A NEWSLETTER FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

VOLUME 2 NO. 4                                            March 13, 2005

“BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE”

BY STEVE NIEMEIER

When the Lord spoke to Joshua in the first chapter of Joshua He encouraged Joshua with the words “Be strong and of good courage.”  How comforting that must have been to Joshua.  Remember he was chosen to lead the people into the Promised Land after the great servant of the Lord, Moses had died.

Hardships come in many different sizes and shapes.  This hardship for Joshua was three fold.  First of all, he had to convince the people that he could lead them.  The Lord addressed that in Joshua 1:18.  Secondly, he faced the raging waters of the river Jordan.  The Lord addressed this in Joshua 3:9-17.  Thirdly, he had to lead the people against great odds to take the land the Lord had promised.  The remaining chapters of the Book of Joshua show us how the Lord addressed this issue.

We may not face the task of having to convince people to follow us over the raging waters of the Jordan River.  We most likely will not have to convince people to follow us into a land where we will face hostilities that threaten our life.  However, we will face hardships and dangers, disappointments and heartaches in our life here on earth.  The comforting words of God to Joshua should be in our thoughts and by living in total obedience to God's word we can lead others by our example through the tough times!

WHAT IS WRITTEN

BY STEVE NIEMEIER

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”  (John 20:30-31).

Reading this passage of scripture is proof enough that we have in the Word of God just what He wants us to have in order for us to believe and obey.  Many times we try to find more or we try to theorize about more that we need to know those things to have salvation!  Once we are willing to humble ourselves to the fact that we have all that God wants us to know, then we can concentrate on total obedience to what is written.