What does it mean to be strong and courageous?

JOSHUA

There are probably only a few army leaders in the Bible that stand out, and Joshua is one of them. For years I have read Joshua and have seen the words "Be strong and Courageous", and missed it.

Recently God helped me understand why He spoke those words three times to Joshua (Joshua 1 : 1-9)

The first time...He told Joshua to be strong and courageous because Joshua was the new leader after Moses. He needed to be strong and courageous for this is one of the qualities that any leader needs to posses. Are you a leader in your work place, your community, or your family? Do you have passion to lead people to God? In spite of our mission or purpose in life, we need to be strong and courageous. In this case, Joshua's mission was to lead God's people into God's promise land.

After that , he was told by God to be strong and courageous again...to do what? To obey the law...
In the world today, many things can drive you away from God's law, the internet, TV, magazines, etc. Are your eyes fixed on God or on the things of this world? Are your passions driven towards sport games, TV games, food, money, diet program, fashion, etc? There is nothing wrong with those things, but what is your priorities? Is any of your passion turning you away from God's law or commandment? How can we keep our path straight, not looking to the right or left? This is difficult but doable. God says : "Study the Book of the Law and meditate on it day and night". When Peter stepped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus, he was not sinking...as long as he kept his eyes fix on Jesus only.

Finally, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous because He will be with him wherever he goes...this means always. God wants us to have faith, don't be afraid...We had so many trials in the past, but He always delivered us just in time. God will never say "Sorry I am late...", or "I'll do better next time..."

Another interesting thing is that whenever He told Joshua to be strong and courageous, He also promised that he would be successful in whatever he did. I believe His promise is still true today for us. Isn't this an awesome promise? Everybody wants to be successful in life. He gave us the key already. Are we going to be strong and courageous like Joshua to win the battles in our lives?