Be Strong and Very Courageous: You Have Territory to Possess
King of Glory Ministries - June 26, 2026
Sometimes God delivers you from something, and you think the hard part is over.
Then He says:
“Now move.”
Wait a minute, Lord. 😂
I thought getting free was the assignment.
No.
Sometimes freedom is only the beginning.
God doesn’t just bring us out. He also leads us into.
Into greater obedience.
Into unfamiliar territory.
Into assignments that require more faith than we think we have.
Into places where our old confidence won’t work anymore.
And that’s exactly where Joshua found himself.
Moses Is Dead—Now Arise
Joshua 1 opens with an ending.
Moses is dead.
A tremendous chapter in Israel’s history has closed.
Then God speaks to Joshua:
“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan…” — Joshua 1:2 KJV
I love how direct God is.
He acknowledges what ended.
And then He says:
Arise.
There is a time to grieve what ended.
There is a time to process.
There is a time to honor what was.
But there is also a time when God says:
“Get up. We still have somewhere to go.”
Joshua couldn’t spend the rest of his life standing beside the memory of Moses.
There was territory ahead.
Yesterday’s Season Cannot Lead Today’s Assignment
Sometimes we keep trying to resurrect something God has already allowed to end.
An old season.
An old method.
An old relationship.
An old identity.
Even an old way God used to work in our lives.
But what worked yesterday may not be the instruction for today.
Joshua had served Moses faithfully.
Now Joshua had to lead.
That’s different.
The grace required for yesterday’s assignment wasn’t necessarily the same grace required for today’s.
And sometimes that’s why a new season feels so uncomfortable.
You’re not failing. You’re learning new territory.
You cannot navigate a new assignment entirely through old experience.
At some point, you’re going to have to listen again.
“Lord, what are You saying now?”
God Didn’t Tell Joshua to Feel Courageous
This part gets me.
God repeatedly tells Joshua:
“Be strong and of a good courage…” — Joshua 1:6 KJV
Then again:
“Only be thou strong and very courageous…” — Joshua 1:7 KJV
And again:
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage…” — Joshua 1:9 KJV
God keeps saying it.
Which makes me wonder whether Joshua needed to keep hearing it. 😃
Maybe courage wasn’t something Joshua naturally felt at that moment.
But God wasn’t asking Joshua how courageous he felt.
He was giving him an instruction.
That means courage cannot always be a feeling.
Sometimes courage is simply:
“I’m scared, but God said go.”
And then you go.
Courage Is Obedience With Your Knees Shaking
We sometimes imagine courageous people as people who never experience fear.
But courage becomes necessary precisely because something feels intimidating.
You don’t need courage to do what already feels easy.
You need courage when obedience stretches you.
When you have never done this before.
When you don’t know how people will respond.
When you can’t see ten steps ahead.
When the assignment is bigger than your natural ability.
When God says:
“Trust Me.”
And everything in you wants details.
😂
Lord, can I get the itinerary?
The schedule?
The budget?
The names?
The outcome?
God may give us details when we need them.
But sometimes He gives us something better:
His presence.
The Promise Was His Presence
God told Joshua:
“…for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” — Joshua 1:9 KJV
There it is.
Joshua’s confidence wasn’t supposed to come from knowing everything.
His confidence came from knowing Who was going with him.
That’s a word for somebody.
You may not know exactly what the next year looks like.
You may not know how the assignment will unfold.
You may not know where the resources will come from.
You may not know who will help.
You may not even completely understand why God chose you.
But if God has truly sent you, the most important thing isn’t knowing everything ahead of you.
It’s knowing:
He is with me.
Stay in the Word
God didn’t merely tell Joshua to be courageous.
He gave him a strategy:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…” — Joshua 1:8 KJV
Notice what God did not say.
He didn’t tell Joshua:
Spend all day studying the giants.
He didn’t say:
Become obsessed with what the enemy is doing.
He didn’t say:
Measure yourself against everybody who looks more qualified.
He pointed Joshua back to His Word.
This matters tremendously in spiritual warfare.
You can become so focused on what darkness is doing that you forget what God has said.
The enemy does not deserve that much of our attention.
Stay in the Word.
Meditate Until the Word Gets Louder Than the Fear
Fear talks.
People’s opinions talk.
Circumstances talk.
Past failures talk.
Your own insecurities can be downright chatty. 😂
That’s why God told Joshua to meditate on His Word day and night.
Because something needs to become louder than all those competing voices.
What did God say?
When fear says you can’t—
What did God say?
When your past says you’re disqualified—
What did God say?
