New Book Background: Joshua

Summary

---

PROCLAIM x BIBLEin365: New Book Background—Joshua

Date: April 26, 2026
Host: Erika Kirk (with Pastoral Advisor James Kaddis)

---

Episode Overview

This episode marks the start of the book of Joshua in the BIBLEin365 journey. The speaker (likely James Kaddis) passionately unpacks the background and themes of Joshua, emphasizing the book’s relevance to contemporary Christian life. Through reflection on key passages, he encourages listeners to embrace God’s calling courageously, to value faithfulness and obedience above all, and to commit to serving the Lord wholeheartedly, even amid fear and uncertainty.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Relevance and Context of Joshua

• The speaker underscores how Joshua’s story mirrors our own: times of transition, inheriting responsibility, and stepping into leadership, often unprepared.
• Quote:

  “The story of Joshua is serious. Why? Because it’s our story. We are seeing the same things happen in front of us right now.” — (00:46)

• He personalizes the passing of leadership using examples from the BIBLEin365 community (e.g., Erika Kirk’s journey), noting that inheriting the ‘torch’ is a universal Christian experience.

2. Key Verses: Joshua 1:7–9

• The host reads Joshua 1:7-9, emphasizing God’s repeated call: “Be strong and very courageous.”
• Quote:

  “God doesn’t wait for you to feel ready. He calls you to step up when it’s time.” — (03:48)

• This passage frames the entire talk, setting up the theme of courage over comfort.

3. Leadership, Calling, and Courage

• Moses’s passing and Joshua’s sudden leadership illustrate divine transitions — you don’t choose when you’re handed responsibility.
• Relates to listeners: each inherits a calling—be it family, ministry, or legacy.
• Quote:

  “The torch gets pass[ed], whether you feel ready or not.” — (03:47)

• The expectation of fear is normalized, but listeners are urged to obey regardless:

  “Courage is not the absence of fear… it means obedience in spite of means.” — (05:19)

4. Obedience, Success, and God’s Definition

• Focus on obedience to God’s word, not being led by emotions or feelings, which are often deceptive.
• Quote:

  “Your feelings will lie to you. …But God’s word won’t.” — (06:26)

• Success, Biblically, is not about visibility or worldly achievement, but about obeying God.

  “Success is defined by obedience, not by outcomes.” — (06:43) “God’s version of success has never been visibility. It’s always been faithfulness.” — (07:25)

5. Opposition, Internal Compromise, and Hidden Sin

• External opposition is expected (“opposition is guaranteed”), but it cannot truly defeat unless there is internal failure or hidden sin, illustrated by Jericho (victory through obedience) and Ai (defeat due to Achan’s hidden sin).
• Quote:

  “External opposition cannot stop you, but internal compromise will. Understand that.” — (08:20)

• Urges listeners to focus on internal integrity rather than outward appearances.

6. God’s Promises and Finishing Well

• God is faithful—He completes every promise. Reference to Joshua 21:45:

  “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken… all came to pass.” — (09:15)

• Finishing well outweighs starting strong:

  “Finishing well matters more than starting strong.” — (09:45)

• Joshua’s final challenge is highlighted: Choose whom you will serve.

7. Carrying the Torch

• Identifies that nobody chooses to be handed the responsibility or calling, but everyone chooses how they respond.
• Quote:

  “You don’t get to choose whether the torch is handed to you; you only get to choose what you do with it when it is handed to you.” — (11:14)

• The episode closes with a challenge:

  “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — (10:31, 11:25)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Joshua 1:7-9 Read Aloud: “Only be thou strong and very courageous...” — (00:56)
• On Leadership Transition: “Joshua didn’t campaign for leadership… Moses is gone. And now it’s his responsibility.” — (03:48)
• Courage is Not the Absence of Fear: “It means obedience in spite of means.” — (05:19)
• Feelings vs. God’s Word: “Your feelings will lie to you. …But God’s word won’t.” — (06:26)
• On Success: “Success is defined by obedience, not by outcomes.” — (06:43)
• Obedience Brings Victory, Compromise Brings Defeat: “External opposition cannot stop you, but internal compromise will… hidden sin will wreck your public calling.” — (08:20, 08:39)
• On God’s Faithfulness: “God does not partially fulfill his word, you guys. He completes it.” — (09:41)
• Finishing Well: “You can inherit something great and still lose it if you don’t stay committed, if you don’t stay close to the Lord.” — (09:59)
• Who Will You Serve?: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — (10:31, restated at 11:25)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Main theme introduction & the context of Joshua: 00:02 – 02:48
• Joshua 1:7-9 and call to courage: 00:56 – 02:33
• Leadership transition and personal parallels: 02:48 – 05:45
• On fear and courage: 05:19 – 06:28
• Defining success by obedience: 06:33 – 07:36
• Lessons from Jericho, Ai, and internal integrity: 07:36 – 08:43
• God keeps promises; finishing well: 09:14 – 09:59
• Joshua’s final challenge—Choose whom you will serve: 10:00 – 10:31
• Responsibility, carrying the torch, closing exhortation: 10:44 – 11:29

