Judges 6-9; Psalm 70

Breaking the Barriers of Our Limitations

Judges 7:2  The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.”

 Gideon reminds me a lot of myself, in terms of my insecurities and my constant need for reassurance/confirmation from the Lord. In Judges, chapter six, the angel of the Lord appears to a most unlikely hero, Gideon, and greets him saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior”. A startled Gideon then basically responds, akin to the manner of those timeless words, of Sally to Charlie Brown, ” Who me?”

 What follows has to be one of the strangest exchanges, that the Lord has ever had with one he had appointed to defeat an army of the enemy. The Lord, for His part is making great booming prophetic declarations over Gideon but Gideon’s matter-of–fact replies show he is far from convinced.

 Lord:    “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Gideon: How am I going to do that? Do you know who I am? I think you have me confused with someone else… like someone strong. 

Lord:    “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

Gideon: I don’t know about this. I am going to need a really, really big sign to confirm that you indeed are, who you say you are. (since you don’t have any ID, maybe some manipulation of the weather would be good..) Can you hang on a bit until I get my sacrifice together?

 And what does the Lord do? He waits! God goes on to give Gideon several signs, at Gideon’s specific request, to confirm that indeed He is the Lord. God is excruciatingly patient with Gideon.

 At this point it is useful to remind ourselves that Judges 6: 5-6 says of Israel’s enemies: They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.  Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.  Judges 7:12 says ”The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.”

 Despite already being outnumbered, God then says to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.”

God then sets out by a series of tests to whittle down the army of thirty two thousand men by the following process of eliminations:

1. All fearful men had to leave, 22,000 – 10,000 remained
2. Those who knelt to drink from the river, keeping those who lapped from cupped hands – 300 remained

 Even then, and this should come as no surprise to anyone, again our hero Gideon, still had his doubts. So God caused him and his servant to hear one of the Midianites, share a dream of a barley loaf, destroying the camp of the Midianites. The soldier also gives the interpretation that the Lord had given the Midianites into the hand of Gideon. God intent on emphasizing the fact that He really needs no help at all, equips the Israelites with only trumpets and jars with torches, and they defeat the enemy.

 To understand what was happening to Gideon, we need to realize that when God is calling us to greater things, He will always challenge us to stretch and walk outside our comfort zone. There was absolutely no way in the natural that the children of Israel could defeat the enemy. It was only when Gideon accepted himself as the mighty warrior that God said he was, that he was able to accomplish mighty things. Gideon’s own mindset, a lot of it being related to his humble heritage, had put limitations on him and the Lord had to work with Gideon to overcome his self-imposed limitations.

 Like the children of Israel, many times we are crying out to the Lord when we find ourselves needing deliverance from situations that are oppressing us, or our loved ones. The Lord is constantly available to us but we must do our part and walk outside the comfort zone so that we may experience the supernatural. To live outside the comfort zone, we must focus on God, and what He is able to do. Only then can we go onto perfection in Him, and experience freedom and life at its very best.

 EVA

 

 

 

 

Judges 4-6, Psalm 68:18-36

Deborah, The Prophetess Judge

One night on the way home, I happened to tune in to one of my favorite bible teachers, who was answering general questions on the role of women in church leadership. To my shock and amazement, he advised one listener to leave the church he was attending because the senior pastor was a woman. It seems that certain sections of the bible such as Judges chapter four, were not included in the version of the bible used in his church.

 The Book of Judges occurs between the times of the death of Joshua and the appointment of Saul as king. Sadly unlike Moses, Joshua did not train up a leader to be his successor. During this time Israel was ruled by a succession of Judges. Deborah was one of two prophet Judges, the other being Samuel.

 There were several cycles of oppression that occurred during this period of the Judges. These oppressions took place every time the people rebelled against God. During Deborah’s time at the beginning of chapter four, we are told that they did evil in God’s sight and particularly Sisera, who was commander of the king of Canaan’s, army, cruelly oppressed the Israelites.

 In such a patriarchal society, we can therefore infer that Deborah must have been an extraordinary woman, exceptional in bravery, wisdom and spiritual insight. She held court under the palms in the hills of Ephraim, and the people came from all over to hear her decisions.

