Jada Edwards - Women's Bible Study - Be Bold - Session 1

seconds so I'm gonna try to go really fast um what made me want to do this series Joshua is one of my favorite books and if you were here for our last series we talked about being thirsty and God meeting us where we were and our place of need and from that I was really thinking what do you do with that when you start to get on this path to figure out how you can meet God and your place of thirst and how it can draw you closer to him what do you do with that you know I think a lot of times we get a lot of information and sometimes some good revelation and solutions for our issues and we just walk away glad that we feel better or more equipped about whatever is happening in life but God does not give us solutions and revelation and insight and information and knowledge just so that we can acquire those things he does that so it can become an action a source of action a catalytic movement in our own life so we can be courageous and do something about it and so the Book of Joshua came into my mind and I started thinking about what does that really look like and I'm telling you everywhere you look the headlines I was um reading something I can't move what it was somebody might have sent it to me but I was reading some of the headlines about what courage looks like in our culture today and there are people who are you know courageously taking a stand for what they believe about the definition of the family there are people taking a stand about certain institutions that issue Awards and who are made I may not have been snubbed I mean we taken a stand for it okay there are people who are taking a stand for what's happening in our schools I mean some very legitimate very compelling issues there are people taking stands for all kinds of things right but but the thing about it is if courageousness without a calling is empty so so this is not about being courageous for courageous sake okay this is not about yelling whatever your passionate thing is from the mountaintop this is not about a movement or a cause but it's about your calling it's about figuring out what is thing that God wants me to be bold about because I promise you most of the things that we are choosing to be courageous about are choosing to like someone else's courage about when we stand before the Lord he's not gonna ask did you get nominated when we stand before the Lord he's not gonna ask did that school get fixed like you wanted it to and those might be great things in the here and now but they cannot be primary they can't take priority see what it means to be bold and courageous in Joshua 1 we're gonna get more into that chapter but in Joshua 1 three different times the Lord tells Joshua just be strong and courageous just be strong and courageous just be strong and courageous now what I've learned from my study of the Bible and what you'll learn very quickly is that when the Lord has given you an imperative when he's giving you a command or a direction it is because he knows your default will be the opposite of that thing he's saying I'm telling you to be strong and courageous because I know your tendency is going to be weak and fearful see those are the opposites of bold the word courageous they're actually means be bold go forward be resolute be fearless be audacious be daring when is the last time somebody said you weren't daring when's the last time when someone called you audacious say man ha well some of y'all probably had been caught audacious I mean in a good way not when they say how dare not like that but when they say man she is bold she's resolution easier lists nothing can shake her nothing can make her step falter that's the kind of boldness that God is talking about here in the book of Joshua the opposite of that is is where we naturally land if we don't intentionally pursue courageousness we land in timidity and fear and and weakness and uncertainty and we waver we get a little flaky sometimes and he's saying I need you to be bold and courageous so what we're gonna talk about is is not about shaping your personality if you're thinking we're all my introvert so how many introverts the shy ones oh it's more than y'all it's more than entering my shop heat within Georgia come on so so who say they to shadow raising I'm shot but I can't so this kind of boldness is not about personality type so so this is not an opportunity for excuse for you to say oh that's just not me or that's just not how I roll that's not my temperament that's not what we're talking about here because the boldness that is fueled by the Living God supersedes temperament and it supersedes past experience and it supersedes insecurities because it is driven by calling but it is infused with power so I don't want you to rely on your personality anyway that's probably the wrong kind of bold we want to rely on a divine sense of boldness so before we dive into Joshua I was all excited to get ready for Joshua chapter one and then I started reading and I was like man was a lot going on with Joshua before Joshua chapter 1 and so I like context and when you're doing Bible study just let me encourage you whatever you are in your study always pursue context don't don't ever take something out of context because you can make the Bible say anything you wanted to say if you don't look at it in context okay so before we dive into Joshua meeting his first opportunity as the the primary leader of Israel I want to back up a little bit and look at Joshua's life so before we get into Joshua chapter 1 tonight I simply want to talk about the building blocks of boldness what does it look like when God orchestrates our life so that we can be ready for the moment for the day for that opportune time when he says be strong and courageous because he doesn't do it out of context hidden away cue a body or dead sleep and say go be strong and courageous when God gives you a command there's always context now if you're if you're patient and if you're introspective and if you're reflecting if you're digging for what God is doing in your life whenever he gives you the command the gold the jump the leaf the step now if you think about it something was building up to that moment because God always does things in order he to set you up for success he don't want you to fail his glories on the line so he's gonna set you up so that you can best display his glory so let's look at a little bit of what God did to set up joshan was life so that he could be ready to receive this command to be strong and courageous what are