Kerri and I lived in Colorado at the time when John Elway was kind of like “the thing.” And Broncos -- if you weren’t a Broncos fan, they basically asked you to move to Kansas. Kansas was for losers, and Broncos lived in Colorado. When he retired, everyone knew -- no one can replace him. I mean, it’s like, how do you replace John Elway? And I know some of you think, ”Oh, this guy’s better.” But in Colorado, it was kind of like, John Elway was everything. And people would do weird things, like they painted their cars -- houses became orange and blue, and -- they got really silly and weird about it. But when he left, there was a series of quarterbacks brought in. Payton had a couple of years, and then they were back at it. And they were always trying to figure out -- how do we replace John Elway? They still are. They even hired John Elway to try and figure out how to replace John Elway. And he was a horrible general manager.
Following a legend is really kind of impossible. It is. It’s so challenging. Years ago, when Billy Graham was kind of coming to the end of his ministry, I received an invitation to be a part of a training with Leighton Ford. Leighton Ford is the brother- in-law of Billy Graham. And Leighton was doing this training, and I was there with him, and I got to know him over the couple of weeks, and he indicated to us that the Billy Graham Association had asked him to take Billy Graham’s place. Leighton was a marvelous communicator and a great evangelist, but he made the decision, along with Billy, to not take that position. And his reason, he said, “Billy, I can travel the world like you, and I can do events and see thousands of people come to Christ. Or I can take the last 20-plus years of my life and invest it in pastors under 40, teaching them about the gospel and evangelism, and I think we will see millions come to Christ.” And Billy honored that and said, “I fully support you.” And Leighton led his ministry. They’re still trying to figure out what to do. How do you

 replace Billy Graham? Because you’re not talking about a person in a position, and you’re not talking about a communication skill. You’re really talking about an anointing that was on a man that God does at times. How do you replace that? And when you’re on the board, and you’re like, “Okay, Billy’s gonna die -- what do we do?” It’s sometimes almost impossible to replace a legend -- an anointing like that.
A little closer to us is that gentleman that probably some of you have listened to over the years. He’s 87, still preaching every week. It’s remarkable. Not in Fullerton, but he’s in Texas, and it’s Chuck Swindoll. And when he left his church, the same thing -- he was legendary in southern California, and he had been there, started Insight for Living, and they started a series of replacements. They went through, I think, four replacements where they just simply couldn’t find who can replace Chuck? It’s like -- who? I don’t know. One day, one of their staff, whom I knew, called me, and he goes, “Mark -- somebody, you know, in our church -- he’s resigned, and -- can I put your name in to replace Chuck?” Did you hear what he said? Four pastors later -- “Mark, can we put your name in to replace Chuck?” No. Why would I want to do that? I’m not Chuck. I mean, it’s like -- you know, I think you’d be better off just to close the church and say, “It was a good season.” Because sometimes, you just can’t replace a legend!
I think that’s what Joshua felt. I think it is. For 40 years, he was his title -- “servant of Moses.” That’s what he did for 40 years, and he did it better than anyone. Courageous, loyal, faithful, warrior. Ah -- this guy had it all. But he mastered the second chair. Few do it as well as he did. Barnabas -- probably my hero -- did it the best. But Joshua? He was phenomenal. And maybe the most sobering words that God ever spoke to Joshua were these: “Moses, my servant, is dead.” And I’m quite certain that Joshua thought to himself, “Okay -- what are you gonna do now?” and God said, “I want you.” And that’s the day that Joshua’s heart sunk below his stomach. “There’s no way I can replace Moses. God, he was infamous. He was -- he was beyond life. He was bigger than life. I mean, Moses got us out of Egypt. Do you realize how long we were in Egypt, God? 400 years. He’s the man who got us out. He has led people when they revolted against him. He has led people when they built shrines to other gods and he came down from the Shekinah glory from Sinai. Lord, there’s no way. How do you replace a legend?”