 She sent for Barak and instructed him by the word of the Lord to take ten thousand men and stating God would then lead Sisera into his hands. However Barak insisted that she accompany him, and she then prophesied, that Barak would not take the honor by himself, saying “the LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.”

 As Deborah prophesied, Sisera was indeed killed by a woman.

Exhausted, while fleeing the battle lines on foot, Sisera took refuge in the tent of a woman, Jael, who believe it or not, gave him some milk and tucked him in, until he slept. (OK, the only thing missing was a lullaby. I could not make this up even if I tried…) As Sisera slept, Jael, who seems to have been very handy around the tent, took a tent peg and hammered it through his temple.

 The bible says we should believe in the Lord’s prophets and we will prosper (II Chron 20:20). In this case however Barak’s fear outweighed his faith, so he was not willing to do as the prophecy instructed. Should you like Barak, decide that you will not move according to God’s word, God will use someone else to do the job. God will use what is perceived as weak, to prove that it is He, who is in control at all times. God did not need to use Barak; he used a woman instead, to kill the leader of the enemy’s army.

 In Judges chapter five, Deborah and Barak break out into song and they give praise to God, and in the process we learn a bit about the conditions in Israel and how dangerous it was for travellers when Deborah came to power:

“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. “

It is also obvious that Israel did not have the will to fight, much like Barak, until Deborah the Prophetess Judge, a mother in Israel, rose up to lead them in battle:

“Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel”. Deborah’s defeat of Sisera and Jabin, the king of Canaan, led to peace in the land for the next forty years.

 Last, but not least (especially for the male readers out there), this tale teaches us to never underestimate the power of a woman. We can see from the story of Sisera that God himself, did not.

 EVA

Matthew 26-28, Psalm 68

Peter- A Pillar of the Church, An Unlikely Foundation

Matthew 26 :69-70  Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.  But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

• Beethoven’s music teacher once told him that as a composer, he was hopeless.
• Winston Churchill failed in the 6th grade.
• Walt Disney was fired by the editor of a newspaper because he, Disney, had “no good ideas”.
• When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.
• Einstein was four-years-old before he spoke. He spoke haltingly until nine years of age. He was advised to drop out of High School. And his teachers told him he would never amount to much.
• Henry Ford’s first two automobile businesses failed.
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. .
• Isaac Newton failed at running the family farm and did poorly in school.
• Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a learning disabled class. He lasted a month.
• Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

 In today’s reading, the story of the impetuous Apostle Peter is very encouraging for those of us who have struggled with failure. Many times we may see a mature preacher, or teacher, but we have no idea of the past failures or embarrassing gaffes, that the person has endured before they became accomplished in their gifting or ministry. This is very misleading to some, as it gives the illusion of instant perfection that is not grounded in reality. We make and learn by mistakes, in every area of our lives. Even those of us who are “perfectionists” are not without fault. Everyone has failed at some point in his or her life.

 This illustration of Peter shows the gracious patience of Jesus, in light of Peter’s failures. Imagine the stress that Jesus was enduring in these, His final hours, and yet incredibly there was no condemnation in His words, only loving understanding for the man who would be later known for His solid faith, as Cephas, the rock.

When Jesus prophesies that the disciples will deny Him, of course, Peter is first to pledge that if all the other disciples desert Jesus, that he never will. Jesus responds saying that Peter will deny Him three times before the rooster crows twice. Not surprisingly, Peter reaffirms his commitment, “ even if I have to die, I will follow you “ (in other words… don’t be ridiculous, Jesus!), and then all the disciples follow suit. When Jesus is betrayed by Judas and a soldier steps forward to seize Him, it is Peter (as stated in John’s gospel) who lops off the soldier’s ear with a sword. Peter was very passionate and I believe genuine, in his defense of his loyalty to Jesus. However when the crowds are gathered before the council of the Sanhedrin and the elders, indeed Jesus’ words do come to pass, when a slave girl recognizes Peter and seemingly in fear, he denies three times that he is a disciple of Jesus.

