Have 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. Joshua 1:9
1 Timothy tells us “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16” I believe that so I am always noting and hiding in my heart verses that I find inspiring, strengthening, chastising, reproving, heartening, encouraging, correcting, etc. Together these verses make up my Spiritual Arsenal of sorts; my resource along with prayer during times of struggle, challenge, need, and brokenness.
I have found that having a litany of verses stored in my heart that have deep meaning for me helps me “… be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13” Let’s look in depth at the verse from Joshua to see what why just simple individual verses can become such powerful weapons against the wiles of the devil. After all we could all use more weapons of defense in our arsenal.
Have not I commanded thee? Here we have a clear command from God as to how we should handle ourselves in all situations – He is straight up commanding His people in how they are to act and feel with a promise and assurance of why and how they can do this.
Be strong and of a good courage; Being strong and of good courage isn’t always our first or natural response in times of adversity and challenge, change or resistance. It sure isn’t my first response, that would usually be fear, stress and general freak outness. Strength and courage that comes straight from God cause on my own I tend to be a weak, whimpering coward.
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: Obviously without God I would be terrified not just afraid. I was for years actually before I was saved, before I walked with my precious Savior, when I was still lost as a ball in high weeds. I was definitely dismayed, a real basket case without hope.
for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. But now praise God He is with me, always, anywhere, no matter what I face or where I go! And because of that I have nothing to fear! God’s got my back and that is the best defender I could ever hope to have. The one who created me has sworn to keep me. Why would I fear? I am in the hands of a sovereign and loving God who is a wonderful, perfect Father to us His precious children whom He loves so very deeply, so very much He sent his only Son to save us and restore us to himself through Jesus’ sacrifice and shed blood on the cross at Calvary; and He has given us the promise and glorious hope of everlasting life through Jesus as He was the first fruits of the resurrection and as he rose from the grave so too will we who have placed our hope in faith in the only one who is able to save us, deliver us, our Victory!
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11
These arsenal verses are also verses I make a point to include in my son’s education to prepare him to walk ever more securely with the Lord. As a parent I want to fill him so full of God’s word and truth that he will be prepared for whatever path God has for him. Just as I share them with my child I want to share them with you my fellow followers of Jesus to help you bear your cross and walk your walk in this life and in preparation for the eternal life to come. I will be continuing this series over the next week or so taking an in-depth look at some of my choice “swords”. I would love to hear some of you all’s favorites as well. We are living in the last of the last days and we can all use a full arsenal as we face the trials and persecutions ahead of us as we await that last trump that will accompany our call home at the rapture of the true believers, the bride of Christ to heaven before Daniel’s 70th week begins, before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the tribulation of the world that will bring the world into judgement for rejecting Christ and denying God before Jesus returns to put an end to all this messed up, crazy sinful nonsense Satan has spread throughout this world now is put to an end. Look up my dear brethern for we know not what day our Lord will return for us, but we do know the day is drawing ever nearer and anyday we could hear that glorious call to “come up hither!”
As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless, keep and strengthen you as you continue to:
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12
knowing that you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. Philippians 4:13
A R3VOLUT1ON 