Here's what you need to know about the walls of Jericho. They were immense. They wrapped around the city like a suit of armor. Here's what you need to know about Jericho's inhabitants. They were ferocious and barbaric. They withstood all sieges and repelled all invaders. Until the day Joshua showed up. Until the day his army marched in. Until the day everything shook. Until mighty Jericho crumbled.
But here's what you need to know about Joshua. He didn't bring the walls down. The shaking, quaking of the thick, impervious walls? God did that for him. And God will do that for you! Your Jericho is your fear, your anger, your bitterness, your guilt about the past. It stands between you and your Glory Days. And its walls must fall! Life will always bring challenges. But God will always give strength to face them.
From Glory Days
Proverbs 15
A gentle answer deflects anger,
but harsh words make tempers flare.
2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing,
but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.
3 The Lord is watching everywhere,
keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.
4 Gentle words are a tree of life;
a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
5 Only a fool despises a parent’s[f] discipline;
whoever learns from correction is wise.
6 There is treasure in the house of the godly,
but the earnings of the wicked bring trouble.
7 The lips of the wise give good advice;
the heart of a fool has none to give.
8 The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but he delights in the prayers of the upright.
9 The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but he loves those who pursue godliness.
10 Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined;
whoever hates correction will die.
11 Even Death and Destruction[g] hold no secrets from the Lord.
How much more does he know the human heart!
12 Mockers hate to be corrected,
so they stay away from the wise.
13 A glad heart makes a happy face;
a broken heart crushes the spirit.
14 A wise person is hungry for knowledge,
while the fool feeds on trash.
15 For the despondent, every day brings trouble;
for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
16 Better to have little, with fear for the Lord,
than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.
17 A bowl of vegetables with someone you love
is better than steak with someone you hate.
18 A hot-tempered person starts fights;
a cool-tempered person stops them.
19 A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers,
but the path of the upright is an open highway.
20 Sensible children bring joy to their father;
foolish children despise their mother.
21 Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense;
a sensible person stays on the right path.
22 Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
many advisers bring success.
23 Everyone enjoys a fitting reply;
it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!
24 The path of life leads upward for the wise;
they leave the grave[h] behind.
25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud,
but he protects the property of widows.
26 The Lord detests evil plans,
but he delights in pure words.
27 Greed brings grief to the whole family,
but those who hate bribes will live.
28 The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking;
the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil words.
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayers of the righteous.
30 A cheerful look brings joy to the heart;
good news makes for good health.
31 If you listen to constructive criticism,
you will be at home among the wise.
32 If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself;
but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.
33 Fear of the Lord teaches wisdom;
humility precedes honor.
Footnotes:
15:5 Hebrew father’s.
15:11 Hebrew Sheol and Abaddon.
15:24 Hebrew Sheol.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 19, 2015
Read: Psalm 9:1-10
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Death of the Son.”
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2 I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
3 My enemies retreated;
they staggered and died when you appeared.
4 For you have judged in my favor;
from your throne you have judged with fairness.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have erased their names forever.
6 The enemy is finished, in endless ruins;
the cities you uprooted are now forgotten.
7 But the Lord reigns forever,
executing judgment from his throne.
8 He will judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.
9 The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.
INSIGHT:
Psalm 9 is a song of David that captures the stress and pressure he was under at the time he composed it. While we are not given the specific incidents that triggered the writing of these words, we can feel the heat of the trials he was experiencing. In the first section of the song (vv. 1-12), David is praising God for His rescue and protection. These are words of faith directed to the listener of the song. The second half of the psalm (vv. 13-20), however, shows a heart filled with fear and speaks directly to God Himself. Bill Crowder
Waiting for an Answer
By James Banks
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10
When our daughter was 15, she ran away. She was gone more than 3 weeks. Those were the longest 3 weeks of our lives. We looked everywhere for her and sought help from law enforcement and friends. During those desperate days, my wife and I learned the importance of waiting on God in prayer. We had come to the end of our strength and resources. We had to rely on God.
It was on a Father’s Day that we found her. We were in a restaurant parking lot, on our way to dinner, when the phone rang. A waitress at another restaurant had spotted her. Our daughter was only three blocks away. We soon had her home, safe and sound.
Waiting on God is never easy, but no matter the end result, it is always worth it.
We have to wait on God when we pray. We may not know how or when He will answer, but we can put our hearts constantly before Him in prayer. Sometimes the answers to our prayers don’t come when we would hope. Things may even go from bad to worse. But we have to persevere, keep believing, and keep asking.
Waiting is never easy, but the end result, whatever it is, will be worth it. David put it this way: “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Ps. 9:10). Keep seeking. Keep trusting. Keep asking. Keep praying.
What’s on your heart that you need to talk to God about today? Will you trust Him and keep praying?
James Banks is an author who has written several books, including Prayers for Prodigals.
Time spent in prayer is always time well spent.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 19, 2015
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 19, 2015
The Treadmill Syndrome - #7506
One Christmas our kids gave my wife and me a pretty great compliment. They let us know they wanted us to live longer. Isn't that nice? The way they made their point was to chip in and buy us a treadmill. They put Hebrew words on there, "L'chaim - to life!" They figured it was good for our longevity to have a means of exercise that was convenient, all weather, and time-efficient. So since then I've been trying to put in my time on that old treadmill. I know it's doing some good, but it is frustrating for a man like me. I'm a man of action! I like progress. There's lots of motion, a lot of energy exerted, a lot of sweat, but after all that, you're in the same spot you were before all that. It just seems like you're not going anywhere!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Treadmill Syndrome."
Treadmill might be a good way to describe how you feel about your life right now. There's a lot of motion, a lot of energy expended, plenty of sweat, but maybe it doesn't feel like you're getting anywhere!
The reason might be in our word for today from the Word of God. The book of Haggai is probably not a book of the Bible you were discussing over breakfast. But it's a book for people like us, even though it was originally about God's ancient people. They had returned to Israel from years of forced exile. And in Jerusalem they found the great temple of God in ruins. God wanted them to rebuild it. They started, then they stopped. He sends the prophet Haggai to wake them up.
He describes the frustrations they've been experiencing in words that sounded a little like the treadmill syndrome. Haggai 1:5, "Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." Much activity - not much progress. Sound familiar? It's that feeling of knowing your life is very full but not very fulfilled.
Listen to God's diagnosis now in verse 9, "You expected much, but see it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?' declares the Lord Almighty. 'Because of My house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." Their lives were so full of their agenda they didn't have much left for God's agenda. Their stuff was doing fine, but the work and priorities of God were in shambles.
In verse 3, God asks a convicting question "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" Why all this activity and yet the feeling they're not going anywhere? Why were their lives full but not fulfilled? Priorities. It's what happens when our life is mostly self-focused when it comes to the things that really matter. It happens to really busy people like you and me, stressed people, successful people. It happens to people with a lot of pain. You start focusing on building your own kingdom or protecting your kingdom instead of building Jesus' kingdom.
Today God isn't building a temple. He's building a family. Jesus said, "I will build My Church." And He was talking about rescuing lost people and developing them into His followers. That's what the number one priority is supposed to be for our time, our money, and our energy. But throughout God's kingdom, much of His work is hurting because "each of you is busy with his own house."
Jesus promised that all the other things would be added to you if you "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). It's time to make the things that matter most to Jesus the things that matter most to you.
In Haggai's day, when these people finally got the message; when they got busy on God's thing, He said, "From this day on I will bless you" (Haggai 2:19). I believe He'll do the same for you. And you can finally trade that treadmill for a walk that's really going somewhere!
