Joshua 9:14-15 “14 So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. 15 Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.”

TRICKED

Even leaders make mistakes.  Here in this passage it is obvious.  Joshua and the “men of Israel…did not ask for the counsel of the Lord.”  Now, before you start pointing fingers and judging them, how many times have you made a decision without consulting the Lord?  If you are like me, plenty.  Why don’t we learn?

The Gibeonites come up again and again in the Old Testament.  They were an issue with Saul and then David.  All of this could have been avoided if Joshua had stopped and talked to the Lord before making promises.  Hmmm, that sounds like very good advice, doesn’t it?

TEACHING MOMENT

Has your little Gertrude ever invited a friend over to spend the night before asking you?  Has little Johnny promised his friend he could go with him to the movies before asking you?  These are perfect times to talk about this story.  You see, God knew that Canaan needed to be cleared of all the pagan people or His children would be led astray.  He knew what was best for them in the future, in the same way you can know what is best for your child.

Our children need to learn to trust us with their plans while they are small so they can learn to trust the Lord with their future.  Once again, we are modeling for them what the Lord wants to do for them.  But, in order for us to do that, we have to consult the Lord first.  We have to make sure that we are directing them in the way the Lord wants us to.  Isn’t that your desire?  Don’t you want to lead them wisely?

Are you on the wrong path right now?  Is the Lord trying to steer you left but you want to go right?  Is He pointing you in a whole new direction, but you are stubbornly refusing to budge?  Don’t be foolish!  Allow the Lord to guide you.

If there is one promise I can make you it is this.  God will never lead you where He can’t keep you.  If He is leading, you are safe, no matter how dangerous it may appear.  Trust Him!

Joshua 8:1-2 “Now the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.’”

REPEAT

What a setback!  This bunch, under Joshua’s leadership, come to the second city in Canaan and get whooped!  They get run off.  Thirty-six men die as they turned their backs and ran from the men of Ai.  But what Joshua didn’t know was there was sin in the camp.  Achan had taken forbidden spoil and the nation (yes, the entire nation) suffered.

So, here we are in chapter 8, and God sends them back to Ai but with a different battle plan.  God is saying, “You aren’t done, yet.  You just have to obey me, and I will be with you.”  In the same way, God tells us today, “Get back up!  Listen to me this time.  I will give you instructions on how to be successful.  But you have to obey me.”

TEACHING MOMENT

If this isn’t a perfect story to teach obedience to our kids, then I don’t know of one.  How much more clear could it be for our kids?  Read them chapters 7 and 8, though.  They need to see the whole story.  They need to see that God gives specific instructions for us.  We don’t have to guess what He wants us to do.  It is very clear.

When we obey the Father, He fights for us.  When we disobey, we suffer the consequences and can even cause others to suffer.  That is why we, as parents, must be clear with our discipline.  We are teaching them spiritual truths through our parenting.  Or at least we should be doing that.

Are you following the Lord’s instructions?  Are you being obedient to what He has called you to do?  Or are you intent on doing things your own way.  I truly believe that we don’t fail God’s tests.  We just repeat them until we get them right.

It is so much better to do it right the first time.  Don’t you agree?

2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

JUST CAN’T SEE

Do you ever wonder why people you know just don’t understand the love of God?  They doubt His existence.  They ignore His Word.  Well, this verse tells us why.  The “god of this world” has closed their eyes to the things of the Lord.  That “god” does not want them to see the truth, and the only way he can prevent that is by blinding them.

Think about it.  If you were blindfolded where you could see absolutely nothing, how helpless would you be.  I recently saw a blind man in Uganda.  He was being led around by another man.  Where we were walking was riddled with steps, ditches and small walkways over those ditches.  Without his friend, he would have been hopelessly lost and probably hurt.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children love to play blindfold games.  What a great way to teach them this verse.  Make an obstacle course in your house or on your lawn and have them walk through it without assistance.  Make sure they can’t see at all with those blindfolds and turn them loose.

After failing, take off the blindfold and have them walk it again.  They will probably say, “Mom, that’s silly.  Of course, I can walk it now.  I can see.”  Bingo!  Now give them this truth from God’s Word.

