{"id":98161,"date":"2026-09-23T16:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T21:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=98161"},"modified":"2026-09-23T16:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T21:23:23","slug":"courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go<\/em>&#8221; (Joshua 1:9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Joshua 1 opens with a major transition. Moses is gone, and Joshua now carries the weight of leading Israel into the land they&#8217;ve waited for for decades. Joshua 1:9 isn&#8217;t just a motivational line; it&#8217;s God&#8217;s direct command to a man stepping into a role that probably felt overwhelming. Joshua wasn&#8217;t told to be courageous because he naturally was; he was told to be courageous because obedience would require it.<\/p>\n<p>The context matters. Joshua had already spent years watching Israel&#8217;s inconsistency, complaints, fear, and rebellion. Now he&#8217;s responsible for guiding them into battles, distributing land, and enforcing God&#8217;s law. Courage wasn&#8217;t optional; it was necessary for the work ahead.<\/p>\n<p>For us, courage often looks less dramatic but just as necessary.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s choosing integrity when compromise is easier.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s stepping into leadership when you&#8217;d rather stay unnoticed.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s obeying God when the outcome isn&#8217;t guaranteed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The command to Joshua still speaks: strength and courage aren&#8217;t personality traits; they&#8217;re responses to God&#8217;s presence and promise.<\/p>\n<p>Wherever obedience feels intimidating, Joshua 1:9 reminds you that God is the reason you can move forward without folding under pressure.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Zeke Flores &#8220;Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go&#8221; (Joshua 1:9). Joshua 1 opens with a major transition. Moses is gone, and Joshua now carries the weight of leading Israel into the land they&#8217;ve waited for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1126],"class_list":["post-98161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-courage"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/joshuas-encouragement\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":0},"title":"Joshua\u2019s Encouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer As the children of Israel were preparing to go into the Promised Land, Moses delivered a series of speeches to help them understand how important their love and obedience to God would be (see Deuteronomy 6:1-9). Moses would not enter the Land himself, but Joshua had been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29954,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rules-for-prosperity-and-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":1},"title":"Rules for Prosperity and Success","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Joshua 1:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Moses had died and Joshua now finds himself the leader of a nation about to conquer a land to claim as their own. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God appears to Joshua and offers words of encouragement - Joshua 1:7-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The advise was excellent for Joshua, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60410,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-were-the-mighty-men-of-valor\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":2},"title":"Who were the mighty men of valor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Who are the mighty men of valor in\u00a0 Joshua 1:14-15? Are they special skilled forces or just faithful men of courage and mental strength, who are willing to do what God instructs them to do? Answer: \"Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, \"Pass through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50208,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-cowardly\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":3},"title":"What is &#8220;cowardly&#8221;?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, Can you tell me what the \"cowardly\" is referring to in\u00a0Revelation 21:8? Thank you! Answer: The Greek word\u00a0deilos refers to someone who is fearful or timid. It is the type of fear caused by a lack of faith. \"He said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-saved-joshua-and-caleb\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":4},"title":"What saved Joshua and Caleb?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While teaching then the book of Numbers last evening all went pretty well until we arrived at chapter 14. The question was asked: \"Apparently, what saved Joshua and Caleb?\" I said that it was Moses because he was their mediator and interceded for the people. Several in the class\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38044,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/courageous-friendship\/","url_meta":{"origin":98161,"position":5},"title":"Courageous Friendship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garry Floyd","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98161"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98164,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98161\/revisions\/98164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}