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Moses was a tough act to follow. God did AMAZING things through Moses. When you think God cannot top what He did with Moses, you read what He did through Joshua. To see the background, God promised the Promise Land, which we now know as Israel, to the Israelites. However, they had to go in a possess the land. We know the account of the spies Moses sent in to survey the land, people, live-stock, etc. The majority if them did not think they could overtake the land except Joshua and Caleb. They thought they were well able with the help of God…But God, who makes the difference in ALL situations.

Consequently, of that generation of Israelites that were set free by God’s mighty hand, Joshua and Caleb’s families and everyone 20 years old and younger were permitted to possess the land. Because of disobedience Moses did not make it into the land and because of the older Israelite’s murmuring and complaining they did not make it in. Oh, what lessons we learn here!

The mantle was now passed to Joshua. Joshua chapter 11 starts out with, “And it came to pass…” (KJV). We know with that phrase something significant is about to happen. Now Joshua was a warrior, a fighter, but when you read what Joshua was up against starting with chapter 11, I was overwhelmed for him as I was reading it. This is his first war on his own without Moses. I believe we all can agree we would have been at least a little nervous.

We read in chapter 11 he has seven kings he must conquer! I can imagine Joshua must have swallowed hard. However, verse 6 in chapter 11 says God told Joshua do not be afraid! That is God reassuring him that He would be with him AND by tomorrow He would deliver those kings and their kingdoms in his hands… Wow!  Then God told Joshua how he wanted him to defeat the enemy. It was quite bloody. It is jaw dropping to read. Verse 20 of chapter 11 says, “For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.” (KJV). When I read this entire chapter I first laughed out loud, then my mouth was left wide open of the awesomeness of God!

Chapter 12 continues with more bloodshed as Joshua then slaughters thirty-one more kings and kingdoms. God told him how to do it, and after he witnessed what happened to Moses by not being obedient as God asked, Joshua made sure he carried out God’s instructions as He told him…more lessons for us to learn. One key is Joshua did not do this on his own strength. He led the Israelites through war as God instructed… Something for us to ponder as we look at our lives and relationship to God. Are we following God’s instructions to us? Love & Blessings.

Will God marvel at your faith or unbelief?

In the New Testament, there are two instances where Jesus marvels at people’s actions. In Mark 6:1 -6, it says Jesus marveled at the disbelief of the people of his hometown. These were the people who knew him.

The other instance was the man who asked Jesus to heal his son in Matthew 8:5-13. The man’s faith told Jesus you do not have to come and see your son, but on your word, I believe that my son is healed.

It the same with us today…Will Jesus marvel at your faith or unbelief? I would rather have that child-like faith and honor God in all that I do and say and believe when I do not see than to insult and offend God with my disbelief. God is watching us. God hears us. Are you telling God on a daily basis throughout the day how much you are thankful for what he did, does, and will do for you? This is what makes God smiles. This is what God marvels at. This is what God honors.

Many times God’s blessings will not look like what we expect but sometimes it will be bigger and greater than what we expect. Take the dive, risk, abandonment of trusting God no matter what. Ask yourself the question, do I want God to marvel at my faith or my unbelief? Love & Blessings!

In the book on Numbers, Chapter 14: 11-45, the Lord is having an interesting conversation with Moses. After 400 plus years in bondage God sets the Israelite people free from Egypt. He shows them many signs and wonders, miracle after miracle and the people still complain. When they get to the promise land spies are sent in to check out the land. There are two reports given to Moses about the land. One is optimistic the other is pessimistic. This is the promise land that God had already promised them and they still did not believe God for it. We see in the conversation that God is having with Moses that he wonders how long the people will provoke him. God talks about doing away with them by sending a pestilence and disinheriting them and raising up another people that will be mightier than them. Moses appeals to God’s long-suffering character and his mercy forgiving nature on behalf of these murmuring people.  God agrees not to do away with them totally. Instead, He promises they would not inherit the promise land, but their little ones would below 20 years of age and Caleb and Joshua, who brought back the optimistic report, and their seed. This is a lesson for us that God rewards faithfulness and murmuring and complaining will block blessings and the promises God has for us.  The Lord continues his conversation and calls them an evil congregation. He also removed His covering and protection and gave them over to the enemies… Woe unto those who murmur and complain. Your murmuring and complaining will talk you out of what God has for you. Love & Blessings!   

