Joshua 1:8 - Time for God

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.

How much time do you spend with God? How many hours of the week are you focused in study, worship and prayer. How much time to we spend connecting with God? In a week there are about 112 waking hours for most people. In your head break up the hours in your week. I figured I spend about 10% of my time connecting with God. I guess if you think about it like tithing, that's OK, but that means 90% of my time is focused on things of the world.

Lord, thank you for always being there to listen to our prayer or worship and to help us with our study of you and your word. Please help us to spend even more time connecting with you. Amen.

Joshua 24:23

"Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel."

What are the foreign gods I need to throw away? What is a god? It is anything that takes his place. I guess that means anything I go to in times of trouble. Anything I rely on for peace, comfort, solace, guidance, or personal value. Anything I constantly think about and worship. Anything I allow to get in the way of doing God's work or fulfilling his purpose. How do I spend my time, money, energy, and thoughts?

Lord, I want you and only you as the God of my life. Lord please help me to throw away the foreign gods in my life. I want to yield my heart to only you. Amen.

Joshua 24:15

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

This is such a famous verse. we usually hear a shorter version but here is the whole verse. God has always given his people a choice. He has never forced anyone to love him. God loves all of us, everyone, unsaved and saved. He gives us all the same good gifts here on the earth. If we choose to love him and develop a relationship with him, we get to enjoy that while we are here on earth, plus after death we will continue to be with him

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to choose. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a relationship with you right now and eternally. Lord, please help us to make the right choice. Amen.

Joshua 24:13

So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.

I came across this verse a few months ago when I was studying a survey of the Old Testament. God uses even the wicked for his purpose. God had these groups of people prepare these cities and lands for his people.

Lord, if you will use even the wicked to your purpose then I know you can use me to your purpose. Lord, please don't let me get in your way. Please Lord, use me to the glory of your kingdom. Amen.

Joshua 23:13b

Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

When the Israelites were conquering the land God had promised them, he told them to destroy all the people. God knew that these people would lead Israel astray. In our lives we have choice. Almost everything that occurs in our lives happens as a result of one of our choices. When we allow ungodly people to remain our lives, like the verse says they will become snares and traps for us. We may have to make the hard choice and remove people from our lives.

Lord, please help us and guide us to know when there is a person in our life that we need to remove. Amen.

Joshua 22:27

On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the Lord.'

A few of the tribes were given land on the east side of the Jordan while the majoity were on the west side of the Jordan. When the group left to go back to the east side they stopped to build a alter. I guess this must have looked like the altar in the tabernacle because the other side took great offense. They were ready to go to war against the east side group. It turns out it was just a miscommunication. These tribes almost went to war together because of a misunderstanding. As we go about our day how many times do we get angry and upset over things and they may just be a misunderstanding ? We can save ourselves so much bitterness in anger by assuming good intent.

Lord, please help me to react as you would react in all situations. Help me to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Amen.

Joshua 22:5

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Wow! What a verse! That pretty much sums up our whole relationship with God.

Lord, I love you. I plan to obey you and keep your commands. I will hold fast to you and serve you with all my heart and soul. Amen.

Joshua 21:45

Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

The Lord gave all this land to the Israelites. He gave all their enemies into their hands. Now he is giving them rest. The last thing he asked of the Israelites was to give. Each tribe had to give some of their land to the Levites. If the Lord fulfilled His promises to the Israelites, we can be confident he will fulfill his promises to us. We can thank God for that fulfillment by giving when we are given the opportunity to do so.

Lord, thank you so much for all your good and holy gifts. Thank you for promising to always be there for us. Please help us to remember to cheerfully give back to you. Amen.

Joshua 20:9

Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

I have always liked the concept of the cities of refuge. I think we could compare our time on earth as our city of refuge. We have all sinned and our sin has put Christ on the cross. We all deserve death, but we have the opportunity while here on earth to do something about it. We have the opportunity to accept the saving grace Christ offers us. We may even have the opportunity to express our thankfulness while we are still here on earth. And we have the opportunity to share with others how they can be cleansed of their guilt.

Lord, I pray that I use my time here on earth, in my city of refuge, to do all that you want me to do. Thank you for saving me. Amen.

Joshua 18 & 19

In these two chapters Joshua completes the division of the land between the tribes. This is their inheritance. Last night at ladies class we talked about inheritance Our earthly inheritance may be nothing, but with God as our Father our eternal inheritance is monumental.

