joshua – Page 3 – Praying Pint

44.z. “Wilderness” – 9.e. ” You are my friends if you do what I command you”

Exodus 33:11  Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Numbers 12:8   With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Deuteronomy 5:4    The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,

Deuteronomy 34:10   And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

John 15:14-15   You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

James 2:23   and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

God contrasted how He spoke to Moses with how He spoke to other prophets; Moses heard clearly and plainly, and other prophets heard in dreams and visions. The personal revival in the life of Moses was an example to the entire nation, but it was a special example to his servant Joshua. When Moses drew close to God it also drew Joshua close to God, so much so that Joshua did not depart from the tabernacle. (Guzik)

ot that God hath a face or mouth, or that Moses could behold it; which is denied, Exodus 33:20; but the sense is, he spoke with him freely, familiarly, and immediately, and not as he did to other prophets, in dreams, or visions, or by an angel. As a man speaketh unto his friend —Which intimates not only that God revealed himself to Moses with greater clearness than to any other of the prophets, but also with greater expressions of particular kindness than to any other. He spake not as a prince to a subject, but as a man to his friend, whom he loves, and with whom he takes sweet counsel. And he turned again into the camp — To tell the people what hopes he had of bringing this business to a good issue. But his servant Joshua departed not out of the tabernacle — Probably Joshua abode there to assist and direct those who resorted thither to seek God in Moses’s absence. And he seems to have been appointed to this work rather than Aaron, or any other of the elders, because they had, one way or other, been guilty of the late idolatry, and God would hereby punish them with a temporary suspension from his service and their office. (Benson)

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face,…. Not by an angel, but he himself in person; not by a dream or vision, but apparently, in real visible appearance; not in dark speeches, but clearly in plain words, easy to be understood; and not by a voice from heaven at a distance, but mouth to mouth, being very near, as when on the mount, and now at the door of the tabernacle, as a man speaketh unto his friend; freely, familiarly, plainly, cordially, openly, without any reserve or show of authority, or causing dread and fear. (Gill)

What must it be like to be friends with God? I have many people I would call acquaintances and have a relationship with, however I truly have what I would call 3 Christian friends. I would not be afraid to share anything with them and they with me. One lives in Iowa/Florida, one in Texas/Washington, and one in Kansas where I now live. For two of them time and location have separated us but our friendship is still as it was. It is cherished. My friend in Kansas is not separated and we speak almost every day and meet up frequently each week. A friend is someone who you like to be with, communicate with, and surely cherish their presence. What must it be like to be friends with God? Do we cherish time with Him, communicate with Him, and treasure time with Him?

44.r. “Wilderness” – 8.x. “It is not the sound of shouting for victory or cry of defeat”

Exodus 32:17-18 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”

Joshua went with him, and tarried in a lower part of the mount all the forty days until he returned, though not so low as the bottom of the mount where the people were, nor so near it as to know what they did there, for of their affairs he seems to be entirely ignorant; nor so high as where Moses was, or, however, not in the cloud where he conversed with God, for of what passed between them he had no knowledge, until declared by Moses: he said unto Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp; such a noise as soldiers make in an onset for battle; he supposed that some enemy was come upon and had attacked the people, and that this noise was the noise of the enemy, or of the Israelites, or both, just beginning the battle; or on the finishing of it on the account of victory on one side or the other; and as he was the general of the army, it must give him a concern that he should be absent at such a time.

It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery; that have got the better of it, and have obtained the victory, and shout on that account; or, “not the voice of a cry of strength”, or “of a strong cry”; that is, of men who have got the victory, and are in high spirits, and shout with a strong voice; and “not the voice of strong men that overcome in battle:” neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; which is not a voice of shouting, but of howling; or, “not the voice of the cry of weakness”, or “of a weak cry”; who being unable to stand their ground are conquered, and make a bitter outcry on falling into the enemy’s hands, or being wounded shriek terribly, and “not the voice of the weak who are overcome by the enemy in battle,” but the noise of them that sing do I hear; as at a merry entertainment, either on a civil or religious account: Moses, who knew what the children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what was transacting. (Gill)

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. (Henry)

While Moses was gone there was the first person by whom the thought was communicated; “Moses is more than likely gone and or dead. We will no longer have God leading us or before us. We should make us gods to go before us.” Soon as this was spoken for the first time others jumped on the idea as if the 10 commandments and the commitment to God which had just happened less than two months prior was no longer a part of their memory. This first person who communicated the thought of idol worship easily led others to the same thought.

