Well, hey there. Welcome to this episode of the podcast. On the show, I am pretty dialed on the singular focus of getting the promises of God into the people of God. We should know what God has promised and we ought to live as if we not only know, but believe His promises. He meant what He said and He said what He meant. The word of God is living and active, it says in Hebrews 4:12 - and I truly believe there is no reason that it shouldn’t be alive and active in your life, in the lives of all who are d...
Well, hey there. Welcome to this episode of the podcast. On the show, I am pretty dialed on the singular focus of getting the promises of God into the people of God. We should know what God has promised and we ought to live as if we not only know, but believe His promises. He meant what He said and He said what He meant. The word of God is living and active, it says in Hebrews 4:12 - and I truly believe there is no reason that it shouldn’t be alive and active in your life, in the lives of all who are disciples of the Lord Jesus.
The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 156. Let’s dig into the book of Joshua and discover what God has promised His people.
The Old Testament book of Joshua really is a critical portion of scripture that believers should read. If you’ve never read it, maybe you began a Bible reading plan on more than one occasion, made a New Year resolution to read through the Bible in one year, and you got sort of stuck somewhere in the first few books of the Bible, and never got to the book of Joshua, which is the sixth book in the Bible - well, I can tell you that you’ll find so much in Joshua. Are you wondering what Biblical womanhood looks like, as in what took place in the Bible? There are some women in Joshua that you can look at and sort of be prepared for maybe a bit of a different picture than you may currently have of Biblical womanhood. A while back on social media I saw an image with a skull and a large spike type thing driven through the skull, and it was drawn like a cartoon so not overly graphic, let me clarify, it wasn’t like gorey, just a cartoon image, and the verbiage was “Biblical womanhood”. That’s straight out of Joshua. Got a couple of women in this book who were heroic, they did valiantly, they exhibited wisdom and bravery and they did some things that were for certain a tremendous blessing to their people. So, maybe consider reading through this book if you never have. It’s really encouraging and also has some very honest reality check moments that are good for all of God’s people to know about. Pitfalls, and the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, it’s all in this book of the Bible. It’s very real, our Bible, and not all sugar coated. One of the reasons we can trust that God isn’t hiding things from us is because His book, the Bible, doesn’t hide anything. As it was, that’s how it’s put down on paper. Not prettied up and made palatable. Raw in its honesty. That should cause us to trust Him all the more, His willingness to tell it as it was. And when, in your life and in mine, He tells it like it is, that may just be the most loving thing He can do in that moment. Just some food for thought.
As we work our way through the Bible and look at God’s promises throughout, we’re going to look at a couple of verses from Joshua. And I’m going to hit the biggie first, right off the bat, then circle back to the second promise that I’m hoping will be an encouragement for you (even though we will look at chapter 21 first and then hop back to the beginning of this book…kind of going backwards today, you might say).
Joshua 21:45, from the NLT and the AMP
Not a single one of all the good promises that the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.
Not one of the good promises which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.
The CSB says, Everything was fulfilled. Young’s Literal says, the whole hath come.
Now I know that not everyone loves words the way that I do. I read a fair bit, probably averaging 5-7 books a month that I finish, and I have several that I am sort of always reading. I’m always reading the Bible, and books like Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style or E.M. Bounds On Prayer, A.E.W. Mason’s The Four Feathers…books I’m always sort of flipping my way through, re-reading for the umpteenth time. But even if you don’t love words like I do, you might still appreciate the tones in these varied translations. All had come to pass. Isn’t that lovely? Everything was fulfilled. Uh, if that doesn’t spark hope, then what will? The whole hath come.That is the end result, the final outcome, for you in regard to all that which God has promised.
While God most certainly does call us to obedience and to faith, He doesn’t leave us holding the bag when it comes to His promises. It’s not on our shoulders to make the impossible come to pass, and we sure don’t need to help God out in order for His will to come to pass. Joshua 21:45 is a reminder that He finishes what He starts, and that He keeps all of His promises. And it also reminds us that His promises to His people are good. Not a single one of all the good promises that the Lord had given them was left unfulfilled. Not one of His good promises to them failed.