---

Closing Thoughts

The podcast’s tone is passionate, urgent, and encouraging—reassuring listeners that God’s calling, the responsibility passed to them, comes with divine strength and the promise of His presence. The call to “choose this day whom you will serve” resonates as both a challenge and a source of hope:

“As for me and my house, we will absolutely, unequivocally, without compromise, serve the Lord because he’s worthy of our service.” — (11:25)

Listeners are exhorted to courage, faithfulness, and wholehearted service, making Joshua’s story not only a study of ancient history but a continuing, living journey for all who seek to walk with Christ.

---

Transcript

[A]

Right. My Bible. In 365 brothers and sisters, we have arrived at the beautiful book of Joshua. And boy, is this an incredible book. Listen, I have made copy after copy of this video because I have a message that is burning in my heart for this because it is so applicable, it is so relevant to. To the many things that we are going through today. Look, let me make myself clear. The book of Joshua is an incredible one. It goes over so much of the things that we are facing in this current moment. And we're going to get into the context of it because it's an important context. We can relate to this context. But I want to say this. If you want to dig deeper, if you want to know more about the whole story of Joshua, you can go to james cadiz.com. i have all of the Bible studies all throughout the book of Joshua. I think there's probably four or five generations of Bible studies through the book of Joshua. It's healthy, it's deep, it's important, and boy, is it a great study. Now with that said, I want to focus on some important verses that I'm going to read. Three of them specifically, and then another one near the end of this video because I think they're critical and I think they encapsulate the whole entirety of the book of Joshua, which very much applies to our life. It's important. And we're going to talk about this. The story of Joshua is serious. Why? Because it's our story. We are seeing the same things happen in front of us right now in the current moment. Let me read Joshua, chapter one, verse seven. It says this only. Be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses thy servant, commanded thee. Turn not to it from the right hand or to the left. In other words, focus. Right. That thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. The book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then notice this, thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage? Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.

[B]

Oh, my goodness. I could spend so much time talking

[A]

about these powerful words.

[B]

But let me just simply give you some context. Let me give you some background, because I think we.

[A]

We are in the Same spot today.

[B]

Okay, think about this. Moses is gone. Now what?

[A]

What do you do? The leader, our leader is gone. That's what the people are saying at this point. That's the place that Joshua is living in right now. And that is precisely where we live. Think about it. We are all, in one way or another, inheriting something. A calling, a responsibility, a ministry, in some cases, a family, in many cases. For some of you, a legacy. Depending on what part of your life you are in, for each and every single one of you, the best is yet to come. The past behind you is the worst part of your life. And for many of you, that was a beautiful part of your life. But you have better things coming. And I want you to understand this because this is a true fact. This is what happens sometimes. This is how life works. The torch gets past. Whether you feel ready or not.

[B]

It happens.

[A]

Joshua didn't campaign for leadership, you guys. Moses is gone. And now it's his responsibility. And I want you to see this, because God doesn't wait for you to feel ready. He calls you to step up when it's time. Let me. Let me just give you a real picture of this one that all of us can relate to.

[B]

Charlie is gone.

[A]

He's more alive now than he ever has been. Absolutely. He's with the Lord. Absolutely. He heard the words, well done, good and faithful servant.

[B]

Erica didn't ask to step in.

[A]

It wasn't Erica's thought when she woke up that morning that she wants to take over and take on these responsibilities. But she had to. God called her to. Whether or not anybody wants to admit it, that's real life. And this is happening everywhere right now. This is something that's taking place in everybody's life in one way or another. God's command here is not comfort. It never has been comfort. It's always been courage. He says, be strong and very courageous. It's repeated here in this passage multiple times for a reason. You know what that means? It means that fear is a general expectation. You should expect to be filled with fear at times, but it's not acceptable. What do I mean when I say that? Courage is not the absence of fear, you guys. It means obedience in spite of means. When you have that fear in your heart about the unknown, you still obey God, even though you know that fear wants to get a hold of you and control you. That's what Erica has been doing. That's what so many of us have been doing in spite of so many difficult hardships. Here's the truth. Joshua Says it. Stay locked on God's word, not on your emotions. Look at what God told Joshua. He said, turn not. Not to the right, nor to the left. No deviation, no improvising truth. The idea here is that the moment you drift from God's word, you start losing clarity. You start losing sobriety. And, folks, we cannot afford to do that. We just can't. If you're stepping into something new, and most of you probably are, I want to promise you something. Your feelings will lie to you. I can promise you that.

