Promise (Part 4)

Did you play sports when you were a kid? I played soccer from 4 years old until I was 11.  Then, in 7th grade, I started  playing football.  I loved the competition, I loved game day, I loved going to battle.  And I LOVED to win!  And I'll bet you did, too. 

But did you ever win by forfeit? Was that the most disappointing victory ever? You didn’t earn it. You didn’t face the other team and defeat them. There is no joy in a forfeit! Because a forfeit is not a victory. There can be no victory with no enemy!

Joshua had to know this.  He was an experienced warrior, so he had to know that once they crossed the Jordan they would be engaged by their enemies. Canaan was inhabited by other people and they weren’t about to vacate voluntarily. This place was pretty cool…it wasn’t called the Promised Land for nothing! The people would defend their land and Joshua knew some of these people were serious enemies, even giants. It would be hard, it would be bloody, but it would be worth it!  But, first, Joshua had to face the enemy.

Check out what God said to Joshua, "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them."  Joshua 1:5-6


Wow! That's an aweome promise isn't it? Wouldn't you have liked to have played the most important game of your life with that kind of promise?  You can.  We  face a very real enemy every day.  Satan is a real being with a real desire to keep you and me from experiencing the victory Jesus offers.  But the promise God made Joshua back in the day applies to us today.   No one, not even satan, can stand against us; God is with us and will not leave us. Victory is ours!  But the enemy does all he can to keep us from it.  He distracts us, he tempts us, he lies to us, he keeps us busy with lots of good things so we don't have time for the best thing - the thing he knows will assure us victory - a relationship with Jesus.  There is no victory where there is no enemy.  And there is no victory where there is no JESUS!

Stay tuned...there's so much more to this story!