Our Next Bible
Study
Philippians
Chapter 3
Joshua Chapters
15
~
Prayer Requests:
Geraldine, Lil, Brian, Aiden, Dave, Elroy, Winslow,
Pauline, Shelia, Brad, Mike, Frosteen, Phil and Kathy, Marsha, Grace, Adrian,
Hans and Erin, Matt and Julie, military personnel, unemployed, Chris, children
with cancer, unsaved, Melinda & Barry and family, Ryan, Nick and Rachel, Tammy,
children with birth defects and their families, our Bible Study, special
unspoken needs, and remember me, Brenda Hendricks.
~
Praise Report:
God is sending workers to the field. Through faithful servants, many are
learning more about Christ and in turn, are telling others.
A testimony of God's faithfulness as we step out in
obedience to honor Him by bringing His Hope, Joy , Peace, Protection, Provision
and Comfort to our troops through His Holy Word so that they may be saved. May
they know Him and make Him known in Jesus Blessed Holy Name I pray...Amen!
Hallelujah!
When fretting because my prayers seemed to go no further than the ceiling, I
received this answer from my Father:
"There's no need for your prayers
to go any further than your tearstained pillow. I am here with you. I don't
expect you to ascend to me any more than a father expects his infant to jump
into his arms. I have loved you with an everlasting love and with loving
kindness I have drawn you.”
(Jeremiah 33:3 paraphrased)
WOO HOO!!
God is so good—always, all ways.
We are looking forward
to your praise reports. Please keep us informed so we can share the wonderful
grace of Jesus.
~
For previous lessons on
Joy and previous Bible
studies,
please visit our
archives
May God grant you safety, reassurance of
His love, and the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Brenda Hendricks
on’t worry. He’d never
bite you—famous last words of the sincerest of dog owners. In the past 25+
years of dog grooming, I’ve learned to be extra cautious of dogs whose
owners make such declarations. Not that I mistrust the owners or the dogs.
I’ve learned that even the sweetest, best-disciplined, calmest dog in the
universe is still, by nature, a dog. Animals react by instinct. Their
capability of reason is limited. Thus, they do not think, “She’s pulling my
hair. It hurts and may get worse, but it’s for my own good. I can tolerate
any amount of torture to please my master.” No, they think, “This hurts.
I’ll give her fair warning. GRRR. And if she does it again, I’m gonna make
her bleed.” Again, it’s a dog. Dogs react by instinct. Any dog is capable of
biting if put in an unfavorable situation. Experience taught me to trust my
knowledge of the nature of dogs and to act accordingly rather than to trust
a well-meaning dog owner.
Throughout
his life, Caleb learned to trust God rather than rely on the opinions of his
fellow spies.
Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from
Kadesh-barnea to scout out the land. And I brought him a report as it was in
my heart. But my brethren who went up with me made the hearts of the people
melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God
(Joshua 14:7, 8). Read Numbers 13. Caleb and Joshua were among twelve spies
that Moses had sent to bring a report of the land God had promised. Ten of
the scouts cringed at the size and ability of the enemy. But Caleb spoke in
favor of trusting God to deliver the land as promised. Joshua sided with
Caleb, and the two men were the only ones of that generation to enter the
Promised Land.
At times, I
cringe at the size and ability of the enemy or at my inability to complete
the God-given task ahead of me. Then, inevitably, I receive a reminder: if
it were going to be easy, why would I need God?
If an
endeavor is from Him, most likely it will be enormous and overwhelming to
us. That’s the point of giving us a task in the first place. God desires for
us to lean completely on Him, not on our own strength or on someone else’s
power. Without God’s strength, we can accomplish very little. Jesus said,
I am
the Vine; you are the branches.
Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart
from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing
(John15:5
AMP). To accomplish an assignment, defeat the enemy, or even to grow
spiritually, we must maintain our connection and trust in our Strength
Giver. Only fools think they are strong enough to survive without God.
