Encouragement (Part 1): Week 1, Day 3

Congratulations, ladies!  You have made it to the third day of our study.  Your faithfulness to God and His Word is amazing!  I hope today's study will be beneficial to you. Today is our APPLICATION day.  This is when we can really grow in God, as we apply His Words to our lives.

Once again, read through Deuteronomy 31:7-8 & 23.

Review the commands that Moses gave to Joshua in verses 7-8.

1. Be strong and courageous
2. Do not fear or be dismayed

Joshua was getting ready to become the leader of a nation (think President of the United States, think boss of a major company, think leader of [fill in the blank]). I'm sure that Joshua was trembling inside because of the major responsibility that he was going to have.  Have you been in a leadership role where there was some fear and trepidation because all of the decisions were placed on you? That was Joshua.  Yet, in spite of this new role - which wasn't just the leader of a nation; it was also lead the people into the Promised Land that was already conquered by other people groups, and conquer it - Moses was telling Joshua to stay strong and don't be afraid.

Moses didn't just leave Joshua hanging.  He gave Joshua four good reasons why he could be strong.  Review the four things that you learned about God in our previous lesson.  Because of these things, Joshua had nothing to dread. Think about your current situation.  Are you in fear of something? Are you in a leadership role and have second guesses about it?  Just as the Lord was with Joshua, He is with you!

Look at those four things again:

1. He goes ahead of you.  The Lord knows what you are going to get into before you do because He is there before you are there.  He is Sovereign and already has your future planned out.
2. He will be with you.  Not only does He go in front of you and see what is going to happen to you, He is going to be right with you throughout every aspect of your life.  You have no reason to fear or panic about what is happening because God is right there with you.
3. He will not fail you.  There is no one on this earth that you can say this about.  People are human; we all have faults.  God is perfect; there is no fault in Him. He will not fail you, no matter what.
4. He will not forsake you. God will not give up on you.  He is right with you all the time, step by step, every day of your life. No matter what, God is there for you.

Look at verse 23 again.  Not only did Moses give this word of encouragement to Joshua, but God gave the same word to him!  Moses said, "the Lord will be with you."  God said, "I will be with you." Let's just pretend that Joshua didn't quite catch the message the first time (although I sincerely doubt this was the case).  God wanted to make sure that Joshua knew the truth.

The Lord God is with us, my sisters!  Do not ever forget it! No matter what you are facing, no matter what trial or tribulation, no matter what project is in front of you, no matter who is around you grumbling or complaining, God is always with us. That is a promise from Him, and the Lord never breaks His promises!

Be encouraged in this Word, and live your life daily knowing that God goes ahead of you, God will be with you, God will not fail you, and God will not forsake you.

To read the previous posts on Encouragement, click these links:

Week 1: Day 1, Day 2

Encouragement (Part 1): Week 1, Day 2

I am so glad you came back for a second day of encouragement! Last time we OBSERVED Deuteronomy 31:7-8 & 23.  Today we are going to INTERPRET that same text.

Read through the verses again, and answer the following questions in your notebook.

1. In verses 7-8, Moses starts and ends with two commands.  Write these commands in your notebook.
2. The word "for" answers the question Why.  Why did Moses tell Joshua to be strong and courageous.
3. Verse 8 tells four things about the Lord.  Write these in your notebook.
4. Look at verse 23.  Who is talking in this verse?
5. Coloring the pronouns yellow help to distinguish who is talking.  What did God say about Himself to Joshua?

Aren't you already more encouraged than you were when we got started!  What have you learned about the Lord today?  Perhaps you already knew these things, but what an amazing reminder about the God that we serve.

I am excited to get to the APPLICATION part when we meet again.  That is when we really get to grow in God - we use His Word to live our lives.  I look forward to learning more with you!

To read the previous posts on Encouragement, click these links:

Week 1: Day 1

Encouragement (Part 1): Week 1, Day 1

Welcome to our journey of Encouragement!  I am so excited that you have decided to join me in this study.  We are going to take the next six weeks to go through an awesome set of Scripture verses, and as the title implies, I hope you find encouragement through this study.

We will be looking at one passage of Scripture this week - Deuteronomy 31:7-8 & 23.  Only three verses this week, but three verses full of a powerful message that we will constantly return to during this study.

Here is some background on what we are going to read about:

Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent by God to check out the Promised Land. (You can read about this in Numbers 13 & 14.) He and Caleb came back after 40 days of scouting saying that the people of Israel could conquer the land because the Lord was on their side. They were overthrown by the other ten spies who got the rest of Israel to grumble and complain. Because of the people's overwhelming lack of faith in God, God punished them to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (one year for each day the spies were in the land). God also punished them by making sure that everyone who was 20 years old or older would not be able to enter the Promised Land. Those people would die in the wilderness.

The two exceptions to this were Joshua and Caleb.  Because of their faith in God, they were rewarded with being able to enter the Promised Land. Joshua was even made Moses' successor, to lead the people after Moses died.  Our reading picks up at the place in time where Moses is handing the reigns over to Joshua, and the people of Israel are getting ready to enter the Promised Land.

We are going to use the inductive Bible study method as we study these Scripture passages together.  Today we are going to OBSERVE the text. Read Deuteronomy 31:7-8 & 23. Take time to read slowly, and absorb what the verses are saying. You may want to read them several times before moving on to the next step.

7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 

8 The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

23 Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.” 

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." 

MARK your text using the following markings (these markings are only suggestions - it is how I mark my Bible.  You can choose to do this however you see fit.)

• Circle the word "for" in red.  The word "for" answers the question Why?
• Mark the name "Lord" with a purple triangle colored yellow. Color all pronouns to the Lord in yellow.

Now go back and re-read the text for more clarity.  In your notebook, write a thought from today's time with the Lord.

This is all we are going to do today.  Our next study will look at INTERPRETING the text, and we will conclude with how we can APPLY the text to our lives.