Category Archives: The Gospel

March 30 – Living With The Enemy

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Judges 1-2

Israel didn’t drive out the enemy like God had told them to do. Yes, it would have involved force, it wouldn’t be easy. But, like Judah who didn’t drive the enemy out of the valley because they had “iron chariots,” the Israelites chose to live among the enemy. Clearly not what God had wanted for them. (besides, what is an iron chariot next to God?)

God had promised them He would go before them in battle. God had promised them victory. Either Israel was too lazy, or they didn’t really believe God when He told them living with the enemy would cause them to sin.

So, the Jews lived among idol worshipers. And the result? The Bible tells us that their children were “another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.” (2:10)

Oh, their kids knew about Baal. But they didn’t know God.

I have lived six decades. In my lifetime I have seen the decline of morality and the reverence and fear of a Holy God. I have seen worship turn into entertainment, and the Truth replaced by a lie.

God is speaking to me today. I am a part of the decline of Christianity. Have I cleared out my own Promised Land like God has commanded me? Have I eliminated sin from my life, or do I live with a hint of jealousy? Do I watch that one ungodly TV show? Do I take God’s name in vain on occasion? Am I too busy to read God’s Word and pray, replacing my worship of Him with busyness?

Do I love this world a bit too much? Have I grown numb concerning sin, accepting sin or tolerating it?

God would have me clear out the land. He has said that living with the enemy can only turn out badly for me… and for the dear ones who come after me.

God, reveal those areas in my life where I have allowed Satan to exist. I don’t want anything to do with him. I don’t want his influence to have any hold on me. I want to be free from the bondage that results by allowing sin to exist in me. You died to free me. Forgive me for squandering that. I don’t want to live with the enemy. I want my life to be just You and me.

March 27 – How long?

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Joshua 16-18

God had given the land to the Jews. All they had to do was take it. Some tribes went right in and cleaned out the cities in order to occupy what God had given them.

Other tribes held back. Joshua asked them: How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your Fathers, has given you?” (18:3)

It’s Easter Sunday morning. Jesus is alive! His death on the cross bought our salvation. He was buried to carry our sins all the way to hell, separated from the Father.

But He rose again, and offers us new life. Eternal life. A life free of guilt and hopelessness. He did that for me. He did that for you.

Some people have accepted God’s provision. We’ve repented of sin and allowed Jesus to be our Savior, the very thing He was born to be.

Others stand there looking at the gift, like the Jews in Joshua 18 stood looking at the land. But they just haven’t taken that step toward accepting what Jesus bought for them, what He freely offers to them with open arms.

God is saying to you, “How long will you put off taking possession of what is already yours? How long will you refuse what Jesus died to give you?”

Dearest Jesus, we celebrate You today. We sing about the fact that you defeated death itself by dying, then living again. That tomb is empty. We praise You. We worship You. I pray for any reading this blog who are still standing there with that precious gift in front of them. May they reach out and accept what you have already paid for. May they repent of sin this minute, and allow You to forgive them, that which you are so eager to do. May each of us know the blessed reality of having the risen Savior walking with us today.

March 24 – When The Walls Fall Down

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Joshua 5-8

I remember when I was in college, someone tried to convince me of the scientific principle behind the collapse of the walls around Jericho. It went something like this:

The Jewish parade around the city once a day for six days began to weaken the foundation of the wall because of the vibration of their footsteps on the ground. Then, when the people marched around the city seven times in one day, and shouted, and blew the trumpets, the already weakened foundation was unable to handle all that vibration. And the walls came tumbling down.

Whatever.

What I see in this story is a loving God who gave the people of Jericho multiple chances to repent. They had heard about Israel’s God, the miracles that accompanied the Jews on their travels from Egypt, including the parting of the Jordan River only days before.

They could have bowed their knees and accepted God. They could have been saved. Rahab and her family believed, and they were saved. But the rest of the city didn’t bow. And they were the ones who paid the price.

God, maybe like a child blowing out a birthday candle, blew on those walls and they fell. Yes, He used the children of Israel to get the attention of the people within the city. But it was God who caused the walls to crash to the ground.

God tries to get our attention every minute of every day. He doesn’t exact punishment on us the first time we sin. He is slow to anger. He is patient and kind. He is not willing that any of us should die in our sin.

So he continues to use people and circumstances and nature and guilt and peace and war and health and sickness… to draw us to Himself. It’s not until we take our last breath that His attempts to win our souls stop, until the walls we thought would protect us come tumbling down.

So, Christian, keep praying for that loved one who still resists the Lord. Keep circling, keep reaching out. I mean, Rahab was a prostitute and she was saved. God is not done with your loved one no matter how far you think they’ve fallen. Neither should you be.

