Let me ask you a question: during the battle for the city of Jericho what was more significant--the citizens of Jericho being locked-in or the nation of Israel being locked-out? Fear had immobilized the city of Jericho. They were stronger and walled-in, but fear controlled them. Don't allow your fears to lock you in.

After over 40 years, Israel finally entered into Canaan. They were finally home. They were in the promised land. Yet their journey was not over; they had simply entered into a new season. Life is full of seasons: some short, some long. In every case we go into the next season having faith in the past, hope for the future, and love for the present.

When Joshua led the nation of Israel across the Jordan River, several things were accomplished: It validated Joshua as a suitable replacement for Moses, and it got the nation of Israel into the promised land. And it all started with a step of faith.

This message from Pastor Derrel Strickland, part of our journey through the Book of Joshua, brings us to an intriguing story about Rahab and the significance of the red thread. Rahab, a woman of faith, helped the Israelite spies and marked her window with a scarlet cord—a symbol of her faith and a promise of safety. Pastor Derrel emphasized that the red thread symbolizes the sacrifice and salvation offered through Jesus, showing how faith in Him liberates us from sin. The story of Rahab encourages us all to hold onto our faith and trust in the red thread of Christ's sacrifice, which spans from Genesis through Revelation. The core takeaway is that, like Rahab, we must immediately act on our faith and trust in God's promises.

The twelve men that spied out Canaan all saw the same thing, but two had a different perspective. Those that lived in Canaan saw the same thing but they too had a different perspective. Are you seeing through eyes of faith or eyes of fear? The eyes you see through determine what you see.

Shortly after Moses' death Joshua told the people get ready. That in three days we are entering in the place of rest. We need to ask ourselves the question: Are we ready to leave? What preparations to we need to make? Let's look and see what we need to do to be ready.

od told Joshua to be strong and courageous. That sounds easy but sometimes it's not. How can we be strong and courageous? Let's talk about it.

Joshua is an Old Testament type of Christ. Even the name Joshua is the Hebrew word for Jesus which means "Jehovah is Salvation". Just as Joshua lead Israel out of the desert into the Promised Land, Jesus our savior leads us out of this world into heaven.

As we begin a study of the book of Joshua, we find that Joshua was an assistant to Moses from an early age. Moses passed the baton to a man who had been mentored by him for many years. He not only passed the baton he passed the anointing. God was with him.