Not sure who is still with us but today is our last chapter in Joshua. A few have requested we continue on forward together in the Word. The more comments and feedback the more likely we will continue on. Thanks so much to Robby and Jack who have been faithful posting. I have grown so much and I am sure others have as well. We truly are victorious. So let's close out with Chapter 24.
Joshua begins by rehearsing for them all that God had done for them. Beginning in verse three, speaking on the behalf of God Joshua, seventeen times in rapid-fire succession Joshua shouts aloud for the Lord, “… I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and (I) multiplied his descendants and (I) gave him Isaac. (4) To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau….. (5) I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out…... (8) And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you…. (13) I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'”
He is asking them to examine the facts and then decide.
Joshua’s primary concern is crystal-clear; He wants them to know who the real God is. It is not with the might of their swords or bows that the victory has been won, but by the power of God. God had done it all. But the people nevertheless have to choose God for themselves – intelligently, decisively and willingly.
“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! (15) And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. …”
There can be little doubt about what Joshua is after. The word “serve” appears seven times in verses fourteen and fifteen. Joshua that day called for a decision that would help end the spiritual, intellectual and moral restlessness that marked so many lives. Joshua demands a commitment when he says, “And now fear the Lord and serve him whole heartedly and without reservation.”
We are challenged to go on and by deliberate, daily choices to follow Christ in fearless faith just as Joshua had. It may not make us popular but it will make us powerful as the people of God.
Choosing and blessed to serve with you,
Pastor Joe
Would love to hear from those who haven't posted especially if you would like us to continue
4 comments:
Paul says the same thing in Romans
Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Because of God’s mercy, because of all the things He has forgiven, not to mention all the things He has done for us it. It is reasonable (NKJV) for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Serve) to the Lord. Paul says this is true and proper worship.
Jesus said in John 4:21
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
This kind of worship does not happen on Sunday mornings between 9-12 or even Wednesday night between 7-8:30. It is day by day moment by moment relationship with the living king. This is a relationship that calls Him Lord and behaves as if He is Lord. This is a relationship that is about His business His kingdom. This is a relationship that ”Seeks first the kingdom of God”.
Pastor Jack
This verse came to mind:
"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:16-23 (ESV)
Oh and I would be all for continuing in the word together. This has really been an awesome experience.
I am all for continuing also Pastor Joe
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