Joshua’s going to teach us these weeks together. Not just how to lead with courage, but how to lead with courage when you don’t even want the job. And he didn’t. Joshua was not, in any sense, sitting back behind Moses going, “Can’t wait for this boy to die. I can’t wait ‘til it’s my turn.” He wasn’t. We know that from chapter one. But he was a man who understood this principle: new opportunities always bring new challenges. And they do. It was a challenge because he had to change his name. 40 years. Joshua. Servant of Moses. Joshua, servant of Moses. Joshua, coming under the shadow of Moses. And now, he’s gonna be Joshua, servant of God. For 40 years, he took all of his cues from Moses. It’s not that he didn’t have a relationship with God -- I think he did. I think he loved the Lord. I think

 he had courage and strength, and I think his ability is, if you will, when he went in and spied the land, was to see with eyes of faith. But the fact is, when someone went to Sinai to get the Ten Commandments, it was Moses, not Joshua. When somebody came before the people, and they had erected all of these false gods, it was Moses that had to take the heat. It was Moses that had to confront. It was Moses that had to criticize the people and their adultery and their idolatry, and it was Moses that got all of the criticism. It was Moses that they came to and said, “Moses, you brought us out here to die. We want to go back to Egypt.” “Why?
Why do you want to go back to Egypt? That was 400 years of slavery.” “I know, but at least we knew what slavery felt like. Out here, we have no idea. We’re just running around getting fed the same stupid lunch, breakfast and dinner every day.”
New opportunities always do bring new challenges, but they are. I think one of the new challenges he had was the challenge of comparison. I can’t imagine how many times Joshua heard, “Well, you know, Joshua, Moses wouldn’t have done it that way.” “I mean, Joshua, you know, when Moses was here....” “Joshua, you know, when Moses went up to Sinai, he came back and he looked like Rudolph. What are you gonna do?” I can’t imagine all the times that people said. We do! We’re just creatures of habit. We always tend to compare -- typically, the strengths of our preferred individual versus the weakness of the one we’d like to go down the road. He had to live with comparison. He had to learn how to live with new things that he discovered about himself. He didn’t always know how to respond when people betrayed him. When sin came in the camp and he realized that that sin affected him.
I had a good friend who called me one day, and he was a pastor in a church that I knew well, and he’d moved from an associate pastor to the senior pastor. And he called me, and I said, “How you doing?” He goes, “I never knew I was this evil.” That was his opening line. And I said, “What do you mean you’re this evil?” He goes, “Yeah. I’ve pastored in this church for years, and they used to like me. Now I’m the senior pastor, and it’s like -- man, I mean, people have said I’m evil.” I said, “You’re not evil. You just happen to be making decisions right now. Decisions that some people agree with and some people don’t. And the reality is, when they don’t, they don’t care a rip who you are. They’re gonna let you know. And they can’t figure out sometimes how to distinguish between a decision and personhood and they kind of put the two together, and the next thing you know -- I mean, they’re just gonna light you up!” And he goes, “I don’t know if I can be this evil.” I said, “You’re not. But you have to learn to live with that challenge.”
New opportunities always bring new challenges. But the reality is, the past is prologue. That’s what it says above the National Archives building. What is past is prologue, and Joshua had to learn that. “I knew what it was like to walk with Moses. I knew what it was like to be a servant of Moses” -- but now Joshua had to be in another place, and he realized he really didn’t want it, and God had to, if you will, talk him into it. Paul Tournier makes this statement. He goes, “We must always be letting go, leaving one place in order to find another. Abandoning one support in

 order to reach the next. Turning our backs on the past in order to thrust wholeheartedly toward the future.”
Now, that’s true for 90 percent of you. It is true that ten percent of the people in here, to any amount of change you’re an early adopter. You love change? If somebody says, “Let’s change,” you’re like standing on hallelujah, it’s about time. Ten percent of you. But 90 percent of us are like -- “Ah, I’m gonna see how this pans out. I’m gonna see if people die of the vaccine, then I might try it.” By the way -- “Honey,” some spouse says to the other, “Why don’t you get it and see if it works.” There are late adopters. The reality is, there are another ten percent, it’s like OVER MY DEAD BODY UNLESS GOD COMES, and even if He does, I’m not changing. So -- the fact is, there are about ten percent of you that are like, lead the charge -- you love change. And everyone else is a little bit like Joshua -- “Can I get Moses back here?” “Can you do a reincarnation?” “I believe all things are possible with you, God. I don’t think Moses has to die. I mean, you know, Adam lived to what -- six, seven hundred years, and there were a couple of ‘em that made it to 900 years. Just extend his contract.”
