July 1st

Joshua 3     Isaiah 63     Psalms 126-128     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

The Lord will do amazing things.

Crossing the Jordan –at long last – is a key moment in Israel’s history. Shittim is 850’ below sea level, the river Jordan flows south into the Dead Sea through a deep gorge there. In Spring it is a raging torrent of water filled by snow melt and fed by the early rains. Joshua gives very precise instructions, verse 5 ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ The crossing mirrors the crossing of the Red Sea 40 years previously. The Ark of the Covenant goes first, and then the people follow. Did you notice the river only stops flowing just as the priests’ feet touch the edge of the river, (verse 15); literally they were stepping out in faith?

In Psalm 126:2 we are reminded the Lord has done great things for us. In Isaiah 63:11 his people recall the days of old and of God who has done many good things for Israel, Isa63:7.

Let us step out in faith today, remembering to follow God as Israelites did. Psalm 127:1 says

Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

The Lord will do amazing things among us, Joshua 3:5, as we consecrate and prepare ourselves to follow him today right to the water’s edge.

(crèche helper)

June 30th

Joshua 2     Isaiah 62     Psalms 123-125     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

What a woman!  We talk of “Godly women” and cardigans, cup cakes and demure might come to mind! But here we have a woman who completely destroys that stereotype … her story challenges me to ask: “Would I have been so courageous, so daring, knowing that aiding these men, and being found out, would probably result in my death?” I am not so sure.

In this passage we have Rahab a well-known prostitute and gentile being a key player in God’s plan as the Israelite spies carry out their reconnaissance. It strikes me that Rahab had a keen sense of her “King” – deceiving the King of the land and acknowledging the God of the Israelites as “Lord”. Her fear was not of any earthly ruler but of the God over the heavens and the earth. She was prepared to take massive risks because she feared the Lord’s wrath, He who destroyed “the two kings of the Amorites” (verse 10). Yet balancing this fear was an understanding of God’s mercy and compassion, experienced by Rahab through the spies reciprocal kindness – Rahab was kind to them, they would be kind to her when they invaded offering her a place in their Promised Land.

She was resourceful – hiding the men in her roof and lowering them down by rope – and confident – negotiating with the spies to ensure the safety of her family and friends. Her faithfulness is rewarded as the spies guarantee their safety if they do not betray them: “’Our lives for your lives!’ the men assured her” (verse 14).

We have all fallen short, broken vessels* like Rahab, none of us fit on our own to serve God, but by God’s grace and through His Son we can do all things.

(member of a homegroup)