Month: October 2017

Dedicated to a Sacred Purpose

Joshua 3

Joshua 3-5

Wednesday, October 11

601,730 – that was the number of fighting men counted in the second census conducted in the wilderness, just before Moses passed along leadership to Joshua (see Numbers 26).  Add to this number: women, children and older men.  Now, picture yourself in this massive crowd.  Three days ago you all travelled the very last leg of a trip that has lasted more than 40 years!  At last, here you are at the shores of the Jordan River – the boundary of the Promised Land you have heard so much about.  This is the same Promised Land that your parents aren’t here to see because their fear, discouragement, and lack of trust in God led to their death in the wilderness.  What are your thoughts and feelings as you stand on the shore?  How big is your faith in God?  What are your greatest fears?  How do you combat them?   Are you ready to see amazing things?

How do you combat your fears?  The people were told to watch the ark of the covenant and follow it.  This was their physical connection and tie to the Almighty.  Inside the ark was the precious Word of God as well as evidence and reminders of just some of the miracles God had already performed on their behalf.  How well are you following the Word of God and remembering His miracles.   God’s Word has the power to take you where you have never been before – into a deeper and deeper relationship following the Almighty.  And remembering His miracles deepens your faith and combats your fears.

How do you prepare yourself to see amazing things?  “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you’ ” (Joshua 3:5).  Consecrated – to be dedicated to a sacred purpose.  What purposes are you dedicated to?  Work, family, friends, vacation, finances, fun, fame?  What consumes your time and your thoughts throughout the day?  Those are the purposes that you are dedicated to.  In Joshua’s day they proved they were consecrated by following ceremonial laws for washings and other outward evidences that they were set apart for God’s purposes first and foremost.  Do you have evidence that you are consecrated to Him?  Is your bank account, your calendar, your thought life dedicated to Him?  Is your Bible well worn?  Does your family, neighbors, co-workers, and peers know that you are consecrated to Him?

God has some amazing things waiting for those who are dedicated to His purposes.  Prepare yourself to see them – CONSECRATE yourself to Him.

Go With God – all day long – Marcia Railton

Do You Know a Rahab?

Joshua 2

Joshua 2-11 b

Tuesday, October 10

There aren’t a lot of Bible stories which showcase a prostitute as the heroine.  But, here, in Joshua 2, we are introduced to Rahab.  She  is a prostitute in Jericho – one of the fortified cities just inside the Promised Land.  Most likely this was one of the fortified cities that the Israelite spies had seen 40 years ago when their fear and small view of God kept them from entering the Promised Land under God’s watchful eye.

So, now, Rahab is visited by spies from the Israelite camp.  It is very interesting to see who is afraid now.  Rahab tells the spies that she KNOWS that her native land will be given to God’s People – the Israelites.  They have heard many stories of the amazing power and might of the Israelite God – stories that the Israelites themselves would have done well to remember 40 years ago!  And now the Jericho natives are shaking in their boots because they realize that they are not protected by a living and active and all-powerful God.

Rahab is thankful for this opportunity to meet with spies who have connections with this all-powerful God of heaven and earth.  She courageously hides them from her king and helps them escape – with the understanding that when they come back to conquer her city they will return the favor by saving her and her family.

Do you know a Rahab?  Maybe someone who has heard about God but hasn’t had or taken the opportunity to become a follower, yet.  How can you help show her/him the way?   Their world will be conquered – don’t let them be left behind.  Don’t take for granted the God of Heaven and Earth that you know – and others NEED to know.  He is an amazing God.

-Marcia Railton

 

 

 

 

 

The Key to COURAGE!

Joshua 1

Joshua 1-8

Monday, October 9

40 years of wandering have passed since yesterday’s devotion and the Israelites stand at the doorway to the Promised Land once more.  But, this time their leader Moses is dead and Joshua and Caleb – the two who courageously trusted God to lead them into the land of giants – are the only ones of their generation to have survived the wandering.  A new generation is at the door – this time with Joshua as their leader.  Is there any hope that this new generation, which did not personally see how God provided miracle after miracle in saving His people out of Egypt, will have the courage to do what their fathers did not?

