What's Dripping From Your Lips?

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8 NIV)

It's quite embarrassing to hear someone tell you that something is dripping from your lips. That's something associated with babies. But you know that every time you speak, figuratively speaking, something is dripping from your lips. It is invisible to all but it is not without effect. The question is what types of words do you allow to come out of your mouth? Are they words that inspire you or others? Words that create, build up or tear down? And in the spirit of today's text, are they words that originate in God's word with the ability to precipitate success in your life and mission.

There are too many verses in the bible about the power and effects of words that to argue that your words do not matter is gross unbelief in the wisdom of scriptures. The book of Proverbs is a catalog of such verses. A sample:

Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction. The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (Proverbs 18:20, 21 NLT)

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. (Proverbs 21:23 NIV)

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. (Proverbs 12:18 NLT)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29 NIV)

God told Joshua keep the law on his lips day and night. His mouth was to continually drip the word, muttering to himself and speaking to others things that are only in line with the word of God. God said in essence, "if you allow my words to continually drip out of your mouth, success will keep dripping all around you, circumstances or oppositions notwithstanding" The converse is also true. Whatever your let drip from your mouth will eventually drip all over your life. Check your life. If you like it, keep your mouth dripping the same things. If you don't, then it's time to change what's dripping from your lips.

Decision of the Day

I understand the power of words. I choose today to fill my mouth with God's word. I chose to speak edifying, helping, gracious and empowering words. God's word will not depart from my mouth.

A God-Formula for Success

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8 NIV)


Don't get rankled by the word "formula." According to dictionary.com, a formula is:

1. a set form of words, as for stating or declaring something definitely or authoritatively, for indicating procedure to be followed...
2.any fixed or conventional method for doing something...

So a formula is a fixed authoritative procedure for accomplishing something. A formula, once confirmed, works all the time to reach the stated result.

In our text today, God, intending to show Joshua the secret of being successful in his mission in life gave him a procedure which if followed by Joshua would always cause him to be successful in all he did. It wasn't a complicated one. To be successful Joshua had to do three things:

1. Speak the law of God( God's word) without ceasing
2. Meditate (focus on, ponder, fix on the mind, mutter) on the word day and night
3. Act. Do everything he sees in the word.

Step 1 and 2 could actually be merged into one since the Hebrew word for meditate means to speak to oneself in low tones as a way to establish or clarify proper thought. So Joshua would be successful if he would not stop meditating on (speaking) and doing the word.

This wasn't just an instruction to Joshua but a procedure described in other places that success and prosperity are mentioned in the bible. Psalm 1 is another example.

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. " (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV)

Here meditation and doing also leads to success and prosperity. Paul in admonishing Timothy on his ministry also gives a similar instruction

" Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. (I Timothy 4:15 NKJV)

There are other references on meditation and success. However these three would suffice for today to show that God must be trying to communicate to you his procedure for success in life. If you will honor the word of God, spend time pondering on it, speaking it to yourself and then obediently doing what you see, you will be successful in whatever you do.

What an amazing and simple formula for those who desire success in life, whether it is in your family, career, business or ministry, the formula works. It works because wisdom is the source of success and meditation on the word opens you up to God's higher wisdom for dealing with the affair of life. Today, decide to join the league of successful people by making meditation in God's word your lifestyle. Set apart time to ponder on it and speak it to yourself through the day and at night. You will initiate your own God-success story and your progress will become evident to all.


Decision of the Day

I know the secret of success. I have God's formula for success. I will make meditation a constant part of my life. I will do what the word says and I will be successful. Failure will have to leave my life.

A Triple Dose of Courage

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do... This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5-7, 9NLT)

"Behold the turtle; he makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."

These saying by James Bryant Conant, the chemist and former president of Harvard University comes to mind while contemplating our text today. As God continues his commissioning of Joshua for the assignment ahead, in one breath, he spoke twice about the need for Joshua to be bold and courageous. His words reveal the fact that he knew that somewhere along the way, there will be situations and circumstances, seemingly impossible obstacles and intimidating enemies that Joshua would encounter as he went about fulfilling his mission from God. God knew that because of his backing, Joshua could not fail or be defeated if he could only be courageous enough to confront those obstacles but he was also aware that the only thing that could stop Joshua was if he allowed fear to demobilize him from acting boldly in the face of the opposition.

So God had to drum it in into him, repeating it three times. " Joshua, don't be afraid. Don't be intimidated by anything. Be bold. Be Strong. Confront every challenge. Yes, you will be afraid, you will see things that will intimidate you, but rush at them. Stick your neck out and take those seeming risks. You will only make progress as you stick your neck out boldly in this assignment. I am with you"

What a message for you today who may be intimidated by something in the path of your assignment in God. Maybe it is a human who towers like an intimidating giant in the land you are to possess. Maybe it is a task that looks impossibly daunting. Maybe it is an uncertain future, a past failure, a seemingly risky step of obedience to God in life. God is saying the same to you. Be strong and very courageous.

