Slaying Giants: A 5-Day Devotional Series
Based on Joshua 1:1-9 | "Slaying Giants" Series, Week 1
MONDAY — Foundation Day
DEVOTIONAL TITLE: The Giant You've Been Avoiding Is Still There
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: The giant you've been avoiding is still there
META DESCRIPTION: An ignored problem doesn't disappear — it just waits. This Monday devotional explores what God told Joshua about facing what we've been afraid to face.
Monday — Foundation Day
What if the thing you've been hoping would just go away is still standing there, waiting for you?
Today's Scripture: "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them." — Joshua 1:2
Reflection:
Forty years. That's how long Israel waited, hoping the giants in the Promised Land might just... leave. They didn't. An entire generation came and went, but when the time finally came to cross the Jordan, the giants were still there.
Here's the hard truth that Sunday's message laid out so clearly: an ignored problem doesn't disappear. It just gets louder. It gets more complicated. And eventually, we still have to face it.
When God spoke to Joshua, He didn't offer a detailed strategy or wait for ideal conditions. The river was at flood stage. The timing felt impossible. And God said, now. Arise. Go.
Notice what God didn't say. He didn't say, "When you feel ready." He didn't say, "Once the circumstances improve." He said the land was already given — the promise was already in place. The only question was whether Joshua would get up and walk toward it.
The same is true for you today. Whatever giant has been waiting on the other side of your fear — the conversation you've been avoiding, the step of faith you've been delaying, the calling you've been second-guessing — it's still there. And so is God's promise.
Today's Application: Name the giant you've been avoiding. Write it down or say it out loud. Simply acknowledging it is the first step toward crossing your Jordan.
A Closing Thought: God's promise to Joshua didn't change when Moses died, and His promise to you doesn't change when circumstances feel impossible. He's still saying, arise.
TEXT MESSAGE TEASER: That thing you've been avoiding? It's still waiting. But so is God's promise. Monday's devotional is for you. Read today's devotional: [LINK]
TUESDAY — Challenge Day
DEVOTIONAL TITLE: Fear Isn't Lying — It's Just Leaving God Out
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: Fear isn't lying to you — it's just leaving someone out
META DESCRIPTION: Fear often has its facts straight. Tuesday's devotional explores why that makes it so hard to fight — and what we're actually missing when fear speaks.
Tuesday — Challenge Day
What if the reason fear is so hard to shake is because it's not entirely wrong?
Today's Scripture: "Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." — Joshua 1:9
Reflection:
Here's something that might surprise you: fear is often right. At least partially.
When the ten spies came back from scouting the Promised Land, they weren't making things up. The cities really were fortified. The giants really were there. Their facts were accurate. Their perspective was the problem.
That's what makes fear so convincing. It walks in with evidence. You're not strong enough. Maybe true. You don't have enough. Possibly. You could fail. Absolutely. Fear isn't usually lying to us — it's just leaving God completely out of the equation.
And that's the critical difference. As Sunday's message put it: faith isn't pretending the giant is smaller than it is. Faith is refusing to pretend that God is smaller than He is.
Fear can be right about you. Fear is almost always wrong about God.
When fear says you're not strong enough, it forgets that God is. When fear says you don't have enough, it forgets who owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills. When fear says you can't control what happens next, it forgets that God can.
This is why God doesn't tell Joshua there's nothing to be afraid of. There is. God just keeps reminding Joshua of one thing fear conveniently ignores: I am with you.
Today's Application: The next time fear presents its case today, ask yourself: Is fear leaving God out of this calculation? Let that question interrupt the spiral.
A Closing Thought: Fear may have facts about you, but it has never had the final word about God. He is bigger than every argument fear can make.
TEXT MESSAGE TEASER: Fear isn't always lying. It's just leaving God out. Tuesday's devotional hits different. Read today's devotional: [LINK]
WEDNESDAY — Application Day
DEVOTIONAL TITLE: Three Ways to Whack Fear Before Lunch
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: Three ways to whack fear before lunch today
META DESCRIPTION: Fear keeps coming back — and that's okay. Wednesday's devotional gives you three practical tools from Joshua 1 to fight back when it shows up today.
Wednesday — Application Day
Fear doesn't just show up once. You deal with it Monday, and it's back Tuesday. You deal with it again, and it's back Wednesday. So what do you actually do when it keeps returning?
Today's Scripture: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it." — Joshua 1:8
Reflection:
Sunday's message gave us three simple words for fighting fear: remember, rehearse, regroup.
Remember who is with you. Fear wants you calculating your own strength. God kept interrupting Joshua's fear with one reminder: I am with you. When fear shows up today, your first move is to remember that you are not in this alone.