We need to be mindful of sin in our thought life as well as sin in what we speak. We may not think of ourselves as a leader of others, but surely others are watching and we do not know how easily our spoken word or actions might lead them away from God. Communicate your doubts, fears, anxiety, and worries to God, acknowledge them, confess them, and ask God to forgive them and fill you with more understanding and wisdom of His great power and might, so that you can rest assured on Him alone and not the circumstance(s) that give you reason to doubt.

44.c. “Wilderness” – 8.j. “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there”

Exo 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

“Joshua accompanied Moses for a distance and there waited six days (a solemn reminder of God’s unapproachableness), when Moses was called higher to a personal and private time with God. (Thomas)

Moses was directed to ascend into the mount, and hold prolonged communion with God, in order that he might learn from the mind of God with respect to all these things. (Ellicott)

A cloud covered the mount six days; a token of God’s special presence there. Moses was sure that he who called him up would protect him. Even those glorious attributes of God which are most terrible to the wicked, the saints with humble reverence rejoice in. (Henry)

We have previously read of the Commandments given by God, read to the Israelites, a covenant entered into with the Israelites, and the 70 elders along with Aaron and two of his sons ate and drank with God. Now Moses is called to come to the mountain and wait for God. He waited 6 days and then on the 7 day God called out to Moses. The call of God to Moses to come to the mountain and wait, the waiting by Moses, and the call of God to Moses to come further should remind us all that it is God that calls and draws us toward Himself. “Behold I stand at the door and knock”, “For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son”, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them”, “Therefore you have no excuse”. God calls out to all mankind. God draws all mankind to a place in their minds where they will intentionally choose to either answer His call to repentance and belief in Jesus Christ or deny and reject it. When called, there will be some who will try to respond in a way that seems right to them. They shallowly commit and settle on a path that seems right and will allow themselves to be good enough (in their own eyes) to receive the promises of eternal life, and allows them to live in this world giving little to no thought of the Holiness of God and the sinfulness of their sin. Their lives are lived in this world and for the pleasures this world has to offer. Though there have been words of commitment and obedience coming out of their mouths there has been none of this commitment and obedience in their hearts, minds, and souls. Is this the expectation of God? Do we not understand that it cost the suffering and ultimately the life of His only Son? Should it be right to answer the call of God to repentance and belief in His Son so shallowly?

42.p. “Wilderness” – 4. Amalek – Defeated

Exo 17:8  Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Deuteronomy 25:17    “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt,

1 Samuel 15:2    Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.

The Amalek’s present hostility was not altogether unprovoked. No doubt they regarded the Sinaitic region as their own, and as the most valuable portion of their territory, since it contained their summer and autumn pastures. During their absence in its more northern portion, where there was pasture for their flocks after the spring rains, a swarm of emigrants had occupied some of their best lands, and threatened to seize the remainder. Naturally, they would resent the occupation. They would not understand that it was only temporary. They would regard the Israelites as intruders, robbers, persons entitled to scant favour at their hands. Accordingly, they swooped upon them without mercy, attacked their rear as they were upon the march, cut off their stragglers, and slew many that were “feeble, faint, and weary” (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 “how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you [were] tired and weary; and he did not fear God.They then encamped in their neighbourhood, with the design of renewing the struggle on the next day. It was under these circumstances that Moses had to make his arrangements. (Ellicott)

To convince Israel that the hand of Moses, whom they had been chiding, did more for their safety than their own hands, his rod than their sword, the success rises and falls as Moses lifts up or lets down his hands. (Henry)

The Amalekites were at that time the most powerful race in the Peninsula; here they took their position as the chief of the pagans. They were also the first among the pagans who attacked God’s people, and as such were marked out for punishment and destruction. (Barnes)

This is the first passage that mentions Joshua. We find him doing what he did until the time Moses passed from the scene – Joshua served the LORD and Moses faithfully.

