who will we serve - Joshua 24

The below passage is Joshua's last speech. A phrase that struck me is choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. It seems to me that that it is a constant choice we need to make, while we are saved by grace, obedience to him and reliance on him is something we need to constantly strive for. Even one small glance away can lead to walk through the thistles instead of a stroll hand in hand with our savior.


Joshua 24:14-15

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

God is willing to go before us - Joshua 23

In Joshua 23 Josh is bidding farewell, his days are near an end and he is giving his last speech of encouragement and caution.


Two things struck me when reading this, the first is in verse 10 when I am reminded of God's awesome power and how he goes before us and is willing to fight for us. How often do I allow him to do this though?


The second is in verses 11 to 13 where it is made clear what traps the Israelites were to avoid, but it doesn't just apply to them does it? When I think of my life, in this day and age there are so many traps that take me away from focusing on God. Being busy is certainly one of them, but the list can go on from wealth to lust to jealously and son on.


So the question is, what am I doing to remain focused on God? Even as I write this, I feel anxious about what I have to get done today, but isn't that taking away from my focus on God, is that a subtle item that is creeping in and posing a threat or am I willing to ask God to help me with busyness, to pave the way, to help me fight my battles whatever they may be?


Joshua 23:8-13 http://www.biblegateway.com

New International Version (NIV)

Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders

. ⁸ But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

⁹ “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. ¹⁰ One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. ¹¹ So be very careful to love the Lord your God.
¹² “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, ¹³ then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

Lord what do you want - Joshua 7-8

Have you ever wondered what God really wanted, have you every been confused with what he seems to be asking of you? The Israelites must have been by his don't take the loot, now take the loot commands.


Through God's awesome provision they conquered the great walled city of Jericho simply by walking around it and blowing trumpets. Actually the lesson is that they did what God asked and he conquered them because they were obedient even if the plan seemed foolish.
His request in return to this great conquer was that they under no conditions were to take any of the loot. Seems reasonable eh, he conquers them and this is all he asks in return. However the loot was way too tempting for some, namely Achan, who took some of the loot and paid for his disobedience with his life and that of his families.
Joshua 7:20-26 http://www.biblegateway.com

New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹ When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,^[c] two hundred shekels^[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,^[e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. ²³ They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.
²⁴ Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”
Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.


In Joshua 8 the Israelites were preparing for battle again and this time God asks them to take the loot. Ya I bet they were thinking, OK didn't one of us try that and pay for it with his life, no way are we taking the loot.


Joshua 8:1-2,24-27 http://www.biblegateway.com

New International Version (NIV)

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed^[a] all who lived in Ai. ²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

While the situations in our lives may be very different, how often I wonder does God give us direction promising us all the while to provide? How often do we get sidetracked by the loot on the way or by thinking his plan makes no sense and that we have a better one?

Are we determined to follow that still small voice that directs our paths, to follow it in faith?

Faith to follow through - Joshua 6

Do I have faith to follow through, do you?


Joshua 6 is the amazing story of God revealing his plan to Josh, Josh having the faith to follow through and God's amazing deliverance. What is God saying to us these days, what Jericho is he delivering or getting out of our way if only we will listen in faith and follow through in faith as Josh did. Does God's plan sound unbelievable to you as his plan to Josh must have......check this story out.
Joshua 6 http://www.biblegateway.com

New International Version (NIV)

6 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” ⁷ And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. ⁹ The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰ But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
¹² Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are to be devoted^[a] to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
²⁰ When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
²² Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.”


George Beverly Shea - How Great Thou Art ( 1957 )
George Beverly Shea How Great Thou Art
George Beverly Shea at nearly 103 years old, "How Great Thou

skid marks

Skid marks!! No I am not talking about he ones you may leave in your undies. I am referring to the times we should put the brakes on in life, times when we should leave skid marks to stop and reflect. These are times when we should ask our selves questions;
- what am I doing here
- our my relationships better than they were a year ago
- have I grown as a Christian
- have I grown as a spouse, parent, worker, boss etc.


Many times things will happen in life to instigate this process, but do we ignore them and just press on or do we stop and take stock in an effort to work on self improvement.


Are we determined to be the best we can be? Are we focused on the goal?




Philippians 3:12-21 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

The Message (MSG)

Focused on the Goal

^12-14 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

^15-16 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.
^17-19 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
^20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

Saying good bye to an aunt

Yesterday we said good bye to an aunt, a person who persevered through much in her life and certainly during her 20 plus year battle with cancer. She was a trooper to say the least and such an inspiration to many in the way she carried herself during her illness and how her faith in God only seemed to grow.


As usual my mind wonders during a service. I think about what legacy I might leave, what my service will look like and so on. An uncle shared that early on in aunt Martha's journey he shared with her the bible story of how God added 15 years to a man's life. He certainly did to Martha's as well. While I don't know if that will be the case for me, I have to do my part and leave the rest to him.
I found my self also thinking of the importance we place on things. A life is so precious and should be celebrated. A day like yesterday was truly a time to mourn but also to celebrate her life and the start of a new life for her.


I worry that in our modern world we will be reducing the funeral to a mere formality instead of a celebration and a time of mourning which I personally think is critical to the mourning process.


John 11 details The Death of Lazarus and how the family grieved and how even Jesus wept. We too should feel the freedom to grieve and weep and shouldn't reduce the process to a mere formality. A life is precious.

John 11:32-36 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
³⁵ Jesus wept.
³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”


What importance to we place on life and how do our actions support it.


Alan Jackson - Amazing Grace
I'll See You Again Lyrics Westlife