76 - "Hoping for Peace Not An End To This" Joshua 11-13

#76 - Can we just believe while in whatever lot the Lord has apportioned for us? Joshua 17:17 #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

Can we just believe in whatever lot the LORD has apportioned to us

As we cross the bridge from one circumstance to the next?

Believe right in this very place where we stand.

I grew up with little wealth compared to US standards. Same today. What will I do with what I have? Why do I demand God's Love show me more? Why do I wrestle with what the world thinks of people who haven't really made something big in life. A preacher told me one time: "If you succeed, then you'll know that this was the right thing. If you fail, then ... there ... there's your answer. No one will respect you." Funny the things people say to us that stick.  Why do I hold in my heart what the world thinks of me?  And a tear, maybe two, rolls down my cheek.

Joshua spoke to the House of Joseph who complained about having only one lot. Joshua 17:17. I'm giving you one lot and a mountain full of woods to work. Brooks and creeks. Corn and wheat. Cows and pasture. Dare we deserve a handout without any sweat? This Word of God is not about putting Knowledge in our Heads. It changes us to make us want to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Makes us want to work very hard at the job where we are. Transformed to believe and trust and wait in whatever wilderness, whatever lot, whatever circumstance we are in. Not hoping for an end but hoping for Peace Himself to break through in the midst of a broken world, full of Canaanites and broken people. Not to use Canaanites for our ends but to honor what's in our possession and work out love for those with less.

God gives out plenty and want---it is all for our good and simply amazing that He does anything for us, wishy-washy demanding people, deserving of what?  We cannot define the Goodness of God by what we have or do not have.  We define life by the Love from the Eternal Word, Who is always doing us good in lonely fields & forests, in friendly cities & comfort.  What we long for is really Him, the Beauty.  Not the counterfeit of thinking that we have it all here, storing up treasures for whom? 

PHOTO: Image:  Keene Public Library www.flickr.com

75 - "Sun Stand Still --- the Lord is Fighting For You" Joshua 9-10

#75 Surely the Lord is fighting for you. Joshua 10:14. He made the sun stand still at your request, Joshua. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

  

The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua at Gilgal:  Don't abandon us! Help! All of the Amorite kings have joined forces against us.  Joshua 10:6

Joshua gathered his best fighting men and marched up all-night from Gilgal and surprised them.  But it's what the LORD says to Joshua that trumps everything:  "Do not be afraid of them.  Not one of them will be able to withstand you."  Joshua 10:8

Joshua and the Israelites completely defeated them.  And the LORD hurled huge hailstones down on them and God gave the Amorites over to Israel.

And right smack dab in front of Israel, Joshua said:  "Sun, stand still.  And you, moon." Joshua 10:13.  Until the nation avenged itself.  Never has there been a day like this, before or since, when the Lord listened to a human being.  "Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel." Joshua 10:14.  

Surely, the Lord is fighting for you.

74 - "A Sword in Christ's Hand" Joshua 7-8

                                                                            

They had lost hope. And so many this day have lost hope and shifted their attention away from God to live the good life here. How could this ever be all there is? And the wrath of God advances then, now. What will we do with what God is stirring up?

And the peoples hearts melt again---became as water when their neighbors were killed at Ai. Josh 7:5. And Joshua falls on his face. And God says, "Get up!" Go do the work, Joshua. There are "devoted things" among them that are not devoted to God. Consecrate the people.

And God Himself appears to Joshua with a sword drawn in his Hand. He appears as a warrior. Christ will be to us what we need. Joshua needed this picture to encourage him to keep on fighting the daunting road ahead. God promised Joshua that he was not Alone. What do you need to see in God's Face toward you this day? I so need His Mercy. Beleaguered over here. Like Joshua, may we move on by God's Presence and Power. Col 1:29.

PHOTO:  Outside my classroom window, a dismal day packed with hope for our sin. 

73 - "Cross The Dry Ground with Twin Promises" Joshua 4-6

                                                                      

Now, the undaunting Joshua leads Israel to cross the Jordan River on dry ground. He saw it happen once before. And that same God is with Joshua and the men from the 12 tribes. 

 “Be strong and very courageous.