But let me ask you something.  How many days do you tie on the blindfold?  How many times do you try to maneuver through life without allowing the great Guide to guide you?  We think we can handle it on our own, but we can’t.  We need a guide.  We are blind and helpless without Him.

Will you open your eyes?  Will you trust the All Seeing One?  Will you tell the “god of this world” to take his blinders elsewhere?  You know the truth.  Now live it!

Joshua 3:17 “And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

DRY GROUND

God performed another miracle for the Hebrew children.  This time He parted the waters of the Jordan.  But instead of sending a strong wind to do it over night, like He did at the Red Sea forty years earlier, He simply had the priests step into the flood level Jordan and the water stopped about 12 miles upstream and the rest flowed on down.

But God didn’t stop there.  He DRIED the ground.  With all the women, children and livestock, walking across a recently emptied river bed would have been messy and slow.  So, what did God do?  He dried the ground so they could cross without getting stuck.  God is a God of details.

TEACHING MOMENT

One of the things I grab from this story is that God doesn’t just haphazardly work in our lives.  He is deliberate and thoughtful.  He does things right.  He wants everything to be perfect, as He is perfect.  In fact, He demands that we be perfect, too.  Now, He knows we can’t be, but He still expects us to strive toward perfection by allowing the Holy Spirit to direct us.

Can you imagine what those little children thought when they saw the waters flowing on by and the riverbed dry up?  Talk about that with your kids.  They may have been looking for fish or frogs or other “critters” on the riverbed.  Wouldn’t your little Elrod been doing that?  I sure would have.  Visual this story with your children.  Talk about the miracles God continues to do in our lives every day.

Do you believe God is still a God of miracles?  I do.  I have seen Him do miraculous things.  I got to hold a newborn baby recently.  That’s a miracle.  I had the privilege to lead three people to Christ.  That’s a miracle.  I have seen Him heal people who should have died and have also seen Him heal others by allowing them to die.  Those are both miracles.  Don’t ignore God’s handiwork all around you.

Too many of us want to see a “Jordan” parted.  We ask for those kind of miracles or signs.  But God is working all around us.  He works in ways we cannot see.  Open your eyes and ask Him to reveal Himself to you today.  You might just be surprised at what He is doing in your presence.

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” 

SLAVES TO HIM

I can still hear Ron Dunn, an evangelist I knew, preach “Chained to His Chariot.”  He used this text to share how we have been made slaves to Christ through our surrender of our will to His.  Just as the Roman generals would chain their defeated foes to their chariots and lead them into the city upon their return home, we are chained to the “chariot” of Christ, willingly and obediently following Him.

My problem is I keep pulling at the chains.  I want to go my own way.  I want to be identified with Christ, but I also want to be the one leading the chariot.  Have you ever felt that way?  Come on, be honest.  We all do from time to time.

TEACHING MOMENT

Obedience and surrender of our will to the Father is a sweet thing, if we will just do it.  It gives us such freedom because everything becomes the responsibility of the Master.  He directs our every step.  We simply do as He asks.  We are NOT mind numb robots, but we are eager to serve and please Him.

Parents, that is exactly why we teach our children obedience.  We are preparing them to be obedient to the Father.  We are teaching them to be obedient to a future employer.  We are simply teaching them submission.  A child that won’t submit to the authority of their parents is a child destined to struggle in all other relationships in the future.  I truly believe that.

So, are you helping your child by letting them have their way?  Are you really preparing them for a successful future by allowing them to dictate what and when they do things you have asked them to do?  I believe in giving children choices, but there also needs to be some boundaries which they cannot cross.

I don’t know about you, but I need to get back behind that chariot, readjust my chains and simply follow my Master.  Why?  Because I know He will only lead me where He is going!

Best Verse: Psalm 113:3 “From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.”

FROM SUN UP TO SUN DOWN

This verse in Psalm 113 is pretty clear.  We are to praise the Lord all day, every day.  From the time the sun rises until the sun sets we are to have our minds on Him.  From the time our eyes open until we shut them at night, we should have our focus on Him.

