Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.

We are taking our Promised Land.  We are receiving all the promises of God that are yes and amen.  The Promised Land was theirs for the taking, but they couldn’t do it; so, an entire generation had to be trained to possess what God had already given them.  The Lord spoke to Joshua and gave him the principles of what he would need for them to possess what God had given them.  We need those very same principles in order to receive what God has already given us.  Are you ready to possess your Promised Land?  We have looked at several things God said we are to do.  We must meditate the Word of God.  We must speak the Word of God.  We must be doers of the Word of God.  We must be strong in the Lord.  And finally, we will look at removing fear from our lives so we can receive our Promised Land.

The Lord told us, many times, in His Word, that there is no need for us to fear or be afraid.  As a matter of fact, with Joshua, He commanded him not to be afraid.  It certainly is a ploy of the devil and a human tendency to walk in fear.  We see God tell us not to be afraid and why we don’t have to be afraid.  Genesis 26:24 says, “…fear not for I am with thee, and will bless thee…”  Because God is with us, we never have to fear.  He reassures us of that very thing again in Isaiah 41:10 which says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God...”  According to Isaiah 43:1, because we have been redeemed, we don’t ever have to be afraid.  He even says, “Because you are mine, you don’t have to be afraid.”  Because of these promises, we never have to fear anything.  We don’t have to fear the unknown.  We don’t have to fear going without.  Luke 12:32 says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  You can see that God wants us free from fear.  

One way to combat something is to know where it comes from.  Where does fear come from?  Very simply, the Bible puts fear into three categories; fear comes because of sin, men (refers to both men and women), and circumstances.  Sin causes us to be afraid of God and punishment.  Fear of men is because we are afraid of what they might say about us and what they might do to us.  Finally, fear of circumstances is fear of what is not known or controllable.  This is definitely the devil’s playground.  The devil is the manipulator of circumstances.  He will inspire people to trouble you, and he will tempt you to sin all day long every day.  This is just a brief summary of how fear comes to man, but I want to tell you the answer and not the problem.  The answer is that God will deliver you from all your fears (Psalms 34:4).

The Word of God plainly says it in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given you the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  When you figure out that God has delivered you from all your fear, and you don’t have a spirit of fear, you will possess your land.  In 1 John 4:18 it tells us that perfect love casts out all fear.  Who is perfect love?  God is love, so when you receive His perfect love, and you know that He is with you and for you, you will not be afraid.  You will be free from fear no matter the source.  Possess your Promised Land!