If you are stuck, overwhelmed, sinking, desperate, downtrodden, on the verge of giving up, or already threw in the towel, Jesus has come to rescue you!
Imagine being Rahab. She lived in the middle of a people who were so evil that God sent Israel to remove them from the planet. Here she was living among these horrible people, and she wasn’t even among the respectable class in that nation. She was stuck in her dead-end life with no hope of ever being able to break out of the prison she had helped to build. Then she heard of a people that followed a real God, not a make believe god like the ones that her people worshipped. She heard how the God of Israel had overthrown mighty Egypt and led these people all through the wilderness over the last 40 years. Next thing she knows, men who represent this all-powerful God showed up at her door! We don’t know what benefit Israel gained by sending these spies into Jericho, but we see the redeeming power in Rahab’s life right here. She immediately jumped at the opportunity to trust on this real God and serve Him. And God answered her request, He used these spies to rescue Rahab and her entire family from the people of Jericho. Rahab’s story shows us God’s true heart. If people would simply repent and turn to Him for help, He will give it and rescue us from the evil world that has us trapped. He will deliver us from the prison of anxiety, worry, anger, pride, whatever it is that has us bound. The requirement for being rescued is the same as it was for Rahab, recognize our need of deliverance and cry out for help. Whether you are a believer who has found yourself stuck once more in a pattern of constant struggle with the things that Jesus set you free from, or someone who has never trusted on the Lord to begin with, freedom is only a prayer away. Join mighty Rahab today and be set free from your prison of pain and shame and say Lord set me free! And He will! Take that first step to freedom and joy on this Tuesday morning. Just as Joshua sent the spies that led to Rahab’s deliverance, Jesus has sent His messengers to offer redemption to all those who will believe today. If you are a believer, then Jesus’ words from John 20:21 are for you. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” The most powerful reminder of the freedom you have been given in Christ is to share the story of your deliverance with those you meet along your path. Ask the Lord for the gift of being used today as a tool of redemption in the life of a fellow refugee. Praise God for the gift of His Salvation!
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Today we start reading Joshua 2:
Special Note. We will take a portion of this chapter each day this week as well as talk about it Wednesday Night along with other passages that inform our understanding and application of the text. As we read the second chapter of Joshua remember, God has told Joshua that he is going to be given the land that lays out in front of him. Joshua believes the Lord and is willing to lead the people of Israel forward to take this land. As far as we can tell Joshua’s faith does not waver when it comes to this promise. The question then, is why does he see it as necessary to send out 2 spies, not 12, to find out more about the land? The 2 instead of 12 makes sense, last time that there were 12 spies sent into this land, only two came back with a faithful report. Joshua doesn't not want a repeat performance! But did he need to send any spies at all? There are many who have accused Joshua of not trusting the Lord and feeling the need to see for himself whether or not God was telling the truth. There is no reason to question Joshua’s motives however; the text certainly does not criticize him in anyway. Joshua is simply preparing for the next step that God will show him. Think about it, if the Lord told you that you were going to go in and take over a land while leading an entire nation, would you not want to do a little recon? Joshua is a military commander he has led Israel’s army in battle for as long as we have known him, all the way back to Exodus 17. God has been preparing him for this day his entire life. He is simply using the expertise God has given him to accomplish the goals God has set before him. He is like the old farmer that went to prayer meeting where they were gathering to ask God for rain and took an umbrella with him. Joshua is preparing for God’s blessings by using the skills God has given him. Wisdom is a gift from God and Joshua is using his to prepare himself and the people of Israel to receive the reward God wishes to bestow upon them. As Proverbs 10:23 says, “wisdom is a pleasure to a man of understanding.” The same principle applies to us as we face this Monday morning. Jesus has promised us that He will provide for us and walk with us each step of the way. Does that mean that if we get up and use the skills, strength, and passion He has given us to make a living we are somehow living in doubt? Not at all! It is FAITH that causes us to leave the house and go work with all the energy He gives us, because we believe that any effort which we give to serving Him is well used time. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” So let’s get our umbrellas and prepare for the Lord to answer our prayers for His blessings, let us ask the Lord for the grace we need to wisely apply our efforts as we trust His plans and purposes for our lives this week. Let’s Read Galatians 6:1-10 for a Fabulous Friday Morning.