Just before his death, Moses – at 120 years of wisdom – had rallied together the younger generation for some final words.  He knew the power of fear and discouragement and he remembered all too well the events of 40 years ago.  To the gathered Israelites he said, “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6).  Then he called forward Joshua and spoke to him: “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land…The Lord himself goes with you…Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8).

What more could be done to inspire them to action with a courageous heart and not crumble again in fear?  God knew they would need a strong connection to Him, reminders of His faithfulness as well as His requirements.  So He directed Moses to write it all down and make sure it was shared with the people – and thus the first five books of the Bible were created – with direction to listen to it, learn it, and teach it to the children – so that they would fear the Lord their God – rather than fearing the circumstances around them.  What a gift!  What a treasure!

And so, in Joshua 1 God himself speaks to Joshua – giving him his orders and how to lead His people.  In one short paragraph (Joshua 1:6-9), God tells Joshua three times, “Be strong and courageous!”  This is important!!  Fear and discouragement must not be allowed to reign in Joshua’s heart.  And what is sandwiched in between that repeated refrain – the answer of HOW to build up Joshua’s courage and give him daily doses of Godly direction.  “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 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.”  (1:8).

There it is: the answer to living a courageous life of action following God’s direction (as well as being successful) —  daily – meditating – on – His – Words.   Are you ready to exchange fear and discouragement for a good dose of strength and courage?  Get in His Word!  How many times can you read Joshua chapter 1 today?  What new directions, warnings, details will you find each time?  God’s Word is loaded with what we need.  It is our connection to the God of the Universe.  Use it boldly and courageously!

Go With God Today – Marcia Railton

 

A New Week – A New Chance to be Courageous

Sunday, October 8

 

Joshua 1-9

Numbers 13-14

Greetings!  This week we are going to be looking at the life of Joshua and the often-repeated refrain in his life – BE STRONG & COURAGEOUS!  Just as strength and courage was needed in the days of Joshua as he led the Israelites into the Promised (but Occupied) Land; so too,  Christians today are living in a land occupied by evil and Godlessness and a large dose of strength and courage is needed to effectively stand against Satan’s schemes.

Our memory verse this week comes from Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  It is easy to become terrified or discouraged when we see evil and lawlessness alive and well.  But the world doesn’t need any more terrified or discouraged Christians whose God is too small.  It is our opportunity – just as it was Joshua’s – to step out in courage to show our world a great big God who can do more than we could ever hope or imagine.

Before jumping into the book that bears Joshua’s name – we need to begin this week in Numbers 13 & 14.  Here we find the Israelites who had recently been miraculously delivered from Egypt on the front steps of the Promised Land.  Go ahead and read these quick chapters.  They provide such a great parallel of terrified and discouraged versus strong and courageous.

In Numbers 13 (as in life today, perhaps), the large majority is definitely panicked and defeated.  They have seen a scary reality and they quickly forget what God has already done for them.  Rather than concentrating on their great big God and the blessings he has in store for them just over the next hill; they crumble.  They “spread … a bad report about the land” (Numbers 13:32), they weep and grumble (Numbers 14:1&2), they blame others and they blame God (14:2-4) and they are even on the verge of great violence towards God’s faithful people (14:10).  They allow fear, discouragement, self-pity and negativity to overflow and it quickly becomes evident that their view of God was much too small.

Meanwhile, the faithful two – Joshua and Caleb – who had seen the same scary looking giants and large fortified cities – ALSO saw the land flowing with milk and honey and a great big God who could deliver His people.  They plead with their terrified and discouraged countrymen: “If the Lord is PLEASED with us, he WILL lead us into that land …Only do NOT rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land.” (Numbers 14:8,9).  If only the people would have listened.  They could have saved themselves from 40 years of wandering and early death.  They could have reaped the blessing instead of the punishment but they allowed their fears to reign.

