Making A Lifelong Decision.
Memory Verse:
'I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. '
John 15:5
Sermon Sentence: Salvation’s one time decision should be something that we remind ourselves of on a regular basis through all stages of life.
'I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. '
John 15:5
Sermon Sentence: Salvation’s one time decision should be something that we remind ourselves of on a regular basis through all stages of life.
Day 1
Read Joshua 8:30-35
This week in the devotions, we are going to take a really strange journey that I hope you will stick with. We want to start out making sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to the story in Joshua. I will assume that you are somewhat in on the story if you are taking the time for these devotions. Achan messed up. He took those things from Jericho that were dedicated to the Lord after he entered into a covenant with God declaring that they all would not. The result of that was the defeat of the army at Ai and then the revealing of Achan’s sin and then a restart on the battle against Ai that was victorious. God used collective language for all of the people when speaking about this sin that was in violation of the covenant that they had made before God. There you go. That is what you need to know so far.
In this story, we get a glimpse of Joshua bringing everyone back to the table, so to speak, to discuss the issue of their relationship to God. It is in the same place that Moses did this many many years before and is recorded in Deuteronomy 27-28. Those will be our texts for the following days. And they get weird, so be ready. For now, think about the context of this idea. For our sermon on Sunday, it was a way to think about us coming back to the table of considering the decision we made to follow Jesus. It is not that we need to renew what is worn out or change the agreement we made, but that we should revisit what it is that we already said, at many seasons in life.
Perspective changes many things in our lives. Decisions that we made years ago carry a lot more weight as we get older and life offers us more. My decision to move to Greensburg carried a lot of weight when it was the beginning of mine and Jenna’s marriage and life together. But that decision today, with two kids and much more in life, looks vastly different.
How does the decision that you made to follow Jesus look different in your life today and feel more significant today, than it did back when you decided it?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
This week in the devotions, we are going to take a really strange journey that I hope you will stick with. We want to start out making sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to the story in Joshua. I will assume that you are somewhat in on the story if you are taking the time for these devotions. Achan messed up. He took those things from Jericho that were dedicated to the Lord after he entered into a covenant with God declaring that they all would not. The result of that was the defeat of the army at Ai and then the revealing of Achan’s sin and then a restart on the battle against Ai that was victorious. God used collective language for all of the people when speaking about this sin that was in violation of the covenant that they had made before God. There you go. That is what you need to know so far.
In this story, we get a glimpse of Joshua bringing everyone back to the table, so to speak, to discuss the issue of their relationship to God. It is in the same place that Moses did this many many years before and is recorded in Deuteronomy 27-28. Those will be our texts for the following days. And they get weird, so be ready. For now, think about the context of this idea. For our sermon on Sunday, it was a way to think about us coming back to the table of considering the decision we made to follow Jesus. It is not that we need to renew what is worn out or change the agreement we made, but that we should revisit what it is that we already said, at many seasons in life.
Perspective changes many things in our lives. Decisions that we made years ago carry a lot more weight as we get older and life offers us more. My decision to move to Greensburg carried a lot of weight when it was the beginning of mine and Jenna’s marriage and life together. But that decision today, with two kids and much more in life, looks vastly different.
How does the decision that you made to follow Jesus look different in your life today and feel more significant today, than it did back when you decided it?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Deuteronomy 27
Joshua 8 is where the sermon was from this week. Deuteronomy 27-28 is now where we will be spending a lot of time. The reason they are connected is because they are mirror images of each other. Moses did this thing where he put them on separate mountains and then yelled the blessings and the curses across the valley as a sort of visual lesson and covenant ceremony. That is the same thing that Joshua does in our passage from Sunday. In fact, think deeply about this for a second, it is in the same place! Moses has the people wandering in the wilderness and they have no land and are barely a people and they are declaring that if they follow God, they will soon be and have all of those things. That was then. But in Joshua, years and years later, at the very same place, they are realizing that they are living out the dreams and tales of old from their ancestors. They just stepped foot into the doorway that before was a promise for the distant future and now is a reality that is coming true each and every step they take. Jericho has fallen. Ai has fallen. They now have pieces of the promise land, and lest they forget what this whole thing is all about, they revisit that ceremony that they had always been told by their grandparents that they did! This is an incredible picture when you put them both together!
It is one thing to have nothing and declare that you will follow God, it is something totally different to be staring down actual nations that you believe have been promised to you, ready to enter battle and being called out on that belief with your actual feet running into battle. It was a different season. It was not a different covenant, but it was time to revisit it and make sure that everyone was still on the same page.
