9/18/2009 8:26 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A New Beginning (Part 1)
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Joshua 8:1-2
Message of the verses: “1 ¶
Now the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the
people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand
the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 "You shall do to Ai and its king just as
you did to Jericho
and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for
yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.’”
This not
only begins a new chapter in the book of Joshua, but also in Warren Wiersbe’s
book “Be Strong” which is his commentary on Joshua. “Turning Defeat Into Victory” is the title of
this chapter and the first division is “A new beginning” and this has three
sub-divisions under it of which the first one will be covered today, “The word
of encouragement” which is the first part of verse one: “Now the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear or
be dismayed.” It is good to have a Word
from the Lord when one is discouraged.
After the
sin had been taken care of in the camp of Israel I would envision that Joshua
may still have been a bit frightened to go out against the people of Ai, for
they had just suffered defeat against them not to long ago. Joshua’s fears would now be taken away as the
Lord spoke to him and told him “Fear not.”
These are two wonderful word that a believer can hear from the Lord and
although believers today do not actually hear the voice of the Lord as those in
Bible Times do, although this could happen even though it is not the norm. Believers today have the Word of God and the
Spirit of God and so can read His Word and receive instructions from His
Spirit.
When a
person falls and makes a mistake he needs to get up at try again in order not
to be a failure. There are times in the
lives of God’s people that failure on something draws them closer to the Lord,
but they need to continue to trust the Lord to lead them and to guide them into
victory. “God delights ‘to show Himself
strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.’” 2 Chron. 16:9
Spiritual meaning for my life today: This section and the commentary that I have
read on this section has been a delight for me to hear and to read, for I truly
need to hear this from the Lord. I have
made mistakes in my walk with the Lord that have had terrible affects on my
family, including me, and because of God’s grace we are still going on, but I
truly need to learn from these mistakes and not make them again. The main thing that I need to do before
making a big decision is to pray with Sandy
about it and seek the Lord direction before venturing out on anything that
could be another mistake.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- I want to remember that I am to “fear not” for the Lord is with me always and will guide my steps to victory.
- I trust the Lord that He will be in the midst of our Bible study and that He will accomplish what He desires to accomplish with this study and hopefully all who attend will be there because they have a desire to learn more about knowing God in a better way.
9/18/2009 9:45 AM
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