Take the Land

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 

Joshua 14:13-14

The question is: what land has God given you to take? 

Caleb asked Joshua to give him the land so he could drive out, the Lord helping him, the Anakites. He didn't focus on the enemy, he focused on the promise and the Lord his God who made the promise to be with him in the battle. 

Sometimes we want the victory but we don't want the battle. That's one of the awful fruits of living in the land of entitlements, we begin to think good things are just given to us without cost. No, God calls us to battle, to labor, to seek, to knock, to find, to love and to serve. Like Caleb we need to be willing. 

So back to the question: what land has God given you to take?

Faith, Love and Hope

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 

This prayer of Paul reminds us of three important parts of our experience as followers of Christ; faith, love and hope. They each have an important part of the process. In this prayer the apostle rejoices that the faith of the Thessalonians produced work, or specific acts. Because they had faith in Christ acted. Those works were actually labors that took love to accomplish. Not only did those acts or works take effort they needed endurance that hope provides to continue in them. 

I don't think Paul is talking about some warm fuzzy one shot random act of kindness. You know what I mean. It's one thing to give a homeless person a few dollars as you pass by and quite another to stand by someone as they go through a serious trial. Love over time takes faith and hope. That's Christianity, that's discipleship. 

Lord, give us the faith, love and hope we need to follow you. Thank you for your unfailing love, your grace and mercy that you have shown us. Praise be to you in us today!

Lord, preserve my life...

Leave No Survivors

So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 

Joshua 10:40

Joshua and Israel were taking the land the God had promised. They had just been tricked by the Gibeonites and made a treaty with them. They had to defend the Gibeonites because of it. They had to expend their time and effort defending them rather than taking the land. So, from then on Joshua made sure to obey the Lord and totally destroyed their enemies. Remember God was judging the inhabitants of the land because their sin was so great. 

The idea I want to hit on this morning is that like Joshua we need to leave no survivors and totally destroy all who breathe, so to speak. Of course I'm not saying to physically attack non-believers. Paul teaches us to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). Those are strong words. 

I seem to gather stuff on my desk and every now and then I just have to take stock of it all and toss some stuff out because it's not useful and in the way. Spiritually, we need to take stock of things and see if there is anything we need to get rid of. We need to check and see if there are any "survivors" of things that should not be in our lives. I think this is a normal part of being a Christian over time. Has any "enemy" snuck back in or have we allowed some things to just hang around? Are we making "treaties" with some enemies? If something is popping up in your mind maybe it's time to go to battle...

Set Free to Praise

Set me free from my prison,

   that I may praise your name.

Then the righteous will gather about me 
   because of your goodness to me.

Psalms 142:7

Bad choices, our own and others; sin, our own and others; and circumstances that just happen can put us in what feels like a prison. We can't seem to find our way out and we just seem trapped. 

We do the only thing we can (and should) do. We cry out to the Lord to free us. He hears. We wait. We cry out. In his time he acts. He acts to save us, not so we can put ourselves back in prison, but to be free to praise him and free to serve him. His goodness glorifies Him. His goodness is not a free pass to be foolish. 

I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show and there was this character names Otis. Otis was the town drunk and he would often arrest himself and put himself in jail until he sobered up. He could get the keys and let himself in our out whenever he wanted. Sometimes we think we can do that. We can get into trouble and cry out to God and he'll just deliver us and let us go until we put ourselves back in jail. We keep doing this until we find out we can't get out and we find out the problem is we keep putting ourselves in the same situation and wonder why. Playing with sin, not living by faith, is not like being Otis on The Andy Griffith Show. Being "jailed" by something that is not of faith is not what God wants for us. He wants us to be truly free. 

Whatever the "prison" you are in God wants to deliver you, but he does not want you to just go right back. He wants you to be free in Christ. Free to live by faith. Free to love. Free to serve. 

I Cry Out to the Lord

Grace Spares

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Joshua 6:25

A couple of things about Rahab are pretty cool. One, her faith was real and two, God's grace spared her and her family. First, her faith was not just an emotional experience. She took a step of faith. She hid the spies and hung the scarlet cord, gathered her family and waited for deliverance. Within that is a little truth that I think is pretty important. She was willing to leave her old life and start a new life as part of Israel, the people of God.

The grace of God, in the midst of battle and judgement, is shown to Rahab and her family. We are reminded that Jesus came to save sinners. She was a prostitute. She was not, at least at first glance, the noble woman of Proverbs 31, but, more like the woman Proverbs warned about in the beginning chapters. Yet, she became a member of the Messianic line and is mentioned in Matthew 1:5. What is important about Rahab, is not that she was prostitute, but that she took the step of faith to turn away from her former life and start a whole new life in Israel.  

What we were is not what matters, what matters is that we turn to Christ and live a new life in him. His grace spares us from destruction and makes us new creations in Christ. 

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ!

cf Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25