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Joshua 4
Memorials to the Jordan Crossing
When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.
9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.
10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the Lord’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. 11 And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the Lord as the people watched.
12 The armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed. 13 These armed men—about 40,000 strong—were ready for battle, and the Lord was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.
14 That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses.
15 The Lord had said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant[a] to come up out of the riverbed.” 17 So Joshua gave the command. 18 As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before.
19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month.[b] Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. 20 It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River.
21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea[c] when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Read: Psalm 37:1-8
A psalm of David.
Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
Footnotes:
37 This psalm is a Hebrew acrostic poem; each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
INSIGHT: Psalm 37 is one of the many “wisdom psalms”—psalms that give instructions on how to live wisely. In this psalm, David deals with the perennial perplexity of the injustice of life—the wicked go unpunished while the righteous suffer. He tells the righteous not to fret, be envious, or be angry, for God will ultimately bring justice (vv.1-2,9-10,20,35-36,38). Instead, they are to be patient, to trust, to delight, to rest fully in God, and to continue to live godly lives (vv.3-8). For the “Lord upholds the righteous” (v.17), takes delight in them (v.23), and will not forsake them (vv.28-29).
Habits Of A Healthy Mind
By David C. McCasland
Trust in the Lord, and do good. —Psalm 37:3
There is much said today about improving our health by developing habits of optimism, whether facing a difficult medical diagnosis or a pile of dirty laundry. Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, says we should try activities that build joy, gratitude, love, and other positive feelings. We know, however, that more is required than a general wish for good feelings. We need a strong conviction that there is a source of joy, peace, and love upon which we can depend.
Psalm 37:1-8 gives positive actions we can take as an antidote to pessimism and discouragement. Consider these mood boosters: Trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in the land, feed on His faithfulness (v.3); delight in the Lord (v.4); commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him (v.5); rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him, do not fret (v.7); cease from anger, forsake wrath (v.8).
Because they are connected to the phrase “in the Lord,” those directives are more than wishful thinking or unrealistic suggestions. It’s because of Jesus, and in His strength, that they become possible.
Our one true source for optimism is the redemption that is in Jesus. He is our reason for hope!
Lord, we can’t manufacture hope, and even if
we tried it wouldn’t be real. Help us to find
hope in You because of what Jesus has done
for us. We know You are walking beside us.
When there’s bad news, our hope is the good news of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (1)
If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. —Philippians 2:17
Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.’ ”
It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket— to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Verbal Vomit and How Your Words Can Hurt - #7324
I'll tell you what kind of airline passenger makes an interesting neighbor; someone who has never flown before. Flight attendants refer to them as "white knuckle" fliers from the way they hang on. Well, my friend, John, was on his way to speak somewhere. And since it was just a one-day meeting, he was dressed in the suit that he was going to speak in. And he had the joy that day of sitting next to a lady who was on her rookie flight. She was as nervous, as they used to say, as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Whenever there was a noise, like the landing gear retracting, she would say, "What was that?" And John would patiently explain.
After they had been airborne a few minutes, Mrs. Rookie suddenly muttered, "I feel sick." My friend suddenly found that little discomfort bag in the pouch in front of her; the one they give you when your stomach doesn't want to keep what it has. Wouldn't you know it? A few minutes later John's head was turned and she unloaded her lunch all over his only suit. Oh she did say something after that, though, after she redecorated my friend. She just said, "I feel so much better now." Great! And how was he feeling?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Verbal Vomit and How Your Words Can Hurt."
That's strong language, I know. But it might be what some of us need to get us thinking about the hurting talk that comes out of our mouth. And it certainly isn't any stronger than the words God himself uses to describe how we sound too much of the time. These are some of the most revealing, convicting words in the Bible.
James 3, beginning with verse 2, our word for today from the Word of God. Think about some of your recent conversations. "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person; sets the whole course of his life on fire and is set itself on fire by hell. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the same mouth we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who've been made in God's likeness. This should not be." Now this is what God's Word says.
God's been pretty clear here hasn't He? The way to see how godly you really are is to listen to your talk. And that's not just talking about spiritual talk. No sin could do as much damage as verbal sins. Like a forest fire; like deadly poison. Some of our most damaging trash talk takes place, of course, when we're angry or we feel attacked. That's when we dump all the garbage all over the other person. Like, excuse me, verbal vomit. It's that disgusting. It's that repulsive. It's that unacceptable.
And like that woman on the plane, we say to ourselves, "Well, I feel better now. I told them! I put them in their place! I won this one! I had the last word!" You did not put them in their place. What you succeeded in doing was showing them what a miserable place you're in. You didn't win. You lost. You feel better, but look what you did to them. The people we hurt the most are often the ones we claim to love the most.
God says in Proverbs 12:18, "Reckless words pierce like a sword." I wonder how many deep wounds you may have left today, or in the last few weeks. If people bled physically every time we wounded them verbally, I wonder what kind of trail some of us would leave.
I guess it's time we listen to ourselves, and face the hypocrisy between our spiritual image and our private trash talk, and to go to the people we've hurt and to seek their forgiveness, and to make our mouth - our talk - a new frontier for the lordship of Jesus Christ. Maybe then what comes out of your mouth will not only make you feel better, but it will make them feel better too.