In Joshua 1:6, God told Joshua to be bold and courageous but the reason why Joshua must be courageous was premised upon this statement that God made: “for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.”

This statement as I began last week, is a message of hope. What is hope?

Hope is defined in the dictionary as  a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. So, here we see 2 key attributes of hope:

· Expectation that breeds a feeling in you and

· A desire in you for something to happen.

This definition falls short because it fails to suggest the type of feeling and expectation that I should have.

Biblical hope on the other hand is defined as the confident expectation of good. This definition means you are assured of only good happening in your life. You are looking forward to only hear good news. This is soo good.

Brothers and Sisters, when God speaks to you, it is always a message that paints possibilities, a message that fuels hope. There is no situation so dead that the Word of God can’t bring alive. We can only have courage in any storm we find ourselves in, when we have hope – when we have a confident expectation of good coming to us in the future.

A message of hope is a message that breeds peace and when peace ensues in your life, it is because your mind is focussed on the character of God. Isaiah 26:3 says: You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Hope sandwiches boldness and courage. Courage is that peace you have in the middle of the storm or the inability to be alarmed by the enemy. When we can sleep in the storm, be calm in the face of battle and not panic in the midst of opposition, we have broken the back of the devil.

You can only display outward courage if you have mastered inner peace. God’s peace garrisons your heart when your mind is stayed on Him and not the issue you face.