The reality is -- new opportunities bring new challenges, and because of that, God says it’s gonna take courage. Three times. Three times God says “Be strong and courageous.” He emphasizes it. “Be strong and very courageous.” Why did he have to say that? Might it be that Joshua, an unbelievable warrior, who went in to the promised land and gave a favorable report, might it be when he was asked to replace Moses he said to God, “I don’t want this. I don’t have what it takes. I’m not Moses. I saw what the people did to Moses -- I don’t think I can do that.” And God says to him, “It’s gonna take courage to follow.” Why? Because I think, number one, following God is risky. It is. Imagine. I can’t. But imagine somebody telling you, “Deny God, or I’ll kill your boys.” I can only trust that God will give me grace to handle that day well. I can’t imagine. That’s risky -- that God would allow you to be taken to that place. I can’t imagine somebody putting a gun to my wife’s head and saying, “Deny God, or she’s dead.” I can only -- only imagine.
One of my favorite quotes is from Corrie Ten Boom -- “God never makes a martyr before her time.” In other words, you don’t need the grace to die today as a martyr because God’s not calling you to. But if God calls you to, He will give you the grace on that day. I am more comforted by that phrase than the vast majority of insane quotes that I love to keep in my head. Because I think it’s risky to follow God. I’m not saying it’s stupid, and I’m not saying it’s wrong -- I’m just saying it’s risky.
Because people will lose their lives under Joshua’s leadership. Because Joshua had to live with the reality that he was there with Moses, and he watched Moses, and he knew Moses’ heart. He knew the integrity of Moses. By the way, only Moses and Jesus were the two in the Scriptures that are labeled as without guile, without any kind of, if you will, reprehensible part of his soul. Sinner -- yes. Oh, and Joshua thought, “And he doesn’t get to enter the promised land? Wait ‘til God gets ahold of me.” It’s risky.

 I think also sometimes that following God is very hard. He’s going to have a revolt of the troops. He’s going to have unending comparisons. He’s gonna have betrayal. He’s gonna have some of his soldiers lie to him and try and get away with theft, realizing later that you never sin alone -- ever. You never sin alone, and Joshua had to deal with that. And it’s hard, because he has to go to his tent and he has to seek God. For the first time, it’s him and God -- “God, how do I lead? What do I do? What decision do I make? God, do you want me to be courageous or do you want me to be humble?” And he chose humble, and God said, “Stand up like a man!” “I’m trying to be! I’m just falling and I’m trying to seek you!” And the Lord says, “Now is not the time to put ashes on yourself.” “I don’t know, God, what you want!” It's hard.
I always used to hate Mondays in Denver. I did. I was really into the NFL -- right now, I don’t care, and I wish it was that way 25 years ago, but -- I really don’t care. But on Mondays, man, I was always listening to the radio, and the talk shows. And I’d listen to KOA. And it always just annoyed the daylights out of me that guys would get on the radio that were, you know -- they couldn’t run a quarter of a mile if their life depended upon it, and they were sitting there, chapping the coach as if they knew better. I -- I just wanted something of justice to happen. Lightening to come through their phone and have God say, “Shut up! You have nothing to say.” That’s what Joshua was going to face. Arm-chair quarterbacks that were gonna tell him how to run it but never have to stand under the heat of making the real decision.
Following God’s hard. And because of that, it can be intensely lonely. I think Joshua had a lot better peer relationships when he was second in command. It’s just easier. My favorite message that I’ve never listened to by Chuck Swindoll -- I just love the title -- one of these days I have to find it, it’s probably on a cassette, and I don’t have a cassette player, and so, I’m gonna have to dig it out of somebody’s archives. But it was titled, “The Lonely Whine of the Top Dog.” It’s really an isolating place. If you own your own business, you know what I’m talking about. You have conversations with yourself, and you have to make decisions. If you’re a CEO, if you’re in management -- you know what I’m talking about. You have to make decisions that no one else gets to be in the room. You have to make it. And you have to live with the pluses and the minuses. And there’s oftentimes huge gaps between decision and outcomes. And the larger those gaps are sometimes, the harder it is to live with your decision as everyone critiques it. Joshua had to face that. Joshua, servant of God.
