Just As I Was With Moses...
Memory Verse:
'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” '
Joshua 1:9
Sermon Sentence: We have the privilege of serving a God that doesn’t just send us, but goes with us.
'Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” '
Joshua 1:9
Sermon Sentence: We have the privilege of serving a God that doesn’t just send us, but goes with us.
Day 1
Read Joshua 1
For those of us that get inspiration from stories naturally, this is the hidden gem of the Bible that is just great to visit. Which is a good thing, because for the next month we will not be leaving this chapter, spending a lot of time digging out the main things that God tells Joshua. Reading this chapter beside Deuteronomy 30 and 31 also helps, because you start to notice that Joshua was being bombarded with a specific starting message that he really needed to listen to. That is how I approach this chapter, by looking at the obvious points of repetition meant to help Joshua in his overwhelming task of responsibility.
Do you ever feel that weight? Growing up is tough. We fight for it our whole lives, attempting to prove to everyone that we can handle responsibility and family and jobs and all of the rest of it. We grow frustrated when we are not trusted and when we are overshadowed too much. But then we get the full weight of responsibility when we are driving away from that hospital with the new baby in the backseat, wondering how in the world we take care of this. Or we get to the end of the month and have to sort through all of the bills, making sure they are paid on time. Or we feel the call to the next step in our faith and we begin to weigh the actual costs. Real life can be overwhelming. Real life needs great rally chapters like this. Pay attention here. There is some really good advice you probably need.
Think back over the Moses story, knowing that Joshua was growing up in the background and hanging around it all. What do you think Joshue thought about when God said that He would be with Joshua just like He was with Moses?
Where do you need to be reminded that God does not leave you where you are?
Where do you need to be reminded that God will not forsake you and leave you where you thought He brought you?
How does this become part of your prayer?
For those of us that get inspiration from stories naturally, this is the hidden gem of the Bible that is just great to visit. Which is a good thing, because for the next month we will not be leaving this chapter, spending a lot of time digging out the main things that God tells Joshua. Reading this chapter beside Deuteronomy 30 and 31 also helps, because you start to notice that Joshua was being bombarded with a specific starting message that he really needed to listen to. That is how I approach this chapter, by looking at the obvious points of repetition meant to help Joshua in his overwhelming task of responsibility.
Do you ever feel that weight? Growing up is tough. We fight for it our whole lives, attempting to prove to everyone that we can handle responsibility and family and jobs and all of the rest of it. We grow frustrated when we are not trusted and when we are overshadowed too much. But then we get the full weight of responsibility when we are driving away from that hospital with the new baby in the backseat, wondering how in the world we take care of this. Or we get to the end of the month and have to sort through all of the bills, making sure they are paid on time. Or we feel the call to the next step in our faith and we begin to weigh the actual costs. Real life can be overwhelming. Real life needs great rally chapters like this. Pay attention here. There is some really good advice you probably need.
Think back over the Moses story, knowing that Joshua was growing up in the background and hanging around it all. What do you think Joshue thought about when God said that He would be with Joshua just like He was with Moses?
Where do you need to be reminded that God does not leave you where you are?
Where do you need to be reminded that God will not forsake you and leave you where you thought He brought you?
How does this become part of your prayer?
Day 2
Read Exodus 33:7-11
Moses was an incredible character to read about and one that I look forward to meeting one day in Heaven. He had an incredibly special relationship with God and surely that has to be an intimidating thought that went through Joshua’s mind when he took over from Moses. Moses lived on a big stage and everyone watched what he did. I love to think about this story so much and what it means. Imagine you are there and caught up in the daily chores that are your life, just trying to get it all done. All of the sudden you see in the distance a figure walking out of town, slowly. You stop what you are doing and just watch the figure in the distance…knowing where he is going. Everyone knows what Moses does when he leaves town like this. He is taking the long walk to the little sanctuary he has set up outside of town to spend some time with God. You can remember the times that you have watched him come back and then hearing the tales of what God has revealed to him.
Who wouldn’t want a relationship with God like that? To be able to access this incredibly private place that is known as your meeting place with God. No one else gets this kind of access and hears from God in this way. The crazy thing is that we do have that. That is the whole point of the idea being presented here. Moses had what we now get. He modeled what we can now have and our prayer time with God is the cause of worship when people get to see God work in and around us because of that meeting time. I wonder if the people around me see me taking that journey regularly enough that they know who I have been talking to…the One that promised to never leave or forsake me. Just like Moses.
Are you seen making time with God a priority in the way that it brings others around you to a place of worship of God?
