JOSHUA AND JUDGES

It is Sunday morning!  Wow, I love Sundays!  Going to be great to be with God's people today.  I had a full day yesterday, and I'm very tired.  I could have slept for 10 hours instead of the seven I got.  But, I'm still thrilled about Sunday! 1) VERY COURAGEOUS- Joshua 23:6-8, says:  "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;  7  That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:  8  But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day."  It is saying, "Be very courageous" to keep, to do, to cleave!  2) WHAT "ED" SAID- In Joshua 22, the two and a half tribes erect an altar on the east side of the river Jordan.  They called this altar "ED".  They almost got in a lot of trouble for doing so because the other tribes raised up to go and destroy them for erecting another altar.  God wanted one in Jerusalem, but not any where else!  So when they come upon the tribes that put up "ED", they are about to go to war when the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, say time out!  They then explain that "ED" means "witness", and it is meant to mean that "it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.  Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you."  (22:27-28)  and in verse 30 the answer "pleaded them", so the battle was called off.  NOW... what are your "witnesses" that you belong to God???  WE don't erect altars at our home but let me ask you this.... Are there Bibles around the house in a visible place?  Do you have a scripture verse on the wall?  Is there anything that says "we are a Christian family"?  If we are not careful, we will become so secular that there is no difference in our lives and in our homes..... Change that.  Let us remember what "ED" said, and let there be some "ED's" around our place as well! 3) CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY- Joshua 24:15- Here we see the famous text: "Choose you this day whom ye shall serve..... as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  What resolve!  What dedication!!  What an example for all of us these many years later!!  Today... let's choose the right thing.... to serve God!! 4) CAN WE PASS THE TEST?  In Judges 3:4, we see that the kings of the Philistines were causing trouble with the tribes of Israel, but here was God's purpose in it all:  "And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."   They were to test the children of Israel.  God has many "test" for us as well, can we pass them?  It is so important to know that God has these tests for us and to be prepared to show God that He does indeed have the priority in our lives, and that we do trust Him completely.  Dear Lord, please help us pass our tests! 5) DEBORAH- In Judges 5:7, we see that Deborah was a godly woman who led Israel.  Now I believe it is a sign of the time when there are not enough godly men available that God chooses a woman to led!  With David, he had to pick a child to lead.  Same with Daniel, and the three Hebrew children.  But here we see that Deborah answered God's call and did a great job.  In verse seven it says: "I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel."  She did her part, and we should do our part.  I think of the woman running as Vice President on one ticket.  She is doing her part, and I think like Deborah it will be an inspiration to many men and other women to do their part as well. Hope you too have a great Sunday!  Pastor Mike Mutchler