Lessons from Joshua

This week I read the book of Joshua. I am going to tell you Joshua has always been one of my favorite people from the Bible and I have really enjoyed visiting him this week. I have felt like Joshua must have felt a few times in my life. I have even used his situation in reference. I have always been one of those "Just do it" people when I feel like what we are doing is right. Needless to say, especially at work, I have been told to slow down, we need to look at this a little closer first.

I am referring to the time that Moses sent 12 spies to scout out the land. This actually happened in Numbers 13 if you want to do a little refresher reading.  The 12 spies came back and reported the land was everything you could ever dream of.....BUT, 10 of the spies said the people who lived there were also big and scary and we can't fight them. Joshua and Caleb tried to convince them otherwise but was not able to. Joshua knew God was on their side, he knew God would see them through this. But the 10 outnumbered Joshua and Caleb- the end result? 40 years of no progress, waiting in the wilderness. In Numbers 14, it says that Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes, which was a sign of major distress. You will also find that the 10 spies who caused all the dissension died of the plague. The only two who survived was Caleb and Joshua.

In the book of Joshua, we find Moses has died and who gets to lead the people FINALLY into the promised land? Joshua. God rewarded him for his faith, (and surely also for 40 years of patience) and Joshua got to step on that ground that had been promised him.

It didn't take long for the people to start turning away though, why do we do that? It seems like we can be a bunch of spoiled children who, when we don't get our way, go try to find something else to fulfill our needs, even though our God is perfect, and we know HIS way is the right one.

The verses I chose today come from Joshua 24, right before Joshua dies at 110 years old. God had told Joshua to go speak to all the people, God reminded them of everything He had done for them; bringing them out of Egypt, caring for them daily, even when they had turned away from Him, helping them defeat the people that we already in the promised land and then giving each of them part of that land as an inheritance.

Then Joshua says:

¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 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.”
¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
¹⁹ Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
²¹ But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
²² Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
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.”
²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”
²⁵ On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.

Wouldn't it be great if I could end this with, "and to this day, we all fear God and make him our one and only Savior". We have seen our own family members fade away from their relationship, I am sure we have all had our own times of feeling farther away from God even if we never completely turned our backs. 
  
This week has been a crazy busy one for me, and I have to admit, Yesterday was the first day of 2017, I overslept so badly that I didn't get my Bible Study done. I prayed while getting ready but I knew this morning, I needed to get right back at it or I would ruin a habit I have had for years. That is the first step. So as badly as I wanted to sleep this morning, I got up and had my quiet time with my Lord. and it felt good. 

I hope to encourage you that if you have the habit in place of spending time with your Lord and Savior, you keep on doing that, I know YOU know what I am talking about. There is just a peace and comfort in your day when you have started it with Him. If you have never gotten in that habit, I am encouraging you to start this week. You do not have to read a bunch, open your Bible and read one verse.I wholeheartedly believe this is the first step to living that Joshua life that says, "Let's go do this!"

Leaving you with Chris Tomlin's Whom Shall I Fear. Think this is a very Joshua song. 

Have a great week!

What's On My Heart

*WARNING* This post has no choice but to have some political overtones today. If you are trying to avoid what is going on in our nation, you might want to back out now.

I try very hard to keep my mouth shut on social media about straight out politics. My job, and my passion sometimes makes that impossible and I want to show you in Biblical terms, why I have a big issue with the things going on.

Before I even go there, I want to share some verses. I have been reading Deuteronomy, and have seen this thread several times:

• "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." Deuteronomy 15:7

• "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11 

• "Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns." Deuteronomy 24:14 

• "Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge." Deuteronomy 24:17 

• "When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow." Deuteronomy 24:19-21 

• "'Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.' Then all the people shall say, Amen!'" Deuteronomy 27:19 

 I personally believe the Bible, in its entirety, is meant to show us the way to live, but just in case you are one of those people who think the Old Testament is just historical and the New Testament is what you live by--here you go...

• Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Matthew 19:21 

• "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." Matthew 25:35 

• "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33 

• "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." Luke 14:13

• "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Luke 18:22
• "Beware of the teachers of the law . . . They devour your widows' houses . . . Such men will be punished severely." Luke 20:46-47

• "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor." Acts 9:36

• "On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'" Romans 12:20 

• "For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem." Romans 15:26 

• "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." Galatians 2:10  

• "Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need." 1 Timothy 5:3 

• "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and becomes judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?" James 2:2-6 

• "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18 

This week the Presidents proposed budget was issued for 2018. He claims that it is a budget full of working toward public safety and national security. A tremendous amount of money has been poured into the military while cutting many programs that are vital to our nation's citizen's well being.  It claims to reduce money to other nations and reduce duplicate programs and eliminate programs that don't work. Part of me has to wonder, if you are pulling the rug out from under people who are already in desperate situations, who is the military really going to be protecting? I know for a fact desperate people can get to a point where they feel they have nothing to lose. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but it has crossed my mind that the military may be being beefed up to handle the mobs of our own people who are at that point. Sorry, not sorry.