 After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, Peter goes on to play a pivotal role in the growth of the early church. It is Peter who preaches on the day of Pentecost, which results in the first international evangelical revival of the early church. It is Peter who heals a man, 40 years old, who is crippled from birth. The book of Acts tells us he was used by God to do extraordinary miracles, notice not regular miracles!! He was so full of the Holy Spirit that aprons and handkerchiefs, which he touched, when laid upon the sick, resulted in healings. People laid out the sick so Peter’s shadow would be cast upon them so they could be healed.

 Towards the end of his life, historians say that Peter was imprisoned in a particularly nasty prison where he was tortured terribly for nine months in utter darkness chained to a post. Even then he managed to convert his two jailers, and forty-seven others.

 Peter seems to have been the most impulsive and daring, of all the disciples. It is Peter who jumps out into the waves and walks on the water to Jesus. It is Peter who says, “Thou art the Christ” when Jesus asked, who did people think He was. Who would have thought that the impetuous and seemingly unstable Peter who denied Christ would become the worker of extraordinary miracles and exemplary orator of Pentecost? It is a great lesson to us that that we cannot glean our potential, or how valuable we are to God in the light of past failures. The story of Peter is a wonderful story of an understanding God who is willing to use us to do great exploits, if we are able to let go of our failures and to forge on to greater heights in Him.

 Our enemy will always try to use the fear of failure to immobilize us so that we will never attempt to do anything for God.  It is often pride, plain and simple, that keeps us from trying when failure might be the outcome. Is there something that God has put on your heart, but you have been too intimidated to try because you might fail? I encourage you, as I believe that crazy impetuous Peter would if he were here, to jump out of the boat, step out onto the waves, and go for it!! The story of Peter is an object lesson to us all, that God understands and honors, when we step out in faith for Him, even when we fail.

 Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus

EVA

Matthew 14-16, Psalm 64

The Cost of Dysfunctional Love

Psalm 63: 1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

 David is in the desert hiding, again. But this time, David was paying for his own mistakes. Due to his abject lack of discipline, his family became the very definition of dysfunctional. David’s son Amnon, raped his half-sister Tamar, and he was not punished. In retaliation, Tamar’s brother Absolam, murdered Amnon and David gave him amnesty. Safe to say, that David was not really big on disciplining his children.

 After a prolonged absence from his father, Absolam yearns to see his father’s face. When his father refuses to see him, true to form, Absolam exiled from the courts of his father, seeks favor with the people and begins to challenge David’s kingship. Instead of being grateful to his father for sparing his own life, Absolam seeks to kill David.

 But David, despite his flaws is unwavering in his love for the Lord and this psalm is about David yearning for the presence of the Lord. He speaks about his whole being longing for God like a plant in dry and thirsty land. 

 He reminisces about seeing the Lord in the sanctuary in His  power and His glory. He states that because God’s love is better than life, he will glorify the Lord always. For David, singing praises unto the Lord is the best of foods. On his bed at night, David thinks of the Lord when he is unable to sleep.

 Well, that’s all very nice but it saddens me to think that this great man of God, this great king, was unable to control his own household. As a result of this, his children, rape, plot against and murder each other and one of them tries to kill their father as well.

 David, though prolific in his love for God, was woefully lacking in reality, what was a significantly important role in his life- that of Father. For parents, the job of parenting and being able to bring up your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, is not an easy one. One must create a balance of service to God and creating quality time for each child.

 Family is very important to God. God created us so that He could have a family of His own as well. God refers to Himself as the Father, who longs for us to come to him. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and of Christ. In the psalms, He says, that He will put the lonely in families.

 It is through us that our children learn to relate to their heavenly Father. They learn of His discipline, His love, His mercy and His forgiveness, by our relationship with them. We do a tremendous disservice when we “love” our children to the point that we avoid disciplining. We will pay a price like David did, if we choose this path, but even more so, will our children.

 Hebrew 12:16 -  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 5-7, Psalm 61

The Laws of the Kingdom

 Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 The Book of Matthew is about the Kingdom of God. The word kingdom occurs 55 times during this book and the theme of the entire book is that Jesus is King and He is establishing His Kingdom. Every Kingdom has Laws and so does the Kingdom of God. These laws are in direct contrast to the world’s ways.

