Joshua 14:7-13 – Faithfully Waiting

Joshua 14:7-13
7 Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.
8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.
9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.
10 And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.
11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.
12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.
13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.
 
-When Caleb was 40 years old, he followed the Lord without fail into the Promised Land and was ready to fight for his share of it.  Due to the fear of those around him, he was denied that opportunity and made to wait and wander in the wilderness for another 45 years as he watched those around him die away.  It’s another one of those stories that may seem bad on the surface but should be looked at a little deeper.  1) By waiting 45 years, Caleb was able to really prove the depth of his faith in the Lord.  2) The Lord sustained him during the extra time and by his own admission, he was just as strong at 85 as he was at 40.  How many of us can or will be able to make such a claim?  3) Finally, the Lord made sure that his request was not forgotten and even though it was delayed, Caleb did receive everything that was promised to him.  Caleb came from the house of Jephunneh which means “he will be prepared” and that’s the lesson we should all take away from this.  No one accidentally waits on God for 45 years; Caleb had prepared his heart to follow the Lord’s will.  Just as Caleb had prepared his heart to follow after God, so should we do the same.

Psalm 51:11-12 – Thy Salvation

Psalm 51:11-12
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
 
-A very important thing to note here as David prays for God to restore the joy of salvation is how he refers to it as “Thy salvation” instead of “my salvation.”  This one small distinction has two large impacts on our lives:  1) It removes any potential for pride to come in and take credit for attaining or maintaining salvation.  If it all belongs to the Lord, we can’t pat ourselves on the back for it.  2) It brings the peace of knowing that we can’t do anything to damage our salvation.  As long as the Lord is responsible for it, we can’t mess it up or lose it.  Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), it is never of the redeemed.

Psalm 130:3-4 – Who Shall Stand?

Psalm 130:3-4
3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
 
-Who could stand if the Lord is doing the judging?  It’s not a hypothetical question because as told in scripture, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  (Hebrews 9:27)  In the presence of a Holy God, none of us can stand and if that was the end of the story, we would all be doomed to Hell.  But that’s not the end of the story; as we see in verse 4, there is forgiveness with the Lord.  Forgiveness means that God sent His son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for our sins “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)  The answer to the question David asks in verse 3 is simple; only Jesus can stand when the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25) begins marking iniquities.  So if He is not your Advocate (John 2:1), you don’t have a leg to stand on.

James 1:27 – Pure, Unspotted Religion

James 1:27
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

-I have a very blue shirt that used to be one of my absolute favorites.  Unfortunately, I stained it one time and ruined it.  It wasn’t a big stain, mind you, just enough to leave a quarter-sized spot that won’t wash out.  It doesn’t look like a blue shirt to me anymore, now it looks like a giant stain with some blue shirt left around it.  That’s how God sees our religion.  Even if it’s mostly clean, we still have to watch out for the spots that can gunk it up.  It’s easy to get spotted if you mingle with the world and it doesn’t take much before we can no longer see the religion because of the spots.  That’s why the Bible says that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)  I still have that blue shirt and I could still wear it, but I tend to pass over it for an unspotted shirt.  The Lord no doubt has many people that He would like to use, but how often must He pass them over because they hold onto their spots?  Are you tired of your spots but don’t know how to get clean?  Take it to the Lord and He will “cleanse [you] with the washing of water by the word.” (Ephesians 5:26)  “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”  (Isaiah 1:18)

John 6:16-21 – When They Heard Him

John 6:16-21
16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

-I like how Jesus introduces Himself here to put His disciples at ease; He doesn’t say “It is Jesus”, simply “It is I” and immediately the disciples recognized Him.  This is even more poignant when we consider that they had already seen Jesus walking on the water and that sight made them afraid because they didn’t recognize Him.  (Matthew 14:26)  They didn’t understand what they saw but they immediately recognized what they heard.  In John 10:27, Jesus tells us that “when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”  There’s plenty about the Lord that’s beyond our understanding; things that would overwhelm and even terrify us.  On the day you finally see Him, you may not even recognize Him.  But if you’ve trusted the Lord for salvation, you’ll know His voice when you hear it.

