God’s promise for Week 6:
“Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed." (Joshua 1:8)
Day 36
Day 37
Day 38
Day 39
Day 40
Day 36
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (I Cor. 15:58).
A person who knows that God’s power can keep us away from making choices similar to Esau contributed the following.
Let’s take a moment to remember and learn from the story of Esau. Esau traded his inheritance and his father’s blessing for a single meal. Who in his right mind would have given up God’s blessing on his life in exchange for a bowl of stew? The answer to this question is that I would and I have. Every day of my life I do the very same thing that Esau did! The Message says: “Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite" (Heb 12:16). I make Esau-choices every day of my life. I choose to satisfy my selfishness by holding on to grudges instead of forgiving. I avoid people who need a friend because I don’t have the time or energy to deal with them. I choose to satisfy my greed by spending my days and my thoughts in the pursuit of things. Like Esau, the voices that lure me away from Jesus are the subtle voices that whisper for me to satisfy my short-term appetite instead. “Come on, you’ve worked hard—you deserve it," the voices say. “Pamper yourself—what can it hurt?" they whisper. These “little" choices don’t seem of major importance at the time, but if we really think about it, what is a lifetime if not a long series of small choices? My prayer is that when each choice is placed before me, I would remember Esau and make choices that show God that I want the peace and eternal blessings that come through obedience more than I want the short-term satisfaction of the things that this world has to offer. This choice is now before each one of us, and we will all be tempted to make the same choice as Esau. Let’s be prepared knowing that, just as the devil came to Jesus after his 40 days of fasting in the desert, the devil will come to each one of us and place before us a temptation. It will be different for each one of us, but it will come. Let us be watchful of “Esau choices" that will be put before each of us in many different forms over the coming weeks and months. And let’s take Paul’s advice: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (I Cor. 15:58).
Prayer:
Lord, Help us not to allow our lives to ever resemble Esau.
Day 37
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12)
Jesus compared our faith to a mustard seed:
"I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible for you" (Matt 17:20).
"Even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed," the Lord answered, "you could say to this mulberry tree, `May God uproot you and throw you into the sea,' and it would obey you!” (Luke 17:6)
This particular type of seed is very symbolic: “Though this is one of the smallest of seeds, it grows to become one of the largest of plants, with long branches where birds can come and find shelter" (Mark 4:30-32). What does this say to us? It is through this seed of faith growing larger and larger in our hearts that God will make us “fishers of men" (Matt 4:18). Picture your life as a garden, and this new faith that is growing inside you like a mustard seed. Don’t wait for your life to be a little more “together"—don’t even wait for the pain to go away. Tell God today that He can plant that little seed of faith deep into the soil of your heart and then trust Him to make it grow. When you feed it with the word of God everyday and water it with your prayers, God will bring people into your life who will see the peace that your faith brings and they will want it too. They will see the way you choose to love and forgive rather than harbor bitterness; they will see the way you choose to give rather than hoard; they will see the way you trust rather than doubt and they will know that God is God. And what else will they see? Look at what our verse for the day says that Jesus will do through us if we have faith in Him? What ‘greater things’ is He talking about here? Because of our faith in Him, His Spirit lives in us, and through His spirit in each one of us, God will do things that will cause the world to know that He is God.
Prayer:
Lord, help my faith to enlarge and draw people to You.
Day 38
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:24-25)
The flowing was written by a person desiring to be more of a faithful sacrifice for the glory of God.
A sacrifice, by its very nature is dead. It is placed on the altar, killed, and in some cases even burned. It is not a pretty picture, and the message of this verse is equally unattractive to our selfish human nature. I think I have been guilty for my whole Christian life of trying to fit God into what I want out of this life. I have equated His “blessings" with material prosperity. I have looked for His kingdom in the things of this world, when in fact, it ‘is not of this world" (John 18:36) at all. I so desperately need a revelation of who God really is, because I think I have spent my life painting my own portrait of God instead of seeking who He really is. I have even been arrogant enough to feel proud of myself for making sacrifices of my time and money for His sake. I don’t want to just “fit God” into my life anymore. I don’t want to only let him in to the areas of my life that I want him in. I don’t want to give God my leftovers anymore. I want to give him my very life. I want Him to teach me what it means to die to myself every single day. I think perhaps the biggest reason we don’t give up our selfish dreams and our is that we really are living for the things of this world. Sure, we can deny it, we can justify it, we can excuse it, but I think if we honestly searched our hearts and answered this question: “What motivates you?" most of us would be faced with the ugly truth that what motivates us is financial security and material prosperity in this life. Will you pray with me today that we “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but [are] transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]" (Rom 12:2)? A comfortable retirement is not our goal. Financial freedom is not our goal. And even self-sufficiency is not our goal. We need to let God pry our fingers off our lives. We need to seek God until we really and truly know Him—until our view of Him is in line with who He really is:
Prayer:
Help us to want You to grip us.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)
Day 39
“If people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing" (James 2:14 MSG)
A person who understands that obedience to God is a demonstration of love toward Him wrote the following.