What are the generational decisions of faith (or anti-faith) that have laid the foundation for you being where you are with God right now?
How are your decisions and choices affecting the next generation?
How does this all become part of your prayer today?
Joshua 8 is where the sermon was from this week. Deuteronomy 27-28 is now where we will be spending a lot of time. The reason they are connected is because they are mirror images of each other. Moses did this thing where he put them on separate mountains and then yelled the blessings and the curses across the valley as a sort of visual lesson and covenant ceremony. That is the same thing that Joshua does in our passage from Sunday. In fact, think deeply about this for a second, it is in the same place! Moses has the people wandering in the wilderness and they have no land and are barely a people and they are declaring that if they follow God, they will soon be and have all of those things. That was then. But in Joshua, years and years later, at the very same place, they are realizing that they are living out the dreams and tales of old from their ancestors. They just stepped foot into the doorway that before was a promise for the distant future and now is a reality that is coming true each and every step they take. Jericho has fallen. Ai has fallen. They now have pieces of the promise land, and lest they forget what this whole thing is all about, they revisit that ceremony that they had always been told by their grandparents that they did! This is an incredible picture when you put them both together!
It is one thing to have nothing and declare that you will follow God, it is something totally different to be staring down actual nations that you believe have been promised to you, ready to enter battle and being called out on that belief with your actual feet running into battle. It was a different season. It was not a different covenant, but it was time to revisit it and make sure that everyone was still on the same page.
What are the generational decisions of faith (or anti-faith) that have laid the foundation for you being where you are with God right now?
How are your decisions and choices affecting the next generation?
How does this all become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14
I have felt like we have spent quite a bit of time lately saying the same exact thing over and over again, just with a different cover on it. That is probably true, but it is also true that what we have been saying so many times is really important. It all boils down to the definition of life. To me, the definition of life is given in Genesis at the beginning of the creation of life. God promises good flowing from His presence if we stay in His presence. That is the same thing that these passages are telling us. Israel was standing at a really important place in their future that needed to be thought through. There are two things you can have in life and the choice is always yours, because the offer has been made from God’s hand. Do it all God’s way and get the blessing that way of life unlocks. Rebel against that and try to do things your way and you will experience a long, slow, drawn out process of all sorts of frustration, annoyance, death, destruction and chaos. That will all be laid out in the chapter before us.
Don’t forget where everything that is good in life comes from according to James 1:17. It is from God. It comes down from the Father. It is also what He desires for your life. The other kind of life, the life of curses, is not a life that He is handing down like it is from His presence, but rather it is the experience of being outside His presence. The good gift comes down from the Father. The bad comes from not being in the presence of God. These are the terms of the blessing that need to be very direct and forthright. Why? Because we will try to manipulate and get the blessing for ourselves, but God has already told us where it is.
How do you define blessing in the biblical sense of the word?
Describe how this passage applies to your life today.
How does this inform your prayers for today?
I have felt like we have spent quite a bit of time lately saying the same exact thing over and over again, just with a different cover on it. That is probably true, but it is also true that what we have been saying so many times is really important. It all boils down to the definition of life. To me, the definition of life is given in Genesis at the beginning of the creation of life. God promises good flowing from His presence if we stay in His presence. That is the same thing that these passages are telling us. Israel was standing at a really important place in their future that needed to be thought through. There are two things you can have in life and the choice is always yours, because the offer has been made from God’s hand. Do it all God’s way and get the blessing that way of life unlocks. Rebel against that and try to do things your way and you will experience a long, slow, drawn out process of all sorts of frustration, annoyance, death, destruction and chaos. That will all be laid out in the chapter before us.
Don’t forget where everything that is good in life comes from according to James 1:17. It is from God. It comes down from the Father. It is also what He desires for your life. The other kind of life, the life of curses, is not a life that He is handing down like it is from His presence, but rather it is the experience of being outside His presence. The good gift comes down from the Father. The bad comes from not being in the presence of God. These are the terms of the blessing that need to be very direct and forthright. Why? Because we will try to manipulate and get the blessing for ourselves, but God has already told us where it is.
How do you define blessing in the biblical sense of the word?
Describe how this passage applies to your life today.
How does this inform your prayers for today?
Day 4
Read Deuteronomy 28:15-35
How weird is it to read just this for a devotion?! I know that it is not how you want to start your day, or end your day…but let’s play with the idea and see what we learn. Chapter 27 told us the context for this ceremony: it would happen one day when they entered the land. The Levitical priests were to set half of the tribes on one mountain that represented the mountain of blessing and another set on the mountain that represented blessings. Then, they were to stand in the gap and read the curses to everyone.