And if you are one who is still inside those walls of Jericho, surrender. Those walls can’t withstand the wrath of God. Get out while you can and run to the God who loves you and gave Himself for you.

On which side of the walls will you be when they finally fall down? You have only this lifetime to make that decision. And it’s the most important decision you’ll ever make. It’s the only decision that will matter in eternity.

March 19 – Blurred Lines

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Deuteronomy 24-27

Moses told the Israelites that when they entered the Promised Land they were to get large stones, coat them in lime, then write the law distinctly on the rocks. Then they were to build an altar.

I don’t know how many times the Law, or part of it, are repeated in Scripture. I don’t know how many times Moses himself reminded the people about the laws God had given him for the Jews to obey.

But reading the Old Testament certainly emphasizes the importance God places on obedience. And God’s Laws are black and white.

Sadly, we live in a grey world. People have mistaken God’s grace as a softening of the rules He laid out to Moses there on the mountain. In fact, the opposite is true.

Jesus fulfilled the Law, and offers forgiveness for us because we are unable to keep the Law. But beyond that, Jesus said we sin if we even think about it. Who can measure up to that standard?

Moses told the people to write the law distinctly, clearly so there would be no question. God, as He inspired men to write His Words in Scripture did the same.

There need be no question concerning sin. The lines are drawn. And they are anything but blurred.

March 14 – Our Awesome God

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Deuteronomy 8-10

Now Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (10:12-13)

Moses has been reminding the Jews all the things God has done on their behalf. Now he wants to remind them WHO God is. I hope you read Deuteronomy 10:12-22 today, and let yourself worship this awesome God of ours.

God created the heavens and earth, yet set His affection to love us. God who loved us so much He sent Jesus, so that anyone who believes in Him will live forever with Him. (John 3:16)

God is the God above all Gods, Lord of lords, great, mighty, and awesome.

He is our praise and He is our God.

Amen!

March 10 – Protecting What Is Mine

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Numbers 35&36

I find it interesting that the last two chapters of Numbers deal with cities of refuge, and what to do with the five daughters of Zelophehad concerning their inheritance. Both subjects have to do with protection. One, the protection of a person who accidentally kills another, from the dead man’s avenger. The other, the protection of the land.

In the first instance, a person was protected from the avenger as long as he stayed inside the city of refuge. One step outside those gates, and the avenger was free to kill the manslayer.

Satan is like that avenger, eager to destroy me if I step away from my Savior’s protection. And every time I neglect time in God’s Word and prayer, when I sin and refuse to repent, when I don’t obey Him by worshiping and serving with a fellowship of believers, when I try to live with one foot in the world, I expose myself to Satan’s arrows.

The second is about protecting the land, the inheritance given by God. I can see that as my own, personal Promised Land of fellowship with God. It seems that relatives of the daughters of Zelophehad were a bit jealous of the possibility that, should the girls marry men from outside  of Joseph’s family, another tribe of Israel would get the rights to the land God had given them. They wanted to make sure what was their’s stayed with them.

Makes me wonder how jealous I am that something or someone could take what God has given me: love, peace, joy, fellowship with Him, holiness. The same things that make me vulnerable to my manslayer, Satan, can steal the blessings that are mine as God’s child.

So God is asking me today to protect what is mine through the blood of His precious Son. I need to control my thoughts, I need to resist temptation, I need to read and meditate on His Word, to pray, to worship Him and praise Him and love Him like He deserves. I need to walk with Him in an intentional way, and to cling to Him as my Protector, my City of Refuge.

 

 

March 9 – Clear The Land

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Numbers 33&34

Be honest. Do you have a secret sin you are holding on to? An ungodly TV show that makes you laugh? An internet site that you find interesting although it dishonors God? Someone you refuse to forgive? Drinking alcohol to excess even if its just within your home? Anger? Jealousy? An obsession with a loved one?

When we become Christians, God demands that we confess our sins – all of them – and repent. That means we lay it all out there, drop those sins at Jesus’ feet, and walk away clean.

God told Israel that, when they went into the Promised Land to take it for themselves, they needed to drive out the inhabitants. He warned them not to let anyone stay because if they did, those who remained would end up being “pricks in (their) eyes and thorns in (their) sides.” He said those people would trouble the Jews in the land God had promised to them.

That same God is saying to us today to get rid of all sin. All of it. If you insist on holding on to something – even if you think no one on the earth knows what you are doing – it will end up biting you.

God doesn’t demand we be holy to prevent us from enjoying this life, our own Promised Land of fellowship with Him. He demands holiness of us so that we can enjoy life to the fullest!

