Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Some scholars count a total of 613 commandments from God in the Bible.

While most have been commuted or replaced in the New Testament with the death and resurrection of Jesus, those that remain age timelessly.

Fear and discouragement are emotions circumstantially dealt to all of us and are notorious faith killers: intentional monkey wrenches delivered by the enemy.

Confidence and conviction that our Lord is always with us through every circumstance is the sufficient solution to the emotions of fear and discouragement.

Not a suggested remedy but a commanded one.

Whether it’s a February, an October, or the entrance to a new year, the unknown is always upon us.

An intentional, deliberate, and ever deepening journey into faith and following God equips us for each encounter of the unknown with a strength and courage we can’t summon by ourselves but only through a vital, living relationship with God.

So once again, connection to and with our creator is essential for getting through and past every circumstance.

Ring in the new year with confidence in this commandment recorded in Joshua, and empowering your future with all its unknowns.

It’s irrational to want change in the world and its programs and not expect your circumstances to have to change at least some to accommodate those changes.

This new administration is all about creating second-order and third-order changes that will make our nation more structurally sound and resilient for generations to come.

While changing might be a little individually uncomfortable for a moment, continuing on the same path will be grossly more uncomfortable for all future lifetimes ahead.

Be the generation willing to accommodate change and its temporary discomforts as our gift to all who follow.

Upon the death of Moses at 120 years old, the baton was passed.

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭34‬:‭9‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Death brings new life.

While Moses ascended to the heavenly promised land, Joshua continued the Lord’s work in the promised land on earth.

Passing of the torch is difficult but not as challenging as the weight of receiving it.

Just as Solomon shunned all other possessions preferring the gift of wisdom instead, Joshua was endowed with wisdom to continue leading the Israelites in the ways of Moses and, indeed, of God.

Your highest and potentially most profound desire lies in your prayer for godly wisdom.

Wisdom’s guidance conquers all and creates abundance for all.

Make pursuit of wisdom central to your purpose every day in prayer.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault, in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The earmarks of a warped and crooked generation are grumbling and arguing among believers, demonstrating that the scope of a depraved generation infects and extends even to followers of Christ.

The passage from Philippians highlights the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and unity among believers, contrasting this with the characteristics of a “warped and crooked generation.”

Grumbling and arguing can seem minor violations, but in the context of the verse, they are symbolic of deeper discontent and division that can detract from the light believers are meant to shine in the world.

The choice of words like “warped” and “crooked” suggests that these behaviors are not just petty but are indicative of larger spiritual and moral decay.

It implies that even small actions like grumbling can contribute to a negative atmosphere and undermine the collective witness of a community.

By overcoming these impulses, believers can exemplify purity and blamelessness, standing out positively in a world that otherwise fosters negativity and discord.

In this light, the call to refrain from grumbling and arguing is a call to elevate one’s character and impact above the world narrative, emphasizing that even the smallest of actions can have significant implications in the broader context.

Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭32‬:‭46‬-‭47‬ ‭NIV‬‬

They.

Are.

Your.

Life.

The search for truth and meaning in today’s world begins and ends in the same place.

So critical to our existence is the word of God it eclipses all philosophies, politics and personal preferences, providing divine purpose and momentum to direct our days.

“What is the meaning of life?” is singularly answered by the word of God revealed as we study scripture.

So if that still remains a salient question for you in 2024, open your Bible in 2025. Get the app, dust off your hard copy, or ask me how to access what has been forever the best selling non-fiction book about your own forever.

They are not just idle words, they are your life.

What began as a promise…

For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭30‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Quickly takes an ugly turn…

“When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The enemy of worship is fat and sassy complacency.

Comforts and satisfactions provided solely through the goodness of God birth in us perversions and abandonments of the very God who provides our sustenance.

“You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭32‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Becoming a little too satisfied and a little too comfortable, like an addiction, causes us to lose sight of life balance and thankfulness for the healthy dependencies and relationships we need and enjoy.

The Christian life is designed to be sufficient, not comfortable.

As you prepare to enter a new year, pray for God to provide what you need, not necessarily your list of wants.

Christmas is over. You’re no longer children. Time to grow up and into thankful men and women with higher and holier aspirations and a humble return to God.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭30‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

On average, you make around 35,000 choices each day or 13 million choices annually.

With the new year approaching with its 13 million new opportunities, how many of your decisions will choose life?

The most important choice you can make is who will accompany you on this journey we call life.

Who is most capable of leading you on a pathway you can be proud of for the remainder of your days?

Who can you trust for the best advice, the purest morals, the greatest faith in you?

It’s a new year and a good opportunity to make the choice of your lifetime.

Choose Jesus.

Choose life.

He will never leave you nor forsake you. —Deuteronomy 31:6

“and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭30‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s never the end.

We can look at the mess of our lives and all it’s cost us, but even taking the long way home still brings us home.

For God, restoring lost fortunes and positions is the incidental afterthought. His greatest desire is that we return in both heart and soul in obedience to his word.

Jeremiah 29:11–For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

It’s never the end until we abandon the process altogether. He never gives up on us, we give up on him.

And when he restores us, he redeems us for a hope and a future with unmistakable compassion.

It’s never the end with God. He never gives up on us.

When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭29‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

No sooner does God make an oath for his people to follow, they don’t.

“I will be safe even though I persist in going my own way.”

It sounds a lot like the response of an adventurous toddler despite a parent’s instructions and prohibitions for his safety.

Disaster ensues.

Lead us not into temptation, for we can find it all by ourselves.

The Holy Spirit was given to us to guide us in paths of righteousness, always speaking in a language we fully understand but too often disregard to “persist in going our own way.”

Pride in ourselves resists obedience to God.

If this doesn’t strike a chord for you, I suggest you brace for disaster.