Salvation Stories
Read Joshua 2:21-24
How were you saved? Did you grow up in church and accept Jesus in a
Sunday School classroom at a young age? Were you a teenager at a youth
event? Were you an adult who turned to Jesus as your last resort? Were
you alone in your room? No matter how you came to know Jesus, there was a
chain of events that led to someone, somewhere telling you about His
scarlet red blood that would change your life forever! Thank God for
those that are bold enough to proclaim the truth!
Tonight we read about the covenant that Rahab makes with the spies.
We also read that the spies go back and tell their commander in Cheif
"all that had befallen them". This means that they went back and told
Joshua and the rest of the tribe all about what they found in the
promised land. They tell them that all of the people there are afraid of
them. But they also tell them all about their experience with Rahab,
the prostitute.
We read back in verse 9 of chapter 2 that Rahab had already heard of
the things God had done for the Israelites. Now, because of the
dedication of the spies, Rahab comes to know, first-hand, the truth and
power of God. And through her display of courage in believing and
protecting the spies, she would hang a scarlet cord from her home that
would link her forever to her Messiah. The spies promise to protect
Rahab and her family also promises her adoption into the "family" of the
Israelites. Since the Israelites will be inhabiting the whole land,
this must mean that Rahab and her family will dwell with them and become
a part of them! That takes the promise to a whole new level, doesn't
it!! Just as I don't believe the chain of events leading to your
salvation were circumstance, I don't believe this chain of events was
either....
Let's go back a little further. A couple of posts ago we learned that
Joshua told the people they had 3 days to get ready before the entered
the promised land. Now, Joshua had just wandered around in the desert
for 40 years...why do you think he would need 3 additional days before
entering the land? God did for Rahab just what He did for me and you
when He sent those people into our lives to show and assure us of His
promises. God used those 3 days to have Joshua send 2 spies on a
reconnaissance mission that was so much more than they realized it would
be!! Their ultimate purpose wasn't just so they could scope out the
land....It was so that they could meet this lost soul, Rahab, and
comfort her fearful heart. So they could assure her of the Lord's
promises. So they could offer her protections and she could have the
opportunity to prove her faithfulness. Using Joshua and the spies as
tools, for those 3 days, God was just patiently waiting for one more
soul's conversion.
How humbling that He loves us so much that He would create a specific
order of events JUST so we come to know Him? Even more so that He would
choose to use us as tools in the events that He uses to bring others to
know Him.
Lord, help us to be faithful and courageous when you call us so that
we never miss a chance to be part of something so much bigger than us.
Let us look at every opportunity as an opportunity to be a part of
someone's "salvation story"!
If anyone is willing to share, I would love to hear your salvation story
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Joshua Study Post 3
Blessings or Curses....
Read Joshua 1:3-5
We are actually going to cover more than one verse this time!! :)
Just to quickly recap; Moses has passed away and Joshua has now been appointed the new leader of the Isrealites. God has spoken and told Joshua to get up (get going, move on!) and lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the land He is about to give them. As we move into verse 3 God promises to give the Israelites every place that they step their foot on...Why do you think God words it that way? That caught my attention. Why wouldn't God just say, "I've given you all this land. It's all for you...it's yours"? I believe that He is teaching us a lesson in obedience. He tells Moses in Deut. 11:24-28,
24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. 26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
God says that blessing comes when we OBEY His commands. He gives the Israelites a promise, AND He gives them a command in order to receive it. Every piece of land that they step foot on will be theirs, He promises that....but in order to receive it, they have to step foot on it! They have to trust that He is going to do what He said He would do and make all of their enemies fear them. They have to have FAITH that He is going to come through for Joshua just as He promised Moses.
Even with the promise that this land would be theirs, they never fully possessed it all. Do you know that part of the reason they never fully possessed it all is because of disobedience? (Joshua 7) Did you also know that the reason Moses never got to enter into the promised land was because of disobedience? (Num 20:11-12) God takes this requirement seriously!
Isn't it true that God requires this same obedience from us today?? Check 2 Cor 2:14, Isa 54:17 & Heb 13:5 for just a few examples of the promises He gives us concerning our protections. He's got our back!! God tells us that we can have victory over all things. He tells us that He will provide us everything we need (Phil 4:19). However; some of God's promises come with an offer as well as an obligation. Our obligations is to be obedient. In the scripture above God reminded Moses that obedience is the key to unlocking either blessing or curse. We are called to give God rule and authority over every part of our lives...and He will bless us. Just as the Israelites were given every part of the land. All they had to do was go there, step foot on it. Obey. They did not & they never possessed all that He promised them! In the same way, we can hold back places in our life from God and never gain victory over them.
Are there places of your life, circumstances that you haven't "stepped foot" on yet? Are there promises that you don't possess because of disobedience? God wants to give us the promises of deliverance from every stronghold, burden, sin and oppression that we have in our lives...we just have to "step foot" on it. Acknowledge it's there and give it to Him and have FAITH that He will fulfill his promise. Faith is a hard thing...
Thoughts?
Read Joshua 1:3-5
We are actually going to cover more than one verse this time!! :)
Just to quickly recap; Moses has passed away and Joshua has now been appointed the new leader of the Isrealites. God has spoken and told Joshua to get up (get going, move on!) and lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the land He is about to give them. As we move into verse 3 God promises to give the Israelites every place that they step their foot on...Why do you think God words it that way? That caught my attention. Why wouldn't God just say, "I've given you all this land. It's all for you...it's yours"? I believe that He is teaching us a lesson in obedience. He tells Moses in Deut. 11:24-28,
24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.25 No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. 26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
God says that blessing comes when we OBEY His commands. He gives the Israelites a promise, AND He gives them a command in order to receive it. Every piece of land that they step foot on will be theirs, He promises that....but in order to receive it, they have to step foot on it! They have to trust that He is going to do what He said He would do and make all of their enemies fear them. They have to have FAITH that He is going to come through for Joshua just as He promised Moses.
Even with the promise that this land would be theirs, they never fully possessed it all. Do you know that part of the reason they never fully possessed it all is because of disobedience? (Joshua 7) Did you also know that the reason Moses never got to enter into the promised land was because of disobedience? (Num 20:11-12) God takes this requirement seriously!
Isn't it true that God requires this same obedience from us today?? Check 2 Cor 2:14, Isa 54:17 & Heb 13:5 for just a few examples of the promises He gives us concerning our protections. He's got our back!! God tells us that we can have victory over all things. He tells us that He will provide us everything we need (Phil 4:19). However; some of God's promises come with an offer as well as an obligation. Our obligations is to be obedient. In the scripture above God reminded Moses that obedience is the key to unlocking either blessing or curse. We are called to give God rule and authority over every part of our lives...and He will bless us. Just as the Israelites were given every part of the land. All they had to do was go there, step foot on it. Obey. They did not & they never possessed all that He promised them! In the same way, we can hold back places in our life from God and never gain victory over them.
Are there places of your life, circumstances that you haven't "stepped foot" on yet? Are there promises that you don't possess because of disobedience? God wants to give us the promises of deliverance from every stronghold, burden, sin and oppression that we have in our lives...we just have to "step foot" on it. Acknowledge it's there and give it to Him and have FAITH that He will fulfill his promise. Faith is a hard thing...
Thoughts?
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