Be strong and courageous

April 19, 2023

I was just reading Joshua chapter one. This is where God charges Joshua with taking over from Moses as the leader of the people and taking them into the promises land.

Today four things jumped out at me from verses Joshua 1:6-8. Here is the text…

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very cour- ageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Here are the four points for reflection…

1. Courageous

God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous three times in these verses. The task God was giving Joshua was not going to be easy. He was to lead the armies of Israel to take the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be strong and courageous and know God would always be with him (v9).

2. Remember

God tells Joshua to remember all that Moses had told him. He said it was very important to obey all of the instructions Moses had given him (v7). God spoke face to face with Moses and he would have passed a lot of this on to Joshua. Joshua needed to remember Moses’ leadership lessons and God’s instructions to Moses.

3. Meditate

God tells Joshua to constantly read and meditate on God’s Word – “The Book of Instruction”. God tells Joshua to do this and to be careful to obey everything in it. He promised that if he does, Joshua will prosper and be successful in all he does. Reading God’s Word keeps us in tune with God.

4. Promises

In this passage we also see that God uses people to fulfil the promises He has made to others. In verse 6 God says, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” God used Joshua to bring His vow to pass. Today God uses you and I to bring His promises to pass.

Conclusion

So today we need to learn from God’s encouragement to Joshua if we are taking on something very big. We need to remember to be courageous and God is with us, remember what our leaders have taught us, read and meditate on God’s Word and remember God uses ordinary people to being about His plans.

What makes me happy?

April 15, 2023

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

The WordPress question of the day was a nice easy one. Five everyday things that make me happy.

1. Saturday morning coffee with my wife

2. Working out alone in my gym

3. Spending time with our daughters

4. Going for a stroll on our bush trails

5. Watching tv series with my wife

Uphill to God

April 14, 2023

I read this today about hard times and suffering. It was talking about how at times in our life it feels like we are walking up hill and our struggle is so hard. But, it reminded us of our destination in the midst of our suffering… the loving arms of God…

“The road may indeed wind uphill all the way, but it leads to our heavenly Father, who awaits us with open arms.”

What book can I read again?

April 11, 2023

What book could you read over and over again?

Today’s WordPress question of the day is “What book could I read over and over again?” Hands down it is the Bible for me.

In saying that though, the Bible is a collection of 66 books. So if I had to drill down further it would be the Book of Luke from the Bible.

Why Luke? Luke covers all of Jesus’ life, miracles, interactions with all types of people, His death and resurrection.

Here is a snippet from my study Bible about Luke…

“Luke is the most comprehensive of the Gospels. Its general vocabulary and diction show that the author was educated. He makes frequent references to illnesses and diagnoses. Luke stresses Jesus’ relationships with people; emphasizes prayer, miracles, and angels; records inspired hymns of praise; and gives a prominent place to women. Most of 9:51–18:35 is not found in any other Gospel.”

I guess as a relational person, who loves to prayer and hearing about the miracles of Jesus, it makes sense.

The other reason I love Luke so much it has a sequel by the same author – the Book of Acts. You can read Luke and Acts together and get a good understanding of Jesus’ life and what the early church was like.

So what book could I read over and over. The Bible, but more precisely the Book of Luke.

The Lord’s Prayer index

April 10, 2023

Matthew 6:9-13 NLT – Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. [10] May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [11] Give us today the food we need, [12] and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. [13] And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

The rabbis in Jesus’ day taught people the idea of ‘index praying’. An index is usually at the beginning of a book, giving chapter numbers and titles.

That’s exactly what index praying was all about. The rabbis would provide the points for prayer, like an index or outline, and the people would fill in their own prayers.

Some Bible scholars tell us this is the method Jesus was teaching in the Lord’s Prayer. Can you imagine using the Lord’s Prayer as an outline to pray in a sense?

1. Worshiping the Father 

2. God’s kingdom 

3. God’s will/guidance 

4. Our daily needs 

5. Forgiveness/relationships 

6. Spiritual warfare 

For me this is a very interesting idea that would provide a great structure to wrap our prayers up in. It would help us to cover all aspect of giving honour to God and covering our needs too.