Stick your neck out. True Courage is not the absence of fear but its mastery as Mark Twain said eloquently. Courage is doing things afraid. It is stepping out in faith while your knees are knocking together in fear. It is refusing to bow when your whole being quivers at the thought of burning in a fiery furnace. It is praying when you know fearfully doing so may turn you into a lion's dinner. The courageous are not people without fear but people who refuse to let fear cripple them. They refuse to crawl into a shell of comfort but rather stick their necks out beyond the comfort zone in order to truly live.

If you are struggling with immobilizing fear today, receive courage from these words. God never suggested courage to Joshua, rather he commanded it. It is said that there are over 365 commands in the bible to be bold and not be afraid. That's an average of one for each day of the year. When you are faced with fear, remember that to act in the face of the fear is obeying God. The one who commanded you and whom you chose to obey will not let you fail or falter. He will be there.

Decision of the Day

I choose to be bold and courageous. I will act in spite of my fears. I trust God who commanded me to be bold and courageous. He will not fail me.

You have a Lifetime Guarantee

No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. (Joshua 1:5 NLT)

A guarantee is a "formal promise or assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled." An example of a guarantee is the warranty that comes with a purchased product or a repaired merchandise. The warranty is a promise that if the product or merchandise develops a fault during the period that the warranty is in force, the manufacturer or repairer will either repair or replace it. Another form of guarantee is insurance. The insurer promises to repair, replace or compensate for the loss of something insured to the insured. A guarantee from a trusted source leads to peace of mind and confidence.

Our text today is a guarantee. God was the guarantor. He stated exactly what was guaranteed and for how long the guarantee would be in force. It was a lifetime guarantee. It was in force for as long as he lived. The promises of the guarantee were fourfold namely:

1. No successful opposition: No opposition against him would succeed
2. No loneliness . God would always be with him
3. No failure. God would not fail him
4. No abandonment. God would never leave him.

Anyone who has such a guarantee from the faithful God can go to bed and do his work in confidence knowing that he or she could never fail. Anyone with such guarantee is irrevocably bound to succeed, Walls of Jericho, giants in the land, battles or high mountains of opposition notwithstanding. It was a guarantee of a lifetime of success and victory. If you agree with this, that failure is impossible for anyone with such promises then read on.

So who else has such a guarantee from God apart from Joshua and Moses? Read the following passages to New Testament believers including you?

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5, 6 NLT)

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. (Romans 8:31-37 NLT)

What do these promises imply? You have the same no- failure, no-loneliness, no-abandonment, no-successful-opposition guarantee Joshua had and even more. Joshua conquered lands with his guarantee and fulfilled his purpose in his generation. What will you do with yours?

Decision of the Day

I choose to rejoice and be confident in the no- failure, no-loneliness, no-abandonment, no-successful-opposition guarantee that God has given me in Christ. With this confidence, I will fulfill my purpose in my generation. I will not quit. I will not be discouraged. I will finish my course. I will keep the faith and I will fight the fight. My victory is guaranteed

Become a "Sole Proprietor"

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:3 KJV)

Mike Batterson, in his book, The Circle Maker, tells of the legend of Honi from the Jewish Talmund, who in the first century B.C, when approached by the elders of Jeruslem about the lingering drought threatening the city's existence, drew a circle on the ground, stood inside of it and told God he would not leave the circle until God sent rain. He prayed within the circle for hours, refusing to quit, even at tiny drops, until there was a downpour of rain. Batterson tells of how, inspired by this story and our text today, as a young church planter, he traced a 4.7 miles prayer circle all around the D.C Capitol Hill area. As he walked, he prayed over people and properties within the perimeter, trusting God in faith to transfer the promise he made to Joshua to him like he transferred it from Moses to Joshua. Now, years later, the church he pioneered has grown into seven locations and thousands of people with prime properties within the prayer perimeter he traced.

In our text, God transferred a promise he had made to Moses to Joshua of possessing lands. To activate the promise, Joshua would need to step out in faith and put the sole of his foot on the land. It did not matter who dwelt on the land, how long they've been on it or how defended and highly walled the land may have been been, the one who owned the earth and all its fulness had promised Joshua possession if he would only dare to set foot on the land in faith. It wasn't just Moses and Joshua that God gave the promise of "sole possessing" as I love to call it. Centuries earlier, he had made the same promise to their forefather, Abraham. God told Abraham to walk through the land in every direction because he was giving it to him.

" After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17 NLT)

So what is it about the sole of the foot and walking on a land? The answer lies in the fact that walking on something is both a symbol of authority and possession and a demonstration of faith. The feet represents authority. Remember the following passage of God raised Christ, " Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:21, 22 KJV).

Another translation makes it clearer:

"Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. (Ephesians 1:21, 22 NLT).

Also, (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV)

So "under the feet" equates to " under his authority" and faith is called a walk. So in our text, God was telling the patriarchs to exercise their authority over the land and to demonstrate faith in the promise by walking on the land.

How does this translate to you? There are still promises, things and places that God has promised to deliver to his people if they will boldly exercise their faith and authority in Christ. There are promises waiting for you, your family, business or church to lay claim on. God loves bold faith-filled prayers. He is seeking for people that will "walk the land" and lay claim on long overdue promises for the expansion of his kingdom. He is waiting for you to get off the ground, from under the feet of circumstances, to step out in faith and start walking through his word, laying hold on the promises he has put there for you.

