Seven Steps in Joshua

1. Commanding

Fear the Lord – Joshua 24:14
“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!

2. Choosing

Chose you … when ye shall serve - Joshua 24:15
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. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

3. Confessing

The Lord our God – Joshua 24:17-18
for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

4. Covenant

Joshua made a covenant - Joshua 24:25
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

5. Cleansing

Put away .. the strange gods - Joshua 24:23
“Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

6. Confidence

We will serve the Lord - Joshua 24:25
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

[Message No: 6643]

Ways to Good Works

1. Remember the poor

Galatians 2:10
They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

2. Look after orphans

James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

3. Recognition to widows

1 Timothy 5:3
Honour widows who are really widows.
1 Timothy 5:16
If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

4. Bringing up children

1 Timothy 5:10
well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

5. Showing hospitality

1 Timothy 5:10
well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

6. Helping the troubled

1 Timothy 5:10
well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

7. Helping God’s people

Hebrews 6:10
well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

[Message No: 6642]

Our God

God Before us

Deuteronomy 1:30
The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

God Behind us

Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out with haste,
 Nor go by flight;
 For the Lord will go before you,
 And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

God Above us

Psalm 18:16
He sent from above, He took me;
 He drew me out of many waters.

God Underneath us

Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your refuge,
 And underneath are the everlasting arms;
 He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
 And will say, ‘Destroy!’

God Around us

Psalm 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
 So the Lord surrounds His people
 From this time forth and forever.

[Message No: 6641]

Encouraging Each Other

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrew 10:24-25

We need each other. We cannot make it on our own. God calls us to get together regularly to encourage and to motivate each other to live vibrant lives of service and faith. With the day of Jesus' return and our ultimate victory on the horizon, we should be motivated even more to help and to encourage each other.

Why should we serve one another?

Serving is the best use of my TIME.

Here’s a riddle for you. We each have the same amount – but we each have a different amount. What is it? T-I-M-E!

We each have 24 hours in each day. Yet each of us have a different life span. 1 Corinthians 15:58 in the Message Bible says: “Throw yourselves into the work of time or effort”. 1 Corinthians 15:58.
 If you’re in Children’s nursery ministry and you change a diaper, it’s not without value. If you pick up a piece of trash on your way into Sunday morning worship, because you say, “Someone walking in who needs to know Jesus might be turned off by this,” that’s not worthless. It’s of value. If you open a door for someone who needs help and you do it in the name of Jesus, it’s not a waste of time.
The Bible says, whatever you do, if it is done to the glory of God, it all counts. It’s not so much God’s glory? What’s my attitude? Time is something that all of us have. What makes a great servant different is the way they use their time. Are you using it to serve others or are you using it to serve self?

Thoughts 

"Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness." - Blaise Pascal
"Whence comes this idea that if what we are doing is fun, it can't be God's will? The God who made giraffes, a baby's fingernails, a puppy's tail, a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite's call, and a young girl's giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no mistake about that." - Catherine Marshall

[Message No: 6640]

Besides Still Waters - 37

The Hope Which Is Laid Up

Colossians 1:5
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel

Things Above

Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Lest You Sorrow

1 Thessalonians 4:13
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed  about those who sleep in death,  so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

With A Shout

1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,  with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel  and with the trumpet call of God,  and the dead in Christ will rise first.

With The Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:17
After that, we who are still alive and are left  will be caught up together with them in the clouds  to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord  forever.

Comfort

1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore encourage one another  with these words.

Rejoice Always

1 Thessalonians 5:16
Rejoice always
Pray Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray continually,

[Message No: 6639]

Qualification of God’s Servant

1. Being free from sin

Romans 6:22
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

2. Not trying to please men

Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

3. Receiving God’s Spirit

Acts 2:18
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
 I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
 And they shall prophesy.

4. Following wholeheartedly

Numbers 14:24
But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

5. Suffering in the soul

Isaiah 53:11
He shall see the labour of His soul, and be satisfied.
 By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
 For He shall bear their iniquities.

6. Wrestling in Prayer

Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God

7. Walking without blame

Psalm 101:6
My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,
 That they may dwell with me;
 He who walks in a perfect way,
 He shall serve me.

[Message No: 6638]

Gideon

.. The secret of his success – Joshua 6:12

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

.. The unbelief – Judges 6:13

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

Prayer

. Lord, over and over You have shown Your power over situations on earth through Israel. You helped them escape on dry ground right through the sea while using that same event to destroy their enemies without a single Israelite casualty. You saw to it that Israel conquered the mighty city of Jericho by making the walls of that city fall outward, exposing their homes and leaving them defenseless. And, Lord, I trust You have the ability to help me through my current difficulties. I can’t wait to see how You do that! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Philippians 4:23

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

Some prayers are so simple and so precious. To pray grace "on" someone is a great blessing. To pray that this grace be more than physical, external things, is greater still. So why not pray this prayer for those you love.

John 8:31-32

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Truth is not something we know, it is something we live. Jesus reminds us that we must not only know his teaching, but also obey it. However, obedience is one of the proofs of our discipleship and doorway to freedom and truth.

Thought 

When we pray God’s Word, using it on spirits and situations, it begins to cut through thoughts and attitudes in order to bring about a change. - Marilyn Hickey

[Message No: 6637]

'A New Definition for Glory'

As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, "The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once." - John 13:31-32

John has hinted throughout his gospel that Jesus would redefine glory. The word for exalt or glorify actually means to lift up on high. For Jesus, his glory will involve his being lifted up on high on the cross out of love for us and in obedience to the Father. Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus will bring the Father glory by fulfilling the Father's plan to bring us out of our bondage to sin and death. Are we willing to follow him to that kind of glory?

Prayer

. Lord God, I praise You as Creator and Lord of all the earth — even with the total power over death and the grave. When death threatens my own live, Lord, remind me that I need not fear it because You are the One with the ultimate power and control — even over death itself. Remind me that the last enemy to be destroyed and removed is death (1 Corinthians 15:26), and that death is not the end; but rather just a transition toward eternal life in heaven forever with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them."

When we are young and have so many things to do, many things can distract us from what is important. We must let the Lord gather our passions under his grace in those early days of excitement and frenetic joy so we can be used for God's greater good. For most of us, age brings a crescendo of limitations of one kind or another.

This doesn't mean life has to be bad, just that we had better put our priorities in order. Hopefully we learned the lessons of faith in our youth so that we have the maturity and wisdom to be mentors, examples, and counselors for those who come after us on the path.

Thought 

"God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfil all His promises . . . leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

[Message No: 6636]