No thorns in our sides to take away our joy. No pricks in our eyes to distract us and cause us pain.

There is no sin I can think of worth holding on to if it prevents me from receiving all God intends for me in this life while I wait to join Him in the next.

March 8 – But I Like It Here

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Numbers 31-32

What is our responsibility to each other as members of God’s family? The sons of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh were comfortable living east of the Jordan River. They knew the land God had promised Abraham was to the west. But they liked it where they were.

Moses agreed to letting them stay there on one condition: Help your brothers take the Promised Land.

Just because they weren’t going to make their home there, it didn’t give them a free pass out of the battle.

So the question is, what is your responsibility in the welfare of your church fellowship and in the global Church? You may be comfortable in your relationship with the Savior, secure in your place in heaven. But does that mean you can put your feet up and let others fight the battles?

There is more ground to gain, more souls needing salvation, more sins to defeat. Moses told the two and a half tribes if they didn’t help win the war, “you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Dear one, not putting on the armor of God and engaging in the war against Satan is sin. Not telling your neighbor about Christ is sin. Not inviting people to church, supporting missions, or praying for the lost, are sins.

What is our responsibility? To join forces with other Christians and get the job done. We need to be supporting, encouraging, praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ as we all do our part to further God’s Kingdom one soul at a time.

Feb 26 – And The Winner Is…

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Numbers 7

I’m not sure how it started, but we have a playful competition among me and my sisters when it comes to gift-giving. If I put $25 in a birthday card for one of the kids, one sister might put $26 in hers, and another sister might give $26.50. I’ve been known to pull out my wallet and throw an additional $5 at a nephew if a sister out-gave me just so I will be the “good” aunt. One time, I was the highest gift-giver by a penny in a card to our dad.

Silly, I know. But we always get a good laugh out of it. And my nieces and nephews just shake their heads and roll their eyes.

Reading Numbers 7 is repetitious. I could have condensed this chapter to about  six verses:

Every tribe gave exactly the same thing when it was their day to bring the sacrifices to the temple: one silver dish…”

However,  God inspired the writer of the book to repeat the identical list twelve times. It’s tempting, because they are all the same, to skim over 90% of this chapter. Yet God wanted it to be written this way.

So I read every word this morning. And when I did I thought about my family’s little competition. It occurred to me that there can be no competition when we come to the Lord.

God leveled the playing field so no one can say they are the “good” child for bringing more. God says ALL have sinned. God says no one comes to Him except through His Son Jesus. God says unless a man is born again he will not see heaven.

Here’s what God expects of us, what He demands we give Him: everything!

We must all empty ourselves in humility, confess our sins, and ask  Him to forgive us by the blood of Jesus. We can’t buy our way into redemption with money or talent or good intentions. And someone isn’t more saved than another by virtue of the level of their sacrifice.

And, here is what I love about the seventh chapter in Numbers. God accepted every sacrifice equally, whether given the first day or the twelfth. It tells me that today, every time a sinner repents, even if he’s the 1,000 sinner redeemed in a day, God accepts that soul with as much joy and love as though he or she were the only one.

So the winner is us. It’s we who have received God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. It’s those of us who have emptied ourselves and allowed God Himself to fill us up. I am the apple of God’s eye. But so are you, if you know Him. And we both received His forgiveness exactly the same way.

 

Feb 25 – Restitution

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Numbers 5&6

God instructed that a person who committed a sin against another person was to first confess that sin. Then, they were to make restitution in full for the sinful act, plus add another 1/5, and give it all to the person who had been wronged. It wasn’t enough to pay for the damage. You had to pay the damage, and a little more.

I’ve sinned against God. I’ve confessed my sin. But there is no way I can make restitution. I am totally unable to pay the penalty for sin, which is death. The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) I can’t do that, much less die plus add 1/5.

So the One I sinned against, paid it all for me Himself. Inconceivable. I can stand before God, account paid, guiltless of the sins I’ve committed against Him because Jesus shed His own blood and died in my place.

I will not suggest that I can, by being a good person, ever repay God for sending Jesus to the cross for me. Jesus’ grace isn’t a loan.

Yet because of what He did for me, I WANT to live my life to honor Him. I find myself wanting to resist temptation, to spend time in His Word, to talk to and about Him, share Him with people who don’t yet know Him.

I want my life to stand out from the crowd because I want people to see this amazing Savior in me.

No, there’s no need to pay restitution to God when Jesus has already done that. But I want my life, the choices I make, to show Him how much I love Him, how grateful I am that He paid it all for me.

And blesses me every day with Himself.