Author: Don Guthrie

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 9 (day one)

“When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho. . .they acted craftily.”–v 3-4.

One of Satan’s oldest strategies.  Snake-like subtlety.  “You won’t die”, he whispered to Eve (Genesis 3).  “It won’t matter”, he whispers to us with each offered temptation.  Liar.

The Gibeonites are his disciples in Joshua 9 and, sadly, the people of God fell for the deception.  “So the men of Israel took some of their provisions and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. . .and made a treaty with them, to let them live.”–v 14-15.

Feel like you are being lied to these days?  More than likely you are!  And the only remedy is to seek daily counsel and correction from the One who truth in His very nature.

“Do not be deceived!”–Galatians 6:7.  The problem is not that people lie.  The problem is that we listen to them without seeking counsel from God.

Re:Verse reading–Mark 15:16-20, 24-40; Mark 16:1-8 (day seven)

“When they looked up, they saw the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”–16:4

It was an object lesson. One of many on that history-shattering morning. Silent, powerful testimony.  The first thing they noticed.  Their worries had been unnecessary.  God had already rolled away the stone.

It spoke to them of God’s power.  “You shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”–Matthew 17:20.  Over time we realize.  Our “problems” are not really the problem.  What we lack is confidence in God.

The stone spoke of God’s promise and provision.  Waters will part and obstacles will remove from the road that God calls us to walk.

But, sometimes the “stone” is not ON my path but IN my heart.  God will make the way possible, but ONLY for those willing to walk forward in faith.  The stone said so.

Re:Verse reading–Mark 15:16-20, 24-40; Mark 16:1-8 (Holy Week reading, day one)

“They put a purple robe on Him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on Him”–15:16-17

It was a joke. Cruel. Expensive.  Ordinary people in that day couldn’t afford cloth with color dye.  Especially not purple cloth.  VERY expensive and therefore a symbol of royalty.

But, once a mob gets going, no one worries about expense.  So, the soldiers wrapped a purple robe around His bloody shoulders and plaited thorns to make a pretend crown.  To ridicule a dying man?  Yes, but also to express the hostility toward God that lies in the human heart!

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the WICKED, nor stand in the path of SINNERS, nor sit in the seat of the SCOFFERS”–Psalm 1.  Sadly, the world still has people who don’t listen to God because they are too busy making a joke.

Re: Verse reading–Joshua 3:5-17, 4:14-24 (day seven)

“Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’ “–3:5

The word in Hebrew is qadash (pronounced ka-dash’).  It meant to set apart, to dedicate for a specific and high purpose, to make holy.

The day before the Jordan crossing, Joshua instructed the people of Israel to “qadash themselves’. Time taken to give themselves (again) to the Lord for His purposes. Moments spent in self-reflection, self-challenge, self-surrender.

Similar thought in Romans 12:1  “Given His mercies, (you) present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice.”

Do we?  Joshua seems to expect it of his people.  God will always be “all in” for people who are “all in” for Him. So, it isn’t optional.  Will I GIVE MY LIFE to Him the way He has GIVEN HIS LIFE for me?  Will I dedicate myself to His purposes?

“Take time to be holy” sings the old hymn.  Yes.  That.

Re: Verse reading–Joshua 3:5-17, 4:14-24 (day one)

“Today I will begin to EXALT you (Joshua) in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.”–3:7.

“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls. . . Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”–Hebrews 13:17.

Some thoughts.  1) Leaders and leadership are part of God’s plan. 2) God provides leaders and teaches His people to submit to them. 3) God’s word warns of false leaders and teaches us to discern. 4) God takes steps to endorse (exalt) His leaders in the eyes of His people.  5)  All men are equal in value/dignity but NOT in responsibility/authority. 6) Resistance to leadership is not godly or wise.

Crossing the Jordan was a deja vu miracle, an echo of Moses and the Red Sea.  Through it, God exalted Joshua and trained His people to trust him.

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 2 (day seven)

Remember the day in John 4? People were streaming out of Samaria to meet/hear Jesus in response to the testimony of the “woman at the well”.

Remember what he said?  “Behold. . .lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are WHITE for harvest”–v 35.  It was a description of grain that was ripe and ready for harvest.

We do well to recapture Christ’s perspective on this subject.  God, Himself, prepares people for conversion.  He convicts the conscience.  He draws people to Himself. MANY of them are ready!  No need for us to convince, just to testify.  It is His work, not ours. We discover it with awe.

The Ethiopian eunuch and Philip in Acts 8.  The Samaritan woman and Jesus.  Rahab and the spies in Joshua 2.  Many stories.  One truth.  God is secretly at work preparing people for conversion.

Would you be a bolder witness if you could remember this truth?

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 2 (day one) “So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.”–v 1.

Pure motives.  They went to her house because they didn’t want to be noticed.  Men were in and out of that house frequently.

What the spies didn’t expect was to encounter a prepared heart.  Someone in whom the Lord’s Spirit was at work.  Like the woman at the well (John 4), Rahab (Joshua 2) was waking up, spiritually.  She had heard the stories of Jehovah.  His judgements on Sihon and Og.  His powerful deliverance of His people from slavery.  Hearing, she was ready to act to save herself and her family.

Remarkable story.  Sinful past.  Conviction of sin.  Mercy of God.  Genuine faith. New Life.  Noble heritage. Woman of faith.  Great-grandmother of King David.  Ancestor of Christ.

“By FAITH Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she welcomed the spies in peace.”–Hebrews 12:31.

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 1 (day seven) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous!”–v 9.

“Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man be brave if he’s afraid?’ ‘That’s the only time a man can be brave’, his father told him.”–George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones)

We live in an age that portrays people as helpless.  Victims of our circumstances and feelings.  Unable to control our actions or choose a higher path.

God’s word paints a different picture.  Courage is a choice, one of many that can and must be made by those who believe.

God commanded Joshua to be courageous.  To focus his heart on the promises of God and not his fears.  To get up early and pray and find sufficient certainty for a day of strength. To exercise a self-discipline that did not allow his “heart to be troubled” (see John 14)

Our generation says that we are victims.  God says courage is a choice.

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 1 (day one)

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”–v 5.

Not alarming to God.  A new leader is appointed.  Life moves forward into a different chapter.  The Eternal One has seen it a thousand times.  But, sometimes, we haven’t.  It is unknown territory for us.  Anxiety producing.

God’s promise in this kind of transition is that He will be the SAME to the new leader as He was to the old.  Whether electing a President or calling a new Pastor, our reassurance is that God will be reliable help to the man who calls on His name.

CHANGE is unavoidable.  No one can freeze time, nor should we want to.  We do, however, hunger for CONTINUITY and find it in the ROCK of Ages.

Things change.  God doesn’t.  What He was to the old leader, He promises to be to the new.  Now all we need is leaders who trust Him!