Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Strong. Putting Gods Power to Work in Your Life

BE STRONG

Published by David C. Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C. Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C. Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

David C. Cook and the graphic circle C logo

are registered trademarks of Cook Communications Ministries.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version

of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the

New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Used by permission; NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version .

NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of

Zondervan. All rights reserved; TLB are taken from The Living Bible, 1971, Tyndale

House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60189. Used by permission; ASV are from The American

Standard Version. (Public Domain); and NKJV are taken from the New King James Version.

Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

LCCN 2009934571

ISBN 978-1-4347-6637-3

eISBN 978-1-4347-0095-7

1993 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Strong published by Victor Books in 1993 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-1-56476-122-4

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: Veer Inc.

Second Edition 2010

Contents

The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Strong by Ken Baugh

A Word from the Author

1. A New Beginning: Introduction to the Book of Joshua

2. Follow the Leader (Joshua 1)

3. A Convert in Canaan (Joshua 2)

4. Forward by Faith (Joshua 34)

5. Preparing for Victory (Joshua 5)

6. The Conquest Begins! (Joshua 6)

7. Defeat in the Land of Victory (Joshua 7)

8. Turning Defeat into Victory (Joshua 8)

9. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Our Neighbor
(Joshua 9:110:28)

Interlude (Joshua 10:2912:24)

10. This Land Is Our Land! (Joshua 1321)

11. And When the Battles Over (Joshua 22)

12. The Way of All the Earth (Joshua 2324)

13. A Great Life in Review

Notes

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Strong

by Ken Baugh

Joshua and David are two of my favorite Old Testament characters: David because he was a man after Gods own heart and Joshua because he was a man with a courageous heart. And in the book of Joshua we see his courageous heart up close and personal.

Gods first recorded words to Joshua are these: Moses my servant is dead (Josh. 1:2 NIV ). God doesnt waste any time helping Joshua deal with reality. Its like God is saying, Moses is gone, Son, so now its time for you to step up into my will for your life and lead these people into the Promised Land.

Now put yourself in Joshuas sandals for a moment and let the reality of Moses death and his new role sink in. The only leader Joshua (and the Israelites for that matter) had ever known was Moses the friend of God (Ex. 33:11). Moses had led them out of Egypt while Joshua was just a little boy. Moses had led them through the Red Sea. God had used Moses to provide water, food, clothing, and shelter. Under Moses leadership, the Israelites had experienced the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Under Moses leadership, the tabernacle had been constructed and the ark of the covenant and the various elements for worship fashioned. Moses had come down from the mountain of God with the Ten Commandments engraved by the very finger of God. And on and on and on it went: Moses this and Moses that, and now Joshua was supposed to step into Moses sandals and take up the mantle of leadership. Are you kidding me?

I can only imagine how intimidated I would feel if I were to succeed Moses in leading Gods people. But Joshua was a man with a strong faith, and in that faith he stepped up and into one of the most intimidating leadership succession plans in the history of Gods people. Where did Joshuas strength come from? Where did he find his incredible confidence in the Lord? The answer is found in the three things that Joshua believed about God. Joshuas belief determined his behavior. And the same can be true about you. If you believe the same three things that Joshua believed, you will become strong in the Lord as well. Lets take a minute to discover what Joshua believed about God.

First, Joshua believed that God was all-powerful. How could Joshua not believe that about God? He had seen firsthand the mighty miracles God had performed on behalf of His people. He had seen the ten plagues that came upon the Egyptians and caused Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, to free Gods people. Joshua had seen Moses stand and lift his staff against the Red Sea while Pharaohs army was bearing down on them to take them back to Egypt. Then, after all the Israelites had crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground, Joshua had witnessed God bring the water over Pharaoh and his men, destroying the most powerful army in the world in one fatal swish! Joshua had seen God turn the bitter water at Marah into sweet drinking water to save the people from dying of thirst. Joshua had witnessed over and over how God provided just enough food each day to feed all the people.

For over forty years, Joshua had witnessed time and time again Gods overt power, and these experiences had developed in him a deep-seated belief not only in Gods power but also in Gods willingness to bring His power to bear on behalf of His people. As such, Joshua knew that nothing was too hard for God. If God had chosen him to be the one to succeed Moses and lead His people, then that was what God was going to do, so why be afraid?

How about you? Do you believe that God is all-powerful? Do you believe that nothing is too hard for God? If you dont, I believe by the time youre finished reading and studying Joshua, you will.

Second, Joshua believed that God always keeps His promises. Joshua knew that God had promised his forefather, Abraham, that he and his descendants would occupy the land. In Genesis 12:12 ( NIV ), God had said to Abram: Leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. God reiterated this promise in Genesis 13:15 ( NIV ): All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

And now Joshua was standing at the Jordan River, looking into the land that God had promised His people so many years ago, and now it was time: You will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them (Josh. 1:6 NIV ). God had kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now He was going to use Joshua to fulfill it: I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses (1:3 NIV ). Joshua knew God could be trusted. He knew God always keeps His promise, and this knowledge forged in his chest a strong and unyielding heart of faith.