Where are you right now?  What is your view of God?  Are you remembering all the good things He has already done for you or are you actively blaming Him instead?  Are you too busy spreading a bad report and grumbling to pursue a courageous act of following God?  Are you allowing a scary reality to shrink your view of God?  How can you spend time today magnifying your view of God to remember His greatness and the power He makes available to those courageous enough to put their full trust in Him.  Pray for eyes and a heart like Joshua and Caleb’s that will see not only the giants and fortified cities ahead, but also the exciting direction that God would have us go – the plan that requires that we be Strong and Courageous with a great big view of God.

-Marcia Railton

How to Change: Pray!

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Conclusion and Recap

We started the week with a memory verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17. I’ve been trying to show why this verse, to me, is so closely tied with prayer. So let’s go over everything from earlier this week and try to tie it all together.

2 Corinthians 5-17

We started by talking about why we need to pray. The main reason I pointed out is that Jesus explicitly commands it. According to our verse in 2 Corinthians, if we are doing what Jesus said to do, then we will become a new creation, leaving our old selves behind.

 

Then we moved on to talking about what we should do with our bodies when we pray. This was a little different because the Bible doesn’t tell us how we should or shouldn’t pray, although it does give us some examples. Jesus would pray alone, some people prayed in front of others, some prayed in their hearts and some others prayed kneeling. Find the way that you can have the most productive prayer time and follow through with it.

 

On a similar note, we talked about what things we should pray for and what our words should sound like. Our prayers should consist of praises (things we love about God), petitions (things we want and need from God) and Repentance (asking for forgiveness and pledging to turn from our error filled ways). It’s important to hit all three categories and not exclude one because this is how Jesus himself taught us how to pray. We also need to be sure to pray, not to be heard (like the hypocrites who babble) because God already knows all of your prayers, but rather to make these prayers known to yourself.

 

Making the prayers known to yourself is what I claimed the entire purpose of prayer is. When we prayer, it’s not like God thinks “Oh, so that’s what Nathaniel needs from me!” No. He already knows what I need. We pray to remind ourselves of the greatness of God, to change ourselves and also to be able to turn from our sin. This is how the change comes about; it is how we become a new creation.

 

And finally, I tried to tackle a very big, very difficult question: Why do some prayers go unanswered? My thoughts on this are that the way God set up the world to work many years ago was to be able to function without his direct influence. He created humans with the capacity to learn and to love and he created a universe that makes sense and follows logical rules. I believe that he very rarely chooses to intervene and grant miracles to those who pray for them. Instead, he gave us, his servants, the tools to carry out his will. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.

 

All of this together wraps up my thoughts on prayers. Maybe you have additional thoughts or even different opinions. That’s great! Just keep studying and looking to Jesus, because when we are in him, we are a new creation.

-Nathaniel Johnson

 

(Editor’s Note: We apologize for the picture that was included on Sunday.  It gave an incorrect reference for the verse.  Today’s is accurate.  Thank you for reading!)

Why Do Some Prayers Go Unanswered?

Friday, October 6, 2017

Matt 7-7

Before I even begin to try to answer this beast of a question, I want to say that it’s a question that is still tough for me, and you may find my answer completely inadequate. That’s fine. I just want to share some of my thoughts on the matter.

First, I want to go slightly off topic and talk about hearing the voice of God. Some people have the opinion that there are far fewer people in the world today that God chooses to reveal himself to than there were in the times of the Bible. However, I believe that even in the times of the Bible, God rarely let anyone hear his voice. The Bible has stories of a few select people to whom God chose to speak directly, people like Moses, Samuel and the other prophets and Jesus. This is only a handful of people and I don’t think it is any surprise that the vast majority of us will live our whole earthly lives without ever actually hearing God’s voice. There is no verse in the Bible that says that God will stop speaking to man, so I see no reason to exclude that possibility, but I think it is highly unlikely to happen to any one of us.

