Be Strong and Courageous!

Good morning!

Today my message is entitled “Be Strong and Courageous!”

I recently received a new donation card from the Gideons with a picture on the front of a Rhinoceros about to walk across a couple of planks spanning the gap between the tops of two tall buildings. The heading is my title for today, “Be Strong and Courageous.”

I felt that God wanted me to encourage you, this morning, to be both strong and courageous in your life.

Webster’s New World Dictionary:
Strong: morally or intellectually powerful, having a powerful effect, intense in degree or quality.

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book “Spiritual Leadership” says:
“Courage is that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger or difficulty with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits… The highest degree of courage is seen in the person who is most fearful but refuses to capitulate to it.”

Hastings Dictionary of the Bible states:
“Courage in the Old Testament is the strength, directness and determination of the soul in face of obstacles and dangers. These might weaken the soul and its purpose, but God strengthens His servants and encourages them. The prime example is Joshua as he is deputed to lead the entry into Canaan. It is not a virtue of the autonomous man but of the man properly strengthened by Yahweh (God Almighty).

Joshua started out with the name “Hoshea” (Numbers 13: 8, 16), meaning “salvation.” But later Moses changed his name to Joshua, meaning “The Lord saves” The Greek form is “Jesus.”

Isn’t it neat that two men with the same name would both lead the people into salvation and God’s promise.

God encourages Joshua:
Joshua 1: 6-9 NIV
6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers (ancestors) 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.”

Psalm 118: 6 NIV
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

Proverbs 18: 10 NIV
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to encourage them.
1 Corinthians 16: 13 NIV
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

Then Paul gave a similar encouragement to Timothy.
2 Timothy 1: 7 NIV
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Max Lucado’s online Bible study “Anxious for nothing” gives us this
prescription for CALM:

Celebrating God’s goodness,
Asking for His help,
Leaving your concerns to Him,
Meditating on good things

… you will experience God’s peace. With God’s help and by His power, you can discover a life of calm and develop tools for combating the onslaught of anxiety, worry, and fear.

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book “The Best That I Can Be,” shares with us Matthew Henry’s Creed.
“I take God the Father to be my God;
I take God the Son to be my Savior;
I take the Holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier;
I take the Word of God to be my rule;
I take the people of God to be my people;
And I do hereby dedicate and yield
My whole self to the Lord;
And I do this deliberately, freely,
And forever. Amen.”

Acts 4: 13 NIV
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

2 Timothy 1: 11-12 NIV
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Be Strong and Courageous in your Christian walk – God walks with you!