Will you find out what the word says belongs to you in Christ and trace circles around them? Will you start to walk through the land today? Will you dare to believe God for the promised impossible? Go ahead and prove him. Put your foot forward and down and start possess! Become a "sole proprietor."

Decision of the Day

I understand that God loves bold prayers. I am going to start honoring his promises by receiving them. I will possess my possessions in Christ by putting my foot on them. God is pleased by my faith

Me too!

I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— (Joshua 1:3 NLT)


As we speak, new words are constantly being added to the dictionary. There is actually an urban dictionary where modern words as used by the new generation are regularly added. One of the entries of the urban dictionary is the construction " Me too," a grammatical tool that denotes complete identification with another person's situation. You say "me too" when you want to show that what applies to another person, applies to you. For example, someone could say, " I have a Toyota" and you would say, "Me too" because you also have one. Today, the goal is to get you to begin to say " me too" when you come across the amazing promises in God's word.

God's promises are double-edged swords. One edge is powerful, valid and effective for the original receiver(s) and the other edge remaining a legal tender for others who put their trust in the same promises. They have no expiration dates. His promises are transferable geographically, generationally, and situationally. Because he is no respecter of persons, what he says to one he says to all everywhere. No matter who God made a promise to or for how long it had been made or where it was made, anyone, anywhere, at anytime, in similar situations that receives the same promises and demonstrates similar faith in it, will receive the benefit of the promise. His words are eternally potent. Because his words are covenants, they are everlasting. He packages in his promises both power for present time fulfillment and power for future inheritance.

In our text today, Moses's promise became Joshua's promise. It is an example of how when God makes his promises, because he sees both the past, present and the future all at once, as he speaks to one individual in a generation, he at the same time speaks to future generations that will come in contact with the promise.

See some more examples from scriptures. God made several promises to Abraham but while he was doing it, he simultaneously was making the same promises to Abraham's seed which was Jesus and all those who are now in him through salvation. When Jesus spoke to his disciples and made promises to them of what was going to be theirs, although he spoke to a few disciples, he was simultaneously speaking to disciples of future generations. When God was speaking to Jesus after his resurrection, he was speaking to all who would thereafter believe in Jesus and be united with him. God spoke to fathers like David and made the promises he gave them inheritances for their descendants.

How does this apply to you? Here it is. There are are thousands of promises in the word of God that God made to others before you at other times, in other places and in varying situations that are now yours for the taking. Will you take advantage of these promises? Will you go for them enthusiastically and appropriate them for your life? Make up your mind today to do so. Be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises ( Heb 6:12). From today, when you come across a promise in the word, no matter to whom it was previously given, lift up your voice and excitedly declare, "me too! "


Decision of the Day

I understand that God's promises are eternal, transferable and without expiration. So from today, when I come across promises in the word, I will make them mine. I will say, " me too."

You Are the One in Trouble Now

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)


The story is told about how FDR, in order to replace his unpopular incumbent Vice President, Wallace, worked so hard to persuade Harry Truman to be his running mate in the 1944 presidential election. Truman eventually accepted reluctantly . However, shortly after the election, he was summoned to the White House to meet Eleanor Roosevelt where she informed him that President Roosevelt had died. Surprised, Truman asked the new widow, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Eleanor shook her head, responding, "Is there anything we can do for you? For you're the one in trouble now."

Leading, while it may come with certain perks, could often be correctly likened to stepping into the trouble zone, yet the world perpetually need people who despite the challenges, relinquish their rights to take otherwise less demanding paths and take on the rein of leading in various institutions and settings.

The deluge of leadership books, conferences and seminars everywhere these days attest to this. Homes need strong leaders. Churches are yearning for effective servant leaders. The nation needs less politicians and more leaders. In the business world, top dollars are invested for leadership development and acquisition yet there is still a gaping vacuum.

But the need for leadership while very stark now is not new. The advancement of God's purpose in history has always hinged on men and women who take on the leadership challenge. In our text today, God presented Joshua with that challenge. He was to be God's next man to lead his people into the promised land. A leader was needed and Joshua was the choice.

Simply defined, leadership is the ability to successfully influence others to join in accomplishing specific objectives. These objectives don't have to be big but they must be meaningful. Everyone can therefore be a leader. You can be one too. The world so much needs leadership that all are urged to apply.

Like many unknown individuals such as the rescuer who plunges into the pool to save a drowning child or Rosa Parks who chose to sit tight on the bus thus sparking a civil rights movement, many suddenly have the burden of leading placed on them at a moment's notice. Today, leading might just be a decision away from you too. Will you take on the challenge when it comes? When the situation advertises "Leader Wanted" will you turn in your application? Will you accept the call like Joshua did?

Decision of the Day

I understand that the world needs leaders. God needs leaders. I choose to volunteer myself to lead if I am called upon. I will watch out for leadership opportunities and take them on no matter how small or daunting they may seem.