Notice that Joshua watched this practice all the time. He was a young man that watched Moses do this over and over again. That is the kind of stuff that you remember and it would be foolish to assume that Moses or anyone else should do this for the sole purpose of people seeing it, but I wonder what you gain from noticing the generation of the next leader, the young man Joshua, watching this all unfold and what it teaches you about
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Moses was an incredible character to read about and one that I look forward to meeting one day in Heaven. He had an incredibly special relationship with God and surely that has to be an intimidating thought that went through Joshua’s mind when he took over from Moses. Moses lived on a big stage and everyone watched what he did. I love to think about this story so much and what it means. Imagine you are there and caught up in the daily chores that are your life, just trying to get it all done. All of the sudden you see in the distance a figure walking out of town, slowly. You stop what you are doing and just watch the figure in the distance…knowing where he is going. Everyone knows what Moses does when he leaves town like this. He is taking the long walk to the little sanctuary he has set up outside of town to spend some time with God. You can remember the times that you have watched him come back and then hearing the tales of what God has revealed to him.
Who wouldn’t want a relationship with God like that? To be able to access this incredibly private place that is known as your meeting place with God. No one else gets this kind of access and hears from God in this way. The crazy thing is that we do have that. That is the whole point of the idea being presented here. Moses had what we now get. He modeled what we can now have and our prayer time with God is the cause of worship when people get to see God work in and around us because of that meeting time. I wonder if the people around me see me taking that journey regularly enough that they know who I have been talking to…the One that promised to never leave or forsake me. Just like Moses.
Are you seen making time with God a priority in the way that it brings others around you to a place of worship of God?
Notice that Joshua watched this practice all the time. He was a young man that watched Moses do this over and over again. That is the kind of stuff that you remember and it would be foolish to assume that Moses or anyone else should do this for the sole purpose of people seeing it, but I wonder what you gain from noticing the generation of the next leader, the young man Joshua, watching this all unfold and what it teaches you about
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Exodus 33:12-23
You have probably read through this text before, but work through it slowly and play the drama out in your mind. Moses starts out by confronting God about the whole call on his life. “God, you have asked me to bring these people up, and you and I both know that is not a one man job, so why have you not told me who you will send with me to do this? You have said “Go” but that is a bit more than I can stomach. Convince me this is what I need to do by telling me about the team that you will send with me. How are we going to get this done?” I love the innocence in this dialogue because it is so relatable. Can you imagine being the person that was tasked with leading the Children of Israel to the Promised Land?! That is not a one man job, so let’s meet the rest of the team so I can weigh this mess out and make sure it is even possible.
God’s reply is the most unthinkable and unimaginable response for Moses to hear. God says, “I will be going with you.” What?! Gods send people out, but who has ever heard of a god going? If God is going, what is the point of Moses even going? This is the part of what we believe that should we should spend time meditating on and realizing how incredible it is. God is with us. Right now. In this adventure. Are you in the valley? God is with you. Are you on the mountaintop? God is with you. God doesn’t just say go and hopefully you get there, he says “Let’s go!” There is a reason this idea is repeated to Joshua at the point of leadership change. This was the marking difference between the confidence and power that Moses, as an old man, led with as opposed to all of the other leaders there could have been. Moses led and they watched him meet up with, talk to, and hang out with God! God was not just the power behind him being sent, He was the power right beside him in the very moments that he needed someone else with him!
That is what you have. God with you. Why does that make this day different in your approach?
What situation are you facing right now that this truth calms and helps with?
Who in your path today needs to hear that message and why?
How does this become your prayer today?
You have probably read through this text before, but work through it slowly and play the drama out in your mind. Moses starts out by confronting God about the whole call on his life. “God, you have asked me to bring these people up, and you and I both know that is not a one man job, so why have you not told me who you will send with me to do this? You have said “Go” but that is a bit more than I can stomach. Convince me this is what I need to do by telling me about the team that you will send with me. How are we going to get this done?” I love the innocence in this dialogue because it is so relatable. Can you imagine being the person that was tasked with leading the Children of Israel to the Promised Land?! That is not a one man job, so let’s meet the rest of the team so I can weigh this mess out and make sure it is even possible.
God’s reply is the most unthinkable and unimaginable response for Moses to hear. God says, “I will be going with you.” What?! Gods send people out, but who has ever heard of a god going? If God is going, what is the point of Moses even going? This is the part of what we believe that should we should spend time meditating on and realizing how incredible it is. God is with us. Right now. In this adventure. Are you in the valley? God is with you. Are you on the mountaintop? God is with you. God doesn’t just say go and hopefully you get there, he says “Let’s go!” There is a reason this idea is repeated to Joshua at the point of leadership change. This was the marking difference between the confidence and power that Moses, as an old man, led with as opposed to all of the other leaders there could have been. Moses led and they watched him meet up with, talk to, and hang out with God! God was not just the power behind him being sent, He was the power right beside him in the very moments that he needed someone else with him!
