and created by the hand of God. It is truly "majestic" and
graces the woodlands of Yancey County during Spring.
“The one thing that remains is looking in the face of God for ourselves.”(Oswald Chambers). When we stand before God, it will be just us and God. One person affected everyone in Israel in Joshua chapter 7. We sometimes justify our sins by saying (or thinking) that no one else knows, or "I'm not hurting anyone else". God knew the tribe, the family, the household, and lastly the very man who had "done a disgraceful thing in Israel". We cannot hide from God and yes, our sins affect others. No one knows that more than God does. Unbeknownst to them, Israel had "become doomed to destruction". They lost a seemingly "no-brainer" battle. We, too, assume so much at times. The importance of holiness before God cannot be stressed enough.
There are many lessons, as usual, in today's readings. Getting God's take on any given situation is vital. Joshua went into an all day prayer session after Israel's defeat by the seemingly insignificant city of Ai. He generalized the situation and projected it onto God's plan for Israel's future. God asked Joshua why he was lying on his face (I could not help but smile when I read this.) God went directly to the heart of the matter and put it simply--"Israel has sinned". Achan admitted he had seen certain items and coveted them and took them and hid them. (If there's something we attempt to hide--sin is more than likely connected to it in some way.) What followed demonstrates to us the seriousness of sin. Remember, Jesus said sin is like leaven and spreads throughout the entire ball of dough. Achan (of the tribe of Judah), his sons and daughters, his animals, his tent, and everything he had, including the silver, the garment, and the golden wedge he had taken against God's command, were destroyed. A great heap of stones was placed over the remains as a reminder to the people of what had occurred there.
God had not suspended His will for the city of Ai. Once the accursed things were dealt with, Israel was sent once again to take the city. We read that "Joshua did not draw back his hand" until the city was utterly destroyed. Spiritually, I wonder how many true "heaps" dot the landscape of our hearts? Are there "heaps" where sin has been totally eradicated, or are green sprouts and roots of sin still visible? Are these areas really dead or do we feed them with our thoughts--making them viable to the point of having the potential to once again flourish in our lives? We might want to reassess these "mounds" in light of Achan's punishment for his hidden sins, and make sure they are indeed "heaps".
In Psalms, our attention is once again called to perhaps unnecessary mourning. Maybe there's a time to ask ourselves, "Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" Instead of allowing our fears and oppression to lead us, the psalmist writes in the next verse: "Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let THEM (emphasis mine) lead me; Let THEM bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle". Notice in the next verse he has had a total change of heart: "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy". It's a wonderful thing to get up off our faces or up from our beds of mourning (maybe due to focusing on the fact we are living in an "ungodly nation" and feel we are at the mercy of "deceitful and unjust men"). A glimpse of His light and His truth is enough to set us on a path of joy. (Be led by God and not by our physical surroundings!) God IS our exceeding joy! It's all about our relationship with Him and not about our circumstances. (We will evidently have to learn this again and again.)
In Luke 9, "Jesus healed the child and gave him back to his father". This is a beautiful verse. God placed us in a family to begin with and our children are to be nurtured there. (This child was healed because he had a father who loved him and who sought healing for him from the Healer.) Our culture has unfortunately lost its way where even this basic truth about the purpose of a family is concerned. Later in the chapter, Jesus reminds the disciples who wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritans, that He did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Jesus' motives are pure. He wants our hearts to be pure also. He wants us to follow Him and "go and preach the Kingdom of God". How can we proclaim the Gospel unless are hearts are pure--pure enough to desire to come face to face with Him? Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5). His majesty is all around us. The more we recognize it now--from a pure heart that believes in, and loves God, the more we are going to look forward to looking into the very face of our Savior!
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