PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 20): Only a small portion of this verse applies to my sin confession today, Father. The part that talks about hardened hearts. I lived with a hardened heart for quite some time in my life. Hardened towards my earthly dad, hardened towards my upbringing and my family, hardened towards individuals in this world, as well as hardened towards the world as a whole. At times, my heart was even hardened towards You, I am sad to say. I struggled with a lot of things in my life, but the core of it all was my struggle and inability to properly process my emotions. You brought me out of that by blessing me with several Godly men in my life to walk my faith journey alongside. I know the “delay” on introducing them to me was completely my fault for not going to You sooner, Father. Please forgive me for my disobedience and distrust in my heart over the years, Father. Forgive me for not taking off my blinders sooner to realize that You’ve been there with me this entire time, even when I didn’t want anything to do with “religion” in this life. You have helped me to realize that the way the world sees “religion” is not the way You see belief, faith, obedience, and trust in You. I ask that You continue Your great works in my heart, Father, so that I may continue to soften my heart from all the scars, pain, wounds, and hardening that has occurred over my 40 years in this life.
PROMISE (verse 23): At the very end, You show us a promise being fulfilled. You show us how although a promise was made generations prior, it still comes to fulfillment at some point because You are always faithful in keeping Your promises. Your timing is what matters the most, not my own. Oftentimes, I want things now and I want to be in control of things fully, but that it not what You have called me to do. You’ve called me to be obedient to You, trusting in You, and patient in this crazy world. Your promise here is that the inheritance Your people were promised is being fulfilled one day at a time. It’s a lot of land to take over, so they would like be overwhelmed if You told them they had to fight dozens of military bodies in a single day. Although You could easily still have victory in that situation, You know us better than we do. Thank You, Father, for sometimes taking things slow for our own benefit.
ATTITUDE (verses 6-7): Joshua knew of this massive collaboration of kingdoms bringing their armies together with the purpose of hopefully destroying Your army which Joshua was leading now that Moses has passed away. Did Joshua or Your people flee or move forward in fear? They did not. You told them to not be afraid because You will give them their victory and this was enough for them to move forward without fear into victory! This is true trust and obedience in You. This is Your people fully embracing and walking in an attitude of faithfulness, obedience, and trust in You fully. Help me to be better at walking in these attitudes in my own life, Father, so that I may not be afraid of anything this world has for me. Knowing that You are always with me is a big help for sure. Illuminating Your next steps for me so that I may know I am remaining on Your path is also something I really need to be better at seeking from You. Help me with these, please, Father.
COMMAND (verse 15): This command is repeated many times throughout this scripture, but also other scripture. You simply asked for Joshua and Your people’s obedience in anything You commanded them to do. Here, Joshua knew that they were to bring total annihilation/destruction to these kingdoms, per Your commands to both Moses and him. Joshua knew that he had to lead Your people to victory by abiding in Your will for them, not his own. Joshua and Your people did exactly as they were commanded by “leaving nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” Truly a faithful and obedient people! They weren’t perfect, as only Jesus can claim that title, but with all of their flaws they remained faithful and obedient to You!
EXAMPLE (verses 19-20): I find these verses rather profound. They are concerning the deceptive peace treaty that was made between Your people and the Gibeons. Although Your people did not consult You, You still honored the agreement that was made, but You do not play a short game with things as You know all and Your plan is far more steps than anyone can imagine. You are playing a perfect chess game while the rest of us are limping along trying to figure out how to play checkers. You knew that if the peace treaty was honored and if the Gibeons would be treated as servants throughout all of this for their deceptions, that they would eventually turn on Your people by the hardening of their hearts. You made sure Joshua did things a very particular way to ensure this would happen over time, because You also want the Gibeons to be completely destroyed. You are a promise-keeping God, however, so it must not be Your own people who break their promise. Let the Gibeons do this eventually and they will be annihilated just as You wanted to happen in the first place had Your people actually reached out to You before making the agreement! WOW!
*DAILY NOTE: It’s amazing the number of victories You are blessing Your people with during their movements across the land. They had one very minor loss when someone amongst Your people was being disobedient to You, but they quickly resolved the issue, repented, and have seen nothing but amazing victories ever since then! This continues in today’s scripture, but You also reveal the master plan for the Gibeons along with the great example being provided by Joshua and Your people throughout these battles. Thank You, Father, for the great conversation today, but also for continuing to reveal so much to me. I love hearing these stories, but also love how they all relate to today, which is over 2,000 years later. Your wisdom, counsel, truth, and knowledge never expire and are always applicable, which I am extremely grateful for. Thank You for today’s conversation, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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