Today’s reading includes Joshua 3:1-4:24, Luke 14:7-35, Psalm 80:1-19, Proverbs 12:27-28.

Today, I find my thoughts still back in Joshua 2.  It is important to note an important story in that chapter because it tells the story of the black sheep of the lineage of Jesus.  I just love that God chose imperfection to be part of the Perfect Son, the one who would make all things new, even in His own family and certainly in ours.  What if we do sin?  Is all then lost?  Where is the hope?  We must know and believe that our Covenant God is a Redeemer.  He loves to restore that which is lost or damaged.  He will restore when repentance comes.  Total restoration.  Total redemption.  That is the beauty of the gospel.  To examine the truth of this, we can look at the beautiful story of Rahab.

Joshua sent spies to check out the land—especially Jericho.  They went to the house of Rahab, a prostitute, and hid there.  Why would these holy men on a mission from God want to associate with a prostitute? Whatever the earthly reasons for selecting Rahab’s house, it becomes clear in history that God had already selected her house.

You see, Rahab believed.  She was not a believer—yet—but she did believe.  Despite her sinful life, she recognized the holiness and the power of God.  She was more fearful of God, whom she did not even follow, than the leaders of Jericho, who would surely take her life if she was found out.

She knew what the risks were—she could lose her home, her family, her very life.  But her sinful existence paled in comparison to the hope she felt upon meeting these holy spies.  They truly had presence evangelism. We do not know what they spoke to her, but it appears that their very presence gave her more hope and more courage.  A glimmer of truth began to shine, and she could no longer deny it nor escape it.

Even though she had not yet taken the Lord as her God, she could not deny the truth of who He is.  This knowledge gave her hope she had never experienced before.  It gave her a reason to risk everything.

And recognizing the truth of who He is motivated another emotion we would not normally associate with a prostitute—love.  Her boldness was motivated by truth and by love.  She loved her family.  Her courage to confront these holy men and make a deal with them was fueled by realizing the truth of who God is and what He is capable of doing and by love for her family.  This courage had to be extreme, for she was a mere woman.  In those days, a woman was barely higher than a slave in the social and influential ladder.  And she was a poor, tainted woman, which plunged her even further down this ladder.  But love motivated her to ask for favor on behalf of her family.

All of these observations make me wonder: how did she come to be a prostitute anyway? Was it love for her family that plunged her into this hopeless lifestyle?

We won’t know these answers this side of heaven, but my guess is based on what I have seen in others like her.  No one leads such a desperate, hopeless life unless they feel they have no other choice.  Maybe that is the only way she could think of to deal with her hardships.

But then the holy spies came.  When she saw and believed the truth, it sparked the hope that perhaps there was another way.  Perhaps deliverance could come to lift her out of the dirty water of life in which she was slowly drowning.  She had heard the stories.

She had heard how the Lord had dried up another dirty body of water, the Jordan River. She had heard about all the other miracles as well.  She thought that if their God could do something as impossible as those miracles, maybe the favor of that God could dry up her own helpless situation, and she too could walk away on dry land. Maybe she wouldn’t drown after all. Maybe He could deliver her from the desperate life that held her captive.

Can you relate to her situation?  Have you ever felt trapped in a sinful existence?  Maybe there are reasons why—maybe life seems to have dealt an unfair hand to you.  Regardless of all of the reasons you are there, regardless of where you try to place the blame, the fact is you are trapped.  You are now a prisoner to a life of sin or depression or hardship, and it appears there is nothing you can possibly do about it.  But listen very carefully.  I have good news for you.

In Isaiah 61:1-3, we find this prophecy of the coming Savior.  Jesus declared in his first sermon that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy and I can testify that He has done this in my life:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

              because the LORD has anointed me

              to preach good news to the poor.

            He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

             to proclaim freedom for the captives

             and release from darkness for the prisoners,

            to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

             and the day of vengeance of our God,

            to comfort all who mourn,

             and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

            to bestow on them a crown of beauty

             instead of ashes,

            the oil of joy

             instead of mourning,

            and a garment of praise

             instead of a spirit of despair.

            They will be called oaks of righteousness,

             a planting of the LORD

            for the display of his splendor.

What if you have already found the Deliverer, as I have?  Where does that leave you in your responsibilities to others who are still drowning and trapped? Can you allow the Holy Spirit to use you to spark hope, even if it is only through your presence?  As Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.”  Please don’t give up on people.  Please don’t assume that you or anyone else is too far-gone.  Sometimes those who appear furthest away are really the ones closest to the cross, just a step away from accepting the love of the Savior.

In the end, Rahab married Salmon from the tribe of Judah.  She was the mother of Boaz, and the great-great grandmother of King David.  Praise God for His redemptive plan.

Today’s reading includes Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24, Luke 13:22-14:6, Psalm 79:1-13, and Proverbs 12:26.

Today, we will experience a new journey in the life of God’s people.  We will see them finally reach the Promise land.  They will be led by Joshua and they will continually have to remember three things:  Reach Up, Reach Out, and Remember. Joshua continually learned the value of these three simple objectives.  Reaching Up to God is the first and foremost, and should be a goal throughout our lives. When we first hear of Joshua, we find out that he was a former slave of Egypt, an aide of Moses, and that he spent much of his time in the tent of meeting, worshiping God. This time of worship was preparation for the great purpose that God had for him later in his life. But in order to be equipped to handle the purpose that God had for him, he had to spend much time in worship. He reached up to God.

