successful WHEREVER you go. God gave them the law so that they could remain in His will for their life, wherever they went in His will. Earlier in Numbers 33:vs 50-56 giving them the Commandments and telling them to destroy the inhabitants of the land because of their disobedience. He ends with,
vs.55 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.' "

Your probably thinking..geez thats harsh but we have a way of strangling ourselves in sin. Sin leads to death. God did not want death for His people, He wanted life. In the same way He allowed the earlier generation of Israelites to die in the Desert because they would not trust in Him. God wanted to raise up His people to know and trust Him. So 40 years passed and a new generation who had been raised seeking and asking of the Lord entered in.

So God gave the Israelites Two points to lead them and continue leading them into to His will for their lives.. Physically proclaim your Trust in me, and also Mentally believe in me.

We also are called to believe in God and trust Him to walk out in faith what he has called us. It is not His will for us to believe and remain unchanged. I believe if you truly believe in the existence of something you would have no problem staking ones life on it. This is where our problem lies.

Love yall,
-C