Humility...One Of Our Most Powerful Character Traits

Joshua 19:49-50 -  When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them,  as the Lord had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for—Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there.

After all the tribes had been given their allotments…Joshua was given a portion from among their lots.  It was not a gift of the tribes...but a command of God to be sure that Joshua also received a portion of the promised land. He waited till all of the lots had been cast to let them know what piece of land he thought would be good for him…and they gave it to him without question.

As I researched the commentaries…trying to dig deeper for meaning and understanding…I read so many thoughts of how this was just one more example of Joshua’s humility and servant mindset.  He knew that God would provide for him and his family…he wanted to make sure that everyone else was taken care of first.

His humility is a great reminder to me of how important it is to build and use daily this character trait that the word sometimes perceives as a weakness. There is nothing weak about choosing to be last. In fact…God builds power through any form of humility…especially if it is intentional. Joshua Becker…good name huh….wrote in his article “The Hidden Power Of Humility”… “Humility is the act of being modest, reverential, even politely submissive. It is the opposite of aggression, arrogance, pride, and vanity. And on the surface, it appears to empty its holder of all power. But on the contrary, it grants enormous power to its owner. (his boldface...not mine) Humility offers its owner complete freedom from the desire to impress, be right, or get ahead. Frustrations and losses have less impact on a humble ego and a humble person confidently receives opportunity to grow, improve, and reject society‘s labels. A humble life results in contentment, patience, forgiveness, and compassion.”

The whole world needs a dose of this great power…I’m thinking it could just be the answer to world peace.  I sure needed the reminder to strive to let humility override many of the selfish decisions I make each day. The more selfless I become the more God can use me. Proverbs 11:2 says … “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” And let’s not forget 2 Chronicles 7:14…which says… “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Father…thank you for the reminder that you consider humility one of the best character traits I can have. Forgive for the times that I have let the world rob me of the many chances you have provided for me to grow in this mindset. Help me to recognize these moments...and ask you to hold my hand as you teach me your pure form of humbleness.  Then help me to listen to your prodding’s of when to use it to bring more glory to you.  Amen.

No Complacency Allowed

Joshua 18:1-3 - The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.  So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

God had directed Joshua to the city of Shiloh...where he would reside among them.  It was a peaceful city that lay somewhat in the center of the territory God was dividing between all of the tribes. Everyone picked up and moved their tents … and met there as the Levites fulfilled their duties of tearing down and rebuilding the holy tabernacle for its last time.  This would be its permanent home.

Joshua must have looked around him and seen the rote way they pitched their own tents around the tabernacle as they had in the 40 years they wander in the wilderness.  He frustration with none of them asking for their own permanent portions of Canaan is clear as he reprimands them for not being more zealous about settling a piece of this land for their own.

It is another reminder to me to guard my heart against the same kind of complacency. It is easy when God brings us to a peaceful… rich season of goodness… to want to rest in its pleasures and riches. Why would we want to leave a good thing…for something that requires more work and effort? Perhaps that is why God allows some of the difficulties we experience in life. He is using those times to force us to take our faith to deeper levels of trust and obedience.

Father…thank you for the reminder that I must guard my heart against complacency. Forgive me for the times that I have let myself rest to long in the blessings you have allowed in my life…taking them for granted.  Help me to always look for opportunities to enlarge my territory…as Jabez prayed in 1 Chronicles 4. Amen.

Let God Stir Up Our Best Endeavor

Joshua 17:12-15 - Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region.  However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely. The people of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly.” “If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.”

Joshu had allotted the choicest of lands to the tribe of Manesseh… and their numbers reflected God’s great blessings on this tribe of Israel. They grew so numerous that the land they were given was too small…so they asked for more. The only problem with this was that they had failed to completely claim all that God intended for them to have.

One group of Canaanites had been allowed to stay in their territory. At first it was because they were afraid to try and conquer them…but eventually they grew strong enough to force them into laboring for them. Another area of their territory was forested… there was lots of land if they would take the time to clear it.

I usually write in the morning. ‘Waking up with God’ was birthed from a deep need 3 years ago ….I felt to start my day out with God…so he could power me through any more hard stuff that he allowed in my life… that I felt was difficult.  BUT…lately…I have hit the snooze button so many times I barely get to whatever was scheduled that day on time…let alone take time to reflect and write blog post.

Today was no different.  I hit the snooze…barely made it to my substitute job on time…ran to my mom and dad’s house after work to help them out with a couple of things….ran straight to the quilting ministry that meets on Tuesday afternoons….then straight to a new home Bible study I wanted to try out. Before I could sit down and blog… I even had phone calls and texts to answer.

I’ve felt dispassionate about my blogging…about my morning time with God for a bit now.  I have prayed…searched…let myself fall into depression…search some more… make excuses… you get the picture. I knew I shouldn’t feel this way…but couldn’t quite find the answer to how to fix the problem.   It’s close to 10 pm now….but I have that old passionate feeling I used to have…when I first started blogging….that I was going to spend a bit of time with God before I went to bed.

One piece of the puzzle that changed my outlook was the commentaries I read last night.  David Guzik pointed out how the Israelites had become complacent.  They wanted the easy road…just give us more land they said. They had just as much power to defeat the Canaanites as they did to force them into labor. Matthew Henry added this thought…”If we belong to Christ – He will stir us up to our best endeavors.