 “The Sermon on the Mount” (Matt 5-7) is for most part a compilation of teachings through which Jesus was publicly communicating the laws of Kingdom living and it was a radical departure from the teachings of the Pharisees. The passage says He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The main difference between Jesus’ approach to righteousness and that outlined in the law was that righteousness was no longer of works or actions (external) but was dependent on standards of the heart (internal). People had previously only measured righteousness on one’s adherence to the law. They were stuck on the rituals and had totally lost sight of the principle behind the rituals.  Jesus did not disagree with the Mosaic Law but He acknowledged that the application of them was imperfect and that He was the fulfillment of those laws. Jesus wanted them to learn that change had to take place from the inside out and to appreciate that we cannot really change from the outside in, that is, by changing our actions alone.

Let’s take a look at the contrast in standards that was presented that day on the mountain. In the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11) Jesus begins to focus his audience on the conditions of the heart. What does the “poor in spirit” mean? It means that we realize that we cannot achieve salvation on our own.  It speaks to an attitude of spirit that is not self- reliant, self-centred, self- sufficient. He goes on to say that those who are pure in heart, meek, merciful, peaceful- all attributes of the spirit will be blessed of God.

Jesus addresses the attitude of the heart when He speaks about the purity that is required for your sacrifice to be accepted. (Matt 5:23-24). You cannot truly serve God and hold his people in contempt. Therefore how we treat others is important to God. Can you really be in danger of hell fire if you call someone a fool? The fire mentioned here is Gehennah, which was a garbage dump. Therefore if you mistreat your family, your spouse, you are on a path of destruction.

We have a tricky reference to divorce here (Matt 5:31). Was Jesus saying if you divorce a woman for any other reason except for adultery, that it was not allowed?  What is not obvious is in Jesus’ time, it was customary for men to divorce their wives for basically “any cause” invented from a single word in Deuteronomy. Some rabbis argued that anything, even a burnt meal or wrinkles could be a cause, and they went about divorcing women left, right and center. They obviously wanted to trade in for a better model and found a way to do so!! Jesus was reaffirming that marriage was a serious commitment before God not for man’s convenience. In any case the Jewish marriage certificate had the provisions of love, food and clothing, that had to be made for the wife. If a man neglected or abused his wife, the certificate itself allowed technically for the marriage to be ended. Jesus addressed adultery as starting at lust; the sin not being just the action, but a matter of the heart.

He spoke about loving one’s enemy. Not just that but taking concrete actions to not be resistant in any way. Okay for me, this is one of the most difficult to do parts of the bible. Turn the other cheek, giving the enemy more than he demands. This speaks to engendering a peaceful coexistence with even the people who hate you the most. Jesus says if you cannot love those who hate you, you are just as bad as unbelievers!! Yikes!! Let’s move on quickly.

Do not judge others. Here we are at that respect for others principle again. You will be judged for condemnation of others for this is not love and there is only one Judge.

Finally do not worry (Matthew 6:25-27) about your future. In God’s Kingdom there is a wealth of provision for He is a good Father who will provide for your needs. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and ALL these things (the necessities of life) will be provided for you. Your priority must be the Kingdom for only the things of the Kingdom will last. Lay up treasures in the Kingdom, for the material things that the world calls real are regarded as temporal in the Kingdom of God. As you take a good read through this passage, (highly recommended for how can you live in the Kingdom, if you don’t know the Laws of the Kingdom?) examine your heart. Are you lacking in any of these areas? Ask God to change your heart and to help you to be more like Jesus. And He will.

 EVA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua 22-24, Psalm 59

 

Whom Will You Serve?

 

Joshua 24: 14-15 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

 

There is always a tendency to drift. This is a cliché of Pastor Sean’s.  It means that if you are not attentive, it is possible to slowly and almost imperceptibly begin to stray from your intended path and end up somewhere other than where you intended to be.

