Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Presence and Assurance” – Sunday, 1 June 2014 - Scripture: Joshua 1:1-11

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Presence and Assurance” – Sunday, 1 June 2014 - Scripture: Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh,[a] Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you, and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses. 4 From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 9 Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God[b] is with you wherever you go.”
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the middle of the camp, and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.’”
Footnotes:
a. Joshua 1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
b. Joshua 1:9 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
“Presence and Assurance” by Duane C. Brush
It takes assurance to do the will of God. Joshua was thankful God understood that fact. Joshua had seen the great walled cities of Canaan 40 years before. They hadn’t grown smaller with the passing of time. Taking the Promised Land would require more than all the force a united Israel could muster. It would take the power and presence of God.
A generation earlier Moses had pleaded with the Lord, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16). And God gave him assurance, “I will do the very thing you have asked” (v. 17).

When we obey God’s call we have the assurance of His presence.

Hymn for Today:

“If Jesus Goes with Me” by C. Austin Miles
1. It may be in the valley, where countless dangers hide;
It may be in the sunshine that I, in peace, abide;
But this one thing I know—-if it be dark or fair,
If Jesus is with me, 
I’ll go anywhere! 
Chorus:
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go 
Anywhere!
’Tis heaven to me, 
Where’er I may be, 
If He is there!
I count it a privilege here,
His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, 
I’ll go 
Anywhere! 
2. It may be I must carry the blessed Word of life
Across the burning deserts to those in sinful strife;
And tho' it be my lot to bear my colors there,
If Jesus goes with me, 
I’ll go anywhere!
Chorus:
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go 
Anywhere!
’Tis heaven to me, 
Where’er I may be, 
If He is there!
I count it a privilege here,
His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, 
I’ll go 
3. But if it be my portion to bear my cross at home,
While others bear their burdens beyond the billow’s foam,
I’ll prove my faith in Him—-confess His judgments fair,
And, if He stays with me, 
I’ll stay anywhere!
Chorus:
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go 
Anywhere!
’Tis heaven to me, 
Where’er I may be, 
If He is there!
I count it a privilege here,
His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, 
I’ll go 
4. It is not mine to question the judgments of my Lord,
It is but mine to follow the leadings of His Word;
But if to go or stay, or whether here or there,
I’ll be, with my Savior, 
Content anywhere!
Chorus:
If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go 
Anywhere!
’Tis heaven to me, 
Where’er I may be, 
If He is there!
I count it a privilege here,
His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, 
I’ll go 
Thought for Today:
“Security is not the absence of danger but the presence of God, no matter what the danger”(Anonymous)
Prayer Needs:
Many People in Burkina Faso will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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