This amazing passage shows us that life or death for Israel depended on the prayers of one man. Moses prayed as we should pray – with passion, believing that life and death – perhaps eternally – depended on prayer. It can be difficult to reconcile this with knowing God has a pre-ordained plan. But God didn’t want Moses to concern himself with that – he was to pray as if it really mattered. Just because we can’t figure out how our prayers mesh with God’s pre-ordained plan never means we should stop believing that prayer matters. Prayer is sometimes sweet and easy; other times it is hard work. This is why Paul described the ministry of Epaphras as always laboring fervently for you in prayers (Colossians 4:12), and why Paul wrote we must continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). Though this was Moses’ work to do, it was more than he could do by himself. Moses alone could not win the battle of prayer. He needed others to come by his side and strengthen him in prayer. This amazing passage shows us the great importance of prayer. Life and death – the course of history itself – depended upon prayer. We can conclude that many times the people of God are defeated today because they will not pray, or prayer does not support their work. (Guzik)

Nevertheless, Joshua had to fight. Praying Moses did not eliminate what Joshua had to do. The battle was won with prayer, but also through normal instruments – the work of the army, led by Joshua. “Prayer is a downright mockery if it does not lead us into the practical use of means likely to promote the ends for which we pray.” (Spurgeon)

39.a. “Why do you look at one another?”

Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 41:54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine

Joshua 7:10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?

Jeremiah 8:14 Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

How easy is it to become arrogant and complacent in times of plenty and prosperity? How easy is it to sit back and rest giving little thought to the opposite? How easy is it to forget God in times of prosperity?

If this famine occurred right now there would be shouts of global warming, climate change. and the need for man’s wisdom to put things back into order. Don’t get me wrong on this. We certainly need to be good stewards of God’s resources and mindful of waste and pollution but weather patterns, both short and long-term are in the Creator’s hands.

I am intrigued by Jacob’s question to his sons; “Why do you look at one another?” They have heard just like Jacob that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Their lack of making a decision to go and buy grain to survive baffled Jacob. He could see the answer to their immediate need but his sons were standing around looking at each other without any kind of action or plan of action. The famine had them stupefied. If you had a cow that no longer was giving milk and you needed milk, and your neighbor had more than enough milking cows to produce a surplus of milk, wouldn’t it seem like an easy enough decision to go buy some from them? Coming off 7 years of prosperity seems to have taken the creative thinking and problem-resolving ability from their brains concerning their current situation.

There are times in our lives that require action and there are times that require waiting. How can a person discerns when to apply constraints and wait, or take action and move on? For those who are believers, this can still be a time of indecision. Do I wait or do I move on? When we look to God in Faith the answer will come. In fact, it might be totally the opposite for two believers. God can move one to stay and another to move on. The key is by faith, reliance, and trust in and on God to speak to your heart and mind through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Faith is built on hope, trust, and reliance in and on God. Taking action while others are waiting or waiting while others are taking action is very hard to understand, but to those who have their hearts and minds reliant on God and ever-seeking to hear His quiet whispers leading them in their decisions will find a peace that passes all understanding in these times.

Too often times of prosperity result in neglect and complacency to things of God so that when times of famine, trials, and troubles arrive at your doorstep you are void of the ability to rely and trust in and on God. It is so sad this is the way of many who proclaim to be believers. If your life’s purpose is void of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all you think, say, and do in times of prosperity it surely will be void in times of famine, trials, and troubles.

Now is the time to change the way you live. No longer live for self, but rather by the renewing of your mind and intentionally choosing to live in such a way that all you think, say, and do honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. Now is the time for in this purpose we find our faith, hope, trust, and reliance will grow and mature into that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.