It was a statement from the video from our Bible study that put all the thoughts together… convicting me and renewing the passion I knew I had lost… to spend time with God.  When I heard author and pastor Larry Osborne make the point…God worries more about our holiness than our happiness…it was as if the last piece of the puzzle I’ve been struggling to find was put in place. I need to remember my first love…so that fire he put inside me can fan back into a flame that can help him increase the kingdom…before it’s too late for all the lost souls still to be won over to the truth.

Father…thank you for the reminder that I belong to you….and you want to stir up within me the best.  Forgive me for letting the world water down my longing to visit with you each day.  Help me to stay fanned into flame…so your power will keep my faith and passion to learn as much as I can about you never wane with time.   Amen.

What We Have Is More Than We Deserve

Joshua 16:1-4 - The allotment for Joseph began at the Jordan, east of the springs of Jericho, and went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel.  It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz), crossed over to the territory of the Arkites in Ataroth,  descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the region of Lower Beth Horon and on to Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean Sea.  So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance.

Joshua continued to define the territories for each tribe by clans.  Judah and Joseph…along with his children Ephraim and Manasseh…were allotted the first and best of the lands to the north and the south. These lands were choice areas that would have supported farming or pastures for their livestock. Even though they did not follow through on God’s orders to completely clear the land of Canaanites…God still blessed these tribes enormously.

As I researched the commentaries for some deeper wisdom…Matthew Henry’s thoughts washed deep into my soul. He said… “This chapter reminds us that our situation and provision in this life, as well as our future inheritance, is appointed by the only wise and righteous God and we should be content with it. He knows best. What we have is more than we deserve.”

Truer…more humbling words have not been heard by my ears in a while. I needed the reminder that God gives to us from his grace…not by our worthiness or service to him.  He gives freely…way more than I could ever earn or be worthy of.

Father…thank you for the reminder that your love flows freely to all that accept and believe in your sacrifice on the cross. Forgive me for the times that I take for granted the grace that you have shown me…a sinner.  Help me to be more grateful for the blessings that you send my way each moment of life you granted me. Show me how to pay  your love forward with the same grace you show me.  Amen.

The Responsibility Of The Great Comission

Joshua 15:1 and 20  -The allotment for the tribe of Judah, according to its clans, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south.

…This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans:

The tribe of Judah is the first to get a detailed list of all the land God is portioning them.  The writer takes great care to give the new name each Canaanite town used before it was conquered. Nothing was left to its old ways…the tribe of Judah took over and finished a complete takeover of each area it was given …except one.  Jerusalem was allowed to stay strong enough not to be taken over….and we aren’t told why.

I have sat longer than usual listening for the one bit of wisdom that God needs me to have from this chapter. My readings have gleaned very little that just grabs you as a lesson…but one thought.  All of this land was not completely cleared of the pagans God wanted abolished.  The portioning of land was as much about possession and ownership as it was about the responsibility to complete what the joint army had started. God was not going to bless a nation that was not obedient to his directives to clear out any peoples that might not believe in him and his commands.

God has given each of us something to do. I believe some of us are given more than one task…and that is on top of the great commission that Jesus used as his triumphant speech before his ascension.  He said in Matthew 28:18 – 20 - Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So the hidden bit of wisdom in Joshua 15 for me this morning is to never forget that a relationship with God is two way.  When I accept his love and grace…I commit to consciously accept the responsibility to carry out these last earthly words of Jesus. Wherever God leads me…and especially if he allows me to possess land….I need to be about sharing his truth to the portion I am given…so more people will be able to enter the kingdom of God.

Father...thank you for the reminder that my relationship with you includes a great responsibility to spread your gospel everywhere you plant my feet. Forgive me for the many times that I have forgotten this great commissioning…and failed you and the lost people you placed all around me.  Give me new ears and eyes to recognize the lost around me…and use some of that courage and boldness I pray for to share your love and truth.  Amen. 

Imitate Caleb's Boldness...Ask For God's Promises

Joshua 14:10-12 -  “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!  I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.  Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

Caleb…the only other spy that brought a message of ‘we can do this’ back to Moses when they first visited the land God was promising them…recalled the promise God had given him when all the others had gone against he and Joshua. Everyone that had said no to an immediate quest to take the land Canaan had died in the last 45 years.  Only Caleb and Joshua had entered into the land and fought for the freedom they had enjoyed for the last 7 years.

What a great reminder that we should never be afraid to ask God….even be bold in our requests… to fulfill his promises to us.  There are so many in the Bible…we could ask God to fulfill a different one every day. One of the basics…that has become a great strength for me personally… is his promise from Isaiah 26:3…"You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Everything else can become a chaotic mess around me…but if I have God’s perfect peace…my spirit will never get caught up in it.

Father...thank you for the promises you allowed to be written into your word. Forgive me for the times that I take any of them for granted. Forgive me also for not claiming them every time I need one of them.  Help me to recall a promise that will give me the exact strength I need for each situation you allow in my life. Then give me the boldness and patience of Caleb to know when to ask.  Amen.

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.