“God blesses those who obey Him." Prov 16:20
“God saves those who obey Him." Ps 7:10
“The Lord watches over those who obey Him." Ps 33:18
“The Lord takes care of those who obey him." Ps 37:18
“You help all those who obey You." Ps 7:9
“God gives us what we ask for because we obey His commands." 1John 3:22
“Always obey the Lord and you will be happy." Prov 28:14
“Keep God’s laws and you will live longer." Prov 19:16
“Those who obey the Lord lack nothing good." Ps 34:10
“Those who obey Him have all they need." Ps 34:9
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." John 14:21
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." John 14:23
Does anyone else see a trend here? Now that we are pumped full of faith, now that we have decided to take God at his word and believe that his promises are for real and that they are for us, what do we next? “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Cor 4:2). It is clear to me that in order for our faith to make any difference at all in this world, in order for us to know God more, we must obey his word. So what specifically is God asking of us? Simple. That we obey his commands. How do we know what his commands are? Simple again. They are in the Bible. I want you to know that I am talking to myself here more than anyone else. I need a no-nonsense, severe, tongue lashing right now. All of this faith that I have felt growing inside me during these forty days will come to nothing if I don’t act on it. If I put away my Bible, I will fall back into the patterns of laziness and spiritual monotony that has all-too-often characterized my life. I have felt a desire growing within me to serve God with everything I’ve got, no matter what the cost. I have realized that my view of God is so small. I have realized that I have been selfish and arrogant. And more than anything else, I have realized that more than anything else, I just want to know him. I want to see him as He really is in all His amazing big-ness, so I can put to rest forever my small, inadequate picture of who He is. My devotions today spoke directly to my heart: It is “by the discipline of obedience I get to the place where…I see Who God is…The promises of God are of no value to us until by obedience we understand the nature of God. We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up….when by the obedience of our lives we say “Amen" to a promise, then that promise is ours" (Oswald Chambers). Obedience is the key to knowing God. We can accept his promises until the cows come home, but if we don’t obey his commands to love one another, to give to the needy, to forgive others, to be meek, to give our lives to him, and more, then this journey of faith we have been on might as well end right here. Every promise has a premise? Well, this is the granddaddy of all premises; it is the outcome of our faith and the key to really knowing God: Obey. Obey. Obey.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to know you more. Help me and strengthen me as I choose to obey you in every area of my life. Amen.
Day 40
“Then Joshua issued instructions to the leaders to tell the people to get ready to cross the Jordan River." Joshua 1:10-11
The following was contributed by a person ready to step out and step in to trusting God.
Have you ever noticed the difference between dogs and cats? When they want outside, and you open the door for them, dogs, full of excitement and anticipation rush out into the world. Cats, on the other hand, sniff the air, look carefully from side to side, check to see if it is raining too hard, see if the temperature is favorable, and then turn around and come back inside where they can watch the world go by from their safe and comfortable perch on the windowsill. People are like that too, aren’t they? Who are you more like? More often than not, when God asks us to do something we respond like the cat. God has been birthing something within my heart. I will no longer be a slave to fear. I will trust in my God because, well, because He is God. I will respond like the dog that bounds out of the open door full of excitement and anticipation to see what God has in store for us. I know that it is time to get ready to cross the Jordan River. We’re standing here on the bank of the river and around us are the many things that make up our present lives. On the other side is a promised land full of fulfillment beyond our wildest dreams. The only thing in our way is the river. Remember how the waters didn’t part for the Israelites until they waded in? Today, on day forty of this journey of faith, is your moment of decision. You and I can wait for the waters to part before we step in, which will put us, like the cat, back on the windowsill. Or we can just start walking. Are you going to step out? Are you going to let the sprouts of faith grow and blossom and produce fruit? Or are you going to stay where you are, hold on to your security and your ambition and let these new shoots wither and die? What has God been whispering in your ear over the last forty days? Whatever it is, obey it!! Let us make our way over to the other side where God will show us what He can do with a life that is totally and completely dependent on Him. It’s time to cross the Jordan River.
Prayer:
Lord, I am ready to cross my own Jordan River. I’m stepping into the water and trusting You every step of the way.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
