Friend, you have a captain, and whether that’s like a ship’s captain or an army captain, either way He is with you to give you victory over your enemies all throughout your life and to lead you safely to “glory”.
Now, with the Captain of the Lord’s armies leading your way, you will discover that you start winning battles that you had previously fought in your own strength and lost. You will get the victory over sin in every area, for you are being led and strengthened and taught by the Captain.
But how do you know he’s really for you and not against you? This is what Joshua wanted to know, and he received the answer “neither.” But we immediately remember the cross of Jesus Christ, where our Captain was made perfect “through suffering”(Hebrews 2:9-11).
Yes, Jesus suffered for us. Think of His cross right now, see the suffering He endured, see Him feel the agony as He is loaded up with your sins. He is bearing your sins in His own body on the tree. See His Father turn away from Him.
The man Joshua saw was holding a sword in his hand, but Jesus went to the cross and allowed a sword to pierce His own heart. Jesus allowed God to be against him, so that God is always, even in our failures, for us. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). . . . If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
Friend, if you are a believer in Jesus, you can never ever say that God is against you. No, God was against His own Son so that He can now be for you for the rest of your life and throughout all eternity. The Right Man is on your side! The cross assures us that God is for us!
Jesus not only died for you but He rose from the dead, and now He is your Captain who leads you to victory. Your role is to believe in Him, to follow Him, to fight in the strength He gives you. You’ll see that you begin to win battles: “Jericho” falls, “Ai” is eventually burned, “Gibeon” surrenders and “five kings” die at once. This is all because, at the cross, Jesus Christ defeated your greatest enemy and set you free (Colossians 2:15)!
Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV) No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
Question 3. Did you see Jesus in this passage today? Was your faith built up in seeing Jesus? Please share here:
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Kelly writes, "My heart has been so encouraged meditating on the joyous reality that Jesus really is for me. Considerering the Cross, how could it be any other way. That’s such good news for me especially now when I need a captain that can safely and skillfully navigate me through the stormy billows of my life right now.
Christ being made perfect through suffering has brought such assurance to my mind that not only will He safely guide me through the crashing waves of trails temptations and fears but He intimately knows the pain of them. He was called the man of suffering, Isaiah 53:3. He knows the suffering that we many times endure when we’re to make choices and decisions that means dying to self, and dying simply ain’t easy. He’s deeply acuinted with the suffering obedience can bring because He was obedient even to the point of death on the Cross, Philippians 2:8. The Cross speaks to my all anxieties showing me that I’m not alone; the helm of my life isn’t left in my unskilled hands. With the Captain of the LORDS army on deck I can rest soundly below even in the midst of the storms.
Mark 37-39 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm."
Kelly O. writes, "I absolutely did. I had heard before that this was the preincarnate Jesus, but actually seeing him speak with Joshua, with sword at hand as commander of God’s angelic army, and telling Joshua that he stood on holy ground is very powerful to imagine. You have to wonder what Joshua felt, in some sense fear that he wasn’t necessarily for you, in some sense relief that God’s commander himself was here, but mostly just awe. He fell to his knees in his presence. If we saw Jesus, the captain of our salvation, standing in our living room with sword drawn in hand, how would we react? This represents how Christ is in our very life, ready to meet us and fight against sin: the world, flesh, and the devil. It’s very helpful to remember that this is who Jesus is."