Tuesday, January 19, 2010

As long as God is with me (Joshua 11-15)

We start today's reading with Joshua having to face battle with 5 kings.  One nation against 5 seems harsh, but God told Joshua to not fear, he'll defeat the kings and hamstring their horses.  And once again, God came through. 

We then go through a few hard chapters to navigate.  They're hard because we don't really carry to all the places in Israel.  Few of us have been there, and most of the time we can't get a mental map going.  So at the end of this blog, I'm providing a map to give us references.

One story that gets lost in these chapters is Caleb's story.  Here's this 80 year old man who went through the exodus, he and Joshua were the lone survivors, and he's ready for his land.  I love his attidue, "As long as the Lord is with me, I'll take the land."  And so at 80, Caleb took over a piece of Judah. 

Sometimes as Christians we fall into the trap of feeling like because we're in the minority, we must be right.  Many times, I have seen the twisted thinking of, "Well, no one else agrees with me in ___________________ (church, town, school, etc.), so I must be doing the right thing."  That's not right.  A minority with God is powerful, but a minority without God is a minority.  Minority or majority does not matter, what does matter is God's presence. 

How do we know if God's presence is with us?  If those around us can see the fruit of the Spirit in us, then we can be sure.  If we are persuasive in spite of how we explain things, then we can be sure.  If God is moving with us in ways we can't explain, then we can be sure. 

As promised, the map:

Map of israel joshua conquering

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I'm a minister with Northside Christian Church. I'm a ragamuffin, a crash, a mess, or whatever literary device you wish to use in describing a man who understands his condition, accept God's grace, and wishes to be used by God to bring others to Him. Also a Husband to Mi Maestra Bonita, a Husker fan, Sushi Snob, and part time Spanish Speaker