The Hand Of The Lord Is Mighty

Joshua 3: 16-17

The waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap a great distance away at Adam (15 miles upstream)...completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. The Priests (not the Kohathites who usually carried it) who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground, until all the Nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

So the Lord caused the River to stand up like He had done with the Red Sea. The Priests carried the Ark, and the people had to be at least 3,000 feet away from it at all times (see verse 4), so they crossed up- and down-stream 1,000 yards from the Ark. They always had to be protected from the dire effects of God having rested on it, on the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim.

4 :18

...The waters of the Jordan returned, and went over its banks as before.

Just like the Red Sea had collapsed suddenly on the Egyptians, drowning them with no chance to escape; now the Jordan River also is suddenly released to flow normally again. Just like God stopped it with His hand, then took His hand away again. No natural explanation fits, it was obviously God.

4: 14

On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.

God made sure that the people would listen to this new leader, so they wouldn't be scattered like sheep without a shepherd. (We are like sheep, aren't we!)

4: 24

That all the peoples of the Earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

God wants all the peoples of the Earth to know Him, and love Him, and live by His ways! He always did. 

When God first made Man upon the Earth, they all knew Who He was, and when they turned away from Him they incorporated a lot of what they knew about Him into their own religions and sacred writings. That's why there are some similarities between them and God's Word. But only God's Word is trustworthy and can be depended on to tell us Truth without any error. 

Our Creator and Maker is a God of Truth, and He wants us to know the Truth, because only His Truth can set us free from the chains and addictions of this life (John 8:32). 

I know, because He set me free from my relationship addiction five decades ago, and that addiction has never returned, regardless of the varying circumstances in my life all those years. God is faithful to me, and I want to be faithful to Him, too. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Faith's Rewards

Joshua 2: 11b

The Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above and on Earth beneath.

This is Rahab's faith, the hotel owner who concealed the Hebrew spies when they were checking out Jericho. Verses 8-11 record what she told them: That God had given them the land, and everyone was terrified of them, because the Lord had dried up the Red Sea for them, and how He gave them victory over the powerful kings who lived on the East side of the Jordan. 

Hearing the news of how God had done these things convinced her, and she completely renounced all the gods and idols she had previously worshiped and put her faith in the God of Israel as the only True God Who is worthy of worship. 

And she proved her faith by putting herself in danger by helping the spies. 

God rewarded her for her faith by saving her and her family from death when, "the walls come a'tumblin' down" and the Israelites each walked straight in and conquered the city (6:20). 

And she was even granted to be in the direct line of Messiah! She married Salmon, and gave birth to Boaz, who then married Ruth and had Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who's youngest son was King David (Matthew 1:5-6; I Samuel 16:6-13). 

God knows who are His in every Nation, every tribe, every family; and every person who recognizes Him for Who He is and puts their trust in Him fully, God will call to repentance and faith (John 3:16-17). Even back then, when Israel was the only Nation to worship God, individuals from other Nations would come to know Israel's Lord God and renounce their local gods and idols to put their faith in the Great YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah), the Lord God in the Old Testament Who we know as Jesus. 

Rahab and Ruth were both foreigners who put their faith in the Lord God of Israel, and they are both in Jesus' ancestry. 

God knows how to reward His children for their faith. He will never leave us on our own, He's always here with us to show us the way. 

I want to get to know Him so well that I will have no doubt or hesitancy in following Him. I know He has a plan for my life that is so much better than anything I can think of, and I don't want to miss out on any of the blessings He wants to give me, no matter how scary the path may seem at times. I want to persevere and carry on, until I reach the end of my Earthly road, when He calls me home or I meet Him in the air.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Be Strong, Courageous, and Careful

Joshua 1: 7-8

Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. 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, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Here it is. This is how God designed this World to work. He gave us all the particulars of how to cooperate with the Design of this environment so that we will reap its bounty, and be prosperous and have success in every area of life.

To know God and to study His Word, to be thinking about it day and night, and to reason through why God would say what He said, to connect the dots--that's what I've been doing, and this is how I realize that God wants us to do well, and gave us everything we need to know and apply in His Word.

The World has gotten hold of God's design of how things work here, but they leave Him out of it, and say to "ask the universe," instead of asking the God Who made the Universe. To follow His ways will bring prosperity (not just money), but even if you gain the whole World, what will you profit, if in the end you've lost what's most important, the eternal. 

I want you, my dear reader (yes, you are dear to me), to know God, to realize how much He loves you, and that He has already taken care of your greatest need, the eternal, spiritual debt that you can't pay. 

And He's laid out in His Word how we can align with how He made this World to work--loving Him and loving one another. We all know right from wrong, and we make choices every day based on what we think is right. But we still mess up. That's why we need to consult Him in every decision we make, recognizing that He is with us all day every day; and follow His leading. 