Our God is omnipresent! He hears and knows ALL that is going on throughout the world. We sometimes forget this in our flesh. We sometimes distance ourselves of who God is and tend to think He was that way back in the Biblical day, but don’t mistake He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). In Numbers 12 there is an account of Moses’ brother, Aaron, and sister, Miriam, who talked about Moses because he married an Ethiopian woman AND they questioned if Moses was the only one God can speak to… WHOA! And the Bible says, God heard them! Folks, this is good reading! The Bible described Moses as a meek man in this chapter, meaning he probably did not say a word to his siblings for talking about him. But the Lord called the three of them to a meeting in the tabernacle and got the siblings straight. Folks, it was not pretty. I encourage you to read it for yourself. We see many life principles here. Of course, watch what you say about people because God is listening. We should be building each other up and not tearing each other down. It goes back to the old adage… If you can’t say something nice, keep your mouth shut. The other life principle is it does pay to be meek! It is how the Bible described Moses. It is also one of the Beatitudes in Mathew 5:5. It tells us we do not have to defend ourselves when people come up against us. Which leads to the third life principle… God is our vindicator! God will take care of the people who come against us. We are called to continue manifest the Fruit of the Spirit in ALL situations. Sometimes that means we remain silent and let God handle it as He did in Numbers 12. Love & Blessings! 

October 2021, we heard the disturbing story of 17 Americans including an 8-month-old baby, were kidnapped by a notorious gang in Haiti. The Americans were Christian missionaries finishing work at an orphanage. The kidnappers were asking a million dollars for each American equaling $17 million. Sometimes we falsely believe if we are about doing God’s work nothing bad will happen to us. However, in Acts 16, the Bible talks about Paul and Silas being imprisoned unjustly. They were spreading the word of Jesus Christ! They were seen as troublemakers and thrown in jail. The Bible tells of Paul and Silas singing praises and praying to God while in jail. What a beautiful example for us… When trouble comes our way, we should be singing praises and praying to God, too! That is why the account was shared in the Bible to show us the way. Eventually, all of the missionaries were set free unharmed.  Recently, I listened to the account of their ordeal. It was described as the missionaries singing and praying throughout the day while there. They would take turns of leading the songs and praying. The missionary described a day in December 2021 the door that was blocked and heavily guarded was now left unmanned. The 12 who remained left through those doors and out the back of the compound. They were being held in a wilderness area. They did not know where they were going but came across a farmer who pointed them into the direction of finding a phone! The missionary said they could not explain everything that was going on when they escaped because it just did not make sense. That my folks is the POWER OF GOD! We always ask, Where Is God!? Yet, He is with us at All times. The Bible says “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Mathew 5:8). Through Paul and Silas’ singing and praying to God caused an earthquake that shook the shackles off of them the walls came down which set them free… AWESOME! When I listened to the missionary’s account, I got excited and happy to hear about how God MOVED in their situation. Another encouragement for us to put into our memory of God working in the affairs of men. Love & Blessings!

Have you ever wondered when you were in a situation or was experiencing something that called your character into question, how did Jesus feel? The Bible says we as Christians will share in Jesus’ sufferings and glory (1 Peter 4:13, Philippians 3:10, Romans 8:17). It is probably why Peter said count it all JOY! Of course, Peter is speaking on the spiritual realm when he says this because we cannot FEEL this in the natural. Feeling what Jesus felt is relating to Him…sharing is his hurt, pain, suffering, and glory. So, I believe God allows some of our hurts and pains so we can feel what Jesus felt. We will be confronted with many forks in the road in our journey with Christ. Sometimes those forks are presented to test our character, in Jesus’ name PERIOD. Sometimes we go through situations and circumstances so we can see our spiritual maturity and feel what Jesus felt. Jesus was embarrassed, humiliated, criticized, scorned, and I can go on and on some of the unbearable things He endured. Although we don’t like to think about it when experiencing these situations, we need to ask ourselves how did Jesus feel? The fact of the matter is when we decide to do things Jesus’ way it will rail against our flesh. However, your commitment and dedication to our Lord will allow you to endure. When we can embrace those feelings, it brings us closer to our Lord and should help us to love and appreciate who Jesus is all the more. Love & Blessings! 