When circumstances don’t match the promise—
What did God say?
When people don’t understand—
What did God say?
Stay there.
Don’t Turn to the Right or the Left
God told Joshua to obey His instruction without turning from it to the right or the left.
That’s focus.
And focus becomes especially important when God gives you an assignment.
Because distraction doesn’t always look evil.
Sometimes distraction looks like a good opportunity that God never told you to pursue.
Everything available to you isn’t assigned to you.
Every invitation isn’t your invitation.
Every battle isn’t your battle.
Every open door isn’t your door.
Every opinion doesn’t require your response.
Sometimes the greatest protection for your assignment is learning to say:
“That’s not what God told me to do.”
And continuing forward.
Stop Studying Everybody Else’s Territory
Comparison can make you abandon your own assignment.
God gave Joshua specific territory.
Joshua didn’t need somebody else’s.
And neither do you.
Somebody else’s ministry may look different.
Their business may grow differently.
Their family may operate differently.
Their assignment may unfold faster.
Their platform may be larger.
Their strategy may be completely opposite from yours.
Fine.
What did God tell you?
Because you can spend so much time studying everybody else’s assignment that you neglect the territory God put under your own feet.
Put Your Foot Down
God told Joshua:
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you…” — Joshua 1:3 KJV
There was movement involved.
Joshua couldn’t possess territory by staring at it.
At some point, his feet had to move.
And there are moments when our prayers must become steps.
You’ve prayed.
You’ve listened.
You’ve received direction.
You’ve asked for confirmation.
You’ve prayed again.
You’ve written it down.
You’ve talked about it.
You’ve prayed again. 😄
And God may simply be saying:
“Put your foot down.”
Start.
Make the call.
Write it.
Apply.
Go.
Launch.
Show up.
Speak.
Take the next obedient step.
You Don’t Need the Whole Map
This has become increasingly important to me:
Hear and obey.
Sometimes that’s it.
We want God to explain step twelve while we’re standing at step two refusing to move.
But what if revelation for step twelve is waiting somewhere around step eleven?
Obey what you know.
Then listen again.
God can steer moving feet.
There Are People Connected to Your Obedience
Joshua’s courage wasn’t only about Joshua.
There was an entire nation connected to his obedience.
That’s sobering.
And the same principle can apply to our assignments.
Sometimes we’re thinking:
What if I look foolish?
What if people don’t understand?
What if I’m uncomfortable?
Meanwhile, there may be somebody on the other side of our obedience who needs what God told us to carry.
Your assignment isn’t always just about you.
That prayer may be for somebody else.
That testimony may unlock hope for somebody else.
That book may help somebody else.
That business may serve somebody else.
That livestream may reach somebody you never knew was listening.
That conversation may introduce somebody to Jesus.
So maybe the question isn’t only:
“What if I fail?”
Maybe we should also ask:
“What if I obey?”
Billions Begin With One Yes
We can pray:
Billions for Christ.
And I do.
But billions can sound so enormous that we forget how Kingdom movements often begin.
With obedience.
One person says yes.
One person prays.
One person speaks.
One person goes.
One person gives.
One person shares the Gospel.
One person refuses to quit.
One person decides:
“God said it. I’m going.”
And that obedience touches another life.
Then another.
Then another.
We don’t have to understand how God gets from our yes to His larger purpose.
Our responsibility is the yes.
Be Strong and Very Courageous
Maybe you’re standing at your own Jordan.
Something ended behind you.
Something unfamiliar is ahead.
And you’re somewhere in between.
Good.
That’s a perfect place to discover that your confidence was never supposed to come from knowing what happens next.
It comes from knowing Who goes with you.
So stop staring backward.
Stop measuring yourself against everybody else.
Stop waiting to feel fearless.
Stay in the Word.
Listen carefully.
Obey quickly.
Keep your heart clean.
Put your foot down.
And move.
Because sometimes God’s answer to:
“Lord, are You sure I’m ready?”
sounds a whole lot like:
“Have not I commanded thee?”
Be strong.
Be courageous.
And go.
⸻
Prayer
Father, thank You that I don’t have to enter new territory alone. Give me courage to obey You even when I cannot see the entire path ahead. Keep me anchored in Your Word and protect me from distraction, comparison, fear and the opinions of people. Teach me to recognize Your instructions and respond with quick obedience. I release what is behind me, and I trust You with what is ahead. Wherever You send me, remind me that You are with me. Give me courage to put my foot down and move when You say move. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scripture Meditation: Joshua 1:1–9 • John 6:63 • John 15:7
Charnette Kay ⚔️
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