Courage

<sup>I posted a ton of verses but if you read the whole thing it is very powerful!

Joshua 14:
6</sup>Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

⁷Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

⁸Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

⁹And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

¹⁰And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

¹¹As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

¹²Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

¹³And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

Contrasting two different tribes/people:

Joshua 17:
¹²Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

Joshua 15:
¹⁴And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

I was reading Joshua... where it talks about the tribes of Israel going and claiming their individual territories... and what land did Caleb request??? The mountain with giants!!! Why??? Caleb had faith in his God... he wasn't afraid to face the giants... remember when he and Joshua came back from spying on the land? The report was that the land was fruitful but the people were giants... Caleb and Joshua encourage the people to trust God and claim the land, but the Israelites doubted! Oh yeah, and Caleb was 85!

What is the application for you and I? Don't be afraid to face your spiritual giants! Trust God... do NOT underestimate His power!!!

Joshua 1:
⁶Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

⁹Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.



This has been a late evening sermon by,
Striving for Excellence!!
John Dierking