Hi folks:
Only a few things to note from this past week. I turned 38 on Tuesday and celebrated with a little snow. I'm a football fan two days of the year (Super Bowl and Grey Cup), and so a few of us got together to watch the game Sunday night. Mark is recovering from strep throat, and Jan has lingering sinus pain, but these don't seem to be slowing us down much. This week we start a new series on Joshua.
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Of the many biblical characters, Joshua is probably my favorite. I am inspired every time I read about him and the exploits of the Hebrew people. Joshua’s courage and faithfulness call me to a deeper commitment, bolder faith, and bigger vision for life. And so, we’re going to take a look at Joshua for the next little while.
The first thing I usually recall about Joshua
is that he and Caleb were the only two spies out of 12 to give a positive
report of the promised land (Num. 13&14). Joshua,
however, was not unknown before this. He led men in battle against the Amalekites (Ex.17:9-14). He spent 40 days on
I think these were formative times for Joshua. Without them, Joshua would never have become the great man of God and leader he was. We are changed when we encounter God personally. These experiences led Joshua to trust God in a very deep and profound way.
I know that my experiences with God have
changed me. If I could play some of the highlight reels from my life, you would
see me walking through nature at
Those were some of my big experiences. Some were joyful. I’m also glad that some of them are behind me. But each one formed and shaped me, and made me less fearful. I needed that. I was always a little fearful: afraid of the water, afraid of heights, afraid of the dark, afraid the house might burn, afraid to be noticed in a crowd, afraid to trust new people. God did a lot of work in me. I became a swimming instructor, and now I’m a minister. God even got me up a ladder to provide income to go back to school. I needed two more weeks of work, which he provided through a house painting job. I literally prayed, "Lord, you gave me this job, and so you’ll have to get me up this ladder." I can’t say my fear is completely gone, but I can say I trust God much more to give me the resources I need.
We’ve been talking about the big experiences of God we sometimes have. But not all God-encounters are big ones. There are the smaller, day to day experiences we have through prayer and reading the Bible. Over time, these are just as important because we live out the lessons of the big events in the day to day.
When Jan and I got married, it was the happiest day of my life to that point. We couldn’t even get a serious picture because my smile was too wide. But was that experience enough to prove our love over a lifetime? How do I know Jan loves me? How does she know I love her? I suppose we could be like one couple. She said to him, "Do you still love me?" He responded, "I told you I did when we got married - if I ever change my mind, I’ll tell you." Like they say on TV, "Don’t try this at home, folks!"
In the same way we live our marriage commitment in the day to day encounters with each other, we need to experience God daily also. As we read the Bible, meditate on scripture, pray, listen to sermons, even sing Christian songs, God wants to work within us to change us, shape us and mold us so that when moments of trial and testing come along (remember Joshua’s testing after spying out the land?), we will trust God enough to do the right thing.
Hope this helps. Be OnFire,
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