joshua – Page 5 – Praying Pint

I will show you

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Genesis 15:7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Nehemiah 9:7 You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

Isaiah 41:9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

Isaiah 51:2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.

Joshua 24:2-3 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.

Luke 14:26-33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

It is one thing to be chosen and another to obey. Being a christian is a choice of all who are called. Likewise, listening to His whispers to our soul, obeying the word of God, , and following His leading and call on our lives is a choice.

Abraham was called and told to leave his place of comfort with his family(s). He obeyed and left on the promise that God would lead Him to where he was to go. He did not wait once he heard God’s calling.

Abraham had a chosen to first be near to God and had reverence of Him. Without this choice there would have been no hearing God speak into his life. Abraham then chose to obey God’s leading in his life with only the words of “go to the land I will show you”. There was no map and clear plan all laid out. There were no pictures of what the land looked like. There was no directions to follow so that he would know how to get from point “A” to point “B”. Abraham chose to act immediately. He did not wait until he could confirm everything was in place and the destination and directions were clearly laid out.

Our lives are made up of choices every single day. We can choose;

to be near to God or far away

to have reverence of Him or just passing thoughts

to want to listen to Him or turn deaf ear

to learn more of Him or neglect learning of Him

to read His word or neglect it

to honor Him or disrespect Him

to serve Him or just ourselves

to follow Him or be led by others

to worship Him or things of this world

to obey Him or disobey

to have faith in Him or trust in self

to pray to Him or not

to wait on Him or move forward on our own

to trust Him or in others

to cling to Him or in other things

to rely on Him or self

to desire Him or seek satisfaction from other things

to read His word or neglect it

to proclaim the gospel or keep silent

to love Him or have a luke warm feeling toward Him

to sacrifice to Him or keep for self

to speak of His power or be silent

to be content in His hands or be anxious and worry

to encourage others because of who He is or be silent and leave them in despair.

It is clear, we make choices everyday and they will have immediate and eternal consequences in our life and the lives of others.

They forgot Me

Deuteronomy 31:20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel. And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.” When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Hosea 13:6 but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.

Our life this side of eternity has many trials, temptations, troubles, blessings, joyous moments, and precious peace.

Hope, faith, and trust in God during times of trials, temptations, and troubles yields blessings, joyous moments, and precious peace. No one wants trials, temptations, or troubles in their life. It is in these times that we grow in our understanding and knowledge of the awesome love and power of God. Yet it is deep within our sinful nature to forget God, the need for God, how worthy He is of honor, glory, and praise, and soon become complacent, neglectful, and deaf to hear His whispers of guiding, purpose, love, joy, rest, peace, courage, grace, and mercy, when “they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me” . Humble service to Him leaves our thoughts. Seeing His creation and praising His awesome power and might is gone.

God gave us instruction on how to fight this sinful nature of complacency and neglect. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates,“

I believed, and so I spoke

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Psalms 116:10 I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”

2 Corinthians 4:13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,

Numbers 14:6-9 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”

Proverbs 21:28 A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure.

2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

“I believed, so I spoke” – David was greatly afflicted yet he said “I believed, so I spoke“. He spoke what he believed about God. He believed in the power, might, strength, sovereignty, mercy and love of God.

Joshua and Caleb spoke what they believed when the people were grumbling and wanting to pick a new leader, replace Moses and go back to Egypt. If you remember the other 8 who went to scout out the land gave negative reports – they too spoke what they believed.

“Out of the abundance of the heart we speak.” What was in the heart of the other 8 who scouted out the land compared to Joshua and Caleb. Why did they not see and believe what the hand of God can do like Joshua and Caleb? Doubt and fear are two volcanos that can erupt when life’s uncertainty, through trials and troubles arise. These are not uncommon responses to mankind. However, they are to be recognized and taken captive. Fear and doubt will not honor God. Belief, trust, faith, and hope honor God. They also give us a firm foundation to speak of our circumstances in light of His promises. Fill your heart with His word, your mind with His promises, and speak what you believe.

Ask for the ancient paths

“For we who have believed enter that rest”

Psalms 95:11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Numbers 14:23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Deuteronomy 1:34-35 “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,

Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Hosea 4:4-11 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.

Matthew 11:28-29 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The contrast of those who willingly disobey and those who choose to follow Jesus Christ is clear. The line in the sand, as it were, is the choice – either ‘We will not walk in it.’ or “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls” and again in “Come to me,” / “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me“. God promises rest for those who come to Him, ask, and seek to learn from Him. Likewise He promises the opposite for those who choose not to. This is either all in or all out. There is no in between. Be mindful of the choice being made – it has an eternal consequence.