Word of the Day (10-31-11)

Good Morning Everyone

Today is Monday October 31, 2011

The word of the day comes from Joshua 1:6-9 New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. ⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

My Interpretation

The line be strong and courageous is referenced 3 times in these 3 scriptures meaning there is a lot of significance in these words that requires us to look a little deeper into what they mean.

The following definitions were taken from Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and Logos software word study. The word strong according to Logos is to repair, strengthen, hold, seize, and encourage. According to MWCD it is showing power to resist or endure; may imply power derived from muscular vigor, large size, structural soundness, intellectual or spiritual resources. I wanted to go a step further in my definition so I looked up the following synonym words: stout, sturdy, stalwart, tough, and tenacious to give us a grander scope.

Stout suggests an ability to endure stress, pain or hard use without giving away.

Sturdy implies strength derived from vigorous growth, determination of spirit, solidity of construction.

Stalwart suggests an unshakable dependability.

Tough implies great firmness and resiliency.

Tenacious suggests strength in seizing, retaining, clinging to, or holding together.

Now let’s do the same for courageous. Courageous comes from the root word courage which according to Logos is strong, firm, mighty, secure, harden, and hurried. According to MWCD it means mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. Courage implies firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty. Again I wanted to go a step further in my definition and understanding of what God wanted so I looked up the following synonym words: mettle, spirit, resolution, and tenacity to give us a grander scope.

Mettle suggests an ingrained capacity for meeting strain or difficulty with fortitude and resilience.

Spirit suggests a quality of temperament enabling one to hold’s one own or keep up one’s morale when opposed or threatened.

Resolution stresses firm determination to achieve one’s end.

Tenacity adds to resolution implications of stubborn persistence and unwillingness to admit defeat.

I also wanted to look up the definition of Be in which there are 4 distinct components that go to make up the modern English verb be. The infinitive form be comes ultimately from an Indo-European base *bheu, *bhu- which also produced by other roots, future and physical. Its Germanic descendant was *bu- which signified on the one hand ‘dwell’ and on the other hand ‘grow, become,’ which led to its adoption as part of the verb expressing ‘being’. (In Old English particularly with the future sense of ‘coming to be.’)

Now there is a reason to look these up because there seem to be 3 distinct reasons that God is telling Joshua to be strong and courageous. First, as a leader that is going to lead people to their promise land as we discussed earlier, you will need plenty of strength and courage. The second thing I see is that there needs to be a greater emphasis on study time and preparation time with God in order to accomplish that which he asked. Thirdly, God has plans to send you into areas in which you may not be comfortable, familiar or feel inadequate or incapable but God wants you to know that He is with you and that you should be strong and of good courage (these 3 in particular we can spend more time on studying individually because they truly are there own lessons but for the sake of length this is simply a quick overview).

It is very important to realize the necessity in the study time needed with God. We have to study to show ourselves approved. We can’t think that we can charm, talent, gift, anoint our way into the promises of God without the education to back it. I remember reading that Martin Luther King Jr. stated that he got up 3 hours early everyday to spend time with God. His reasoning was that God had a huge assignment for him, one that he couldn’t afford not to be in the presence of God beforehand to accomplish. And we all know the results that his time spent with God had on this world. Can we imagine what our lives would be and the impact we could have in this world if we took the same mindset and diligence?

In just looking at these definitions: in be strong and courageous God is really saying I need you to BE (become to grow into being) STRONG (to show power to resist or endure, have an unshakable dependability, great firmness and resiliency, strength in seizing and holding things together, and determination of spirit) and COURAGEOUS (to have mental and moral strength, ingrained capacity to meet strain or difficult times with resilience=don’t give up in hard times, and ability to stay morale self controlled when tempted or pushed to the limit, to not allow setbacks to stop you from reaching your determined end and have a stubborn persistence and unwillingness to admit defeat). Seeing this definition, God is telling us as He told Joshua He needs us to BE STRONG & COURAGEOUS. Will you accept the challenge?

Have a wonderful, blessed, productive, stress free day!