some of these building blocks let me tell you a little bit about this Joshua then we're gonna discover over the next few weeks now Joshua just so you know very just from a basic Bible study one on one Joshua is the first historical book in the Old Testament it's the first book after the Pentateuch or the five books that Moses wrote just a big fancy where you tell somebody I'm gonna to tonight that Bible study and didn't mean anything but five and so five books so after Moses is five books Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers Deuteronomy then we have Joshua so now the the tone of the Old Testament has changed and Joshua is the first book that we see that's historical in nature and so it's basically divided I'm gonna save and divide it but it has two major themes running through it and one of that is a promise that has been made by God even in the garden where he told the enemy look you might bruise his heel be some bruising here he's given us a foreshadowing of Christ that's coming so it's a promise that was already made and it's also an encouragement for the promise that still yet to be fulfilled so obviously this book is not about Jesus but it's about the the journey from the first promise in the garden to the promise that will be later fulfilled in the next garden okay from the first Adam to the second Adam Joshua plays a very pivotal role in watching God's people move from promise - promise so our main character is Joshua and one of the things that I want to talk about real quick in these building blocks - boldness there is an idea in in the study of Scripture called the law of first mention somebody say first mention say first mention okay that's pretty intuitive it's the first time you mention something right so the law of first mention basically helps us to build context when we're studying someone when I look at Joshua chapter 1 unless that's the first time he's been mentioned then there's more to his story than what starts in Joshua chapter one so the law first mentioned doesn't necessarily mean the birth or the beginning it just means the first time something was notable enough to be recorded in the Bible and so Joshua was first mentioned as with most everybody else in the Bible tells us a lot about who he is and who he's going to become so I want you to look real quickly with me in Exodus chapter 17 Exodus chapter 17 and we're gonna look at 8 through 14 y'all better get your Old Testament spirit stir it up good stuff good stuff in Exodus Exodus chapter 17 and we're gonna start with verse 8 and read through 14 this is the first time we see Joshua come on the singing Exodus 17 8 says this then Emily came and fought with Israel at reffered him so Moses said to Joshua first mention choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand so the first time we see Joshua on the scene Moses is saying look go choose some men and fight Emily now this is not just any random statement because Moses is the president of Israel right he's the ruler of everything and so he is entrusting Joshua now to not only lead the people in battle but to choose his own men so even before we know who Joshua is we know that he's trustworthy he's been he's been chosen by his leader to lead his men in battle so he's got to have some kind of warrior skills or he's about to learn now and Moses is setting him up to fight a very big battle now Amalek just for history's sake he came from the line of esau and emmalin i met a Mallick is the father of the Amalekites who will later continue to persecute israel for generations and generations so this one's just a random battle this was a very significant battle where Amalek was gonna be leading a charge against Israel and Moses says Joshua you who nobody's heard of to this point I want you to choose these men I want you to go out and fight this battle and so we see a lot of Joshua's character already being revealed he's given authority and here's what happens further in verse 10 says so Joshua did as Moses told him I'm just gonna read that in so Oshawa did as Moses told him he didn't question Moses he did say Emma who uh you know I'm new at this do you have some tools for me how will all of this work Joshua did as Moses told him we already see a contrast between when Moses gave Joshua a command and when the Lord gave Moses a command y'all remember when the Lord told Moses to go in Egypt mm-hmm so so it takes a lot of trust and security to know that the person that you're sending out with authority and power is probably going to end up being a better leader than you probably gonna end up being a more significant leader in other ways than you and Moses says I want it to be you he's a young man just the son of a man named nun in you in who doesn't have any other mention in the Bible so doesn't have a whole lot of heritage and pedigree that we talked about but he's just faithful and so Moses gives him the power to go and set this battle against Amalek and here's what happens he doesn't just get to go fight any old battle against any old enemy this becomes a significant event not only in that as Joshua's first mentioned but it becomes historical in the history of Israel I'm gonna read this for you starting with verse 10 again so Joshua did as Moses told him and he fought Emily while Moses Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill whenever Moses held of his hand Israel prevailed and whenever he lowered his hand Amalek prevailed but Moses his hands grew weary so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it while Aaron and her held of his hands one on one side and one on the other so his hands were steady until the going down of the Sun and Joshua overwhelmed Emelec and his people with the sword verse 14 then the Lord said to Moses write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua now the Lord is saying wait a minute Moses this is gonna be your successor because I'm gonna give you a command and it's not just for you this time I want you to recite this in the ears of Joshua we see a foreshadowing of Joshua's role in the first story about him he says want you to recite this in the ears of Joshua that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven eventually Israel will have victory over the Amalekites and Moses builded all he built an altar and call the name of it the Lord is my banner Jehovah Nissi saying a hand upon the throne of the Lord the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation so in our introduction to Joshua we see somebody who is a victorious warrior who is a dedicated follower