Of course, the programs that I work with have all been cut to zero. While there has always been some bi-partisan support over the years, I am afraid that there is a chance that these programs will be cut drastically. In 2014, we had a propane shortage. The 9 counties that our agency serves has one of the highest number of propane customers in the State. I talked to so many clients that year, many seniors who were truly afraid of freezing to death, it was heart-wrenching, and scary to say the least. I was so thankful, and humbled to be able to play a part in that not happening. Another program that has been deemed as "not working" is Meals on Wheels. Home-delivered meals. I don't know if it is common knowledge but we operate Senior Centers in three of our counties, every one of them provide home delivered meals to those who cannot get out. Our Senior programs have been hurting for years. As more people hit that senior level and because of the economy have, in many cases, less to live on than even those before them. It is an issue. I will try not to post too much more here on this site regarding the situation, but please know, I have a feeling we will be back to the drawing board as far as fighting for funding.

I also want to address those who think some people aren't worthy of help. Are you worthy of the salvation you have through Christ? There isn't one of the verses that say help the poor if you think they deserve help. That's not for you or I to decide. Judging has NEVER been our jobs. I totally agree that we all need to know what is right and wrong, but when it comes to helping someone, let whether or not they really need it fall on them. We are to do what is right, and if it is misused, it is the ones who misused it who have to answer to the Lord.

I am going to leave you with another couple of verses.

2nd Timothy 3:1-5 says:

 3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

 I see so much of the love of money, the ungratefulness, and the "without love" coming out of our own churches, "having a form of godliness but denying its power".  How very sad when Christ himself stated that the greatest commandments was to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. 

If you are a follower of mine on facebook and don't like what I have to say, please just unfriend me now. This is my entire defense for what I will be fighting for over the next few months, until the budget is passed. I don't want to argue with anyone-this is my stance, in its entirety, not changing my mind.
  
Back in November, I stated we have much work to do. We have a lot of educating to do. This is me, doing that.

This song is near and dear to me and has been ever since I really got what Community Action does.
  

No Blog Today

Someone told me I was the boss of my own blog, she is right. I tried to "get in the mood" to do my blog last night and it just didn't happen. Got some craziness going on with our family today, so no blog this week.


See you next week!


Mindy

God is God

It has been an unusual week for me at work. I have stayed in my own office, all day, every day, for the past 5. I had told my mom on Monday, it was my plan, but we all know my plans usually don't stick. I normally have at least one call where someone is needing me to come and do something. Needless to say, the bullet journal is full of things accomplished this week and I love it.

As I have stated before, I am reading through the Bible again this year, but this time from my Chronological Bible. I am also doing something different as I am pulling up the listener's Bible on my phone and having it read to me as I read the text. I have found this keeps me focused when some of the text gets redundant, but somehow, it also seems to let me soak things in. This week I have been in Numbers and actually have several areas that really need a blog post, but this week I want to talk Numbers 11.

Chapter 11 starts out: 11 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. ³ So he called the name of the place Taberah,^[a] because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.


So, the people were complaining, apparently this was the worst life they had ever had, how soon they forgot that they were slaves in Egypt....


and by the way, by everything I can find, this seems to be year 1 1/2 to 2 of the 40 total.


we continue: ⁴ Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? ⁵ We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”


God sent fire that actually took some of them out, Moses prayed and the fire stopped, but here we are again.... now we want meat, we are tired of manna, and we are remembering all this abundance of food we had in Egypt. I have to admit, my mom talks about one time when the doctor wanted her to lose weight, she ate boiled hamburgers and rice for 6 months. It worked, and  think about doing it too, for about 10 seconds and then I know that would be miserable to me, so I don't do it, even though the end result would be what I wanted. If I am not being forced, it isn't happening.  So I get it, I really do, but I'm trying to figure out how soon I would complain again if the last time I did, I was surrounded by fire, as much as I would like to say, I would learn my lesson quicker, truth is I doubt that.


And then we get to the part where God gives them what they want.....meat. Moses tells God he can't handle all of these people by himself and God tells him to go get 70 people to name as Elders. Did you catch that Moses was complaining there too?  (In fact, here we see Moses being a bit on the dramatic side: if you don't give me help, just kill me now....)


So, God is God. He tells them He will give them meat. Verses 18-20:  Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’”


God told them, you think you got to have meat, here have meat until it comes out of your nose.


Yes, I giggled when I read that. I had never really heard it like that, and I could so hear my mom saying, "You wanna cry? I will give you something to cry about!!" (Sorry Mom).


Do we tend to do all of these things? I know I do. I will be having a bad day and think back to a time when my memory says life was much easier. I know a lot of moms talk about the biggest experience of not remember how badly something felt is childbirth. My one and only was upside down, backwards and had his feet up around his head. I had a C-section because of it. They didn't want me to go into labor so they scheduled it as soon as he dropped. I am not one bit upset that I never had to experience labor. ( And oh my gosh, don't get me started on people thinking that just because you had a C-section makes you less of a mom. It doesn't magically make all of the dirty diapers, puke-all-over-the-the walls OR the 12:15 a.m.'s when they are 15 minutes passed curfew and not answering their phones any easier or different. End of subject.)


Seriously though, God really doesn't seem to like complaining, it says we do not believe He is truly going to take care of us.


You probably knew I was going to throw in a Philippians verse here, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have used it before. It was one that I made Robert memorize and when I would tell him to go clean is room and would start getting attitude, I would make him recite it, I know, mean mom. This is Philippians 2:14:


Do all things without complaining and disputing,


In verses 15-16 we have the whys: ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.


I love the part that says that you will shine as lights in the world. Isn't that our calling?


My challenge this week for you is to really look at your life, what do you complain about? Is it really bad? Is there a way God is telling you to fix it, if you are just willing?


Leaving you with Steven Curtis Chapman's God is God. This song has ran through my mind a lot as I have read Numbers.