Joshua is a person in whom I can relate. Joshua outwardly appears so strong and courageous, yet inwardly must deal with fear and insecurity, confusion and discouragement. Repeatedly, God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, and do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” In the first chapter of the book of Joshua we see that God told Joshua three different times to “Be strong and courageous”, and three different times God reminded Joshua that He would be with him, and that He would never leave him or forsake him. And that is just in the first chapter! Now why would God have to tell him so many times? I think it is because Joshua was an ordinary man, called to an extraordinary job by his extraordinary God. And because he was ordinary, just like me and you, he waxed and waned between great seasons of faith, courage and confidence, and fear, doubt, and discouragement. But he knew where to go. Courage is not the absence of fear, but it the ability to press on despite the fear. And true courage comes from the Source of all good things…God. Joshua knew that.

Joshua learned to overcome his fear through reaching up to God, which equipped him with the courage, strength, and confidence to reach out to others. We see many evidences of Joshua just doing what he was called to do. He worshipped, he fought battles, and he was an aide to Moses. He did the work that God prepared for him. And sometimes the calling changed….He went from being a slave to being an aide to being a leader. We, too, need to first reach up to God, so that then we are equipped to reach out to others through whatever giftedness or circumstances God provides for us. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The Greek for the word, “workmanship”, often has the connotation of a “work of art”. This signifies that you are God’s masterpiece! And that he has created you for a very extraordinary work!

As Joshua kept on faithfully reaching up to God, then reaching out to others, he was also asked to go one step further…he was called to Remember. We find out in Deuteronomy that throughout their years of wandering, the Israelites faced many obstacles. One battle, in particular, was a very difficult one to fight. We will talk about that more in another chapter, but everyone had a particular role in this battle, and Joshua’s role was to lead the fighting. After the battle was won, through a miraculous series of events, God told Moses the following: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.’ Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, ‘For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” Exodus 17: 14-15 Why do you think that they wanted Moses to make sure Joshua heard all of the details of the victory? Because God knew what the future held for Joshua. He knew how He would use Joshua to finally lead the people into the Promise Land. He knew that Joshua would face these enemies again. He knew that this was an extraordinary job, and He knew that Joshua was ordinary. Joshua needed to remember, in order to have the courage and strength to face the days ahead. After many, many years all the fearful, unbelieving generation had died off, and just the children of that generation remained…all except Joshua and Caleb. In all that time, the Bible tells us that God fed them with manna, which faithfully fell everyday. And neither their clothes nor their sandals ever wore out in all those years. And He never left them. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, their time of cleansing and preparation was over.

Once again, Joshua found himself at the banks of the Jordan River. And once again, he sent spies out to scout out the territory. When the spies returned, the news was good. They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” Joshua must have thought, “Good. That’s good news… Then why is my heart pounding so?” He must have told himself over and over, “Remember. Remember what Moses said. Remember what the Lord Himself told me….”Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” No wonder the Lord had to repeat the statement over and over. Be strong. Be courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. How can a former slave, now leader, overcome such fear? “Because I Am”, says the Lord. “The Great I Am is with you. I Am promises to never leave you, nor forsake you. Don’t forget Who I Am!”

We, too, must reach up, reach out, and remember as we walk forward to all the promises God has for us.

Today is catch-up day for me.  Traveling out of town prevented a post yesterday, so I will try to catch up today.  Yesterday’s reading included Deuteronomy 32:28-52, Luke 12:35-59, Psalm 78:56-64, and Proverbs 12:24.

We made it through another book of the Old Testament!  As you know by now, this year I am focusing my studies on the Old Testament, though I am reading the New Testament and the Psalm and Proverbs.  Next year, I plan to focus on studying the New Testament.  I believe that studying the Old Testament will make the New Testament much clearer.  And visa versa.  So, let’s keep pressing on through all the confusing text, knowing that God has a plan and purpose through all of it.

So, in this last chapter of Deuteronomy, what do we see?  We see that Moses ends his days with a song of praise.  The gist of the song is this:  God is great, His ways are perfect, He is faithful though His creation is not.  This song begins as a praise and ends as a prophesy.  It is a recounting of the lessons Moses learned and an admonition to the current and future generations.

Let us begin our day with this same praise.  Say it aloud as a prayer:

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

Moses wants the people to reflect and remember.

Remember the days of old;
    consider the generations long past.

                                                Vs 7

He wants the people to reflect on their propensity to wander from God, the Rock and salvation.  We, too, have that propensity to wander.  “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the One I love.”

Jeshurun^[c] grew fat and kicked;

    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandoned the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock their Savior.

They abandoned the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock their Savior.
¹⁶ They made him jealous with their foreign gods
    and angered him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—
    gods they had not known,
    gods that recently appeared,
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸ You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot the God who gave you birth.

                                                Vs. 15-18

He wants the people to remember that our Rock is not like the rock (foundation) of the rest of the world.  The world’s rock (foundation) is based on many lesser things—rock, with a lower case r.  Our Rock is a person, with a capital R.  Our Rock is steady and sure and everlasting.  The scripture in the New Testament that even the demons understand who Jesus is—and tremble.

For their rock is not like our Rock,
    as even our enemies concede.

                                    Vs. 31

And Moses ends his prayer song, his prophetic words, his life’s work with these important words:

⁴⁵ When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.

                                                Vs 46-47

He said take to heart—hide them in their hearts that they may not sin against God.  Hide them in their hearts so that their children would learn—and live.  Hide them in their hearts because these are not just idle words, they are the life of the people.  May we apply this truth, too.  May we know that these words found in the Bible are not just idle words—they are our life.