Be Bold and Courageous!

Be bold and courageous! This is the message of Joshua 1:6-9 to empower you in whatever positions of authority and responsibility you have. Ralph tells his story of speaking up in the corporate world, risking his job and successfully influencing upper management to relinquish their control to Ralph. And he ties it in with Jesus’ message of servanthood in Matthew 20:20-28.

The Holy Spirit of God says, “Be strong, be courageous, don’t be afraid” (from Joshua 1:6-9). Be bold and courageous, fearless.

Somehow amidst my terror I spoke up in this group. It had to be about a dozen very high-level, very powerful managers. I said, “Not on my watch!” (Did I say that?) Everyone was kind of looking like, “Oh how dare you say that!” …

But the Holy Spirit says, “Be bold, be courageous, be fearless. I am with you.” Many times in our lives — and I’m sure in your work situations, in your family situations, you’re afraid, you’re terrified, you’re frozen, thinking, “What do I say? What do I do? Should I push this issue when I know full well that if I don’t things will get worse? Or should I keep my mouth shut and just pray that things will work out?”

Be bold, be courageous, for the Lord your God is with you always. Always, if we’re doing what the Lord approves of, the Lord is always there and will always come through for us. He’ll give us the words.

Now, we do need to have a good relationship with the Holy Spirit in order to receive those words because Jesus told us that he would give us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit so that we could live the lives empowered by the Holy Spirit. We’d like to be in control but we need to let the Holy Spirit be in control and realize that we are his instruments, we are the ones through whom God’s control can make a difference….