Thursday, March 11, 2010
March 11 ... Joshua 1 - 4 "Hate Sin More than Suffering"
Joshua 1 - "Get going. Cross this Jordan River to the country I'm giving to the People of Israel. In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you. I won't give up on you; I won't leave you. Strength! Courage! Don't get off track. Don't let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. Haven't I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't get discouraged. God , your God, is with you every step you take." Wonder what Joshua felt as he took over the job from his mentor whom God had just buried? Cross the river in a battle formation. God will pile the waters in a heap. No wet feet. Amazing! Only God can do that! So, take a stone as a memory of that moment. Is this how they wanted to receive the Promised Land? The Israelites sounded like they will obey fully but is it really from a good place in their hearts---we know the results predicted by God. More battles. More suffering. The battle will reveal what's really going on in their hearts. The title of the next chapter in 66 Love Letters is: Learn to hate sin more than suffering. Do I really hate sin more than the suffering God has allowed in my life? I'm in the midst of some pretty fresh suffering. How can I learn to hate my sin more?
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"It's all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you. I won't give up on you; I won't leave you. Strength! Courage!"
ReplyDeleteThis morning I really needed to hear those words. I've been in a bit of a struggle these days. I have a new boss, a it feels like a completely different office. I needed to know that He won't give up on me. He won't leave me and He'll give me strength and courage to surrender to His will.
Love,
Angie xoxo
I can't imagine how scary it must have been for Joshua, but God continued to encourage and give favor to him in the eyes of the Israelites. He had seen the land for himself some forty years before but still sent two spies. Wonder if he picked a Caleb and a Joshua to remind him of his own heart set on God's Will all those years ago. He responds, "Big things are happening tomorrow. CONSECRATE yourselves." This is a holy operation, no room for half heartedness. This Word reminds me that I am to be ready for the Lord to act. Confessed up, prayed up, fortified by spending time with Him, because He WILL move--the only variable is will I glorify Him or disappoint Him?
ReplyDeleteConsecrated, holy unto the Lord, may our lives glorify His mighty Name.
Sorry to be a space hog here today but one more thing jumps out at me:
ReplyDeleteJohn Ortberg’s book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat paints a picture of the Israelites standing at the edge of the Jordan and draws the conclusion we all must face: (p.79)
"A classic example of this occurs when Moses has died, and the people are wondering if God will continue to take care of them. Repeatedly he reminds them, “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
When it is time for the Israelites to cross the River Jordan, God promises to make a way for them. They can trust him to see them across. But God asks them to take a first step: “When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.”
In other words, the people will experience God’s power—but they will have to take the first step. This not only involves a mental acknowledgment of God’s power, but requires them to take a step of action based on the assumption that God is trustworthy as well. They had to get their feet wet first.”
What do I need to act on in faith, even if it seems impossible?
Oh my goodness. This reading today takes me back to Beth's, "Believing God". I remember doing the timeline of my life...retrieving stones from my past. She wanted us to refocus, seeing God in our past so we can believe Him for our present. Our Promise Land here...ABIDING IN HIM, following the "chest of the covenant". And it led to a CRISIS. I always want the water to dry up before I put my feet in. AND the feet of the priest had to STAY FIRMLY PLANTED until everyone crossed over!
ReplyDeleteThen Gilgal...full circle, a do over..."full circle to break the old cycle". I want to do it right this time. Lay offs, pay cuts. AGAIN.
I look back and see the scripture that anchored my soul: "God...has fed me all my life long to this day...the Angel has redeemed me from all evil"...Gen.48:15-16
"This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong God's rescuing hand is and so that you would hold God in solemn reverence always." Joshua 4:24
Bev, from what I know of your story, you hate your sin and love your God. You keep making the choice to keep your feet "firmly planted" in the midst of the crisis. Do you know how much you encourage me? Well, YOU DO! And sometimes we need others to keep theirs firmly planted on our behalf...standing in the gap for us. This group of ladies seem to be good at doing that.
..."His all-surpassing power was within my jar of clay(see 2 Cor.4:7). And one day at a time I chose to believe Him." (from "Believing God)
Blessings,
FG Forever Grateful
Y'all, I got so caught up in my review of "Believing God" that I didn't realize Gilgal was in ch.5.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry!
FG
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
ReplyDeleteThis verse has blessed me on many occasions over the years.
3:5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
Since my days in Water's Edge Sunday School I have come to understand better what consecration really means and the purpose God chooses to use this process in my life. How can I hate sin more than suffering? The only way I can see myself hating sin more than suffering is realizeing my suffering is a result of my sin.
A brief side note. I will never forget in fall of 2000 when Les and I joined Water'sEdge with Beth Moore taught the class at the time the teaching was through the Book of Joshua. I wish I knew where my notes were from back then. I was familiar with Joshua but as usualy my gifted teacher brought out information so relavent that I knew she has a bible study coming from these scripts. There is a place I must get my feet wet and be willing to be strong and courageous and do the hard work to accomplish the work God has set before me to receive my full inheritance.
Well, I was going to focus on Joshua but at the very end, I had a u-turn.
ReplyDeleteLook at Rahab.
I just love it when I get to read about a woman God uses for His plan!
And do you notice He didn't care about what her life was like...
Wonder what GOD saw in Rahab? I sense her fear of GOD. And she really wants to be on GOD's side.
Strength? Courage?
I think we have found some in Rahab.
Letting down that scarlet rope that saved her and her family...I've always loved that visual. Scarlet. Like our sins...though your sins be as scarlet...and just look at her. A prostitute.
And the scarlet rope identifies her as secure from death. She and her family with her would be passed over when the attack came.
GOD looks on the heart. I would never honor her choice of lifestyle, but GOD used her and she aided and protected Joshua's spies. And her name was recorded in these Love Letters.
Amazing. All it takes is a willing heart.