Rehearse what God has said. The Hebrew word for meditate in Joshua 1:8 literally means to mutter, to repeat, to rehearse — to keep something on your lips so you don't forget it. Fear knows how to rehearse. It will replay your worst-case scenario on loop all day. The answer isn't positive thinking — it's God's Word. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7). Hit fear with something stronger than your own encouragement.
Regroup with other believers. You weren't designed to fight giants alone. Sometimes you need someone who loves you to say, "That's not what God's Word says about you."
Today's Application: Pick one scripture from this devotional, write it somewhere visible today, and say it out loud the next time fear speaks up. Then reach out to one person in your life who can remind you what's true.
A Closing Thought: You don't have to defeat fear perfectly — you just have to keep swinging. And you don't have to swing alone.
TEXT MESSAGE TEASER: Fear keeps coming back. Here are 3 practical ways from Joshua 1 to fight it today. Read today's devotional: [LINK]
THURSDAY — Testimony Day
DEVOTIONAL TITLE: When the Pastor Is Scared Too
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: Even the pastor is scared — here's what he did anyway
META DESCRIPTION: Thursday's devotional explores what courage actually looks like in real life — through a moment of honest, real fear and what it means to obey anyway.
Thursday — Testimony Day
We tend to think courage belongs to people who aren't afraid. But what if the most courageous moments happen when someone is genuinely terrified — and moves anyway?
Today's Scripture: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." — Joshua 1:9
Reflection:
Sunday's message included a moment of rare honesty. The pastor shared that even as he was preparing to announce a second service — a step of faith for the church — fear was speaking loudly. What if we don't have enough people? What if we don't have enough volunteers? What if we mess up what we already have?
He admitted: "The sermon I just preached to you was the sermon I've been preaching to myself all week long."
That's what real courage looks like. Not the absence of fear, but the decision to obey anyway. Not the guarantee that it will work, but the conviction that God is calling you forward.
Joshua didn't have a guarantee either. He had a flooded river, a nation to lead, and giants waiting on the other side. What he had — what God kept giving him — was a reminder: I am with you.
Courage isn't believing you are strong enough to face the giant. Courage is believing the God who is with you is strong enough.
That truth doesn't just apply to pastors launching new services. It applies to the parent trusting God with a prodigal child, the person stepping into a new job, the couple choosing to repair what feels broken. Real courage always looks like someone afraid, moving forward anyway, because they believe God is with them.
Today's Application: Think of one area where you've been waiting to feel brave before you act. What would it look like to move forward today, trusting that God's presence is enough?
A Closing Thought: You don't have to feel fearless to be faithful. You just have to take the next step and trust that God is already on the other side of the river.
TEXT MESSAGE TEASER: Even the pastor was scared. Thursday's devotional is about what real courage actually looks like. Read today's devotional: [LINK]
FRIDAY — Forward Day
DEVOTIONAL TITLE: Stop Memorizing Your Giant. Start Memorizing Your God.
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: You've memorized your giant. It's time to memorize your God.
META DESCRIPTION: Friday's devotional challenges you to carry one truth into your weekend: fear rehearses the giant, but faith rehearses what God has said. Which one are you practicing?
Friday — Forward Day
By Friday, most of us have rehearsed our fears more than we've rehearsed our faith. What if this weekend, we flipped that?
Today's Scripture: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom." — Colossians 3:16
Reflection:
This week, we've been sitting with one of the most honest truths from Sunday's message: fear knows how to rehearse.
It takes one worry and repeats it all day. What if this doesn't work? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I fail? Over and over, until — as Sunday's message put it — we've memorized our giant. We know every argument, every worst-case scenario, every reason it won't work.
And somewhere along the way, we've failed to memorize our God.
That's the invitation as we head into the weekend. Fear rehearses the giants. Faith rehearses what God has said. The question isn't whether fear will show up — it will. The question is what you've been practicing.
God told Joshua to keep His Word on his lips day and night — not just in the quiet moments, but especially when the river is flooding and the giants are real and the stakes feel impossibly high.
As you head into your weekend, carry this with you: you are not facing your giants alone. The same God who told Joshua I will not leave you or forsake you is saying the same thing to you right now. He hasn't changed. His promise hasn't changed. And His presence goes with you wherever you go.
Today's Application: Choose one scripture from this week's devotionals to carry into your weekend. Write it in your phone, say it before you sleep tonight, and bring it with you into Sunday worship.
A Closing Thought: The giant didn't shrink this week. But maybe God got a little bigger in your mind. That's exactly how giants get slain.
TEXT MESSAGE TEASER: You've memorized your fears. This weekend, try memorizing your God instead. Friday's devotional will help. Read today's devotional: [LINK]
Series Tags/Categories
Fear & Courage · Joshua · Slaying Giants Series · Faith in Action · Spiritual Growth
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