Posts Tagged ‘God’s faithfulness’

Scripture reading for March 8th: Joshua 18-21

Some of the reading in today’s passages seems to be boring.  It is the details of how Joshua divided the land for the tribes of Israel.  Each tribe had fought faithfully and waited patiently for the completion of the long war to conquer the promised land.  God gave them each a definite inheritance, chosen by lot. (Joshua 18:10)   The inheritance established them in a land of their own with rest from war!  Read today with an eye for the distant future and God’s sure promises!

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.  The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers.  Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.  Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:43-45

The land of Israel belongs to them by divine promise.  This is being debated today by nations who are trying to divide the land and make a Palestinian state.  God’s promises are true, however,  and the land will ultimately belong to them forever.  (Deuteronomy 1:8)  (Joshua 18:3)  God brought Israel back to her land in 1947 and she will ultimately possess this land.

God gives rest to His people.  Jesus Christ called to the Jews first to come unto Him for rest for their souls.  (Matthew 11:28-30)  Sin and guilt are heavy burdens on men.  Jesus came to save those who were lost and burdened.  The real rest is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!  The best is yet to come!

Just as every enemy of the Israelites was defeated, Jesus has gone before us and defeated our last enemy, death. We are victorious through Jesus Christ!  (1st Corinthians 15:54-57)  He faced death and took the keys of death and hell from our arch-enemy, Satan!  (Revelation 1:18)  Jesus is alive forevermore and lives to pray for us until we come home to Father’s house!

Every promise of God is “yes” and “amen” in Christ Jesus, our heavenly Joshua.  We will surely get our full inheritance and enjoy His presence forever and ever!  Praise the Lord!  (2nd Corinthians 1:18-22)

Scripture reading for June 24th: Psalms 104-106

One of the attributes of God is that He is good!  Thankfully, God has been good to me and I have personally experienced that goodness for over 60 years!  In these last three psalms, the psalmist reflects on the goodness of God to His people because of who He is.  Let’s reflect with this psalmist about God, the greatest subject that the human mind could contemplate!

Psalm 104 begins with the praise of God who wraps Himself with light as a garment!  This is the God who is light and in Him is no darkness at all or shadow of turning!  This God is clothed in splendor and majesty! (Psalm 104:1-2)  He by His great power has stretched out the heavens like a tent canopy and decorated the sky with jewels of light.  He is the one who uses the winds as His messengers and the lightening bolts as His servants. (Psalm 104:4)  He set the earth on its foundations and formed it’s surface, covering it with water and setting boundaries for that water.  He created the plants and animals and the birds of the air and fish of the sea. (Psalm 104:24-25)  This majestic God is the source of all food, breath, and life!  He is worthy of continual praise for His goodness! (Psalm 104:33-35)

In Psalm 105 God is worshiped for His faithfulness to His covenant with His people!  (Psalm 105:8-9)  History is filled with the record of God’s miracles and deliverance on behalf of His people.  The people of God have been cared for by God’s power and wisdom throughout their history, from saving them from famine through Joseph to the deliverance from Egypt through Moses and the miracles wrought through his hands.  God brought the people out of slavery, loaded down with silver and gold.  He fed them and watered them on their journey (Psalm 105:37-41).  This was because of His promises to Abraham and the covenant that God was faithful to keep!  He is worthy of praise!

Psalm 106 begins with a declaration of the goodness and love of God! (Psalm 106:1)  This is but an attempt to proclaim what is an infinite subject!  God’s goodness is without limit and His love goes from everlasting to everlasting!  Now that’s a broad subject!  God’s love also includes His loving discipline!  God only disciplines those He loves!  Some of the judgments recorded here include the wilderness experience where a generation that would not believe died!  God dealt with unbelief, rebellion, idolatry, grumbling and disobedience!  (Psalm 106: 32-39)  God’s people have a history of unfaithfulness, but God has remained faithful!  Even when He handed them over to the nations, He heard their cry and because of His great love, he relented! (Psalm 106:44-46)  This good and ever-loving God deserves praise from everlasting to everlasting!

Take a moment today to remember God and His faithfulness to you personally.  Look back over your life and offer thanks and worship for God’s creation, provision, healing, deliverance and discipline that you have experienced!  Remember, we will worship Him for eternity!

Scripture reading for March 7th: Joshua 18-21

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.  The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers.  Not one of their enemies withstood them, the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.  Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” (Joshua 21:43-45)

God is faithful to His people!  I have lived nearly 62 years and found this to be true personally.  Our family has been through a number of trials during our journey here on earth.  When we farmed, we experienced a severe drought in 1974 and harvested very little.  We had been farming only a few years and really could not stand a crop failure.  But God brought us through!  We had a fire in 1975 that destroyed a large hog building and a large number of animals.  It was the only building that was not listed on the insurance policy!  God brought us through again!  In 1976 we had a tornado strike our farm.  It destroyed barns, cattle sheds, machine sheds and trees on both sides of our house.  We all survived and God took us through!  In 1981 a severe economic crisis hit agriculture as a result of government policies and high interest rates.  Many farmers lost their farms and we were deeply in debt, too.  God showed us a plan and brought us through again!  In 2001, we were 2 miles from the center of a 6.9 earthquake that shook our house, church and city in Olympia, Washington.  God brought us through again!  I could go on, but I am sure you are understanding my point about God’s faithfulness!

In today’s reading, Joshua is dividing the land because the war in Canaan to possess the land is essentially over. (Joshua 18:2)  It took seven years of fighting and following God’s instructions.  Not one enemy could stand up against them when they were obedient!  Not one promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ever failed!  God’s Word is a proven commodity.  When everything else in the world is shaking and the worst appears to have happened, God is faithful and His Word is true!

“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as He has promised.  Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through his servant Moses.” 1st Kings 8:56

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35