Timeout. Usually when we think about timeout, we think about a child in a corner somewhere by themselves or a timeout with a sporting event. Have you ever considered a Holy Timeout? A Holy Timeout is when you know you are about to lose control and say or do something you know is wrong and will hurt the heart of God and so you put yourself in a corner, sort of speak, to save yourself and others. Folks, this is deep! Part of us becoming intimate with God is that our love for him is so we do not want to hurt His heart so our spiritual maturity will cause us to put ourselves in a Holy Timeout. (LOL!) I would rather put myself into a Holy Timeout then to have God put me in a Holy Timeout. Usually, it is not pretty when God has to put us in a Holy Timeout. Not only that, but once you have said or done something you KNOW is wrong, you grieve the Holy Spirit that is within you and that is such an awful feeling that you wish you would have put yourself in a Holy Timeout.  Oh, this is a good thing to experience because if you have done or said something that is wrong and you have no regret, sorrow, apology, etc. about what you have done or said, that is a cause of concern. You should be asking yourself and God, why do I not feel sorry about what I did or said. The Bible says God disciplines and chastise those He loves and accepts (Hebrews 12:6). And yes, God is forgiving. So, yes, we should ask for forgiveness to God and people we have hurt or offended, but that does not erase God’s discipline or consequence of our actions. Sometimes the discipline and consequences can be so severe that a Holy Timeout that we give ourselves maybe well worth it. Love & Blessings!

Wow! We are at the end of the month already! Before you know it, it will be Christmas and we will do it all over again… another new year. However, as we move through this year, make positive changes to honor God. For those of us who love God, and have accepted Jesus as our Lord AND Savior, that means intentional living. Intentional living to honor God in what we do and what we say. That means we crucify our flesh EACH DAY… Ouch! Our FLESH hates this, but it is what we do to HONOR GOD with our lives. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior the Bible says we will share in His Glory and Sufferings (1 Peter 4:13, Philippians 3:10, Romans 8:17). Additionally, the beauty of honoring God with our lives and because we are allowing God’s spirit to manifest through us, it will become easier and easier for us to do. We operate on the SUPERNATURAL strength of the Holy Spirit to help us to do the things we need to do for Jesus’ sake. That is what Jesus was talking about when He said the Holy Spirit will come and be our HELP! (John 14:15-21) Bless God! If you have ever experienced this you know this to be TRUE and HUMBLING allow God to get His work done through you… THIS is how we honor God. Love & Blessings!

Details can be exhausting! Just look at the above image. Yet, God LOVES details. In Jeremiah, God declares He knows the plans or details he has for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). Whew! That is a lot when you think of the billions of people on the Earth! Not to mention creatures great and small, too! Think about Noah’s Ark and the details God gave Noah to build it. Then in Exodus chapters 25 -30, God intricately describes how he wants the tabernacle to be built. I challenge you to read it! When I read it, the Holy Spirt started speaking to my spirit and said, if I can be so detailed in describing how I wanted Moses to build the tabernacle, know I am just as detailed with YOUR life… WOW! God orders the steps of man (Psalm 37:23). In some way this should bring peace to our hearts, mind, soul and spirit. I believe it is why Peter says count it joy when we experience trials and tribulations because it is doing a good work in us! So just as God gave the details in building the tabernacle and other beautiful structures, He is also building us up to be beautiful men and women of God! Love & Blessings!