Finally, I think following God is costly. It was going to cost him time. Probably going to cost him some sleepless nights. But if you’ve ever poured your heart into some people, and they’re struggling, you don’t just go home and go to sleep, and like, “Oh -- life is happy!” There was a gal in our church -- she’s still here -- she’s just remarkable. She’s in the vicinity of a Florence Nightingale to me. There were more than a few times that I would go to the hospital, and I would meet her. She’d spend all night with somebody from our church. And she never slept -- she just stayed there. There were times I would walk into the hospital room, in the morning early,

 and she would just be stroking a hand and praying. Sometimes she would tell a wife, “You go home tonight. You sleep. I’ll stay here. If there’s one ounce of change, I will call you.” You know, when you’re 18 and you miss a night’s sleep -- you brag about it. When you’re 25 and you miss a night’s sleep, you pay for it. When you’re 50 and you miss a night’s sleep, you swear you’ll never do it again. When you’re 70 and you miss a night’s sleep -- you just deeply miss it. When you’re 80 and you miss it, you’re a servant. It’s costly. Sometimes God asks you to do it, and you say, “Well, that’s not much.” Well, try it when you’re 80. Call me. Go up to a hospital and sit. Go home and take a nap and go back and do another shift, and do it for a week. Simply because you want somebody to have presence in a room.
When I got into the ministry, I didn’t know what tort law was. To my knowledge, I hadn’t had a serious conversation with a lawyer. And -- I’d never been sued. I’m a pastor. All of those are gone. It’s crazy. I never thought I’d know what tort law was, I never thought I would have a lawyer on retainer, and I never thought I would get a phone call, “You’re being sued.” I was sued because I helped to rescue a woman from her husband who was beating her -- she was nine months pregnant, and he was throwing her across a bedroom -- by the way, with his in-laws in the next room. So when we rescued her and took her out of that thing, he decided that he wanted to sue me for defamation of character. Of all things. It’s costly. And because of that, God says to Joshua, three times, “You’re gonna have to have courage.” But here’s the most encouraging thing, is, “Joshua, it’s not gonna come from within you. ‘Cause you don’t got it. You just don’t. Moses didn’t either.” And none of us do. Our courage is never going to be discovered from our own power, from our own wisdom, from our own intelligence, but it will always, as it was for Joshua, come from the promise of God.
And you’re going to need courage -- you are. If you want to live faithfully in this culture in today, you’re going to need a lot of courage. But it’s not going to come because you decide to be the man. That kind of fickle response is gonna get exposed really quick, because you will never, ever have the courage to let somebody put a gun to your son’s head and pull the trigger by being the man. You know what you’d probably try and do? You’d probably try and take the guy out. But to have the courage to trust God in every moment comes when, number one, you realize that you have a promise of God’s presence. “You’re going to lead these people and I’m going to be with you. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you, and I’m never gonna leave you, and I’m never gonna forsake you.” Three times in this text, God says, “Have courage; be very courageous; have courage.” Seven times in this text, God says, “I will be with you; I will help you inherit the land; I will make sure you are prosperous; and I will make sure that you endure.” Seven times. I think it’s God’s way of saying, “For every time I tell you to have courage, I’m gonna tell you twice that I’m gonna be with you.”
God says the same thing to you. You are never gonna be out of God’s sight, you’re never gonna be away from His presence, you’re never gonna be away from His

 intense observation of every moment of every day. He will know every thought you have, He will know every decision you make, and He will be present for every prayer. God will be attentive to you every step of every day. He knows the challenge you face right now. He knows the angst. He knows the fear. He knows the disgust. He knows the difficulty of what you face, and He says, “I will be with you.” Whether you deserve it, God says, “I’m there.” Whether you even feel it, God says, “I’m here.” And that’s where your courage comes, because God says you don’t have to do this thing alone. “Joshua, I know Moses was a phenomenal leader. But it wasn’t Moses. You remember the stick? Moses couldn’t do that. Do you remember the manna? Moses didn’t do that. I know you’re impressed with Moses. I know the people thought he was a hero -- he was. But Joshua, Moses didn’t get them out of Egypt. Moses didn’t harden Pharoah’s heart -- I did that.” And when God says His presence is with us, He’s saying that the single most critical issue in your life is not your skillset, not your spouse’s skillset, or anyone around you -- it’s the presence of God. He’s the reason they’re out of Egypt, not Moses.
