The book of Joshua that we are reading this month is a book about victory after victory and success after success. This is not to say that we won’t experience some setbacks in the book. That would be misleading and false hopes in this unfortunate world that we live in.
However, the book is grounded in VICTORY. The man Joshua, who succeeded the great Moses, was a successful man.
I am a pastor and a theologian. I believe in succeeding and am geared to victory, which is why I have entrusted my life with Jesus Christ the conqueror of both SIN and DEATH.
Here am I in this world, struggling with life. I need to thrive economically. I need to succeed in my career. I need my marriage to work. I need my children to be raised right and leave a legacy and an inheritance to my God. I hope am not alone. Perhaps you are like me in this, and the big question is: HOW DO WE DO THAT?
Well, the Bible, through the life of Joshua, has something for us. The life of Joshua exhibits what I call THE 5Ds OF VICTORY. To understand and appreciate these 5Ds, we need to trace the life of Joshua through the wilderness to the succession of Moses:
Verse 13, 18:
So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:13-18)
Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tent. (Exodus 33:11)
Right here we have the first D and that is DEVOTION. This Joshua, from his youth, had a committed ardent love and desire for some purpose.
He was close to those (Moses) who were what he wanted to be and devoted enough to go to the mountains and wait 40 days and nights. When he was placed in the tent, he never left the tent. He did not just desire to be a leader but he was devoted. A desire without DEVOTION is COVETOUSNESS and will soon turn into JEALOUSY. How devoted are you?
Verse 17,22:
And the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, (Numbers 27:18-23)
Here comes the second D of a victorious life, DEDICATION. Apart from dedication being a complete and wholehearted fidelity, dedication is also having a public appreciation of your cause and purpose. The public must be a beneficiary of the mission you are devoted to.
Real success is not a private business but faithfulness as per public audit. It is not isolation but graded involvement. Let me ask, what has the sober public have to say about your mission? You are not dedicated until your cause goes beyond self to others.
Verse 28-29:
And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! (Numbers 11:26-29).
The third D in the victorious life of Joshua is DISCIPLINE. If anyone asked me what discipline is my answer would be Self-Control. Joshua thought that the gift of prophecy was exclusive to his boss (Moses) and Joshua’s resolution was to stop and fight whoever wasn’t Moses but prophesied.
Moses taught him a lesson in self-control. What hinders most of our victories in life is the time we spend fighting and competing with others.
We are not disciplined and streamlined to our cause alone. We lack the ability to let some good things go in order for us to reach our destiny. Moses taught Joshua to leave those who prophesy alone and continue with his mission. How disciplined are you?
Verse 7-9:
The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us. Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them. (Numbers 14:6-9)
And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. (Deuteronomy 34:9).
This is not being a genius or just intelligent. This is DISCERNMENT, a quality that every victor needs and must have.
Discernment is not just an ability to tell what is right from what is wrong, but the ability to defuse the wrong infused in the right. It is a delicate discrimination of vices that look and operate as values.
Verse 13:
And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. (Exodus 17:8-13)
Before Israel ever fought a war and had no fighting tools, it was attacked by an organized army and Moses randomly called Joshua and sent him to war. Joshua had no military training and no Arsenal. All he had was the fifth D which is DETERMINATION.
I love the American Wrestling and I support Brock Lesner. One of the inscriptions on his T-Shirt reads ONE WAY TICKET. The idea is that when he comes to wrestle, he either wins or dies in the ring.
That is what determination means. It is a firmness of purpose. Determination is feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Determination is when you face the enemy more powerful, more privileged and more equipped than you are.
Determination is transferring your fear to the enemy camp and transacting it with their confidence. Question: Are you really determined?
The first chapter of the book of Joshua says:
Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause these people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. (Joshua 1:6-7)
God bless you, I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH.
Pr. ITM WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
iTiS Well of Worship Ministries (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 