"Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:7-9
Being bold in the faith can be a daunting task, but God encourages us through the story of Joshua that when we are bold in Him, we are unstoppable. Here are 10 practical steps to walking in boldness this year based on the story of Joshua:
1. FIND COURAGE IN GOD NOT IN YOURSELF
For Joshua to be successful, He had to rely on the Lord and remember that God was with Him wherever He went. The Children of Israel could only be successful when they depended on God's Power, not their own strength.
We too must RELY, REMEMBER, and DEPEND on God's Power as we live our daily lives.
2. STEP OUT IN OBEDIENCE
Having bold faith is scary, but a key part of Joshua's victorious journey was that he always obeyed what God told him to do. Think about Jericho. The city was surrounded by a stone wall. Rather than have the People of Israel break down the wall, God commanded them to walk around it for 7 days, then shout as the way to conquer the city. It seems a little bizarre, don't you think? Yet it was the perfect way to show God's true existence rather than use man's power to break the wall.
No matter what God calls you to do, be obedient, even if the request doesn't make sense in your mind.
3. WALK IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD
Honoring God as Father, King, Ruler, and Savior is so vital to walking in the authority of His Power. Joshua honored God by carefully doing according to all the laws that Moses commanded and as a result, he was granted good success (see verse above).
Proverbs tells us that the "fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil" (Proverbs 8:13). But what is evil?
"Pride, and arrogance, and the way of evil, and perverted speech I hate" (Proverbs 8:13). (Also check out the 7 abominations to God in Proverbs 6:16-19).
The way we know what is evil is by God's Word. When we know what the Word says, we then can walk in boldness because we're aligned with His doctrine. Sadly many people today assume what is good or evil based on their own understanding, but as Jesus explains, God is only good and He determines what is right and wrong- not us.
4. MEDITATE ON THE WORD DAY AND NIGHT
Proverbs explains to keep God's commandments as the "apple of your eye." This means that we are to always keep His Word as the FOCUS of our lives. Through the Scripture above, God gave Joshua (and the People of Israel) a condition:
If they wanted good success and true boldness, then they must continually meditate on the word.
To think we can be obedient to God and only read His Word once a week is foolish. He says, "Meditate on the word day and night SO THAT you may be careful to do according to all that is written."
Whether we realize it, God has laid out clear guidelines through the Bible on how we can walk in boldness and be spiritually successful.
5. STOP BEING CONTROLLED BY FEAR - LIVE BY FAITH
Entering a land that was not their own was very scary. They had to go to war with many nations that were bigger and stronger than they were, but God knew that when they DEPENDED on FAITH and stopped allowing fear to control them, then they would be victorious.
Living a life of courage doesn't mean fear is not present, but that your faith is BIGGER than your state of fear. This is why God reminds them over and over again to be STRONG AND COURAGEOUS because He knew if He could activate their faith then they would walk in victory.
David fighting Goliath is a great example. The entire army of Israel was afraid of Goliath. He was bigger, stronger, and more intimidating than they had ever encountered. Yet, a young boy's faith in God caused the giant to fall over backward.
When we experience fear, we have two options:
Be paralyzed by fear, or
Step forward in faith
6. SURRENDER YOUR WILL
This is a hard one, but I want to ask: Are you willing to deny your flesh, pick up your cross, and follow Christ? We can't just believe in God. Belief yes justifies us but James says that as a RESULT of our FAITH, we should PRODUCE GOOD WORKS.
Sanctification is not a life of no change, but a stripping off of our earthly flesh DAILY.
I'm sure there were tasks that Joshua, in his flesh, did not want to do, but rather than let his flesh be master, but chose to humble himself and obey God.
Jesus paints this picture on the cross. Rather than choose His will, he surrendered his desires and painfully endured God's will for our sake. The same is true for us - we must be willing to surrender our will and humble ourselves so that others can see the light of Christ in us and become saved.
7. GIVE GOD YOUR FULL YES DAILY
Salvation isn't a one-time commitment, but a daily vow to serve the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Joshua and the People of Israel had to continually repent and give God their FULL yes every day.
There were times when they messed up and strayed from the path, but when they repented and renewed their vow, they could walk in courage once more.
8. REMIND YOURSELF OF GOD'S PROMISES
Joshua continually spoke to the people and reminded them of what the Lord God had promised Abraham and Moses. This is so important. If we want to continually walk in boldness and stop allowing the devil to take over our thoughts, then we must remind ourselves of the promises of God.
God tells Joshua, "I am with you wherever you go." What a great promise to continually speak over ourselves. I believe it was this verse that helped Joshua walk in the boldness God wanted him to.
9. REMEMBER THE GOAL - ETERNITY
Sometimes we can get caught up in our earthly lives and forget that the real goal is to go to Heaven AND take as many people with us as we can. I LOVE the mission God had for the People of Israel (and us). They (We are) were a light to the rest of the world to show other nations and tribes that their God is the One True God.
We have that same calling today known as the Great Commission (Mark 16). When we keep our eyes on the goal, we are able to step out in boldness, because we know WHO and WHAT are great reward will be.
10. PRAY LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW
Prayer and knowing God's Word are the secret sauce to understanding Godly Boldness. Many people today walk in the boldness of the flesh, but when we pray, we seek God's will AND edify ourselves and other Christians. KEEP PRAYER as a PRIORITY. This is how we walk in boldness, increase our faith, and defeat the schemes of the devil over our lives.
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