who has won the trust in the heart of his leader who is about to be the successor of his leader because the Lord is entrusting him with his prophetic commandment we also see tied to the first mention of Joshua the first mention of Jehovah Nissi so it's very important when God reveals a new aspects of his character to us and it is not coincidental that God chose to reveal himself as his banner at the same time he chose to reveal us to Joshua or Joshua to us so we see all of this because this is significant as we walk through the story of Joshua war and being a warrior and being victorious is gonna be critical to who he is so the fact that the Lord is his banner is gonna be defining to his story it's gonna be the key to his courage so these are the building blocks we we see that the first mention that happens with Joshua tells us all these amazing things so when you're thinking about what does it take god what will it take for me to be Bowe I'm tired of the mundane I'm tired of the routine if I die today will it just be more than my obligated family and friends that come to my funeral or will it be people who might not have even know me but they were impacted by people who knew me because I'm doing something so significant for your kingdom that if I were to leave here today somebody would feel my absence how do I get there first thing I want to ask you this should question I'm gonna give you some questions and some challenges throughout our our time together the first question is this is what you need to ask God over the next two weeks what is my first mention what is my first mention and that might not be and it probably won't be the day you were born this is about the first significant thing that God did in your story you might not even know it now he might have to bring it to your mind it might have been the day you got saved it might have been the day you understood your calling it might have been the day you had an encounter that changed you forever it might have been the day that you broke free from something that had been holding you what's your first mention and let me just encourage you before you think that we all need to be little Joshua it's and have this great great story because some of y'all are right in your like mine wouldn't like that it wouldn't when somebody said go fight the battle and I did great your first mention might not have been that great but that's okay because God uses that too I'm gonna tell you about a man named Saul because his first mention in the book of Acts he was a witness to the murder of a disciple of Jesus Christ that's in Chapter 7 and in chapter 8 we see that Paul continues to persecute the church but here's the beauty of it the first mention doesn't stop there see that doesn't break and bring him up later it's one long continuous story and soon as we go from learning that Saul was a persecutor of the church chapter nine says but then he became a preacher of Christ so his mention might not have started out that great it went from murder to a miraculous encounter he went from a persecutor of the church to a preacher of the gospel so doesn't matter how your story starts God will use it as significant and it will be the building block of your boldness because if you don't know what that is you will be shouting and making a lot of noise with something that never points back to what God has done in your life this is not just about a chant or a cheer this is about finding the thing that points back to what God has done in my life so I can then change the lives of others so maybe your first mention looks like Joshua and it was amazing and you came on the scene and he was saved at three and he was leading the choir at five and teaching Bible study by 10 and Co pastoring at 15 I don't know what your story was maybe it was more like song maybe you were against God for a while that made somebody really laugh maybe it was more like saw maybe you were against God for a little while but he didn't he didn't leave you to be he said i'ma find you while you're running away from me I'm gonna run after you and because I'm faster and stronger and quicker and divided and all that good stuff I'm gonna catch up with you and when I catch you you're gonna know that I've called you and I'm gonna change you and so when you write your story when you ask God what's the first significant thing you did in my life it might not start out beautiful but it can end up with some boldness what's your first mention so we look more at Joshua in his life and as we're finding him in the middle of these two promises remember I said the book is a lot about God giving us this promise in Genesis that Jesus was going to come and then the unfulfilled promise that Jesus is still yet to come well Joshua serves as a type of Christ I'll say type of Christ okay so he is just a pattern he has some similarities to the coming Messiah that's all type of Christ means and there are a few in the Bible but in in this particular instance Joshua serves as a type of Christ he starts to he's a tool an instrument that the Lord uses to begin to show people what this Messiah is gonna look like that he's gonna bring Joshua gives a taste of it you know Jesus he satisfies it so types of Christ just give us some patterns or they give us some pointers or some some foreshadowing to who Jesus is going to be for all of eternity so some of the things that make Joshua a type of Christ are also the building blocks to his boldness the first thing that makes Joshua a type of Christ in this particular story is that he was a servant now we know our God came to be a servant and even though he could have wiped out the face of the earth with just the thought he lived the life of a servant one of humility and we know just based on first mention that Joshua was a servant cuz Moses said go and Joshua said it's done I'm a servant so he was a servant in Joshua what was a notable servant he earned Moses his trust and so was we thinking about these building blocks the question for you is are you a good follower are you a good follower are you a good servant see bonus and courageousness is not about always being in the front as we get to the story of Joshua you will realize that Joshua chapter one is not the beginning of Joshua's story as we're talking about tonight he didn't just come up on the scene and he was the top guy he wasn't the head leader from day one Moses had to die before Joshua got his opportunity to lead that's a whole another part if I missed this next week the things I need to die so that you can walk in what