Joshua saunters in faith across the floor of the Jordan---the place where his Redeemer will be baptized.  No way for Joshua to know that.  The only history they have is of Moses and Egypt and the Red Sea.  And a very Present God with Moses ---     Who will now be with Joshua.  A Very Present Power promising His Presence and Strength. 

Mark the occasion.

"What do these stones mean?" Joshua 4:21. Tell your children when they ask:
Symbols of twin promises:
Your God is all powerful.
Your God is to be feared.

The stones. 

Recognize how strong God's rescuing Hand is.

Recognize your need to hold God in solemn reverence always. 

PHOTO:  Looking down from 34,000 feet to the rivers and oceans. Parting the Jordan River in my mind and seeing the tribes of faith crossing from one bank to the other. When you are smack dab in the middle of the crossing with walled water on either side, what do you think, There is nowhere else to go but to Trust. 

72 - "Don't Stay Discouraged" Joshua 1-3

Dear Kids,  “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful whatever you have inherited. "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it...Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.

How can we grasp an ironclad hold on this?  Don't stay discouraged.  God is with you! What I see in the Book of Joshua:  The severity of what is wrong in places like Haiti is a heart-wrenching insight into a fraction of the picture of the severity of what’s wrong in our own hearts.  

And Oh! The Wonder of a Beautiful God moving through history, our story, to move us into holiness. Oh! The enormity of what He is doing in our lives. 

“Be strong and very courageous." So, right where you are fixed with all emotion and involvement and commitment and confusion---God is with you in the midst of your mess.  But make no mistake, you’re a beautiful mess. I know this firsthand today. I stood at Costco's with tears streaming down my eyes. I had just learned that I had been "left out" of a gathering that I so wanted to be a part of. I've felt like a "third wheel" most of my life and let the circumstance of today rule my thoughts that I was an uninvited loser. I couldn't stop crying. I was stuck in the thought that "no one wants what I have to offer." What God brought to mind with people curiously staring at me as I stood sobbing in the Costco cafe line was this---God is with me in this. God knows. Don't stay discouraged. I got out of it. 

So, this night I want you all to know you are all deeply loved! I hope you know you were loved and prayed for if you read this someday and I'm no longer here.  I hope you know in deep places how much you were loved growing up to this very day.  

PHOTO:  Xmas 2022 ... Spicewood Springs

71 - "Your Strength Is Equal To Your Day" Deuteronomy 32-34

Oh my! God's Word Deeply Touches this heart of mine.  This day.  These events.  Your strength is equal to your day. This event. Why have I never seen that verse before---Deut 33:25.  These are the words of Moses, a song that sinks deep in our storied lives.

O! Moses, the 21st Century hears your words:

Your teaching drops as the rain,

distilled as the dew,

like gentle rain.

Dt 32:2

So! Take to heart these last words of Moses:

Tell them to your children so,

they may do the Word.

It's your very life.

Dt 32:47

With eyes undimmed and vigor unabated:

Moses blesses those he leaves,

Remember this every day:

There is none like God

Dt 34:26

He rides through the heavens to your help

Through the skies in His Majesty.

The Eternal God is your

Dwelling Place.

Dt 34:26

Three Verses from the mouth of Moses

that have carried me through.

His words have been 

Life to me. 

Scores of years and years later.  And these words of Moses fall like rain on me this day.  It's been a tough week.  It's not over.  I've struggled more than usual.  No answers.  Trust in this darkness.  

What I see in the Book of Joshua:  The severity of what is wrong in places like Haiti is a heart-wrenching insight into a fraction of the picture of the severity of what’s wrong in our own hearts.  And Oh! The Wonder of a Beautiful God moving through history, our story, to move us into holiness. Oh! The enormity of what He is doing in our lives. “Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. … This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” Joshua 1:8.  “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5.  So, right where you are fixed with all emotion and involvement and commitment and confusion---God is with you in the midst of your mess.  But make no mistake, you’re a beautiful mess. 

Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark.And those are the    words of Moses. May our words be filled with life. 

PHOTO:  One of my daughters and her baby boy.  People are so important in our lives.  But there is No One, No Thing, more important in our lives than God.

