God s My Complete

Joshua 13:1-5 - When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over. “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites,  from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites  on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites;  the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

Joshua had enjoyed a great time of peace and was getting old now. God had blessed the obedience and hard work with a long period of rest and prosperity. BUT…God reminded him this day that there was still a huge portion of the land he had given the Israelites that still needed to be taken. Their time of rest of peace was coming to an end… there was still work to be done before God’s promise was complete.

When things are good…when God allows a time of blessing and goodness in our lives…we want it to last forever. BUT… there is a danger in becoming completely content with what we have. We might forget that God’s goodness…his perfect love….knows no end. Complete will come only once…when Jesus returns to claim his children and the battle between good and evil is ended forever. ..or when we cross over the earthly realm into God’s arms in heaven. 1 Philippians 13:7-10 is clear.  It says… “ Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen. For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are “tongues” the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.

It is a great reminder to me that until he calls me home he has more for me than what I know now. I am always to look forward to one more promise being fulfilled in my life. The true contentment that Paul experienced had nothing to do with earthly things. It was his spirit…his faith…his trust in God that gave him that peace that passes understanding in all that he was led to do by God. He looked forward to God’s complete…and kept pressing on to win the great race at the end of his life.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are my complete. Forgive me or the times that I forget that you have new promises to unveil to me each new day you allow. Help me to grow so close to you I feel the words of psalm 18:30 embed deeply in my soul… “Joshua 13:1-5 - When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over. “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites,  from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites  on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites;  the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

Joshua had enjoyed a great time of peace and was getting old now. God had blessed the obedience and hard work with a long period of rest and prosperity. BUT…God reminded him this day that there was still a huge portion of the land he had given the Israelites that still needed to be taken. Their time of rest of peace was coming to an end… there was still work to be done before God’s promise was complete.

When things are good…when God allows a time of blessing and goodness in our lives…we want it to last forever. BUT… there is a danger in becoming completely content with what we have. We might forget that God’s goodness…his perfect love….knows no end. Complete will come only once…when Jesus returns to claim his children and the battle between good and evil is ended forever. ..or when we cross over the earthly realm into God’s arms in heaven. 1 Philippians 13:7-10 is clear.  It says… “ Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen. For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are “tongues” the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.

It is a great reminder to me that until he calls me home he has more for me than what I know now. I am always to look forward to one more promise being fulfilled in my life. The true contentment that Paul experienced had nothing to do with earthly things. It was his spirit…his faith…his trust in God that gave him that peace that passes understanding in all that he was led to do by God. He looked forward to God’s complete…and kept pressing on to win the great race at the end of his life.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are my complete. Forgive me or the times that I forget that you have new promises to unveil to me each new day you allow. Help me to focus on today…the task you gave me to do today…and learn to anticipate with a deep inner peace and trust in the perfectness of what lies ahead if your grant me a new tomorrow.  Amen.