According to Paul, the things we do today plant seeds in the garden that is our future. Our present actions will produce future results. Today’s deeds will result in tomorrow’s rewards. The nature of these rewards and results depends on the type of actions and words we sow today. Paul says that that if our present actions are focused on ourselves instead of others, that we are setting ourselves up to receive what we have given, nothing in our future. But if we live according to the gospel of Jesus which is to Love God and serve others then we can expect to reap rewards that are of eternal value and enjoyment. This text is a great companion to Joshua 1:12-18 that we read a few days ago where the tribes that had no need for more land agreed to go forward and assist their fellow Israelites in taking possession of their lands. God calls believers to serve others and especially those of the household of the faith in the name of Christ. He begins in verse 1 by instructing us to serve each other by restoring those who have been trapped and tricked by the sins of this world. Not for the sake of attempting to humiliate or punish those people but to help them get back on the path that the Lord has for us, the path of joy and delight as we walk with the Lord. The key is to do so with gentleness, relying on the Spirit, and realizing that we ourselves are prone to the same dangers as those we see in trouble. Verse 2 generalizes our overall responsibility by saying, “bear one another’s burdens,” this is the way we do what Jesus has called us to do. God says that we are responsible to help others shoulder the burdens they carry, rather than turning a blind eye to the difficulties they are facing, we take them on as our own. This prevents us from becoming conceited and thinking that we are too important to be bothered by what others face. As we do this we realize just how much we need Christ and will not feel the need to pretend that we are better than the person next to us simply because we do not suffer from the same particular weakness as they do or as Paul says, “his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor,” it is easy to feel superior when we compare ourselves to others instead of to Christ who is perfect. Verse 7 warns us of the danger of expecting to see immediate results good or bad from our actions. We may wrongly believe that since we are not punished right away for our bad actions that we somehow have gotten away with them. But God is not mocked the things we say and do today will grow up into the rewards we will receive in our future. This is where the encouragement of verses 9 and 10 comes from. We are to work for the good of our future and continue tending the garden of our lives like good farmers. Who work all season long knowing that the harvest is coming. That harvest depends on God’s blessing and Paul says that God will bless according to the type of seeds the farmer plants and how much work the farmer puts in during the growth season. We cannot expect to reap good things if we are planting bad seeds. But we can expect God’s blessings if we keep working for the good of others and the glory of the Lord. Which is why he exclaims our mission for today, LET US DO GOOD TO EVERYONE, AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH! There is much work to be done let’s go plant those seeds today that we will reap tomorrow. How you going to know where you are going if you do not get directions first?
2 Timothy 3:16 for this Thursdays to go with Joshua 1:7-8: Yesterday as we read Joshua 1 we saw that God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous because God is going with Him each step of the way. This is great news! We love this verse. But we need to realize that this is not a promise for God to bless whatever endeavor we undertake just because we do so with a lot of passion and bravery. This is more than simply a bumper sticker slogan saying “Be brave.” God instructs Joshua to follow the instructions God had given him and Israel through Moses. Joshua’s courage and strength are to be directed along the path marked out for Him by the Lord. It would be a mistake for Joshua to assume that whatever actions he chooses will be blessed by the Lord apart from following the directions God had clearly given to him. The same is true for those living today. God is not telling us to simply pick a path and go down it full force. This is why He told Joshua to make sure to know and obey the commands in the book of the Law. He does the same for us in many places in Scripture such as 2 Timothy chapter 3. Verse 16 lets us know that God has given us clear instructions for how to live our lives. God’s Word teaches us how to behave, what is important what is not important. His Word rebukes us when we get off the straight and narrow. The Lord also uses His Word to correct us when we are in the wrong but also helps us train our hearts and minds to live righteously. You may not have a clear directive such as, “arise and go take that land,” but the Lord has made it clear that you are to put your relationship to Him first. That means He takes priority over your other competing desires and is the focus of your heart and emotions. He has also clearly told us that we are to love those around us with the same level of concern that we have for ourselves. As we struggle to find the way to do this, we study the Bible to see how we can best Love the Lord and Love our Neighbors as ourselves. Let us commit ourselves to knowing and living God’s Word today. God is with you, be strong and courageous.
Joshua Chapter 1 for a Wonderful Wednesday Morning: The World we live in can be overwhelming at times. Each day you are faced with challenges that go beyond your ability to complete. As you read about the task that stood in front of Joshua the successor to Moses, you may be able to relate in some way to how he must have felt. Here he was commanded by God to walk in the shoes of the greatest man to walk the planet since Abraham, the father of Israel, had died. Not only that he is told that his responsibility is to finish the job that Moses could not complete. Take the people of Israel into the land that God had promised to them and defeat the nations that were the land's current occupants. God tells Joshua the requirements for fulfilling His calling throughout this chapter. One key to success is staying strong and full of courage in the face of the enemy, doubt from the people he leads, and his own self-doubt. Fear is a constant enemy of the person who seeks to face these challenges in the name of the Lord. Once fear sets in it can lead us to compromise with the World we are told to stand against. Fear can cause us to disregard God’s law or pretend to not know Him at all. It can cause us to give in to the pressures either from those we are leading or the peers we are surrounded by and hide the call that God has given us. Fear at times will even cause us to be frozen as we are swallowed up by self-doubt. One way we overcome these fears that can pop up is to remember who sent us, who is going with us, and who is ultimately going to win the battle for us. God promises Joshua He will be with Him each step of the way just as He was with Moses, the man Joshua is replacing. God is not sending Joshua out on this mission by himself. No, the Lord is going to walk with Him each step of the way just as He had proven He would do with Moses, Joshua's predecessor. As you go out to face your responsibilities today, remember that you are going in the name of the Lord. Regardless of how big or small the tasks you have in front of you are, remember He is with you each step guiding and providing for you. Jesus is going with you He, not you, is the One in charge of securing the victory. If you’re able I hope to see, you tonight at Pine Level Missionary Baptist Church at 7PM as we begin our journey through this exciting book from God’s Word. |
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