Is that possible? How do you do that?  I do not believe we are to be on our knees all day.  We can’t spend every awake moment in a perpetual state of worship.  We would be so heavenly minded we wouldn’t be any earthly good.  But we can measure all our words and thoughts through Him.  We can bring His Word to remembrance as we converse with others throughout the day.

TEACHING MOMENT

What a sweet concept to teach our children.  If we can get them, at an early age, to keep their minds on the Lord Jesus each day, most of the issues they will face will be much easier.  Notice I said much easier, not easy.  God does not promise us a bed of roses, contrary to what many believe.  My brother-in-law used to say, “The Christian life isn’t for sissies.”  LOL.

But, man oh man, when we have our eyes on Him, it does all make sense.  He will reveal to us, when we are ready, why He allows all things to come our way.  He is constantly preparing us for eternity.  He is chiseling off the big chunks of self and sandpapering the rough edges.  When the Master Builder gets through with us, all others see is Jesus.  Don’t you want that for your child?

How about you, though?  Are you willing to focus your attention on Him?  What might you have to give up each day to do that?  I just returned from a two week trip overseas where I did not have access to television.  I did not miss it one bit.  But just after a couple of days home, I find myself drifting back into the habit or sitting and watching eternally void programs.  I am committing to stop that today.

I know my time, no I should say His time, is much more valuable than tv time.  I am not going to be legalistic about it, but I am going to be more frugal.  I want to give more of myself to Him, so I will become more like Him.  I already have ALL of Him.  He just can’t disclose Himself fully until I am willing to let go of stuff.

Will you join me today in laying it all down from sunup to sundown?  Let King Jesus reign in your life today!!!

Psalm 108:1 “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.”

UNMOVABLE

I just love this picture of our hearts in this verse.  We who are believers “fix” or “nail down” our hearts with God.  Nothing in this world can move them.  We are attached to God, Whom we know is unmovable.  The gates of hell may come against us, but we shall not be moved.

Have you ever been in a hurricane?  I lived in Florida for 8 years and went through several. The winds can be incredible.  I will never forget during one storm in which the roof of our house creaked and moaned.  It was a category 3 storm and had winds over 111 mph.  The roof held because it was attached properly with hurricane straps.  Even though it felt the brunt of the storm, it held.

TEACHING MOMENT

Teaching our children about being “fixed” on Jesus is an important part of our discipling them. They need to know that when their heart is attached to Him, nothing can move them.  They can decide to move, but that is their choice.  But they cannot blame the world or anything in it.  If they rely on God to keep them fast, there is no power in heaven or on earth that can move them.

Our children will learn that best by watching us face life’s storms.  We should be like the Psalmist in this verse. We should choose to sing praises, even with our souls.  Singing in the midst of storms allows us to practice that peace that comes from within.

Are you praising Him today?  Are you allowing your children to see you remaining steadfast in your heart to God?  If we look toward Him He will hold us close.  He longs to hold us.  He wants to feel us close.  He WANTS us to depend on Him.  There is nothing weak about relying on Him.

The world will tell us we are using Him as a crutch.  That’s okay.  I admit that I am a cripple.  I admit that I am feeble.  I admit that I am helpless.  But with Him as my crutch, I have access to the power of the universe, to the All Powerful One, to the Creator of all things.

Who needs an energy drink or a power booster when you have Jesus!  Stay fixed on Him!

Deuteronomy 34:5-6 “5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 6 And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.”

PRIVATE BURIAL

Isn’t it amazing that the only person whom God buried was buried in a private, “for family only” service?  Why was that?  I think there were a couple of reasons.  First, if the people had known Moses’ gravesite it would have become a shrine.  God did not want that.  Secondly, God needed to be alone with Moses when He died.  He did not want a crowd of millions wailing and crying over Moses’ death.

God had a personal, intimate relationship with Moses.  Perhaps, other than Adam and Eve in the Garden, Moses was the closest to Jehovah.  God loved him and chose him for a very specific purpose.  Now that was done, God wanted Moses to come home, his real home – Glory.