Then, even when things don't happen like we want or expect, we can still trust Him in everything. He is our Good Father, Who teaches us and guides us, and even protects us, seeing our futures, around all the corners where we can't see. So He sees the Big Picture, we only see a part. We must trust Him.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Vengeance

Deuteronomy 32: 35, 41

Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip; for the day of their calamity is near, and the impending things are hastening upon them.

When I sharpen my flashing sword, and My hand lays hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, and repay those who hate Me.

God says that vengeance belongs to Him. Whenever we want to "get even" or "get back" at our adversaries, we are taking what belongs to God. 

We can't handle it, it's way too powerful and dangerous to our psyches. It would make us bitter, negative people who can't receive any of God's goodness into our lives. 

God is the only One Who can safely administer that kind of justice. And He will. He will even all the odds, pay back every debt, settle every dispute. We can trust Him to take care of all of it.

Our part is to love those people back to God, so that they will realize what harm they've done, repent, and turn their lives around. And if they don't, we are to love them anyway, and persevere in praying for them.

I was one who did much harm to people's relationships and marriages. I deserved great retribution. But God had pity on me, drew me to Himself, and let me know that my debt was paid in full. 

That's when I became a Christian, a "little Christ." Jesus took my place, in taking upon Himself the death I deserve, and then God wiped my debt out of His Book, washed me in the Blood, and made me completely clean and pure; and gave me His own Holy Spirit to live in my spirit to seal me as His own. Now nothing can separate me from His love (see Romans 8:35-39), His Seal will hold me firmly in His grasp, to never again be "lost."

God will save every person who realizes they need Him, and turn around to seek Him (John 3:16-17). No matter how far they have strayed, how wicked their deeds have been, how many lives they have destroyed; if they come to know that they deserve God's wrath and repent, then God will let them know that He put all His wrath they deserve on Jesus on the Cross. That's why He was born.

But we must put from our thinking any ideas that we want to punish someone who has hurt and harmed us. God has forgiven us, and He wants us to forgive others, too. It's not easy, but with His help, we can. It may take time, and we may need to forgive them repeatedly, but we must persevere; and when you can think of that person and what they did without any more pain, then you will be free of that millstone around your neck!

We don't forgive for their benefit, but for our own. To hold on to it only hurts us further, without touching them. That's why we need to keep on forgiving every time we remember it. 

I hope those families that I harmed all those years ago were able to let that negativity go. There's nothing I can do now except to pray for them. They're in God's hands. I trust Him to do what is Right for all of us, so I don't need to worry.

If you find yourself holding on to some grudge against someone who genuinely harmed you, then decide to free yourself and let it go. 

You won't be sorry--you'll be free!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Be Strong And Courageous

Deuteronomy 31: 7-8, 12

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the Land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 

And the Lord is the One Who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Moses was not going to be their leader any more. In order for the people to not be scattered like sheep without a shepherd, he commissioned Joshua in front of all the people so that they would know that they could follow him, and that God had given him authority like He had Moses to lead them, to conquer this Land.

And he also made it clear that God would be the One Who would subdue these peoples that were bigger and stronger and more numerous than Israel. So that they would all look to Joshua and trust God as they entered this Promised Land. And to encourage Joshua to pick up this mantle of authority confidently.

...Be careful to observe...

And they all, Joshua included, were to pay attention and be careful in their thinking processes so that they wouldn't be seduced by all the attractive ways of these peoples who already live here. That's why they were to destroy not just the people who would convince them, but also all the altars, all the idols, all the totems, all the things that were used in the worship of these false gods, these demons. 

We must all pay attention to ourselves to be "in the moment" and recognize how we're thinking to make sure that we are not drifting away from the Lord's ways. We are all vulnerable when we're not being careful. We are also seduced by all the attractive ways of the World around us. 

Our enemy has convinced by deception so many around us, that we (in America, at least) are eating what are not even food, but chemicals and plastics and Franken-foods. No wonder we are suffering with all these auto-immune diseases. And he has convinced so many to think in a scarcity mode, to think that for one to have more, he has to take it from one who has less. When God has put everything here in abundance, so that every person can have all we need, and make wealth by providing good things to others, enriching them, too. 

Whenever God gives, it's always in abundance, far more than just basic necessities. When Jesus made the water into wine, it was a week's worth of beverage for the whole party. When He multiplied the 5 loaves and 2 fishes for the 5000, they had twelve huge baskets full left over. God is generous, giving to us out of His great riches (Philippians 4:19). 

We never need to feel that we're in need. We never need to feel that we are deprived or denied. God has already given us everything in abundance in this Earth. We only need to know His ways and order our thinking along His lines, and decide to do life His way. In purity, and in honesty, and in generosity. In considering other before ourselves, and giving God the credit.