I remember right after 9/11, my pastor calling on a former Marine to dismiss the congregation in prayer. This was not a planned out thing, it was usually asked for on the spot. This Marine prayed a very long drawn out prayer of what he desired to see done to our enemies. It contained a lot of details and made it the most awkward dismissal I have ever seen at a church. This feels similar to that more than anything! Can you imagine standing there with your family listening to each one of these being read out loud? One by one and then it just seems like it keeps going and going! This is way more awkward than you just experienced reading it to start or end your day on some Bible reading. Which makes me think, have we really counted the cost of disobedience and weighed the measure of what it is that we are promising to God?
Why do you think this was an important thing to do and do you think it would have been beneficial?
What do you think would be the fallout or results of this sort of thing happening in a church service?
What did you get out of this reading today?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
How weird is it to read just this for a devotion?! I know that it is not how you want to start your day, or end your day…but let’s play with the idea and see what we learn. Chapter 27 told us the context for this ceremony: it would happen one day when they entered the land. The Levitical priests were to set half of the tribes on one mountain that represented the mountain of blessing and another set on the mountain that represented blessings. Then, they were to stand in the gap and read the curses to everyone.
I remember right after 9/11, my pastor calling on a former Marine to dismiss the congregation in prayer. This was not a planned out thing, it was usually asked for on the spot. This Marine prayed a very long drawn out prayer of what he desired to see done to our enemies. It contained a lot of details and made it the most awkward dismissal I have ever seen at a church. This feels similar to that more than anything! Can you imagine standing there with your family listening to each one of these being read out loud? One by one and then it just seems like it keeps going and going! This is way more awkward than you just experienced reading it to start or end your day on some Bible reading. Which makes me think, have we really counted the cost of disobedience and weighed the measure of what it is that we are promising to God?
Why do you think this was an important thing to do and do you think it would have been beneficial?
What do you think would be the fallout or results of this sort of thing happening in a church service?
What did you get out of this reading today?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
Day 5
Read Deuteronomy 28:36-68
And you thought yesterday was the only day of weirdness for the devotions! I do not have a whole lot more to say about this idea, because I think it is covered in the thoughts yesterday. I do want to draw your attention to the end of this section's language. Did you notice the theme of the result of the cursed life is the scattered place? We just talked about this a whole lot, but the truth is that when people are not experiencing that which they genuinely need because their life is full of the curses, or the anti-life idea, why would they want to stay in that. So they will go looking for what they need. With human nature, you surely understand that I am not saying that everything that people say that they need or that they desire are things that are truly needed. You do understand that what I am saying is that we have basic human needs that are only answered in the idea of life and blessing. False worship and false religion arises out of a desire to fill some of those needs with the many, many alternatives that we wish could satisfy us. That sends everyone in many different directions looking for what they don’t seem to understand. It is why chaos seems to always feed itself into more chaos. Its end place is what is declared in verse 66 “Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall dread and have no assurance of your life.” What a sad place to see people get to and then live in!
How do verses 64-68 describe what you have witnessed people go through in life?
How does the idea of the curses in these verses lead to this reality?
How is your life, if you live the blessed life, so different from this experience?
How does this become your prayer today?
And you thought yesterday was the only day of weirdness for the devotions! I do not have a whole lot more to say about this idea, because I think it is covered in the thoughts yesterday. I do want to draw your attention to the end of this section's language. Did you notice the theme of the result of the cursed life is the scattered place? We just talked about this a whole lot, but the truth is that when people are not experiencing that which they genuinely need because their life is full of the curses, or the anti-life idea, why would they want to stay in that. So they will go looking for what they need. With human nature, you surely understand that I am not saying that everything that people say that they need or that they desire are things that are truly needed. You do understand that what I am saying is that we have basic human needs that are only answered in the idea of life and blessing. False worship and false religion arises out of a desire to fill some of those needs with the many, many alternatives that we wish could satisfy us. That sends everyone in many different directions looking for what they don’t seem to understand. It is why chaos seems to always feed itself into more chaos. Its end place is what is declared in verse 66 “Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall dread and have no assurance of your life.” What a sad place to see people get to and then live in!
How do verses 64-68 describe what you have witnessed people go through in life?
How does the idea of the curses in these verses lead to this reality?
How is your life, if you live the blessed life, so different from this experience?
How does this become your prayer today?
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