My Daily Dose of Courage

Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.  (Joshua 5:15) This is a picture of the simple and uncomplicated relationship God desires with His children. The Lord was telling Joshua to come out from behind any covering, any agenda, or anything of himself — to stand before Him on His holiness alone. This is the supernatural preparation the Lord requires for all those He commissions to serve. Everything God’s minister does must rest on His sovereignty, and nothing else. From this point forward, Joshua’s authority and success would be founded on holy ground — on Almighty God Himself. “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” God will unmask every one of us He calls, and we must lay down any sense of self-righteousness and the worldly knowledge some mistakenly call wisdom. As Joshua found out, God was not on His side, nor was He on the side of Israel an...

Then Job answered the Lord and said: “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”  (Job 40:3-5)   Be careful not to speak hastily about the things of God, because those things are spiritually discerned, and God may be working on a level we have not considered. There are times when we must lay our hand on our mouth like Job did and not speak until the Spirit gives utterance.   When Job saw God, he realized his error. He had reduced the Lord to a god of his own understanding, and that is no God at all! Like Job, we must come to see the Lord as He is, not how we imagine Him. When we do, He calls us friends, and then He can trust us with His Word and witness.   When Job finally saw God, all his complaints and self-justification melted away. When the Lord spoke to Job, He did not offer an explanation, apology, or any other words of clarification,...

So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?” And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.” (Genesis 29:25-27)   Sowing and reaping is an unbreakable spiritual law, and Laban’s act of deceiving Jacob was a classic example of that law working itself out in real time. By deception, Jacob wrestled the blessing and birthright from his brother Esau, and now he was deceived when he married Leah thinking he was marrying her younger sister Rachel.   Remember, God is not mocked. His Word is true, and it applies directly to the lives of men and women, particularly His children. The promises and blessings spoken over us do not remove us from the consequences of our ...

Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.  (Judges 16:1)                                                    Somewhere in Samson’s spiritual development, there was an interruption, and his maturity was the fatality. The result was an extended adolescence and careless behavior that complicated every effort God made to use him for His glory. Samson’s manhood was subverted by seduction, the archenemy of every man’s soul. Seduction is the tool Satan most often uses to derail men of God, and he is too often successful. Every man needs to heed God's call to wisdom, and men who sense that God wants to use them need to take heed even more intently. Let every man be sure to accept the challenge of manhood bestowed on us by Jesus Christ. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does ...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  (1 John 4:7)   It is impossible to express true love apart from God, and that may be a difficult statement to accept for  some. But John presents a definition of love unlike any other; that love is strictly a God-thing, and anything that is not from God is something less than love.   Our feelings may be passionate, sincere, deeply felt, and lavishly expressed, but if they are not of God, it is not love. John says, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. This statement takes love out of the realm of human thought and expression, and places it in the realm of the spirit. In other words, God is love, and only those born of God truly express love according to His Person and His measure.   . . . because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Romans 5:5)   If we can satisf...

Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.  (Judges 4:21)   So the woman said to Joab, “Watch, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.  (2 Samuel 20:21b-22)   These two women showed the shrewdness we must note and emulate in our dealings with Satan and sin. They were not fearful, but bold and decisive. They were wise and calculating in the most forthright and effective manner. They were not willing to abide the danger Sisera and Sheba represented to them and their people, so they took it upon themselves to do what must be done — and the Lor...