God's called you to that's this next week don't get me started don't get me started but but but Joseph but Joshua was not the head leader for a majority of his story in the early years obviously he had to be under somebody and so when we're talking about building blocks the bonus yes he said my good follower a my good servant because God is not gonna give me the platform nor the words to be bold and courageous for him if he cannot trust me to be humble if he cannot trust me to submit to Authority so before you answer that question am i a good follower you have to ask who exactly is over me who leads me you might have a husband great or not he's your leader you might have a boss we talked about that a sheet music come to come to another event you might have a boss great or not he or she is your leader you probably have a ministry leader hopefully if you're not serving if you're serving if you're not we have cards for you you have a ministry leader he or she is an authority over you if you attend our church our pastor to a degree a much more indirect degree is an authority over you there might be all sources of authority that you probably don't even like that God has allowed in your life and and before you answer that question because you know if you ask it of yourself you pretty good follower I'm not gonna like myself you need to ask yourself if I were to ask this person in authority over me do you enjoy leading me then that's how you answer that question I know y'all like nevermind ya scratched it up you know think about that because it's so significant especially when you look at the life of Christ and Joshua we're talking about him being a type of Christ you look at the life of Christ and you see that he constantly some himself to even the foolish authority of this earth he constantly submitted himself to authority so you have to ask yourself am i a good follower the second thing that tells us that Joshua was a type of Christ is that he had an experience of 40 days and 40 nights alone just like Jesus did so we learn more about his story in Exodus 24 God calls Moses up to the mountain to to get the commandments and write on the tablets and get the law to go and struck the people this was the same story and we talked about a little bit in our third series where during that experience the people went down because they needed to worship something and they built the calf and all the foolishness well in between that time God calls Moses up to the mountain Moses says Joshua I want you to come with me he calls Joshua with him on this journey except where they get up to the mountain and Moses is like okay you can you can stay right here cuz then me and God got to do some business that's just gonna be one-on-one time so for 40 days and 40 nights Joshua was between the the mountaintop experience that Moses was having and the valley foolishness that the Israelites were acting out here's the thing there's gonna be tests in your life and if you haven't had them you're gonna be courageous about yet because the courage and the bonus comes after you've passed the test after God has held you in what feels like limbo and you're like why am I not at the mountaintop I mean I've grown further than the valley but I feel like I'll be this in-between place God when will it be over and he says when I say it's gonna be over because just like in Matthew 4 the Spirit will lead you into the test so only the spirit can lead you out so if you want to be bold you have to ask yourself did I pass my last test what did I do the last time God isolated me maybe put me in limbo and had me in this in-between place and really it wasn't for my frustration it was for my intimacy because in those places I am so in tune with the presence of God I don't have anything to distract me all I have is him all I have is his word all I have is his truth but what am I gonna do with it because that becomes a building block when he says be strong and courageous see then I can call about that call myself back to that test and when time gets hard I can say no no I've already been through this I already know that God is faithful I know that God is able I won't be afraid I want to be weak I won't fall into routine I won't do what everybody else is expecting me to do I can be bold and courageous because me and God have had some time together so it makes Joshua a type of Christ but it's a question for us what did I do that last time God allowed me to be in this test did I pass my last test what did I do the last time it was just me and God in His presence when I was in that in-between place did I prove faithful because we all know what happens when we don't pass the test right re test right and sometimes we get spiritually like well you know I'm just going through this for somebody somebody need no no it's for you he's like no as for you because the last 17 times you found a way to get out of it or to go around or try to short-circuit he says no he's for you it's the lesson that we're still trying to learn it's important to ask myself that question what did I do the last time I was tested number three how do I know Joshua is a type of Christ he was a successor to Moses he was the one who followed Moses and that is also what Jesus came to do he says in John 1:17 he says the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ so he also couldn't considers himself a successor of Moses because he fulfilled the law and they introduced a grace to us I mean somebody say Amen for grace and if you're not sure just go read about three laws and then you'll have a Amen in your spirit for grace number four Joshua had clean character this is another way we know we see him as a type of Christ he had clean character and we talked about this a little bit in his first mention because his story sounds amazing sounds like a movie this guy comes on the scene he wins Wars miracles happened hands up upheld and the bad was won and hobos my banner all these amazing things but but in contrast to Moses Joshua actually had a very upstanding character now Moses on the other hand like I see had every right to be a little insecure because Moses even when he was a young prince committed murder even before he got out of Egypt and the Energy Committee murder he ran from God and then after he ran from God got found by God even in the wilderness he didn't believe God and so he was gonna never see the Promised Land now Moses was great don't get me wrong but one of his areas of alignment was not character he had some issues but a man that guy can use this because some