[B]

But God's word won't. His word will never lie to you.

[A]

He will always keep you in a perfect place of peace if you will follow his word.

[B]

Success is defined by obedience, not by outcomes.

[A]

I want to make myself clear. Notice what it says. Then thou shalt make thy way prosperous. God's definition of success is fundamentally predicated upon your obedience. It's so funny, because what we think is success in this world is such a nominal part of it. You think money, if you have a lot of it, all you're successful. I would venture to say that lots of money may be a very small part of the bigger picture.

[B]

God's version of success has never been visibility. It's always been faithfulness. And, guys, let me just tell you something, okay? This is super, super important.

[A]

We learned this from Joshua.

[B]

Opposition is guaranteed. I can promise this to you. Opposition is guaranteed. But it doesn't matter.

[A]

It doesn't matter. Look at what happened. Look at what happened in Jericho. Look at what happened at AI I'm not talking about artificial intelligence. I'm talking about the city of AI Jericho falls, even though it was unlikely to fall because of perfect obedience. Israel fell at AI because they disobeyed God. There was hidden sin. Each of those cities represented constant resistance. One was overcome because of obedience, and one literally overcame because of disobedience.

[B]

External opposition cannot stop you, but internal compromise will understand that.

[A]

Some people are asking, why aren't we stopping to answer every crazy thing that's happening?

[B]

It's for that reason. It's for that reason.

[A]

Listen, the other thing we learn from

[B]

this book is that hidden sin will wreck your public calling.

[A]

A lot of people are wanting to bring input on what we have to do on the outside to fix appearances. But it wasn't the appearance of anything that brought down Israel. It was Achan. It was his hidden sin that brought down Israel. You cannot carry the torch publicly while hiding compromise privately. Why am I so intense about this? Because we're living this right now, guys. God keeps every Promise.

[B]

We're learning that right now.

[A]

God keeps every promise whether you see it immediately or not. Look at what it says in Joshua 21. I love this. Okay? There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken. This is Joshua 21:45. All came to pass is what the end says there. God does not partially fulfill his word, you guys.

[B]

He completes it.

[A]

He cannot deny himself. Finishing well matters more than starting strong. Like, I want you to see that Joshua even says it. His final words, choose you this day. Who are you going to serve?

[B]

You can inherit something great and still lose it. If you don't stay committed, if you

[A]

don't stay close to the Lord, that's exactly what will happen. Think about the heaviness of the words that Joshua brings to the table here. Let me say this. It's really, really critical. It's really, really important. He says, choose you this day whom you will serve. But then he says at the end of that phrase, he says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

[B]

I know that this has been a heavy video, but I want you to understand something, and I want you to understand something important. The torch has been passed. The calling is very, very real.

[A]

Whether or not anybody doubts the calling,

[B]

it's real because God handed it down to you. And here's a statement that I would give you. The responsibility is yours. Let me make myself clear. And this applies to me. This applies to you. We're watching.

[A]

It apply to Erica in real life.

[B]

It applies to every single one of us.

[A]

You don't get to choose whether the

[B]

torch is handed to you.

[A]

You think Erica would have chose this? You think many of us would choose some of the things we've been experiencing? No. You don't get to choose whether the

[B]

torch is handed to you. You only get to choose what you do with it when it is handed to you. My hope and my prayer is that you will run. You won't look to the left, you won't look to the right, but you will run as fast as you can, knowing that God will be with you and that you will find great success. That's my prayer. That's my hope. We've been watching lots of people take our words out of context lately. We've been watching lots of insanity out there. And all it does is reminds me that I have a race to run and I'm excited about running it. Joshua should get you excited about the same thing. Yeshua is an important name. It's one that should remind you about the promises of God, the torch that you get to carry and the amazing promise that you get to see fulfilled. That's what it's all about. And I would ask you today, choose this day who you will serve, and may it be said of you the same way it's said of me. As for me, in my house, we will absolutely, unequivocally, without compromise, serve the Lord because he's worthy of our service. Ugh. Let's get out there and fight the good fight.