Sun, 13 March 2016
ARISE “How to Grow Old without Growing Cold” Joshua 14:6-15
And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to [Joshua], “You know what the Lord said . . . concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart” (Joshua 14:6-7).
And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years . . . And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming (Joshua 14:10-11).
So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said (Joshua 14:12).
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Sun, 6 March 2016
ARISE “Don’t Be Duped” Joshua 9:1-27
But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning . . . (Josh. 9:3-4a).
So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord (Josh. 9:14).
This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them (Josh. 9:20).
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Sun, 28 February 2016
Arise “If at first you don’s succeed,….” Josua 8:1-35
Israel has sinned…i will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you… You cannot stand before your enemies until you [do this]” (Joshua 7-11-13)
And they raised over him great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger (Joshua 7:26a)
And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you an, and arise, go up to Ai” (Joshua 8:1a)
And you shall do to IA and it’s king as you did to Jericho and it’s king, Only its’s spoil and is livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves (Joshua 8:30-31)
At that time Joshua built a altar to the lord, the God of Israel…And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. (Joshua 8:30-31
And afterward he read all the words of the law….There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women and the little ones, and the sojourns who lived among them (Joshua 8:34-35).
Category:Arise
-- posted at: 12:00pm EDT
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Sun, 21 February 2016
Small mistakes can have costly consequences.
In 1990 the United States launched the Hubble telescope into space (photo). Many of its dramatic photos have become iconic (photos). It enabled us to peer into the recesses of space without the distortions of earth’s atmosphere. It cost 1.5 billion to create and launch. However, its beginning was marred. When the first images were received, the scientists were horrified. There was a startling lack of clarity. The pictures were fuzzy. They discovered that the mirror was ground with a small deviation of 2.2 micrometers (photo). They were off by only 1/50th the width of a human hair. Small mistake.
They set about devising a correction. It required another mission to outer space to place further corrective lenses on Hubble (photo). That small mistake cost an additional 1.2 billion!
Small mistakes can have costly consequences.
In our lives we often err—in big and small ways and I wonder if we ever stop to consider the consequences. Small sins, missteps, transgressions can cost us dearly and cost those dear to us.
Perhaps no story in the Bible better illustrates this than the account of Achan in Joshua 7. He pilfered some silver, some gold and a purple robe—not that much it would seem—but the cost to him, his family and his nation was astronomical.
It’s a perfect case study of sin—its culprits, its cost, and most importantly, its cure! Don’t miss that last word. There is hope. There is a cure. Though we all sin, there is a Savior.
ARISE “A Case Study of Sin” Joshua 7:1-26
But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan . . . took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. (Joshua 7:1).
And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones (Joshua 7:25).
Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor (Joshua 7:26b).
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Sun, 14 February 2016
ARISE “Let the Walls Fall” Joshua 6:1-27
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Sun, 7 February 2016
Arise “For or Against?” Joshua 5:13-15
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand (Joshua 5:13a).
And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped (Joshua 5:13b-14a).
I am the commander of the army of the Lord (Joshua 5:14).
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so (Joshua 5:14b-15).
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). |
Sun, 31 January 2016
Arise “Our God Is Our Guide” Joshua 3:1-4:24
And [Joshua] commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it” (Joshua 3:3).
. . . In order that you may know the way you shall go for you have not passed this way before (Joshua 3:4b).
Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it (Joshua 3:4a).
Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you” (Joshua 3:5).
And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over . . .” (Joshua 4:21-23a).
So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever (Joshua 4:24). |
Sun, 24 January 2016
Arise “From the Hall of Shame to the Hall of Fame” Joshua 2:1-24
“The Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11b).
“And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (James 2:25-26).
“For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan . . .” (Joshua 1:10a).
“But Joshua spared Rahab . . .” (Joshua 6:25a).
“And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king” (Matthew 1:5-6 |
Sun, 17 January 2016
Arise “Borderline Believers” Joshua 1:10-15
The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. 2 So they came to Moses and . . . said, . . . 5 If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan” (Numbers 32:1-5).
. . . but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it (Joshua 1:14b-15a).
“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).
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Sun, 10 January 2016
Arise “The Secret of Success” Joshua 1:6-9
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them (Joshua 1:6).
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:7-8).
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).
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Sun, 3 January 2016
A mulligan in golf is a second chance. It is usually granted after the first attempt is duffed. Wouldn’t it be great if life afforded us a second chance? Well, the good news of the gospel is that we can have a second chance. Israel got a second chance to enter the Promised Land. Now, to be sure, they blew it the first time. God had rescued them from Egypt and brought them miraculously to the brink of the Promised Land. There they balked. They doubted and refused to go forward. That whole generation died in the wilderness. What should have been a couple weeks’ journey from Egypt to Israel turned into forty years of wandering. Finally, God brought them back to the Jordan. The ball is teed up. It’s their mulligan moment. God says, Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Thankfully, they had learned their lesson and this new generation arose and said “yes” to the Lord! As we retrace the journey of the Israelites, it is an opportunity us to have a fresh start too. May He hear us say “yes” as He calls us to a new place of obedience in 2016! Arise!
Arise “Make the Most of Your Mulligan” Joshua 1:1-5
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, “Moses my servant is dead . . .” (Joshua 1:1-2a).
Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses (Joshua 1:2b-3).
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you (Joshua 1:5).
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