of us are more like Moses than Joseph right so Joseph had a head clean character and this was one of the things I made another type of Christ but it also is a building block to our bonus and and if your character if there is a crack in your character in your private place you see the crack in the public place it will be a chasm do you hear what I'm saying if there is just a slither a hint of something that there's it's looking misaligned with what God has called us to do or his will his word is truth it will blow up in your face when God gives you a position of influence when he gives you an audience to be bold and courageous in front of I'm not trying to scare you into perfectionism I'm trying to encourage you into the pursuit of holiness so our character can't take a backseat to our courageousness I can't say I'm ready to do great things for God but don't touch that area over there I still like him that don't work I'm ready to do great things for God but I need to make X amount of figures so I'm still gonna keep this job so God what can you do when I'm off what can you do on the weekends Lord cuz I'm not trying I can't quit my job right because we have sometimes some things in our character that are clinging just to some stuff that we need to let go of and if you want to be bold and courageous one of the building blocks is having a clean character and it might not be cleaned today you might not be on the right path today but it is never too late to allow God to come in and scrub our hearts that doesn't mean you're gonna be cured and fixed overnight but it means you have to be in pursuit of the hidden things y'all limitation obscurity it's a beautiful place when nobody knows who you are it's a beautiful place so before you run into the light of boldness forget your character together because once you get out there you are out there do you hear me let me tell you before we started our church well when we first started and everybody could fit you know on the stage my one of my issues is I can be so many which one will I pick one of my issues is that that if I'm in a zone or in a task oriented mode I can be harsh emotionally distant kind of disconnect no Amiens anybody in here just does being transparent trying to make this a safe place so I can be I can be harsh right if it's Sunday and I know you and we're serving a ministry together it's kind of like let's keep it moving why is this not hearing why this wrong got it out of that now if you're visiting I guess like a morning welcome to one I have to do this because if I don't y'all let me like she is crazy she's a little bit rude then as I get to know you my tests don't start oh good morning its Leahey did you get did you get sex that's done right well when you have a small circle of friends are you kind of just live in a I want to say obscure but just a normal kind of life that thing might rub some people wrong every now and then and you find yourself apologizing but when you're in front of a whole lot of people all the time do you all know how many times I have a meeting to apologize about something that I did or said and it's not their fault it's because if I don't keep my awareness super super high of that character issue what was just a crevice and a crack amongst my close friends cuz they know that's just how Jada is it becomes a chasm when God is saying I need to be able to use you but you cannot fall back on the fact that that's just who you are you have got to press through that because it is not worth offending someone someone can't hear from you someone's feelings get hurt and you can't represent me well just because you're in the zone y'all know what I'm talking about so so character is not just gonna be moral seeing and addiction and things like that it's those things that probably at this point in your life you've just said that's who I am and God is saying yes but that's not who you gonna stay not if not if you want to be bold for me you you have got to start to take a fine-toothed divine comb through your character because there are things that you have overlooked because you're like well I'm not doing the big six I'm not doing the big eight whatever you think are the big sins and God is saying look people will be turned off from you people will miss whatever ministry I have through you and it might not be because you haven't sex before marriage it might just be because you're kind of rude people will miss whatever gifting I've given you and then matter how great you frame it and craft it they will miss all of that just because you're kind of prideful or you hold grudges or you don't know how to be warm you don't know how to apologize you don't follow it the room you have integrity you say you're gonna do something you don't do it it could be so many subtle things in our character that make our courageousness in vain if it's not built on solid character if it's not built on solid character and here's what you gotta know sometimes those forty days and forty nights or sometimes those forty years in the wilderness don't despise the wilderness coz God is building character do not despise the wilderness God will bring you to the place of promise in his perfect timing don't try to run to the promise make a fool of yourself because your character is sketchy be alright in the wilderness I'll take my daily manna and keep it moving until God says otherwise so it makes Joshua a type of Christ but it's also a building block for us he was a servant he had an experience a test that he had to pass he was a successor of Moses he had clean character also the designation of his name y'all you know Joshua in numbers 13 he received a new designation of his name Moses went from calling him Hosea to Joshua so he said your name is no longer Hosea but its Yahshua it's Joshua which simply means goddess on starvation do you know what other name means God is our salvation Jesus Joshua means the same thing as Jesus and so you have this moment where where God through Moses is renaming Joshua just like Saul and Paul there's a lot of times that that we see a name change and so not only does that make Joshua a type of Christ it becomes a building but for us because the question here is do you know your new name the question here is do you know your new name because if you don't know it and you start shouting from the mountaintops with all your boldest and courageousness the wrong person is gonna get the credit and God is saying no no no I don't want them to point back to you I want them to point back to the new you how I've changed you how I've