Nehemiah 2:11-12 Jude 14 Psalm 68:1-3; 7-10; 17-18 (David speaking) Ephesians 4:8-10 Isaiah 10:24-26 Isaiah 11:15 Zechariah 10:10-11 Arthur W. Hunt III “The Vanishing Word” published in 2003 “So when…
Nehemiah 2:11-12 Jude 14 Psalm 68:1-3; 7-10; 17-18 (David speaking) Ephesians 4:8-10 Isaiah 10:24-26 Isaiah 11:15 Zechariah 10:10-11 Arthur W. Hunt III “The Vanishing Word” published in 2003 “So when…
Nehemiah 2:9-10 Acts 1:6-11 Acts 3:19-26 Revelation 21:1-8 “A Scimitar is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures.” Wikipedia.org…
Isaiah 9:1-7 Isaiah 8:19-22 Deuteronomy 18:9-15 Acts 3:17-22 John 1:1-9 Isaiah 9:6-7 Isaiah 9:1 Matthew 4:12-17 Matthew 1:17 Romans 8:19-24 Luke 2:8-14 Timothy Keller “Hidden Christmas” “What is going on…
Daniel 9:1-23 Daniel 9:1-2 Daniel 9:4-8 Leviticus 25:1-2; 8 Leviticus 26:14-38 Leviticus 26:40-45 Daniel 9:15-19 www.Christianheadlines.com titled: “U.S. is Facing a worldview Crisis, George Barna says: 94 Percent reject a…
“You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is required. The stars neither require it nor demand it.” Annie Dillard
“Imagine a world designed so that we experience a mild jolt of pain with every sin and a tickle of pleasure with every act of virtue. Imagine a world in which every errant doctrine attracts a lightning bolt, while every repetition of the Apostle’s Creed stimulates our brains to produce an endorphin of pleasure.” Philip Yancey
In fact, for the Israelites it nearly eliminated the need for faith at all; clear guidance sucked away FREEDOM, making every choice a matter of OBEDIENCE RATHER THAN FAITH.
Power can do everything but the most important thing; it cannot control love. Love does not operate according to the rules of power.
In other words, just as God found it nearly impossible to live among sinful people, the Israelites found it nearly impossible to live WITH A HOLY GOD IN THEIR MIDST.
“In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” Oscar Wilde
Question of the week:
From the day God created a man and a woman and put them in the Garden of Eden, he meant for them to find rest in His creation. Can you find that principle in the Old and New Testament
applied when people disobeyed or obeyed it? What was the result in every instance?
The medicine is faith. Trust in God’s word. Don’t add to it. Do not doubt God’s promises. HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU AND ME. If you are in a state of backsliding, trying to please God by obeying rules and laws, take God’s medicine OF FAITH IN HIS WORD. His Grace is available today and tomorrow.
James 4:11-17 1. The Danger of ASSUMING A POSITION OF SUPERIORITY James 4:11-12 Numbers 12:1; Numbers 12:8 Numbers 21:5 Psalm 50:20 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:16 1 Corinthians 5:12-13…
Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember HIS HOLY COVENANT.
People did not believe God and wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. It looked like God is done with Israel. But He is 100% committed to His covenant and His covenant people.
Before God chose David to be the king of Israel, the nation was ruled by 15 judges over a period of about 450 years. Some of the most widely known names are Samson and Samuel.
During that time the enemies of Israel started to infiltrate God’s land over and over again despite the fact that under Joshua’s leadership they were defeated and chased out of the promised land.
The history of the rise and fall of the Hebrew nation are found in the history books (Genesis-Esther). The prophets appeared during the days of the fall of the Hebrew nation. At the moment of the apostasy of the 10 tribes at the close of Solomon’s reign and Israel’s golden age the ministry of the prophets began. The prophets gave a wake up call as soon as people began to forget God.
God warned Israel and Judah over and over again through the prophets. The people forsook God, worshiped idols, did injustice, and loved evil. But God was kind enough to forewarn them of coming judgments because of sin and apostasy, and he would do marvelous miracles through the prophets that would give them hope and encouragement. The prophets even revived their faith in the coming Messiah and His glorious Kingdom. Elijah and Elisha are some of the names that come to mind when talking about prophets.
The book of Joshua follows the first 5 books of Moses. In those 5 books we find a great amount of God’s promises that are the foundation of Joshua’s faith in God Almighty. Without those promises, there would have never been a Joshua. Yet, God prepared, protected and also provided for this man everything necessary to become a mighty witness of God’s faithfulness to not just the Hebrews, but also the entire world.
Joshua must first know what the law which Moses wrote down is all about. You cannot observe what you do not know. And if you don’t know what God commanded, you cannot be a witness of God’s faithfulness.
God also commanded Joshua to MEDITATE IN IT DAY AND NIGHT. This was not a weekend course. It was not “when I have time left I will look into it”. Joshua exemplified what Paul wrote later in the book of Romans.
This preparation starts at birth. It is God’s doing. Joshua’s lineage had everything to do with God’s choice. His parents were slaves, experiencing the bitterness of bondage. However, Joshua’s parents never lost faith in God’s promises. They somehow believed that God is faithful even if the circumstances for 400 years pointed into the opposite direction.
At birth, his parents named this newborn boy HOSHEA, meaning SALVATION. In other words, this young boy was nurtured in an atmosphere of HOPE. Still in bondage to the Egyptians, his parents from the tribe of Ephraim, a tribe that comes from Joseph, the very son of Jacob that was sold into slavery by his own brothers.
God prepared Joshua for future battles. How did God prepare him? By example of others who are not fighting with him in the physical, but in the spiritual realm. THE BATTLE IS THE LORDS.
Joshua was alongside Moses for 40 years. He witnessed most of what God did during Moses wilderness wandering. He was taught to KNOW GOD and by observing Israel he was taught to KNOW MAN. Also, Moses’ tent was Joshua’s college.
What can we learn from that? This truth contains the very essence of the Gospel. God’s plan of redemption is very clear throughout the Bible, Old and New Testament.
The law brings no one into God’s heritage. Was Moses could not do Joshua was prepared to accomplish. If you and I want to enter into God’s inheritance, we must turn from Moses (from the law) and look to Joshua.
Just as Joshua was prepared by God to live under the law, under the authority of Moses, so have we been prepared by God to live under the law for a season. It is this preparation that brought us eventually into the promises of God. And people who have not gone through that process cannot be witnesses of God’s faithfulness. God has prepared a way for us to experience His promises. And once we experience them, we become true witnesses of God’s faithfulness.