TEACHING MOMENT

Death is reality.  We parents do not need to shield our children from this.  They need to know that when someone dies, we will NOT see them again this side of eternity.  Depending on their salvation status (saved or lost) we may or may not see them there.  Telling our children anything else is deceptive and not helpful.  You need to decide at what age it is appropriate for them to know this, but don’t hide this truth from them.

I have heard parents tell their children that grandma or grandpa had to “go away” and one day they would see them again in heaven.  Two things are wrong with this.  They didn’t “go away.”  They died.  And secondly, they will only see them again if they both end up in the same place, heaven or hell.

This may be the heaviest devotion I have written.  Speaking of where someone will spend eternity is sobering, but it is so important.  Are you sure where you are going one day?  Do you know for sure that you will spend eternity with our loving Savior?

How about your children?  Have they asked the Lord Jesus in their hearts to secure their name in the Lamb’s Book of Life?  There is no other decision on earth that is more important.

When others come to your graveside one day (should the Lord tarry His return), what will they say?  Will they know where your spirit is residing at that moment.  Let them know while you are still alive that you will be HOME!

Deuteronomy 32:48-52 “48 The Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49 ‘Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. 50 Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51  because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.’”

EVEN LEADERS

No one is exempt from the consequences of disobedience.  I had to include all these verses today so you could be reminded of why Moses could not enter the Promised Land.  Of all people, didn’t he deserve to go?  He was the one who led the people.  He was the one who confronted Pharaoh.  Why wouldn’t the Lord allow Him to enter the land promised to His people?

Today we think we can “get by” with the things we do.  We should be reminded that we all have consequences for actions that go against God’s commands. And we, as leaders and parents, have even a more strict consequence.  We are leading others.  We cannot be allowed to lead them to destruction.

TEACHING MOMENT

This teaching moment is much more directed at you, Mom and Dad.  What are you doing, in word or deed, that could mislead your children?  What are you showing them that is not pleasing to the Lord?  Do you think the Lord would be happy with everything you model for your children?

I am NOT trying to be legalistic.  I am far from that.  But I do mean we need to be very careful how we lead.  There are always little eyes watching us.  We cannot afford to be lax for one second.  One small act kept Moses from entering the Promised Land.  Wow!

Will you allow the Lord today to direct your every step?  He will show you where to place your feet along the path.  It may not seem like the best route to you, but trust Him.  He knows the way much better than you.

Deuteronomy 29:5 “I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.”

How many of you have worn hand-me-downs?  You know, the clothes your older siblings wore?  When I was growing up I would get some of my older brother’s clothes.  I couldn’t wear his pants because my legs were so big I wore husky-plus pants. Don’t laugh!  But I did wear a lot of his shirts and shoes.

The children of Israel had 40 years of hand-me-downs.  It says their clothes did not wear out, nor did their sandals.  Now, how would you feel wearing your grandparents’ hand-me-downs?  Lol.  The point of this is the Lord took care of them down to the very stitch of clothing and the soles of their feet.

TEACHING MOMENT

The next time you pass down some clothing from one child to another (now, don’t make your son wear his older sister’s clothes, lol), remind them of this story.  Passing down clothing is a good way to fully utilize a resource God has blessed us with.  If you don’t have other children, pass them down to another family or a thrift shop that can sell them.

Your child probably will not want to wear those hand-me-downs.  And don’t make them wear something inappropriate for them.  But they need to know that we are to be thankful for everything we receive from the Lord, even hand-me-downs.

How about you?  What has the Lord “passed down” to you?  Are you avoiding “wearing” it?  Perhaps, your church has appointed you, due to your giftedness, to handle a responsibility there.  Are you rejecting that?  If you know that “fits”, you must pick it up and serve.

We tend to reject hand-me-downs.  We prefer the newest fashions.  God, however, has been passing down hand-me-downs for generations.  We should gladly receive any and all hand-me-downs He gives us.  That seemingly worn out “gift” may be just what we need to fulfill our walk with Him.

You see, just as we parents know what will fit our children, the Father knows exactly what will fit us.  Trust Him to “fit” you.  He knows our size.