That's how He designed it to work. 

God didn't want the Israelites to be seduced away from their "Husband," and He doesn't want us to be seduced away from our "Bridegroom." He loves us, and wants us to enjoy the life He provides. 

So let us ask Him, seek Him, knock on the door of His ways, as He tells us to do (Luke 11:9-10). Let us continually be aware of His presence with us and in us, to cooperate with how He made this World; and we will enjoy the benefits as we give Him the glory. A win-win.

Even so,come, Lord Jesus!

In Your Heart

Deuteronomy 29: 29

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us, that we may observe all the words of this Law.

All that we don't know yet, God knows. The things we've been able to know, through God's revealing them to us or through scientific study of this Earth and the Universe it's in, belong to us, to use for our benefit. 

God has given us life that lives through our physical bodies; when this life leaves our bodies, we're dead. That spiritual part of us is what uses our brains to think and have emotions and a will to decide. None of these things are physical. Dead bodies don't think, emote, or choose. They don't do anything. 

So where should we go to learn what we need to know to prosper? I want to prosper in every way--emotionally, physically, relationally, intelligently, and especially spiritually. And even a little financially. 

30: 14 

But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

We don't have to travel, or enroll in some University, or get on the internet around the world to know what we need to do to live our lives--our own consciences, if they are trained properly, can lead us, but are they trustworthy? What if they are deceiving us? Our own hearts lie to us (Jeremiah 17:9).

But God can never lie or be mistaken. We can fully trust what He says. And His Word is given to us to guide our hearts and train our consciences. His ways for us are simple, but not easy. When we're thinking properly, they make sense. 

God wants to bless us. He wants us to live our lives in harmony and prosperity. He's told us how to think (Philippians 4:5-8) so we can reason along with Him; He's given us His Love so that we can love Him back and love one another (I Corinthians 13); and this Love underlies all the rules, commandments, and precepts, so we can understand the principles and how to apply the knowledge we have. He's given us freely everything we need to know to do, and the strength and ability to do it. And He's given us all the foods we need naturally in this Earth, so we can nourish our bodies into good health, prospering physically. 

So all we need is already there in our hearts. Now we need to "pay attention" and "be careful" to actually observe these ways, and live them in our daily lives. By practicing these things, we can form new habits, to do what is right instead of our old ways of messing up. Whenever we're not paying attention, we can easily slide back into old, unproductive ways. We have to put forth the effort and persevere in doing what we know is right. 

John wrote, For all that is in the World, the lust of the flesh [sensuality], the lust of the eyes [materialism, accumulating things], and the pride of life [reputation, popularity], is not of the Father, but is of the World (I John 2:16). Any or all three of these things can be idols to us, drawing us away from the pure joys of His ways. 

Whatever we consider first in our thinking and our choices is our god. If I consider my own pleasure before any other consideration, then I am my own god. If I think first of what people will think of me, then pride is my god. If I want more money and things, then I will never have enough money and things, and materialism is my god. None of these will ever satisfy me, they are all just tools, not ends in themselves. I am to use the tools I have, in seeking to do what I perceive to be right. 

I need to pay attention to what God has taught me so far, and be "in the moment" to not slide into any error or mistake that "misses the mark" (sin). And I hope you too, dear reader, will seek His wisdom to know what is right for you to do, so you can prosper in every way, also.

And because God has planned it to work out that way, then He will receive all the credit when it does work out. And we will get the benefits, and He will get the glory.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

God's Reputation And Promises

Deuteronomy 9: 7-29

In Verses 7-24 Moses recounts all the things the people did to anger the Lord while they were in the desert.

And Verses 25-29 tell us that God got angry enough to destroy them, and offered Moses the opportunity to found another Nation! But Moses interceded for them, to remember the Patriarchs and to consider His own reputation.

V. 28 

Otherwise, the land from which Thou dost bring us may say, "Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness."

God will always safeguard His own reputation, and He will always keep His promises. 

Moses knew God, so he knew He would listen to this prayer, and answer.

If I know God and understand His ways, then I'll know what God wants for me, and that He can give me what He wants me to have (an if-then proposition); He will always answer those prayers. 

I don't bargain with God, I don't threaten Him, I don't do any of the manipulative manuvers people try in order to get what they want. I only want what He wants for me, because I know it would be much better for me than anything I would think of. 

Even if it means I will be going through hard times or grief or some other disaster in the mean time, because I trust Him through anything He would allow me to face. He will strengthen me, and carry me through it all. And the Joy of the Lord will be my strength.

I know that God will direct all the affairs of this World to complete all His purposes for this Earth, and He has given me a small role, a bit part, in this great Theatre. 

And He will be praised for all He has done.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!