Do you ever have one of those AH HA! moments when you're reading the Bible?
I just had one.
How cool.
Two verses.
One in the Old Testament.
One in the New Testament.
Both in the first chapter of the book.
Both verse 9.
Here they are:
Joshua 1:9 (ESV) "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
1 John 1:9 (ESV) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
At first glance, you might not notice the connection.
As Joshua prepares to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, God makes sure he gets the message: "Go into battle with strength and courage. I am with you."
For the Christian intent on conquering the land for Christ, what can cause us to lose our boldness?
What weapon can Satan try to use to stop us in our tracks?
Sin.
Past and present.
"How can you go out there and represent the Lord? You are sinful. You can never be good enough to represent Him in any way. Do you really think He'll be with you?"
We can gain victory by going to the other 1:9.
We are forgiven and made righteous in God's eyes because of Jesus.
He died for our sins, once for all.
God credited His righteousness to our account.
Confessing sin is important because it restores our closeness to God.
Clears out the static.
But it's the blood of Christ that does the work.
The devil wants us to lose our courage by hanging onto our guilt.
Confess it.
Turn from it.
And head back into battle.
Take ground for the Lord.
He's with you.
Don't be paralyzed.
You're free to fight the enemy.
And he doesn't want you to know it.
In fact, he may try to win the battle.
But he's lost the war.
About Me
- Kurt
- Born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana. I started working in radio when I was 15 years old. After graduating from Texas Christian University I spent a year in full-time radio before starting my career in TV news. I've worked as an anchor/reporter for stations in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, and finally Nevada. After rededicating my life to Christ, things changed. In a matter of a few years God called me to work in Christian radio. I never thought I would ever be doing ministry like this. I spent many years at The SOS Radio Network in Las Vegas before moving to New York to work here at The Family Life Network. What a privilege!
1 comment:
Thank you for this post. I struggle with guilt because of a decision which turned out to be the wrong choice and another person, who probably had never accepted Christ did not survive. It's hard to deal with, and satan messes with me head, even though I probably would make the same decision given the same scenario again, makes it hard to believe God still loves...even when we feel like a failure and screw up. Good thing God's love is not like the earthly love where it is based on conditions.
Thanks again
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