Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Joshua 1:1-9
1-2 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3-4 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, AS I SAID TO MOSES. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as 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 territory. 5-7 No man shall 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 leave you nor forsake you. Be STRONG and of GOOD COURAGE, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law (The Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe 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. 9 Have I not commanded you? BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The Lord gave Joshua the same exact assignment and the same exact inheritance that He gave to Moses. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, Moses and those who followed him did NOT RECEIVE their inheritance, but Joshua and those who followed him RECEIVED all of their inheritance. What was the difference?
In the same way, we see many believers receiving everything that they have been given according to the Word in the New Covenant, and others, who either receive very little, or none of what they have been given… we see born-again believers who live from victory to victory, and others that live from defeat to defeat… same God, same promises, different results!
The Father GAVE Moses and the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey… all that they had to do was to receive it… in the same way, the Father HAS GIVEN every believer in Christ an inheritance of lands, prosperity, favor, wisdom, supernatural ability, strength, divine health and much, much more… and just like Moses and Joshua all we have to do is to RECEIVE it. The big difference is under the New Covenant of grace, Jesus is our leader, not Joshua, so now, receiving does not involve going to war with our enemies… Jesus already did all of the fighting and won! Our receiving does not take fighting, but it does take faith!
There are TWO ingredients to RECEIVING that remain the same in both the old, and the New Covenant…
NUMBER ONE… The first ‘must have’ ingredient in receiving what you have been given is ‘the Word of God.’ Stay FULL OF THE WORD, study it, meditate upon it and declare it continually. Joshua was commanded to meditate upon and declare the Word, day and night, then he would make his way prosperous and have good success! In the New Covenant Jesus commands us to sow the Word into our hearts, to hold fast to the confession of the Word and that the blessings that have been given to us in salvation are received through believing with our hearts and confessing the Word with our mouths. The Word in us is a living Word of faith and power, and it RECEIVES and then brings our inheritance into manifestation. Without the Word in your heart and in your mouth, you will not receive much!
NUMBER TWO… the second ‘must have’ ingredient in receiving is ‘strong courage’. The Lord commanded Joshua three times to ‘BE STRONG AND HAVE GOOD COURAGE’, or, as other translations say, “Be STRONG and VERY COURAGEOUS”. Strong courage is hyper-faith mixed with hyper-grace… knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that you qualify mixed with knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that God WILL bring His Word to you to pass. Strong in His power and authority, and courageous through an impartation of a ‘lion heart’ anointing. Without strong courage, you will not receive much.
The children of Israel had more of Egypt in them than the Word, so they were full of fear, doubt and unbelief and empty of faith, courage and confidence in the Lord. Their fear, unbelief and doubt shut them out, and they could not occupy what they had been given.
In the New Covenant we have been given all of the faith, strong courage, confidence, power, authority, resources and supernatural ability to RECEIVE what belongs to us in Christ… our part is to stay in the Word and then to USE the courage, faith, boldness and confidence that has been given to us. We do all of this by the GRACE that has been bestowed upon us by Jesus!
Stay in the Word, be very courageous, and then, lay hold of what is rightfully yours in Christ, in Jesus Name!
In His amazing love, Nick