Secondly, our courage comes when we realize that we are given a promise of a divine purpose. Moving down through the text at verse 6, He says, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land that I swore to their forefathers to give them.” What is He talking about? He’s talking about what the Nation of Israel occupies today -- minus the Gaza strip. That’s what He’s talking about. And the Gaza strip is another subject for another day. But what God is saying is, “I long ago promised the Nation of Israel.” Now, I want to suggest to you that there’s no promise in the Word of God that is more miraculous than this one. Other than maybe the resurrection. I’ll put that one above this one. Why? Because the Nation of Israel is small, they are under-resourced, and hated by virtually everyone except for maybe the United States and Great Britain. And they’re waffling right now in the United States, if you haven’t noticed. No promise. If you go back and look at the history of Israel, it is just a story of the miraculous of God saying, “This is where my people are gonna be, and no matter who comes against them” -- and they have -- “Israel sustains occupancy of the promised land.”
This is one of the most profound, prophetic promises that God has given, and we will look back on the end of time and to the glory of God and the amazement of the world, we will say, surely God made this promise. “Hey,” you say, “Pastor -- that’s great. That’s for them. I’m not a Jew and I don’t live in Israel. So -- are you telling me that my little apartment is all I’m gonna get?” No. God has given you a divine promise and a divine purpose. Two passages I’ll give you. Ephesians 2:10 -- “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has created in advance for us to do.” We are God’s craftsmanship, as the nation of Israel was God’s people, and He has created God’s works for us to do. Purposed good works, things that God has instilled for us, or kind of casted for us in our future, and He created them in advance. He’s not making it up as He goes. In other words, God has a purpose for your life. As the Nation of Israel had a purpose. Paul said it in a different way, but it’s really the same thing. He says, “Forgetting what lies behind, I have taken hold of that which God has taken hold of for me.” In other

 words, every moment, every day I wake up walking into a world of which God in His prevenience has acted before with His knowledge on my behalf.
I’ve been loving a neighbor. He’s a really good man, he doesn’t know Christ. And he called me yesterday. And invited me into his life in a deeper way. God knew about that. God knew about that weeks ago. God knew about that years ago. All I know is what I can see. I’m just daily trying to love my neighbor, then all of a sudden he has a need, and God creates that and He places that into my life, and He says, “Walk into this. I’m doing something great in your neighborhood.” There’s confidence. Why? Because I don’t have to generate it. I don’t have to try and take ahold of something. I don’t have to secure the land. God has done that. I don’t have to create the template. God has given that. I don’t have to take hold of that which I determine. No, I take hold of what God has given to me -- and you do, too. Every day. And your courage is not in your ability to create something, but it’s your belief in God’s sovereign, prevening grace that’s gone before you, and He does every day.
There’s a last reason that He gives. Your courage is never gonna be discovered, not in your power, but God’s promise, and it’s the promise of the success through His word. If you memorized this text through the TMS -- Topical Memory System -- you memorized this one early on. Joshua 1:8: “Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, but meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to everything that is written in it. Then -- then God will make your way prosperous and successful.” What does He tell him? Three things. “Joshua, every day I want you to speak the word of God. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Not from your eyes, not from your head, not from your heart, not from your mouth. In other words, when you lead, when you speak, I want you to be speaking the word of God. I want you to speak the word of God over people. I want you to speak the promise. I want you to speak faith. I want you to speak the things that I’ve given to you.”
Parents, I want you to speak the word of God over your kids. Not in a lecture setting, but as you walk down the path, as you go on a hike, as you come across beauty, as you come into deep challenges, as you face bills that you never knew were gonna come, and just overwhelm you -- that’s when you speak. God has promised never to lead us into something He’s not equipped us to face. Speak it. Why? Because there’s power in the Word of God. There’s power to give you strength and wisdom and courage.
He said, secondly, “I want you to mediate. I want you to mediate on it day and night.” Why? Because whatever you focus on, you begin to adopt. Some of you -- you’re thinking like the news that you watch. You are. You know your enemies and you know your friends. You know what the conspiracies are, and you know everything that’s going on. You’ve got it all figured out. And you’re speaking the very news. Why? Because you are immersing yourself in that news every day. I’m not saying turn the news off. I have plenty of news. But if I become what I immerse

 myself in, be really careful. God tells Joshua, “I want you to meditate on the word day and night.” Why? Because you become what you immerse yourself in. If you’re reading every conspiracy in the world, I guarantee you you are gonna be talking like you’re on crack within months. You’re gonna be saying things that six months ago you would’ve thought -- “Wow, that guy is trippin’!” And you are.