Now when we pray for something and that prayer goes unanswered, that can be hard to deal with. We can feel hurt and betrayed when we are praying for something particularly important, like the health of a loved one. When this kind of prayer goes unanswered, how do we reconcile that with 1 John 5:14? That verse says that if we ask God anything according to His will, that he will hear us. Does this mean that when we pray for healing and that prayer isn’t granted that for someone to stay unhealthy is God’s will? I actually don’t believe that. In fact, I believe very strongly that God desires with all his heart for us to live long, healthy and fruitful lives (Deuteronomy 6:2, 1 Kings 3:14, Ephesians 6:3). The reason, I believe, that prayers go unanswered, is because he is very hands-off with the Earth since creation. I know many people disagree with this, and there are certainly examples of God interacting with the world and providing miracles, but on the whole, the world behaves as he planned for it to. When we pray for something to happen, God uses us, people, to do his work. When we pray for healing, he provides humans, their brains and a logical world that makes sense when observed closely that have led to the development of medicine that can be used to provide healing. When we pray for a new job, he can change our minds so that we use the skills that he intended for us to have when he created us. In this way our prayers are answered. When they go unanswered, it isn’t that God has been answering your prayers up until now and has decided that this prayer is unworthy of a response. It is that what he has provided to answer those prayers (his servants), aren’t able to fulfill that request.

Like I said in the beginning, you may not find this answer adequate. That just means that we need to study further, because I believe that God always provides us with answers. If we can’t seem to find one, then maybe we aren’t looking in the right place (Matthew 7:7). Keep looking and keep praying so that we can become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

-Nathaniel Johnson

 

 

 

What Happens When We Pray?

Thursday, October 5, 2017

psalm 145 18

We know that God already knows our thoughts and prayers before we ever lift them up to him (Matthew 6:8), so why do we still need to pray? Yesterday, I promised you an answer to this question and today I will do my best to provide you with one.
I first want to start with a story from when I was in elementary school. Back in those days, I was too young to drive, so I would use my bike to get around. For my birthday one year, I got the coolest green bike from my parents. I loved that thing and would ride it up and down my street or take it to my friend’s house. Then one day while I was at my friend’s house, my green bike was stolen out of his driveway. After this happened, I prayed for weeks that God would give me a new bike. Firstly, I don’t know what I expected God to do. Did I expect a new bike to show up in my garage overnight? Did I expect him to take control of my parents and have them go and buy a new bike?  Regardless, what ended up happening was not what I asked for. Instead of getting a new bike, I had a change of heart.

 

After days of praying about this, I realized that what I was praying for really was not necessary. So what does prayer do? God works through prayer to change us. Whenever we pray in Jesus’ name, we are actively being made into new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now there are certainly special cases where God physically interacts with the world to answer our prayers. This has a special name: miracles. I absolutely believe that God has the power to grant any kind of miracle, but I also believe that he rarely chooses to do so. He is our Father that knows what is best for us (Matthew 6:30), and will not neglect us. However, most of our prayers will be a medium for God to work in our own hearts and minds to change us. This is why we must commit ourselves to constant prayer. On the one hand, if we have important issues on our mind and in our prayers at all times, then our actions will start to reflect those things and through our actions, God can answer our prayers. On the other hand, if we spend our time praying for frivolous things, we will be able to realize that by the amount of time we spend thinking and praying about it.

 

This of course leads to one more very difficult question: if God knows what we need and won’t neglect us, than why do some of our prayers, especially those for healing, go unanswered? We will dive into that topic tomorrow. But for today, focus on prayer and being made into a new creation.

 

-Nathaniel Johnson

How to Pray: Words

Wednesday October 4th, 2017

Lord's Prayer

Unlike when we discussed the posture you should have when you pray, the Bible actually has a lot to say about what words you should use when you pray. Jesus gives a great lesson on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. I want to start by looking at what the Lord’s Prayer can show us.

