Joshua : Strong & Courageous // Giants

Joshua : Strong & Courageous // Giants

2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

1. The GIANT named “PAYMENT”, not the one named “POSSESSION” 

Numbers 13:1-3 NIV 

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 

Numbers 13:26-27 NIV 

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 

2. The GIANT named “PESSIMISM”, not the one named “POSSIBILITY” 

Pessimism: the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, and problems 

Numbers 13:27-28; 31-33 NIV 

27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. 

Numbers 13:28,33b NIV 

28 "...the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large 33… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them!" 

Numbers 13:30 NIV 

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 

3. The GIANT named “PANIC”, not the one named “POISE” 

Numbers 14:1-4 NIV 

1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 

Numbers 14:6-9 NIV 

6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” 

Questions: 

1. Has there ever been a time in your life where you believed you had to pay a penance of some kind to be accepted by God? How did that impact your view of Him? 

2. Pessimism always starves faith in the Believer. Have you ever experienced this reality in your own life? How have you been able to manage the “giant of pessimism” in your walk with the Lord? 

3. Panic leads to irrational thoughts which leads to dangerous decisions. What are two strategies you use to combat panic in your life?