Why? Because you will become what you immerse yourself in. If you turn that stuff on two, three, four hours a day and you meditate on it, and then you get on and you start doing your search engine, and you find yourself going to bed at 2:00 in the morning because you got into a vein of amazing videos -- I guarantee you, before long -- you’re gonna know who your enemies are. And you’re gonna know who your friends are, which will diminish every day. If you wanna be successful, God says meditate on His word day and night. Why? Because you’ll become what you immerse yourself in.
Finally, in relation to the Word -- so that you can be careful to do everything that is written in it. In other words, obey it. Obey it. Get really good at saying “yes” to God. When God says love somebody that’s really difficult -- do it. When God says forgive somebody that has wounded you, forgive them. When God says go to the hospital and spend the night, do it. When God says sacrificially give so that another person in the body of Christ can have what you have, sacrificially give. When God says, “I want you to completely change your day. You have it all planned out, but somebody in the body of Christ needs you” -- be willing to cancel your day’s plans. Why? Because a person is way more important than your to-do list. When God says do something, do it. Obey him. Listen. Why? It’s really clear. Then you will be prosperous. Then you will be successful. Then you will.
“Joshua, I know you don’t feel like you’re up for the job -- I understand that. I know you feel like you want Moses to have an extension of life -- I can appreciate that. But the fact is, Moses is dead. And he’s not coming back. And you’re the man. Your courage doesn’t have to come from you. It comes from God’s promise.” Therefore, at the end of every day, you can ask yourself three simple questions. Number one, did I obey the will of God as revealed in the Word of God? Did I do it to the best of my ability? Not perfectly, but repent when I didn’t -- but God, have I obeyed you today? To the best of my ability, from what I understand of your word, did I obey what you asked me to do? Number two -- God, was I empowered by your spirit today? In other words, was I walking in your promise? Was I walking in your anointing? Was I walking in the things -- Galatians 5 -- keeping in step with the spirit of God so that I might fulfill the very will of God, and finally, I can ask this question: Did I serve, at the end of the day, for the glory of God more than the glory of my name? That’s what John did every day. Did I serve for the glory of God and not my name?
There was a band -- Bluetree -- that was in Thailand. There are two really, really dark places I’ve been in my life -- Pakistan, that’s why that picture we saw today was a miracle to me -- and Bangkok. And this band, Bluetree, was in Bangkok, and they wanted to play. They were there touring through that area of Asia, and -- there are

 not a lot of big churches, and there’s just not a lot of big venues, and so they were looking for places to play. And of all strange things, one of the band members negotiated with a brothel that they would take it over for the night. So they did. And they went into this brothel, and they were playing, and because the normal music coming out of this brothel was not like Bluetree -- this band -- people were flooding the place. And they were coming into this place, and it was just packed. Aaron -- Aaron Boyd, one of the band members, was taking a break between sets, and he was just sitting there in the brothel looking out over the city. I’ve walked the streets of Bangkok many times, usually with a friend -- Roger -- we were there for over a week. And we would walk down the streets, and you could see person after person, men in their sixties and seventies, Caucasian, with Thai young girls -- 14, 15, and 16. It would not be one or two, it would be dozens. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on. You looked down streets and it would be just bathhouse after bathhouse. It was just a dark, dark place.
And Aaron’s looking out over that city, in this brothel. And he begins to imagine -- “God, you’re more powerful than this darkness. You’re more powerful than anything this city has to rise against you.” And in-between sets, he sits down and he begins to write. “You’re the God of this city. You’re the king of these people.
You’re the Lord of this nation. You are. You’re the light in this darkness. You’re the hope to the hopeless. You’re the peace to the restless. You are. There’s no one like our God. There’s no one like our God. For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city.”
Joshua looked out over the river, into a land that he had spied. He knew what was ahead of him. There were giants. Fortified cities. And what he missed most was -- Moses was not on his right. And he missed him like his best friend had just died. And instead of seeing the enormity of the giants, he found courage that day like Aaron Boyd looked at a dark city and saw hope. That doesn’t come because a church has a lot of resources. It doesn’t come because we have great leadership. It comes because of a promise that God gave us. This city is God’s. And all the tents and all the challenges that we face are not bigger than the God that you pray to. You’ll find courage -- not because of your great prowess and strength, but because of a promise that God gave you. And when you own that promise, you’ll look upon the darkest city in the world and you’ll see greater things yet to become in this city.

Copyright by First Baptist Church, Salem OR (February 13, 2022). Please do not copy without written permission of the copyright holder.