renamed you see when I was younger and growing up and I got those report cards that said look she talks too much she bothers folks in class she doesn't use time wisely and my mother was like will you the people alone and I was like but I'm done with my work why is everybody so quiet why can't we talk so I was always a talker but at some point God turned me from a talker to a teacher and those are two very different things now I always had a lot of words that that's not new for me I always had too many words my mother would tell you again as a young child introducing myself to strangers sharing vital information they didn't need to know always I was that child how are you doing my name is Jayden a Coburn average with a 5.3 man look my phone number well it was like time time stranger danger we're talking to everybody if you've got extroverted kids and you were that kid you know what I'm talking about just talk to everybody and you see those kids in the store they three they like hey how you doing my name is you like okay yeah I mean they they want to engage and I was that kid so words was never an issue but that at some point God said instead of just words I want to change that for wisdom okay so he he called me a teacher and he called me wise not because I'm wise because he's giving me that as a spiritual gift and I know but they I stopped leaning on him and think I'm smart he will make a fool of me in Jesus name so I have to know what you're called you have to know what your new name is because in that when I can be bold for God's it's not cuz I'm a talker is because God has called me to be a teacher it's because I have a new name in my mind and so when somebody says man y'all's ministry I'm like oh let me tell you about it it's not Jaden Conway it's not Jaden Conway its teacher and leader it's wisdom and pastor it's communicator and Shepherd these are the new things that God has called us to they become the building blocks of my bonus if you don't know anything other than your birth certificate name you got some investigating to do because that name is not relevant God has changed your name he changed it before you got saved but at Salvation you should have become aware of and if you're not sure you got to ask yourself that question what is my new name how do I walk in that because that's what God is gonna feel your strength and your boldness as you walk in the name that he's given you he's not gonna feel your strength because you trying to walk in executive because you're trying to walk in wife and you just think that my whole life is built toward getting married then you get married you're like oh let me sign up for sheet music cuz if any what I thought it was gonna be okay y'all let somebody know okay you know you just your life can just be this funnel that you create toward this certain status towards this certain name I want missus I want doctor I want MD I want Esquire I want whatever after my name and goddess says but that if that's not what I've called you to you want to find your own courage for that cuz when I give you courage they're gonna be what I called you to and that's why we finish all of these accomplishments and great schools and great experiences and we tie it and then don't have like what we educated to do because that's not really where we were that's another that's another message that's another message but the point is you need to know what your divine name is God has given you a divine name and it is your calling and your gifting and your story and your preciousness and your uniqueness and a name that he's giving you and it is going to be one of the building blocks of your boldness for him not only did Joshua have an intentional divine designation of his name he had a divine calling says he was a man who was in whom was the spirit now the Holy Spirit is not mentioned a lot in the Old Testament so you got to be special if God is saying I need you to know that the spirit was in this meaning in numbers 27 verse 16 through 20 and numbers 27 he says Joshua was a man who was in the spirit not only was he in the spirit it says he was a commander and leader of his people and we know that Jesus was the leader of his people even though he did it from a servant standpoint Joshua was the commander and the leader of his people he led them at Jericho he led them against many different groups that have enemies that fell before him and the question here is where do you have command or influence where has God given you influence that's your question where has God given you influence because ladies best gonna be the place of your bonus don't don't try to be in somebody else's territory when God has already given you a unique place of influence and you might not want that place cuz it's not as glamorous as you thought it was gonna be but that's the place where he is going to empower you the place that he is going to endow you and infuse strength and boldness and courage into you you you can waste your time trying to invade somebody else's territory and it will not go well for you go the places that God says go you can be a leader and a commander of the calling that God has given you Joshua was a commander and leader of his people but he wasn't rying to lead everybody's people he was trying to lead his people and he wasn't trying to fight every battle he was trying to fight the battles that God led him into because that is where victory is certain so why do we take on battles wondering if we can win when God has already said if you fight this one I'm gonna be for you in a victory is guaranteed do you know where you have influence ask that question where do I have influence that's the building block to our boldness the last couple is that Joshua had a Jordan River experience now say Jordan River here I've been to the Jordan River it's a anti-climatic it's dirty I mean we went and I was in Israel and you know you kind of in the spiritual mode and they're like oh oh coming to the Jordan we put love you look in you just waiting on the light from him I'm waiting on the Dove and I got out and they were like well if you want to be baptized in the Jordan oh I've been baptized in chlorinated baptistry water it was awesome it wasn't anything amazing to look at okay but the Jordan has a symbol also in the Bible and the Jordan symbolizes this idea of passing from life to death okay so in the book of Joshua we're gonna learn that at some point he had to lead people across the Jordan from from from in a significant passing where he had to take the presence of God with him and it