Caleb and
Joshua certainly were not foolhardy enough to think the Israelites could
conquer such a formidable foe as described in Numbers 14. However, their
experiences during the flight from Egypt taught them to trust in the
Omnipotent God, relying solely on His word rather than what anyone else had
to say on the matter. He rewarded them for their trust. After Moses died,
Joshua succeeded him as the leader of the people. God promised Caleb the
land he had surveyed.
Caleb
trusted the Strength Giver to keep His promises to the children of Israel,
and the warrior had no difficulty believing the personal promise of
inheriting the land. What an
amazing testimony we receive as Caleb declares,
And
now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years
since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while the Israelites wandered in
the wilderness; and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. Yet I
am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then,
so is my strength now for war and to go out and to come in
(Joshua
14:10, 11 AMP). Caleb then says with God’s help he’d drive out the
inhabitants of the land just as the LORD said. Now that’s trusting in the
One who gives strength for the task.
The apostle
Paul, also, placed his trust in the Strength Giver, and he encouraged his
readers to do the same when he wrote,
For the rest, my brethren, delight yourselves in the Lord and continue to
rejoice that you are in Him. For we [Christians] are the true circumcision,
who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and
pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on
what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages
and external appearances
(Philippians 3:1a, 3 AMP). Paul continues by listing his outward privileges,
physical advantages, and external appearances as a Hebrew of Hebrews and as
a Pharisee. In his day, a man’s worth was measured in much the same way as
it is in our society—education, political standing, employment, possessions.
In our world, Paul would have been a CEO with a lot of political clout.
When he
became a follower of Jesus Christ, Paul chose to denounce everything that
gave value to his former life. Listen to what he said about it,
But whatever former things I
had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one
combined] loss for Christ's sake
(Philippians 3:7 AMP).
The more we
trust in Jesus the less meaning this earth’s “essentials” hold. Have you
ever walked through your house and thought what you’d take if you were
permitted to take only what you could put in the back of a pick-up truck?
My thoughts
go to my laptop, sketch pads, canvases, pencils, paints, paint brushes,
clothes, and blankets (I hate being cold). While my more practical side, my
husband, thinks of canned food, a grill, a cooler full of frozen meat,
beverages, and of course his rifles, ammo, bow and arrows (to supply more
meat when the frozen stuff runs out). I’m glad God put us together. At least
we wouldn’t starve in a month.
Looking at
our possessions and deciding what we’d leave behind adds a new dimension on
our trust. What are we trusting God for? Great wealth? Prestige? Toys? A CEO
position? Health?
Before you
answer, let me ask one more question: What is the essence of life?
Food? Can we
have life without sustenance? A human can live between 28 and 76 days
without food before perishing. So technically, the answer is yes.
Water? Can
life exist without H2O? Clinical evidence states that within a
mere 3 to 10 days a person will expire. However, for those days, he/she
still has life.
Air? How
long can you hold your breath? It would appear that air is the essence of
life, but wait. People have gone for over three minutes without air, rarely,
I admit.
Food, water,
air are essential for life on earth. However, as Christians we believe in a
far better place where:
Never again will they hunger
. . .
(Revelation
7:16a NIV). Although we are informed that food will be plentiful in heaven,
it doesn’t seem essential for life there along with water. It may seem
ludicrous to say air wouldn’t be essential in God’s Kingdom, but it may not
even exist there.
For Christians, there’s
only one answer—Jesus Christ. Jesus is the giver and sustainer of all life.
The Bible tells us more than that. He is Life.
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word
(Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was
present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence
through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into
being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men
(John 1:1-4 AMP). In verse 6 of chapter 14,
Jesus says, I am the Way and the Truth and the
Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.
Through Jesus Christ, we have life on this earth. Without Him, the universe
and all that’s in it would not exist. Plus, we have eternal life through
Him. Therefore, by reason, Jesus is the essence of life.
Prayer:
Because you
give and sustain all life, LORD
Jesus, I choose to trust You in all circumstances. Thank You for renewing my
strength from day to day. Amen.