34.z. “They shall not enter my rest.”

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Exodus 20:11    For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 23:12   “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17    It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

Deuteronomy 5:14  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Isaiah 58:13   “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

Hebrews 4:4-10   For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”  And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”  Since therefore it remains for some to enter it,six days and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,  again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.  So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,  for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Colossians 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

God did not need rest on the seventh day because He was tired. He rested to show His creating work was done, to give a pattern to man regarding the structure of time (in seven-day weeks), and to give an example of the blessing of rest to man on the seventh day. God sanctified the seventh day because it was a gift to man for rest and replenishment, and most of all because the Sabbath is a shadow of the rest available through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Though we are free from the legal obligation of the Sabbath, we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest. God has built us so we need one. But we are also commanded to work six days. “He who idles his time away in the six days is equally culpable in the sight of God as he who works on the seventh” (Clarke). In our modern world of four or five-day workweeks and generous vacation time, surely more “leisure time” can be given to the work of the LORD. The description of each other day of creation ended with the phrase, so the evening and the morning were the… day. However, this seventh day of creation does not have that phrase. This is because God’s rest for us isn’t confined to one literal day. In Jesus, God has an eternal Sabbath rest for His people. (Guzik)

“God, having completed His work of creation, rests, as if to say, ‘This is the destiny of those who are My people; to rest as I rest, to rest in Me.’” (Boice)

The seventh day is distinguished from all the preceding days by being itself the subject of the narrative. In the absence of any work on this day, the Eternal is occupied with the day itself, and does four things in reference to it. First, he ceased from his work which he had made. Secondly, he rested. By this was indicated that his undertaking was accomplished. When nothing more remains to be done, the purposing agent rests contented. The resting of God arises not from weariness, but from the completion of his task. He is refreshed, not by the recruiting of his strength, but by the satisfaction of having before him a finished good. (Barnes)

God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made: not as though weary of working, for the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, nor is weary, Isaiah 40:28 but as having done all his work, and brought it to such perfection, that he had no more to do; not that he ceased from making individuals, as the souls of men, and even all creatures that are brought into the world by generation, may be said to be made by him, but from making any new species of creatures; and much less did he cease from supporting and maintaining the creatures he had made in their beings, and providing everything agreeable for them, and governing them, and overruling all things in the world for ends of his own glory; in this sense he “continues working”, as Christ says, John 5:17. (Gill)

There was holy perfection in what God created, even the day of rest assured and promised to it. Before Sin entered the world there was a blessed rest that comes from God. Man will never find this rest on their own though they may cease the work of their hands and find sleep easy and refreshing. This rest is for the body and seeking rest that is for and deep into the soul of man. It is in this rest we find purpose, peace, joy, and hope. This perfect rest is found in Jesus Christ and through our complete trust, reliance, belief, and obedience in Him alone. We may try hard to find rest for our weary souls by “sleeping” but though we may sleep we wake with anxiousness, confusion, anger, and fear. Why? – Our souls still hunger for the “rest” that only Jesus Christ can fulfill.

2.s. “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.”

2 Chronicles 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

Deuteronomy 26:17-19 You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”

Joshua 24:21-25 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day

Multiple times throughout history there have been people of God declaring their intentional choices to serve Him, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, statutes, rules, and obey His voice. They did this as a personal choice and as one voice collectively. For some, this may have been a shallow commitment and for others, it was heart and soul-deep.

When the commitment is shallow you still may not see any difference between them and others with deep commitment. For all outward appearance looks the same. They may have gotten caught up in the moment and gave lip service to make this commitment. We see this today when a seed of commitment is acted upon it to trust Jesus Christ. Yet the seed does not take root and over time withers dies. Jesus gave a parable about this and we should take note of the importance of it. It is up to those with heart and soul-deep service and obedience to nurture and help water and grow these shallow seeds. This can only happen when there is continual growth and maturing. And this can only happen when there is a desire to do so. An intentional choice that is made every day. An intentional choice that places service to Jesus Christ first. An intentional choice to feed on His word, to listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit, to trust Him when chaos and confusion attack, and to take every thought captive and ensure it is in line with God’s word.