 

I met with a friend tonight and we were talking about a mutual acquaintance, and I was musing about how much this person had changed so much, from the godly example that I used to know. On the other hand I got a call from an old friend that I used to witness to, one that I had spent many hours of prayer over, not to mention cried so many tears over, confirming that he had found the Lord. I cried a few more tears when I hung up the phone. This time these were tears of unspeakable joy and gratitude to God.

 

Two acquaintances who had drifted in opposite directions. It seemed to me that one cannot predict who might end up being the more devout follower of Christ, based on where people began, because life takes it’s toll on us in different ways. But I believe that the difference boils down to one essential: the faithfulness of the heart. In the passage above, Joshua is old and is giving the children of Israel, final instructions. He encourages them to fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. He encourages them further to throw away the idols of both the past and the present. The faithfulness of the heart can be maximised by how genuine you are as a Christian and also minimized by ungodly distractions (idols) that you will tolerate in your life.

 

Joshua declared : As for me and my house we will serve the Lord! In this context of course, the house means the household, that is, any family and other people who are living within his home. What enabled Joshua to make this declaration? Well I believe one of the important keys is that that Joshua led a life of genuine uncompromising devotion to God. Because you cannot really pretend to be someone who you are not before your family, I believe that Joshua was in his private life as he was in his public life.

 

Unfortunately many Christians, have double standards, at home and in church. As a result, they may declare that their house will serve the Lord, but the seeds of compromise have already been sown.

 

The ungodly distractions or idols represent actual objects (car, house), intangible objects, or behaviours that we value more than we should. Intangible idols that feed unhealthy attitudes, make us want to be more superior than others such as social, economic, or educational status, beauty. Behavioral issues that we are unwilling to change, that become habitual: a workaholic (wanting to gain influence or status), a hobby/ game that takes the place of prayer meeting (addiction or attachment to games, special activities), selfishness (self obsession or involvement), unhealthy romantic attachments.

 

The principle of drift applies to these objects and behaviours, which can erode our faithfulness to God, if we tolerate them.  What is the antidote? Firstly we can discern them by holding up the mirror of the word to your life. Guard your heart! It requires that we honestly before God, take a regular stock of what will distract us from spending time with Him. The strategy of the enemy is to minimize in our eyes the effect of the distraction. But beware, distractions are like quick growing weeds that result in idolatry and result in drift.

 

So how can we stand in faithfulness and unflinchingly declare that our house will serve the Lord? Only when we remove the double standards before the ones who know us best, and we do away with identified idols, becoming vigilant of those things that subtly vie for the place in our hearts that should be His alone.

EVA

One of the most encouraging verses in the Bible

 

Jos 21:45 – Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.

This verse from today’s reading really encouraged this morning and I pray that you will be encouraged by it as well.

“All” is a small word, yet it is a beautiful and powerful word. It means the “whole” of a thing, not a part, not a piece, not 99%, but 100%.

God had given Abraham a promise about a his descendants possessing a land flowing with milk and honey.  Though it took a couple of hundred years for all of it to come to pass, every promise was fulfilled.  This tells me that we can trust the rest of God’s promises in His Word and those that He has spoken to through His Spirit.

If God has spoken a promise to you last year, 5 years ago, or even 20 years ago; be assured that God will bring it to pass in due season! Do not allow doubt, fear or worry to creep in. Hold on to the promises of God for your family, health, finance, ministry, etc.

Today, right now, dust off those promises of God that you have pushed aside because you have yet to see them come to pass. Declare boldly to yourself and to the heavens that the promises of God are yes and amen.

 

2 Co 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Num 23:19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Marcia

Joshua 16-18, Psalm 57

 

A Prayer for Deliverance in Times of Persecution

 

 

 

I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts— men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. They spread a net for my feet— I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves. Psalm 57:4,6

 

David was hiding in caves, fearful for his life. Like most of us who have gone through devastatingly turbulent times of trouble, David was forced while hiding from his enemies, to come face to face with God. In the words of Charles  Spurgeon: we pray best when we are in caves.

 

 This autobiographical psalm was written when David was fleeing for his life from Saul. Literally this was another “David and Goliath” scenario. This psalm is a heartfelt plea for deliverance from the hand of a powerful vicious king who had everything at his disposal and who was extremely serious in his intent to kill David. It was personal. It is a theme that is repeated in several psalms. However, when we are in desperate straits, it is understandable that we will approach God several times with the same petition repeatedly, just as the poor widow approached the harsh judge.