was not coincidental that Jesus was baptized also in the River Jordan so it's not just about the place but the Jordan experience connects them it makes Joshua a type of Christ and it begs the question for us have we made the choice to cross over have I had my Jordan experience and that might happen a couple of times in our life because first of all you have to be a believer and I'm not gonna assume I never presumed that everybody in church is a believer it's more than an altar experience is more than a recited prayer it is it is an encounter with the Most High God where you come to your knees at some point and say I cannot do this by myself whatever I have been doing has not been working God I need you to come and rescue me so that Jordan experienced that cross over experience is significant and then there's another one where usually at some point later on in our salvation we start to realize our calling that the test of faith that God has called us to like he did with Joshua because when we do that when we make that decision to cross over from the old land of self security to the promised land where we have to rest on God's faith that's when we see the presence of God in the book of Joshua with the presence of God was in the Ark of the Covenant and we'll talk more about that story in Matthew it was the Dove that descended upon Jesus because I'm pleased with you you're showing what it means to make that cross over - to make that change and so if you're gonna be bold for Christ you have to ask yourself have I had my Jordan experience be honest do I really know the Lord as Savior not going through the motions no matter how many Bible F's I have and how long I've been in church and that my grandfather was a preacher do I really know the Lord as Savior and then secondly have I crossed over from my own self-sufficient life to try to figure out what in the world God also do with me since he left me here on earth have you had a Jordan experience lastly what makes Joshua a type of Christ is that he brought faith to the unlikely when we get to Joshua chapter 2 and we learned the story of Rahab the harlot you'll see all of these beautiful exchanges where without a second thought the most unlikely woman starts to engage in encounter encounters and starts to engage with these men of faith and it changes her life and it changes the legacy of Israel what Jesus did the same thing not just the woman at the well and not just the tax payers and not just the Samara not just the woman with the issue of blood but over and over again with people groups Jesus found himself presenting faith to the least likely not the Jews only but also to the Gentiles and so if you want to have a building block if you want to build on this boldness and start to lay a foundation for that you might have to look in unlikely places you might have to say God what is it that you have for me your main calling might not be in these four walls he may put you in a place of darkness so that your light really shines he may put you among the blandest experience that your salt really adds flavor that didn't preclude it's not mutually exclusive with serving in your local church but oftentimes our calling is in places that we would least expect he's not calling you to resave Christians on Sunday he's not he's not in it's great and we need to be here cuz we need to get recharged we need to meet people who are coming to experience God and need encouragement the body of believers needs to gather all of that absolutely does not need to change but where God is calling you you will probably be surrounded by people who do not think like you that is why he's gonna have to tell you be strong and courageous because they're gonna look at you crazy be strong and courageous because they will not agree with you be strong and courageous because they might stop inviting you be strong and courageous because they might care you out be strong and courageous they're gonna say you're not loving be strong and courageous they're gonna say that you're a hypocrite be strong and courageous they're gonna question why you give so much of yourself to it be strong and courageous in the least likely places this is the building block of our boldness and so as we wrap up our time tonight I want you to think about three major categories that all these fall into these building blocks number one and being a follower of Jesus Christ having had an encounter with him in his presence not just for salvation but for the sanctification journey for our calling so the challenge with that being a follower of Jesus Christ and making sure we've had that experience so we can understand what he's called us to you're a challenge you have three challenges tonight this is the first one number one which hopefully you're already doing if you're doing our great essential questions reading get along with God for 30 minutes at least three days over the next two weeks get along with God for 30 minutes at least three days per week over the next two weeks now some of y'all I know y'all tarry in the mornings and y'all got some 40m prayer lines and y'all just up on your face before God but some of us hour hour and a half of God is on Sunday and we tell the truth and we want God to take something and just destroy that thing up so Sunday just last into the next time we come you know we just wanted to be rich and you're like well I was quiet in church you know with the Lord you like no no unhurried alone time 30 minutes and I'm just saying 30 minutes because that's just an average time if you know this is brand-new absolutely foreign to you just try five minutes it's okay you're not less holy okay so it's about the effort it's about the pursuit of God okay it's not about at the end of the day he's not gonna say everybody clock your hours who had the most we had the most I was in Bible study because a lot of us have a lot of hours and Bible said there's no fruit so you know I read the five powerful life-changing minutes then a whole study on the book of Revelation and you still rude mr. boy okay so I know that you're free millennial but you got a stank attitude you know so you know man don't worry about that start with your 30 minutes and maybe it's five maybe it's 10 maybe 15 maybe you grow up to 30 maybe you're already at 30 and you won't start with 45 whatever it might be now for a lot of us before we can start our time we have to ask God where is that time if you lead a busy life you need to ask him where is that time and you will be amazed how he shows you when the turn some TV off and log out