Every small decision over time will yield good or bad. These insignificant decisions in our mind have long term effects for both now and eternity.

We can rejoice when there has been a commitment made to trust, serve, follow, and obey but we must help and encourage each other in this life long commitment or we risk drifting away. We don’t have to read far after each of these personal and nationwide commitments to see a drifting and falling away from serving, following, trusting and obeying God. Be mindful that our sinful nature and self-centered interests are always being tempted by Satan or self to leave our commitment to God. Our commitment is more than a one and done decision. It is an intentional, mindful, heart full, and soul-deep choice every moment of every day. Stay in His word, serve Him, follow Him, trust Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. In doing this we are able to fight the good fight and encourage, lead, and instruct our brothers and sisters in Christ.

1.h. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them. And Joab said, Jehovah make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Job 1:6-12 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Matthew 4:3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Satan is very real. Satan temps us and is able to see weaknesses within us. Satan is able to temp our lust for sex, want of and reliance in wealth and intelligence, and exploitation of our anger, pride, honor, and need for recognition, and a host of other self-seeking, self-centered fleshly and earthly desires. Do we think we are immune to these attacks? Do we even know when we are being attacked? Is it possible that we give in so easily to our sinful nature that we don’t even need to be tempted?

If God’s word is not in our heart, mind, and soul there will be a good chance that we will yield to our sinful natures’ desires rather than needing to be tempted by Satan. If God’s word is in our heart, mind, and soul then we need to be mindful of Satan’s temptations. Satan’s attacks and temptations are to get us to yield to our sinful nature. The only way we will know these attacks, is by knowing God’s word and testing our thoughts, actions, and words against it. We need to seek to be filled with the wisdom and understanding of God’s word through time in it and yielding to the indwelling and filling and leading of the Holy Spirit.

God’s word within our heart, mind, and soul will strengthen us to be courageous, empower us to be victorious, and give us hope and faith to rely on, cling too, and trust in Jesus Christ. Do not yield. Do not give in. Stay in His word and learn what is sinful nature and what is tempting to it. Combat it with the word of God and an intentional choice to live humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.

197. How would our life change were we to give our whole heart, soul, and mind to God?

2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy 13:5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

We read all of the actions Josiah took after he made a covenant to walk after the Lord. We went city by city and destroyed the false idols, altars, and anything that was a compromise in serving God with their whole heart, mind, and soul. What a testimony to a changed life. What a testimony to humbly serving, following, honoring, trusting, relying on, and obeying God.

How would our life change were we to give our whole heart, soul, and mind to God? What would be changing in how we think? What would change in where we go? What would change in what we say? What would change in how we act? What would change in what we allow to influence our lives? What would change in how much time we spend in His word? What would change?

When we come to God’s word with hunger and thirst for it, when we come to God’s word with a seeking and a desire, when we come to God’s word with a want to hear and be led by the Holy Spirit, we will filled with a continual hunger for more and more knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of Jesus Christ, and we will be able to discern the deceptions and illusions this world has to offer.

188. I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.

2 Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Joshua 10:12-14 At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel

God creator, author of all there is, all powerful, and all mighty spoke all there is into being. All of nature and science obeys the voice of God from creation to forever. Why do we find it hard to understand that the author and creator can control and manipulate what He has created? Stopping the sun and moon for a full day, retreating the sun for however far it takes to go back ten steps is nothing compared to what God can do. He is unlimited. Scripture says He can do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine. And we still have doubts. We still have anxious thoughts. We worry and fret. We become afraid. When we come to the place where we have surrendered our trial/trouble in the hands of Jesus, and we say not my will but yours be done, it is then we find the blessed assurance, peace that passes all understanding, faith that moves mountains, hope that conquers fears, and trust that gives us strength and courage in the midst of our trials/troubles. Stay close to Him, seek Him, desire Him, and above all lay your burdens at His feet and rest in His unfailing love.