 

 The first stanza speaks about taking refuge under the shadow of the wings of God until the disaster has passed. This is reminiscent of how baby chicks take refuge under the wings of the mother hen for protection, during a storm. During a time of crisis, David recognized that the best place to be was to be close to God.

 

 David also asks for vindication from God. It is God who justifies and who will reveal the heart of a matter and who will ensure that your innocence, if you are being persecuted unjustly, is shown for all to see.

 

 The actions of the evil men are shown to be both deliberate and tactical. Although we are not told the details of what was said by these men, David speaks about the tongues of the evil men being like sharp swords. This implies that there was a concerted attempt to defame his character. There appears to be a multitude of them in David’s case and he likens them to beasts and lions.

 

 David mentions that he is forced to dwell among these ravenous beasts. There is a connotation of helplessness in these words as he seemed to not have any choice or much control over the environment in which he was placed. He is a victim.

 

 There is an attempt to spread a net for the feet of David. This speaks to an attempt to stop the progress of David by using some type of ambush or trap. Listen to the subsequent deep emotional and psychological anguish that David experiences: “I was bowed down in distress”. We hope that when we experience such traumatic situations that we will be able to stand firm in our faith, but despite that, sometimes we are not totally immune or unscathed by what is going on around us. God understands that we are human and persecution does at times affect our state of mind.

 

 “They dug a pit in my path” implies a serious carefully designed, hidden trap meant to immobilize, from which it would be impossible to extricate oneself, without assistance. It is an escalation of attack to another level. David might have been acknowledging an increase in the level and organization of the enemy. However next we read, “But they have fallen into it themselves”. Isn’t this just like God? He is able to take any situation that appears so ominous and turn it around 180 degrees, and in the process turn the tables on the enemy!!

 

 If you are in a cave today, you are in the best of company. King David was in one also. You are as valuable to God as David was. Yes, David was the king of Israel but remember beloved of the Lord, you are His child. The scriptures inclusive of the psalms are given for instruction. Psalm 57 encourages us to stay close to God and in the light of escalating attacks, rest assured that you will be vindicated and God will turn the situation around.

 

Psalm 18: 46 – 49 (song of celebration that David wrote after he was delivered from his enemies and after he defeated Saul) The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.

 

 EVA

 

 

 

Joshua 10-12, Psalm 55

Possessing the Land – Becoming Established in Your Land of Blessing

 

Joshua 10: 10-11 The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.  As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

 

 Looking back, each of us can all see how God deliberately pushed us at critical points, selectively down particular paths, to get where we are today. God is constantly guiding us so that we may enter and possess our “promised land ”, which is God’s call on our life. God has big plans for us and He is interested in helping us achieve big things.

 Like Israel we seek to possess the land. But what does it look like? How do we not just possess and but maintain that which God has destined for us?

1.  Firstly as a recap, the secret to prosperity, to achieving your blessing, if you have been reading so far, is very simple: a) Believe in God b) Obey His word.
   
2.  Believe, confess and expect that you deserve to be blessed because of Jesus’ sacrifice, that the promises of God are true, and that they apply to you. It was not coincidence that out of the twelve spies that went to spy out the land, the two that actually entered the land were those who believed that God would give the land into their hands and not those who were intimidated by the inhabitants, and their fortified cities
   
3.  Enemies and situations will arise to deter you. For the children of Israel, all the “ites” are living in the land and rise up to organize and fight against them. The enemy is a master manipulator at deception using people to intimidate, slander, insult, betray, lie and fight against you.
   
4. There will be many battles, but trust God. In today’s reading we see that Israel had entered the promised land but there were many battles to be fought in order to possess the land. The Lord often takes us through battles to bring us to a place of trust in Him. 
   
5. God will go to extraordinary lengths on your behalf! Why? Because He loves you! God reigned down hailstones that killed more of the enemy than Israel could. The sun stood still for about a day so that Israel’s enemies could not escape under the cover of night.
   