70 - "The Secret Things Belong To God" Deuteronomy 29-31

 

Dear Ones, even if you have been banished to a distant place, your God will gather you. 

God has gathered Carolyn Teague in a beautiful way as she sits 24/7 in a nursing home facility with no movement of her legs or life. Her mind is all there but that's it. 24/7.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven.  Nor is it beyond the sea.  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deut 29:11-14. I hope all the words you've ever heard help you to truly live. 

When you call to mind what you have done . . .
Return to the LORD your God.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut 29:29

PHOTO:  Visiting Carolyn in Norman is the closest to heaven you can get. Never mind, the cumulative odor of folks being taken care of slowly. Never mind, the missing pictures on the wall and the treasures you've found all your life. It's a bare room. And. The sun sets on another day.  What is revealed is what we walk in.

69 - "A Blessing For Your Life" Deuteronomy 28

What would it be like to have been there and hear this blessing from God.

Standing on Mount Gerizim to bless the people:

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

No Moses.  No Aaron.  

Blessed shall you be in the city & blessed shall you be in the country.
Blessed shall be the offspring of your body,
and the produce of the ground,
the increase of your herd,
Blessed shall be all your flock,
Blessed shall be your basket and your bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in & blessed when you go out.

We must ask ourselves every time we read the Word of God: "What's the point?"  

Here, blessings shout out from the top of one glorious mountain followed by curses delivered from the peak of doom mountain. 

Wherever we go in life---
dwelling in the country or the city, 
leading our little ones, 
gathering our food for the day,
working hard at what we do,
living life whether it is coming in or going out.

Wherever we go...
Wherever you are, there is a blessing that can rest upon you---if we follow God.
Doesn't mean that everything will work our way, no!
Means that everything will be considered and cared, 
re-directed or re-created by the Providential Hand of God.
Take Courage.  The Good Hand of God is on you to bless you today and always.

Deut 28:3-6

PHOTO:A blessing from the mountaintop on our family.  How can we live this out is the real question.

68 - "Don't Bring Sin Upon Your Family" Deuteronomy 24-27

The Living Word! Some of us end up in marriages that we would not have chosen had we not been swept away by the moments of our youth ~ #nofavorintheireyes. Deut 24:1. Some of us end up in seasons of our lives that we would not have chosen. 

Maybe it was the Providential Hand of God that He placed you in the marriage you are in---like Hosea, who married beneath him.  Maybe it is our own sinful choices, lustful choices, even ignorant choices that landed us where we lay our heads this night. 

Don't bring sin upon your family ~ Deut 24:4.  Whether it's Providence or our own sin, we all have opportunity to bear our own burdens rather than give in to sin.  We can find a rest we know not, no matter the circumstance.  

God's Divine Power enables us by Grace Upon Grace to sanctify the crosses we bear.                             God's Matchless Grace supports us---Underneath are His Loving Arms.                                                God's Comforting Spirit teaches, reproves, and provides the way for us to better learn how to obey in the midst of distance and difficulties.  

God will make this marraige more tolerable---He changes us, not just our spouse.                                        We have the Written Word of God.  We worship the Living Word!  

PHOTO: We have been married for 47 years in 2026. No one knows me like my husband does. Fully loved and cared for and served. All my days.

67 - "When The Sweet Surrender Doesn't Happen" Deuteronomy 21-23

My Dear Children, "May the Lord your God bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." Deut 23:20.  I believe with each of you that God will give you the strength and the power to put your hand to what you are doing. And may He bless you in everything!

"And, as the land of Israel was pure and clean" . . . so the church is washed and cleansed by the complete satisfaction which thus Christ made."  Matthew Henry

You must purge the evil from among you."  Deuteronomy 21:21

All rebellion, no matter where it comes from. 
May we surrender our tears and fears every single day
as we mercifully cry for those in rebellion. 
And may they know Sweet Surrender.

May we choose to live every day of our lives surrendered for ourselves and for those we love.

PHOTO:  "Unreal" - Charles Spurgeon wrote a moving sermon many years ago about what happens when the sweet surrender doesn't happen.  We move on.