of Facebook and just stay up a few more minutes and you thought you was sleeping but you had time to clean that up or rearrange your drawers you could have been with me so he will show you what your time is so 30 minutes three days a week for the next two weeks until we get together again number two setting the foundation of character man we talked about having a clean character a servant's heart that test tells 40 days what that experience is like so your second challenge under the character building block is asking God to show you the things that are weakening your character oh no I'm gonna do two 30 minutes look it's not pick a challenge you have to do all the challenges you know my new to 30 minutes ask God show me the thing now some of y'all look here when we have the Holy Spirit us as you're writing you'd already know the thing you know I'm saying but you just want to write it out anyway Lord what could be what could possibly be impacting my heart for you he's got names and behaviors and things already popping in I mean that's not from that Lord what else what else could it be can we start with something else so ask God what are the things that are weakening your character now y'all here's the beauty of God if he knows that snatch knows things for you cold turkey will kill you or that you're gonna fail and say he's not gonna do that he's gonna just start to show you and change your heart and and in in his in his sovereignty he will orchestrate situations that keep those things that way from you even if you pursue them if you really say I want to be changed let me tell you so so just won't be home anymore you never reach someone so the guy was like wow I thought you were gonna stop calling so I had to make sure yeah won't he do it y'all know he'll do it some of y'all right now like I need her back from that's because you won't stop texting the caller so I just said let me make that person unavailable okay so if you are willing and you said god I want to invite you into the things that are weakening of my character trust me he just needs a willing heart because he will do it you got to respond to it but he will do it so being a follower of Christ we've got our alone time with God challenge our second challenge asking God to show us the things that are weakening our character and if you feeling super courageous then say God will you help me with a plan for destruction of the things that are tearing down my character I didn't say a plan to dilute the things just do it a little less you have got to utterly destroy the things that are weakening your character and lastly find your calling no your new name so our third challenge is get on your path to purpose and that's a very broad thing so here are some things that you can do to do that you might want to begin by asking God what's my first mention what would be the beginning of my story if I needed to write it down what have been the significant highs and lows in my life good and bad the people that encouraged me the people that hurt me whatever it might be what are the things that make me cry this issue in the world in the spiritual lives of people if it doesn't get fixed if I can't put my hands in if I can't contribute this would break my heart asking God those questions about purpose and passion and you might just have to think about it over the next two weeks because it may take a little while but you want to get on the path you're not gonna get it if you're not trying to be on it so so if you want to be courageous you got to be courageous for a reason and your passion and your calling that's the reason ask him God what's my new name what am I missing why am I so concerned with the name I've made for myself and not the one you've given me divinely asked God that so get along with God over the next two weeks ask God to search your heart and begin to show you the weaknesses in your character and talk to him about what your purpose is and what your calling is because ladies we are talking about living lives that are not ordinary we're talking about a boldness that when people encounter us they see the Living God in action that they have no doubt that God is on the move in doing something powerful not just in our lives but through us so that we can change the world do you want to be world changers you can be a world changer it doesn't matter if you are unmarried single mom married mom it doesn't matter who you are working in the home outside the home still in school a student God has called you to be strong and courageous he's called you to be bold not to be dull not to be afraid not to be timid not to be insecure not to be shameful or guilt written but to be bold and courageous and fearless and audacious and daring and resolute and certain in what he's called you to and I believe that we can do it I believe he's gonna use this study and our group to do something miraculous not only in our individual lives but in our community he's gonna do it do you believe that tonight amen amen want to pray for us I'm gonna pray I'm gonna pray for us I want to thank you so much for coming tonight next time together we are going to dive into Joshua chapter 1 I want you to review your building blocks and it'll put everything in context bring a friend I want to pack out this place where women's Bible study I'm so excited so excited so I want to pray for us and just invite God into our next few weeks together god I thank you I thank you I thank you that you were the God of courage and you were the God of boldness and we don't have to conjure it up we don't have to have a certain personality we don't have to psych ourselves up or pump ourselves up because when we pursue the divine calling that you've given us God you will endow us you will empower us you will infuse us with the boldness and the courage that we need so I pray right now God that wherever the enemy might be strategizing wherever he might be planning that you would just make us wise to his plans to continue to demolish and weaken our character to continue to push off our pursuit of purpose and said we can do that next year we can do it another time will you give us a sense of urgency god I just pray right now in Jesus name that every daughter in this room would make a commitment tonight that life will not be the same that we will be bold we will be strong we will be courageous in the name of Jesus amen and amen

Channel: One Community Church

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Length: 55min 2sec (3302 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 01 2016