He is unfailing, this God of ours. The whole hath come. That may not be your reality in this moment, but it will be your reality one day. How can I say that with such assurance? Because I know the One in whom I believe, the One to whom I have entrusted so very much, the One who kept every good promise He made to the family of Israel, will He not also keep every good promise He has made to the bride of Christ? He will. Everything will be fulfilled, every promise will come true, all will come to pass, and the whole will come. For you. You know that saying, do not doubt in the dark what God told you in the light? Well, it’s great counsel. So don’t. Don’t doubt. Kick doubt to the curb. Put it on the trash heap and set it ablaze, burn it to ash, and then bury the ashes if you need to. Get serious about refusing to let doubt have room in your life, in your heart and mind. It’s toxic, it’s like poison, and you’d never want your child to ingest poison day after day, would you? And likewise, your Father does not want you ingesting toxic and poisonous doubt. Doubt is a dream killer, a relationship killer, a health killer, a faith killer, a hope killer, a peace stealer, and doubt has certainly wrecked homes, damaged families, forced people to give up on their goals, turn on one another, and left so much carnage in its wake. It really isn’t to be placated or tolerated. When it comes to doubt, give it no place in your life because it is up to no good, especially when it comes to the Lord. Doubt and Jesus are two words that do not belong in the same sentence, you might say. Unless your sentence is declaring Jesus the King and doubt as dead in His Kingdom.
Not one word of promise failed.
Not one word of promise will ever fail.
You know what I’m about to say, because I’ve said it so many times before…God is a perfect promise maker and a perfect promise keeper. He leaves nothing undone or half done. Perfection is how He operates. Not one word of promise to you will ever fail.
I’m going to hop back to Joshua chapter one and share a promise with you that is something of a glimpse into the heart of God for His people, I think. Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3 and I’ll read this passage from the Amplified.
Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant (attendant), saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise (to take his place), cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised to Moses.”
Very clear instructions were given. The people knew that God had placed Joshua in the leadership position, taking his place it says here, and they were now to cross over this Jordan into the land God was giving to them, to all the children of Israel.
And verse 3, I will read that again.
Does anything from these three verses jump out at you today? Like, wowza, the Lord is encouraging me! He is speaking to my heart. He is showing me something! And maybe, He is calling you to do something. To cross over some Jordan into the land of promise. Do you need to take a step or two or ten or a thousand to finish the walk into that place? If so, don’t delay. Just get busy walking! It’s kind of like God is just walking us home, in a way, and no I’m not saying if you cross whatever Jordan God may be asking you to cross that means you’ll be going home to be with Jesus super duper soon. I mean, we need to walk with Him and keep walking with Him, yoked to Jesus since His burden is light and easy. And when we are yoked to Him, we aren’t running away from Him, rushing ahead, or lagging behind because we are attached at the hip, ya know? So we are simply taking the next step and then the next one with Him, and it is a lovely way to walk out our days since His yoke is easy and His burden is light. You can hear Him speak to you, and He won’t have to shout to get your attention, because you are right next to Him, walking in step with Him, doing the things He preordained for you to do, as it says in Ephesians. And what happens when we walk with the Lord where the Lord wants us to go? He gives to us the things He wants us to have, and every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, it says in the book of James. Where He leads, your foot will tread. And where it treads, when it is at His leading, under His authority and lordship, is the place of promise for you.
There are so many promises in Joshua, I cannot share them all in this episode. And since this is a series of finding promises in each book of the Bible, I can’t right now do several episodes on this book but I can close out this episode by reading a few more promises in the hope that you will be encouraged and filled with renewed faith and hope in your own personal daily walk with the Lord.
Chapter one, verse 5 “No man will be able to stand before you to oppose you as long as you live. Just as I was present with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.”
Verse 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God is giving you rest and will give you this land.”
Chapter 4, verse 22 Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
Chapter 5 verse 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This is the day I have rolled away the reproach (derision, ridicule) of Egypt from you.”
Chapter 5 verse 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the Israelites no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.
Thanks so much for joining me today to examine God’s good promises to the people who bear His name, whom He loves very much. It’s a blessing to talk about God’s word and His promises and I’m thankful for the fact that you’re listening today. You can also check out my new-ish podcast, and I’ll put a link to that in the show notes, and hey, if this episode encouraged you, would you share it with a friend or share about the show? And keep standing firmly on the solid rock of Christ Jesus, believing the promises in the Bible, because they are yours, my friend!
