Be Strong and Courageous

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at Deuteronomy chapter 31, verses 1 through 8. We're going to be talking about Moses passing on the torch to Joshua. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Father, we thank you so much for this day. It is a blessing to have your word and to read it. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to understand who you are. We pray that you would please work in our hearts in such a way that we would know how to live and how to believe in Jesus name. Amen. Here we go. Deuteronomy chapter 31 verses one through eight. Then Moses went and spoke all these words to Israel. And he said to them, I am 120 years old today. I can no longer go in and come in, go out and come in.
Also, the Lord has said to me, you shall not cross over this Jordan. The Lord your God himself crosses over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as Jehovah has said. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og the king of the Amorites and their land when he destroyed them. The Lord will give them over to you that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you.
Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you, He will be with you, We will not leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? A, what is this about? This is Moses being an old dude, passing on the torch to Joshua to go into the promised land.
Surface level, that's what it's about. But I think tied with what we talked about last time, with the Lord being their God and them needing to choose life. And that also, if you looked at verse 20, right, that. And that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give them. I think this passing on the torch is tied to this idea of who was going to make these things good. It was the Lord. Did you notice who their confidence was supposed to be in? It was not supposed to be in Moses. And it's not going to be in Joshua. Time and time again, as we read through this passage, notice who is the focal point here.
The Lord, your God himself, crosses over before you. Verse three. He will destroy these nations from before you. Verse three. Joshua himself crosses over before you just as the Lord has said. Verse 3. Verse 4. And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og. Verse 4. When He delivered them. Verse 4. The Lord will give them over to you. Verse 5.
Be strong and have good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them. Why? Verse six, for the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Right? The victory is for certain. Joshua's leadership is going to be successful. Why?
Because it's the Lord. who's doing these things. It's the Lord who made his promises. It's the Lord who's doing these things. It's the Lord that if they have faith in him, follow his ways, do what he says, there will be great success. And so he says, the Lord is doing this.
I can't get out of my bed anymore. Moses is, we would say like bedridden or wheelchair bound, right? He can't get up. He can't go out. He can't come in. He's an old dude. He's 120 years old. He's passing on the torch, but he knows that God can still do it. Moses still has faith. Remember, Moses failed. Why isn't he the one leading? Well, he's not allowed to see the promised land because he dishonored the Lord, striking the rock. Not even Moses was perfect. And yet he knows that he's going to see God. And he knows that God's going to be good to his promises.
And so he passes on this torch to Joshua. And interestingly, also, he speaks to Joshua and he tells him, be strong and of good courage. This idea, be strong and of good courage. Also, the Lord, he will not leave you or forsake you is a theme that's going to be carried on after Deuteronomy into the book of Joshua. Again and again, the phrase, be strong and of good courage, be strong and of good courage is going to show up all over the place in the book of Joshua.
So that's what I think this is getting at, right? This strength and courage. Yes, it's going to be in the battle. They're really going to go fight against the different armies at Jericho and AI. They're going to fight against all these different people. Right. But. Where was that strength and courage going to come from? Then the Lord. strength and courage in the Lord. Best verse to summarize this, I have verse 6 double underlined in my Bible. What are we called to do? Seek calling.
Where does your strength and courage come from? You have difficulties and trials in this life. There are things that I'm convinced you might think you don't know how you're ever going to stand up to X, Y, or Z. How will you ever finally conquer that sin that so easily ensnares you? You have to have strength and courage in the Lord. How will you be able to evangelize that person you know or you're scared or reject you or even mock you or ridicule you? Be strong and have good courage. How would you love that person fervently in the church that gets under your skin and you don't know how you're supposed to love or care for that person?
Put your faith in God, be strong and have good courage. You're in pain. Work is difficult. And you're worried that you're going to be irritable. How will you ever be able to endure? Be strong and of good courage. You're teaching. And the world seems against you.
And you're worried that if you even refuse to do what they're asking you to do, you may lose your job like Esther. Will you say, the Lord's will be done? She said, if I die, I die. Where will you find the moral courage to say, if I'm fired, I'm fired?
Be strong and have good courage. Do what is glorifying to God. Let what happens happen. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus promised us that. He went to heaven, but he did not leave us alone as orphans, but he sent his Holy Spirit paraclete, the comforter, the exhorter, our advocate. Lean not on your own strength, but trust in the Lord. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would please let us be strong and of good courage.
Let us be courageous to love in a day of hate. Let us have good courage. to be for life in a culture of death. Let us be good courage to be those who would be clean in a culture of immorality and uncleanness. Help us to be of good courage in a culture that loves strong men and authoritarianism, as you've told us to be gentle and kind.
Lord, please, Let us have good courage as we abide by faith in Jesus that it would show in the fruits of the Spirit in our life. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. Well, may you be strong and have good courage. May you know that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you if you are in Christ Jesus, his son. And may you do the good works that he has prepared for you. I'll see you next time. Bye.