Lord, thank you so much for a hope of an eternal inheritance. Lord, you know as humans we need something beyond the here and now to look forward to. Thank you for that gift. Thank you for being our father. Amen.

Joshua 15:16-19; 17:3-6

Both of the scriptures listed above are stories of women. Amongst this big story of conquering and dividing land there are very few mentions of women, so they stand out. The first notable woman is offered as a prize, then bravely asks for land. The second lists the daughters of a man who has no sons, so they are given land. As a woman, I love reading stories of women in the Bible.

Lord, thank you for giving us stories of women. These special women speak to your daughters is a special way. Amen.

Joshua 14:14

So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.

Caleb was one of the spies who believed they could take the land. Because of his faithfulness he was given that land.

Lord,  I want to follow you wholeheartedly. Amen.

Joshua 12:7a

Here is a list of the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered

Here and throughout the Bible God seems to be quite a list maker. Here he lists the Kings that were conquered, other places he lists genealogies, he even gave a list of 10 commandments. What kind of list do we make? Do we keep a list of the wrongs people have done? Do we keep a list of our sins? Do we keep a list of our failures? With God as our example, let's make list of our successes, our history,  and our plans to do good things.

Lord, help us to remember only what we can learn from. Help us to remember when we have followed your will. Help us plan for success in the future. Amen.

Joshua 11:20

For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them with out mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

At first this seems so cruel. how can God exterminate huge groups of people? The word exterminate makes me think of the flood. Everyone and everything on planet Earth was destroyed except Noah and what was in the Ark. As humans, we are so concerned for the rights of the individual. I think we sometimes forget that this world belongs to God, not us. He does what he does for His purposes. There were some people who survived these attacks. Maybe these people's hearts were being stoftened to God like Rahab.

Lord, I pray that I always remember that life is a gift and this is your world established for your purposes. Amen.

Joshua 10:42

All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

At this point I expect Israel was feeling pretty invincible. They were sweeping through the land defeating everyone. when we have that kind of success it's hard to not become prideful. We always have to remember God is the one in charge. These things are happening for His purposes. We are just the vessel.

Lord, I know if I am living in your will and doing the things you want me to do, success or failure, it is all for you and for your purpose. Help me not to be prideful in success or defeated in failure. Amen.

Joshua 10:8

The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."

At this point Joshua and the Israelites were doing exactly what God was telling them to do. They had nothing to fear. In this battle God ends up killing more of the enemy with hail than the warriors do. If we are following God's will, truly listening to him and doing what he asks, then we also have nothing to fear.

Lord, thank you so much for leading us. Help us to always walk in your path so that we may never need to fear. Amen.

Joshua 9:14

The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.

The Gibeonites deceived Israel so they would not destroy them. They did a good job. Their plan worked. They made a treaty with Israel and were saved. The problem is that it sounded like a good idea to make a treaty with these people but nobody bothered to ask to God. Everyday we face challenges and decisions. Everyday we face these challenges and decisions without consulting God. Why we do that? We have direct access to the Spirit, to Christ, to the Father, yet we just rely on ourselves.  Some decisions turn out okay, some don't, but if we invite God into our choices then all of our decisions will be made for his glory and his purpose.

Lord, help me to invite you into every decision I make. Amen.

Joshua 8:2

You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city."

So, the Israelites destroy Jericho but are not to take any plunder. One person does and he and his whole family are destroyed. Now in the attack on Ai they are allowed to take plunder. Wow! If we just wait on God often he will give us what we want, but it's on his time and his terms, not ours.

Lord, help me to not be anxious or greedy, but to wait on you. Amen.

Joshua 7:13

"Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

The Israelites were not to have taken anything from Jericho. The gold, silver, bronze and iron were all to go into the Lord's Treasury. These were considered devoted things. One person took some of these devoted things. Are there things in my life that should be devoted to God yet I hang on to them?

Lord, please help me to evaluate my life, to think of all my possessions and talents and make sure I am offering them all up to you for your will and your purpose. Amen

Joshua 5:13-14a

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come."

I like that the commander of the army of the Lord was on neither side. He was on God's side. He was there for God's purposes, not the Israelite's or Jericho's.

Lord, no matter what the issue, I pray that I will always be on your side. Amen.