6.  You need to do your part. Success comes about by hard work for most of us. This requires that you put your shoulder to the wheel and do your job, with all your might and to the best of your ability. The Israelites could have lived in a corner near Jericho and not go fighting for any more land. They had to fight for what they achieved and many times so do we.

 

Take a moment today, to look where the Lord has brought you from. It is not by coincidence that you were born where you were born, that you had the family that you had. God knew you from before you were in your mother’s womb and He has had a plan for your life all along. Going into the promised land, especially in this Passover season represents a new beginning as well. It represents being free from bondages. If you have not been doing so before, begin to expect big things of God, because He is able, and He is not finished with you. The best is yet to come.

 

Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

EVA

Joshua Chapters 1-3 & Psalm 52

My apologies for not sending this on time!!

 

As we begin to read through the chapters of Joshua we are reminded that it is not about the battle but about the way we move forward in the battle.  Moses had mentored Joshua and had appointed him before his death to take charge and be his successor.  Joshua had heard God’s words and knew that he was to be obedient and lead the people across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan.  The book of Joshua records how God brought the next generation of Israelites to the boarders of Canaan under Joshua’s leadership.  Joshua would have succeeded not because of his strength of leadership but, because of his trust and obedience to God and His instructions.  As a result miraculous victories were won in spite of impossible odds.   The purpose of the book of Joshua was to show the importance of trusting and obeying God in the difficult times of life and pressing on to achieve physical and spiritual goals. 

 

 Key verses of this book are found in Joshua 1:6-9 “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall mediate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”   NKJ        

 

 In today’s reading we see that Joshua was of strong faith and because of that faith he was a great leader of the people.  His trust in God was a great witness to the Israelites and they trusted him because of it.  In Chapter 1 we read of the Lord’s charge to Joshua.  This is followed by Joshua’s charge to the Israelites.  Joshua was obedient to the Lord and the Israelites were obedient to Joshua.   Joshua was a wise and gifted military strategist.  When faced with life’s challenges, he sought God’s direction.  He was not afraid to go against popular opinion.  He led the Israelites into the Promised Land.  He believed God’s promises despite opposition. 

 

 In the second chapter of Joshua we see faith in God once again bringing success in an impossible situation.  God led the scouts to the house of Rahab in spite of her occupation.   Rahab made a wise decision when she took a stand for the God of Israel by assisting and protecting the spies sent by Joshua.  Rahab displayed courage when she turned away from the security of the world she knew and risked following the true God, knowing very little of Him.  It always takes courage to make changes in our life, especially when those changes take us into the unknown.

 

 In chapter 3 of Joshua we see that God gave special instructions to Joshua and the people were obedient to follow those instructions.  Had they not there could have been an all-out war.   The Israelites chose to obey and they were taken safely across the Jordan.   God would drive out the enemies of Israel if the Israelites were obedient to Him.  Furthermore, so the people could see the power of God at work, the priests, acting by faith, had to carry the Ark of the Covenant and stand with their feet in the Jordan River.  Would God leave Joshua looking foolish, or would God act in the way he had promised?  Joshua did not doubt God but, had the priests stand in the river.  The Jordan River was at flood stage and extremely dangerous, if not impossible to cross without God’s help.  Often God places us where we must either stand for Him or show that we don’t really trust him.  If we trust in God, we can be sure that we will never be disappointed.     

 

 In Psalm 52 we see that God is willing to take us out of the dangerous situation we may have gotten ourselves into. A consistent prayer life can help us keep the right perspective about the world and give us patience and hope as we look to the future.  We need to be careful to watch our lifestyle and where it could lead us.  We need to seek God’s will and be obedient to follow that will.  Living for the moment can lead to painful long-term consequences.   

 

 We may think that a good life is reserved only for people who are better or stronger than we are, but there is a Promised Land for each of us.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”(NLT)   We need to be courageous.  We need to believe that there can be good things in life for us.  We can be encouraged that regardless of our own past we can start again.  We can find our way out of the chaos of the wilderness into the Promised Land.  There is hope when we keep faith and are obedient in spite of all the odds. 

 

 ELLEN