This is Our Land | Joshua 1:1-9 | J. Allen Mashburn

In our day, there are many misunderstandings surrounding the Christian life. A trip to the local Bible book store confirms this accusation. After all, the shelves are lined with books that talk about how to make the Christian life easier and more acceptable to the world. However, the truth of the matter is that we are not out for a day in the park! This thing that we got into when we were saved is a battle! We are engaged in warfare with a spiritual enemy who is far more powerful than we are, Eph. 6:12. In our own strength, we are no match for the devil! The good new is, he is nowhere near as powerful as our God, 1 John 4:4! 

Therefore, in the midst of the battles, there is always hope for victory, Rom. 8:31, 37. In fact, the Bible tells us that we are the recipients of victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 15:57. 

While we are engaged in the battle with evil, there is the expectation that we can and will walk in victory in our lives. For me, this is what the book of Joshua represents.

In this book, we find that Moses, the great leader of Israel has died and a new leader named Joshua has been appointed to lead the nation of Israel into Canaan. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel is about to take possession of the land which God promised Abraham centuries earlier, Gen. 12:7. This book is about the battles Israel faced in order to claim that promise from God. 

Joshua is a book of warfare, suffering and great victories. It is a book that can teach the modern Christian much about obtaining spiritual victory in your life. You see, we sing songs about Canaanland and often we have the idea that Canaan refers to Heaven. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When we get to Heaven, there will be no more wars, there will be no more enemies, there will be no more suffering or death, there will be no more sin. All of these are present in the book of Joshua and are dealt with in its pages. 

No, Canaan isn't Heaven, but it is a picture of the life of victory that is available to every child of God this morning!