Devotion Thoughts - 12/04/2011

Joshua 5:1-15


Circumcision was a reminder of God's covenant; this sign had to be on all the males before the people entered the Promised Land. They honoured God by their obedience, so He honoured them by causing the Amorite kings to be afraid upon hearing about the great things He had done for the people.


A good way to remember the great things God can do for us is by reading our Bibles and memorizing verses that have special meaning for us!


Joshua 6:1-27


Marching around a city to make its walls collapse doesn't seem possible. Sometimes we do feel that way about some things we believe God is asking us to do; if that is how His blessings will be ours then why argue with Him? 'With God all things are possible' should be our motto.


Joshua 7:1-15


John Donne coined the phrase, 'No man is an island unto himself'. Whatever we do impacts on someone somewhere. This chapter details how one Israelite man's covetousness led to defeat and death for others, including his own family. Just because God is not visible does not mean that He does not see my secret activities. With the wicked, God either acts against them immediately or leaves it until the Judgment Day.


It is a different story with believers; He always acts in this life, sometimes immediately, sometimes taking longer.


Luke 15:1-32


Jesus' parables provide clues as to how God feels regarding certain issues. In this parable about the lost sheep, Jesus reminds us that God (in heaven) rejoices when a lost sinner repents and returns to Him. He does not rejoice alone - He wants the whole of Creation to share His joy! This is borne out in Phil 1:6 and 2:13 where God is active in our lives, 'cleaning out the mess so that He can bless' (one of my poetic lines), making us pure, holy people by the time Judgment takes place. The Parable of the Prodigal Son supports this idea. Only when he had lost everything is the prodigal ready to return humbly to his father. The father is cognisant of the sons remorse; that is all the prodigal needed to do to obtain forgiveness. God is always keen to cleanse away our bad habits, and will leave us wallowing in the results of our sin until we repent and return to Him!


Psalm 81:1-16


We actually encourage ourselves when we sing God's praises. The psalmist believes we have good reason to praise God: in heaven, all the trials of this life will be over; God will have defeated His (and our) enemies; and we will forever be enjoying the good life prepared by God for us.


Proverbs 13:1


It is almost impossible to get dogmatic, self-opinionated people to admit they are wrong about certain issues. It is a sign of immaturity, accompanied by an unwillingness to accept instruction or correction. This was the attitude of the scribes, Pharisees and Sanhedrin towards Jesus.

---