We can split the topics of prayer into three categories:

  1. Praises (Matt 6:9)
  2. Petitions (Matt 6:11)
  3. Repentance (Matt 6:12-13)

You might notice that this is one category more than we usually talk about when we pray at church. Jesus himself says that we need to pray for repentance, so make sure you don’t forget to add this to your prayers. Praises and petitions are a lot more familiar to most of us, though. When we praise, we thank God for who he is and what he has done and petitions are when we ask God to provide for us.

Another thing Jesus says is to not babble (Matthew 6:7). Repeating yourself does not make yourself heard. Keep your prayers to the point. Especially when you are praying for a group of people. You don’t need to make your prayer sound special and eloquent. God already knows what needs to be said, so you don’t need to repeat yourself. This is not to say that you shouldn’t continue to pray for something.  If something is on your heart, you should pray for it continuously. In my opinion however, the reason for this is not so that God will be more likely to consider your prayers. More on that tomorrow.

Here a few interesting things to note. Discussion can be a form of prayer. In Luke 9:18, Jesus is praying and talking to his disciples. I believe that when we discuss our prayers with each other, we are participating in a form of prayer. Another form of prayer is music. We can praise God in our songs or we can ask for His help; we can even repent through song.

Jesus gives a few more commands regarding how we should pray in Matthew 6.  For one, he says that we should pray in private. But he also says that God already knows what we need before we ask him (Matthew 6:8), so why do we need to make these prayers in private? You’ll have to come back tomorrow to hear the answer to that one, but I’ll give you a hint now. It has to do with our memory verse: being changed.

-Nathaniel Johnson

 

How to Pray: Posture

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2017

PRAY!

Today we finally get into how we should go about praying. I’m sure we’ve all learned different ways of prayer; some of us grew up bowing our heads and folding our hands or perhaps kneeling to pray. For some people, what we do when we pray changes depending on where we are or who we are with. Maybe you hold hands when you pray before a meal. When a group is preparing to leave on a mission, it is common for a church to put their hands on them as they pray.

But what does the Bible say we should do?

As it turns out, there is no single way that the Bible tells us to pray. We can find some examples of how people in the Bible prayed, however. In Genesis 24:45, it says that Rebekah prayed in her heart. If you read this with the understanding that ancient Egyptians (and by implication, the Israelites) believed that the heart was the center of thought and knowledge, the verse says that Rebekah prayed in her mind. So silent prayers are absolutely fine! Matthew 6:5 speaks of praying while standing and in Luke 22:41, Jesus prays while kneeling. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me.

Personally, I have never understood the practice of closing your eyes and bowing your head. If prayer is a conversation with God, then I want to stand tall and meet his eyes, as I would for any person that I respect. If I were to meet the President of the United States, I would stand, shake his hand and maintain solid eye contact. For me, this is the highest form of respect in our culture. For me, when I close my eyes, I look at myself. How can I have a conversation if I’m only thinking about myself? At that point it is a monologue and no longer a prayer.

The long and short of prayer posture is: it all comes down to you! Pray in such a way that you can keep your focus on the prayer. If closing your eyes causes your mind to wander, than open your eyes. If having your eyes open causes you to get distracted by what you see, then shut your eyes. Maybe some of us need to try praying in a different way than we have before. After all, anyone who is in Christ should be a new creation!

-Nathaniel Johnson

Why Should We Pray?

Monday, October 2, 2017

Luke 18-1

I don’t want to spend any time talking about what prayer is or how we should go about it before I even convince you that we should be praying.

So why should we pray?

I think this is a pretty easy question to answer. Jesus commands it. There are a few verses that explicitly command prayer: Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 26:41, Ephesians 6:18 and Luke 18:1. I want to look a little closer at the verse in Luke today.

”Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).  If we strive to be disciples of Jesus, then we should always pray. Being a disciple is essential to being “in Jesus,” just like our memory verse says. If we commit ourselves to constant prayer, than we can become a new creation.

Seems like a pretty easy step right? All we have to do is pray! Tomorrow we’ll talk about what that looks like.

-Nathaniel Johnson