Exodus 13:8-9, 14 – For a Memorial

Exodus 13:8-9, 14
8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.
14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
 
-Many times in scripture the people are instructed to make a memorial or perform certain actions as a remembrance to future generations of the Lord’s goodness and His wonderful works toward the children of men.  When the children saw these memorials and actions, they would ask about them and that would prompt a conversation about the Lord.  We spend our days surrounded by children, either our own or our families or neighbors.  We are always in the presence of little eyes and little ears.  What actions do they see us performing that they may one day ask about?  What answers would we have to give them when that day comes?  Could we look a child in the eyes and give voice to our deeds or would they be too shameful to be spoken?  We may say that God and prayer and the Bible are important to us, but would the children who see us every day agree? 

Philippians 3:18-19 – Among Us, But Not of Us

Philippians 3:18-19
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

-It should come as no surprise to us that there are wolves in the sheepfold.  After all, Jesus told us it would be so. (Matthew 13)  So why is Paul in tears while he shares the same truth here?  There is a difference between knowing that the wolves walk among us and realizing how close to us those wolves can get.  Some of the people that Paul loved and trusted the most turned out to be false and it did more than surprise Paul, it hurt him.  But everything in the Bible is put there for our learning (Romans 15:4) and this is given to us as a warning so that we can be ready when we are betrayed.  It may be your best friend from Sunday school, it may be your Pastor, or it may be someone you haven’t met yet.  Pray that the Lord will give you the grace to endure no matter who it is or where it happens.  Also, remember that our spiritual walk is based on a relationship between us and the Lord.  Even if everyone else you ever loved and trusted turned their backs on you, the Lord still promised to go with you all the way to the end of the world.  (Matthew 28:20)

Joel 2:13 – Rend Your Heart, Not Your Garment

Joel 2:13
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

-In scripture, a person’s repentant heart is often coupled with a rending of their garment.  Tearing a garment is an expression of grief and can be used at the loss of a loved one or, as stated, a guilty conscience.  The danger with any custom is that we tend to place too much emphasis on the custom itself and not enough on the thought behind it.  We attend church but are mentally checked out, we pray but our words become empty repetitions.  Basically, we fall into the habit of going through the motions.  God recognizes this and asks us to turn to Him not just on the outside, but on the inside.  If you feel compelled to honor God with a custom feel free (Romans 14:6), but don’t forget that God is really interested in what’s happening in your heart.

1 Kings 19:12-18 – Seven Thousand

1 Kings 19:12-18
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

-Elijah had a problem, he felt all alone and outnumbered in his service to the Lord.  If you’ve ever felt alone then you can probably empathize with Elijah here.  The Lord could have told Elijah to suck it up and keep going.  He could have told Elijah that the Lord Himself is all the company that he needs, and He would have been right in answering that way.  But that was not the Lord’s answer.  Instead, the Lord showed Elijah that there were still 7,000 more in Israel who had stayed true to God.  He assured Elijah that he was not alone.  Although Christianity is by far the largest “religion” on the planet, true Christians are still hard to find and become more of a rarity every day.  If you feel alone in your race, know that you are not alone.  Others are still out there living by the same standards as you, reading the same Bible as you, and serving the same God as you. 

Exodus 8:1 – That They May Serve Me

Exodus 8:1
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

-In an act of Divine love that defies explanation, God Himself provided a way for us to be free from the burden of sin. (John 3:16) What does He expect us to do with that freedom? Look at the Lord’s command to Pharaoh here in Exodus.  He demanded that the Hebrew people be freed so that they could serve the Lord in the wilderness. That was the Lord’s expectation for his people back in the Old Testament and it is the same expectation for us today.  God will never give you freedom and then turn you loose.  If He has called you out, that means He’s taking you somewhere else and rule number one on God’s path is to serve Him.