By: Jim Kaseman
“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Num, Moses’ minister saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I give unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor will I forsake thee. Be strong and of good courage: for unto this
people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:1-9).
Here Moses had been the pastor of a congregation of 2 1/2 million people. Can you imagine trying to pastor 2 1/2 million people? Moses certainly had his challenges. But now Moses was gone and here was Joshua who was basically untested. He hadn’t had the experiences Moses had had. In my opinion, as I look at this portion of scripture, Joshua was a little anxious. There was a bit of apprehension on his part. In three different verses God reminded him to be strong and of good courage. If Joshua would have been strong and of good courage I don’t believe the Lord would have had to say that three times.
What has that got to do with us? In Ephesians 6:10, it says, “Be strong in the Lord.” Is this just for leaders? No! It was written to the Ephesians-the body of Christ. In 1 John 5 it talks about our faith overcoming the
world. We are to be overcomers. Romans Chapter 8 tells us that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. If we are going to be successful today, we need to be strong Christians. In verse 8 of Joshua 1, the Lord gave Joshua some instructions as to how he could be strong and courageous and successful in everything he did.
GIVE THE WORD FIRST PLACE IN YOUR LIFE
The Word plays an important part in our success as Christians. There is more involved here than just praying. Many people feel if I just pray, pray, pray I will have success. Well, praying is important. But, if the
Word doesn’t have it’s proper place, you can be praying in circles and accomplishing nothing. If the Word has its proper place in our lives, when we pray it will be very effective.
As we look into the Word and see why we need to put the Word first place in our lives, come with me to John 1:1. As we begin in verse 1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word and God are one in the same. “The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Then look at verse 14, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” So, the Word was God, the Word became flesh. That would be Jesus wouldn’t it?
Let’s stop and think about that. You know without faith it is impossible to please God. We can see that in Hebrews 11:6. By faith we believe God is, by faith we believe we are born again. God manifested Himself in the natural and walked among us. Now, the Word is God. Guess what else God did? He gave us His written word. Think about that. We have His written word right here in the natural. I can look at it, fix my eyes on it, I can put His words in my mouth and hear His word. Faith comes by hearing His word. God came right
to where we are physically so we could hook-up with Him. Whenever I read the written word, it is no different than Jesus manifesting himself, standing in front of me and talking to me. Do you want God to talk to you? Open up His Word.
In Matthew 22:37-40 we read, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Well, we know of course, that in the new covenant we are not under the law. In James 2:8, it talks about the Royal Law of Love. We know that when we walk in love it fulfills all of the law. You are not going to commit murder, or lie or steal or cheat if you are walking in love. First John 4:8 says that God is love. So, when we are walking in the Word, we are walking in God (if we are walking in love. If we are walking in love, we are walking in God and we are not going to sin. We could read it this way, (Remember, the Word is God, they are one in the same.) “You shall love the Word of God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” When you love the Word, you are loving God. So when we give the Word first place in our lives, we are putting God first. When we love the Word with all of our heart, we are loving God with all of our hearts. We are really fulfilling the commandment of walking in love.
MEDITATE ON THE WORD
In Joshua 1:8, it says we are to meditate on the Word day and night. We know that the word includes such things as “pondering on the Word and muttering the Word.” The word meditate also means “to talk to yourself” therein day and night.” Talking to yourself day and night is something you do as a way of life. Christianity is not a religion. I belonged to a large denomination and thought I was a Christian. After I was born again, I was a little upset when I found out that if I had died, I would have gone straight to hell. I had been lied to. No one ever shared with me that I needed to be born again and receive salvation by faith. Christianity is not a religion – it is a way of life, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We must practice God’s presence in our lives. God’s Word is called food. In John 6:63 Jesus did, “The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Of course, we all know we are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a physical body. Well, your spirit man needs spirit food. In 1 Peter it says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” So, if God’s Word is spirit, which it is, that is spirit milk. In Hebrews 5 and 1 Corinthians 3, God’s Word is called meat or solid food. So, that would be the spirit meat or spirit solid food.
Basically, if you want to be strong physically and have the energy you need to come through this walk on earth, you have to keep physical food in your physical body at all times. You don’t just eat once year. It is a daily thing. It’s the same with the spirit man. If you are going to stay strong spiritually, you are going to have to keep spiritual food in your spirit daily. You’ve got to keep eating day and night.
Remaining strong spiritually includes the soulish area as well. Only God can divide the spirit and the soul. Your soulish area is where your personality is – your mind, will and emotions. When your body drops dead,
your soul and spirit always stay together. Your soul is housed in your physical brain just as your spirit is housed in your physical body. If we are going to be strong spiritually, our mind is included.
According to Romans 12:2, we are not to be conformed to this world but we are to be transformed by renewing our minds by the Word of God. When we are born again, we are righteous, we are new creations, but our minds have not changed. We have to do something with our minds. We must renew our minds
with the Word of God. In James 1:22, we see we need to be doers of the Word if our minds are going to be renewed. Here you can see that the Word and doing the Word works for both the spirit man and the mind at the same time.
We have to remind ourselves that words are spirit. As believers, we operate in the spirit more than we think. We are spirit beings. So, in one sense, we are in the spirit all the time. Jesus said, “The words which I speak are spirit.” Well, really, words heard are spirit as well. Where do words come from? Spirit beings. Now I happen to be in a physical body but my spirit man is doing the talking, I shoot words through my vocal cords here in my physical body on sound waves which are picked up by your earth receiver.
We need to make sure we are talking in line with God’s Word. It has to become a lifestyle. God has a lot to say about who we are, what our abilities are and what we have inherited. So, we need to agree with God and
confess with our mouths, “According to your Word, I am righteous; I am healed; the devil is under my feet; I am more than a conqueror.” If you are going to spend the time meditating on the Word reading it, studying it, muttering it, talking it, fixing it before your eyes – you need to make changes in the way you talk and think the rest of the day. God meets your needs – period! No matter what the circumstances say, Watch what comes out of your mouth. Call those things which be not as though they are. Agree with God and soon it will become a part of you.
In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, we see that words paint pictures. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of stronghold;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” We need to understand the words we speak paint pictures in our mind. You visualize what you say. That is the way you were created. Your mind works with images. Where do images come from? Words! So when you are praying, you are visualizing.
As you continue to talk the Word, you are fixing your mind on it. In Philippians 4:7-8 Paul says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” In verse 9 he says, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do.” Heard, seen, do! What you hear is what you are going to do. If you talk about poverty, you will see yourself in poverty and this is what you will have in your life. Hold fast to the confession of your faith without wavering, get your mind renewed, call those things which be not as though they are, imagine yourself righteous, healed and successful and you will start doing what you see yourself doing. It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to think like the Word! Keep talking the Word until it becomes a stronghold in your life and in your mind.
DO THE WORD
Finally, in Joshua 1:8, God says to “Observe to do.” We are to meditate on the Word day and night, talk to yourself therein day and night. When you talk it, you see it. You can believe it in your heart and talk it with your mouth but without corresponding actions, nothing happens. James 2:26.
(The above material was published by Jim Kaseman Ministries.)
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