That is what you have. God with you. Why does that make this day different in your approach?
What situation are you facing right now that this truth calms and helps with?
Who in your path today needs to hear that message and why?
How does this become your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Psalm 118
Our devotional thought all week has been the truth that God is with us and never leaves us or forsakes us. I have to be honest with you, I thought that I would struggle most with this part of Chapter 1. I know that it is a real struggle for many people, but I do not struggle with the idea of being abandoned or alone. When I answered the call by Pastor Tom to join the team to plant a church in Greensburg, I didn’t wrestle a whole lot with that. I was naive and young is what I like to chalk it up to nowadays. But after taking some time to really go through these passages this week and in writing out these devotions this week, I have really been encouraged and lifted up in this truth!
Here, the Psalmists is writing out of a time of struggle and fighting. He talks about enemies that want to destroy him and of needing to find a refuge. Maybe you don’t have enemies in the exact sense, but the point seems to be more about the idea of the events are the enemies that are wanting to destroy the writer. In other words, he just doesn’t seem to be able to get ahead in life and the storms and battles seem to keep setting him back. But God is his refuge! In the same “room” is God and his enemies. In the midst of the battle is God as a refuge. That means that God is in the battle and close by in the enemy territory! The writer is making a similar declaration as Moses in our passage yesterday. He wasn’t just sent out alone, but realizes that God is with him. In that battle and in the middle of that storm is where he ends the Psalm by declaring the light and good of God. Even there, he is able to find the never ending, never forsaking, always present attributes of God.
How is the Lord your strength and your song in what you are facing today? What does that mean?
How does verse 24 stand out to you in light of all the passages that we have read this week?
The Psalmists ends the Psalm by declaring thanks to God. What are five things you are thankful for right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Our devotional thought all week has been the truth that God is with us and never leaves us or forsakes us. I have to be honest with you, I thought that I would struggle most with this part of Chapter 1. I know that it is a real struggle for many people, but I do not struggle with the idea of being abandoned or alone. When I answered the call by Pastor Tom to join the team to plant a church in Greensburg, I didn’t wrestle a whole lot with that. I was naive and young is what I like to chalk it up to nowadays. But after taking some time to really go through these passages this week and in writing out these devotions this week, I have really been encouraged and lifted up in this truth!
Here, the Psalmists is writing out of a time of struggle and fighting. He talks about enemies that want to destroy him and of needing to find a refuge. Maybe you don’t have enemies in the exact sense, but the point seems to be more about the idea of the events are the enemies that are wanting to destroy the writer. In other words, he just doesn’t seem to be able to get ahead in life and the storms and battles seem to keep setting him back. But God is his refuge! In the same “room” is God and his enemies. In the midst of the battle is God as a refuge. That means that God is in the battle and close by in the enemy territory! The writer is making a similar declaration as Moses in our passage yesterday. He wasn’t just sent out alone, but realizes that God is with him. In that battle and in the middle of that storm is where he ends the Psalm by declaring the light and good of God. Even there, he is able to find the never ending, never forsaking, always present attributes of God.
How is the Lord your strength and your song in what you are facing today? What does that mean?
How does verse 24 stand out to you in light of all the passages that we have read this week?
The Psalmists ends the Psalm by declaring thanks to God. What are five things you are thankful for right now?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Hebrews 13:1-9
“Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” That is good advice that we could all get behind, but it seems like a strange place to apply the idea of what we have been looking at lately and where the writer goes right after that in this passage. How does God’s promise of never leaving or forsaking us, which is a quote from our passages this week, have anything to do with money? This passage is written in the context of speaking to a church. They have just been called out to live lives that are persevering and not wavering from the truths that they know. God has called them to a lot. He has also called us to a lot. To live like that requires a lot of sacrifice. The heart of the call to follow Jesus has a piece of generosity and support that surely translates out to the financial side of things as well.
We can barely get by on what we have…much less give some away. Who in the world has enough to just give money away? Not in this economy and with these prices?! You need to look out for your own and what you need. That is just the way it is right now, maybe one day we can all get to places of just having abundant money to be able to give away! That is all the wrong way to think about it and that is why this passage brings this up. God calls us to be givers. It is really hard to not get that in the Bible when we read it carefully. This call is not to be future givers or “when we get stable” givers, but givers the way we are. Therefore, God does not call us to do what He does not also equip us for. Will you run out of resources? Well, then God’s call would have been too much and “He will never leave you or forsake you.” He does not call us out to no resources or abilities. He calls us and then supplies every single day, every single step of the way. We have to be faithful.
How do you struggle with putting all of these thoughts in the correct order and processing God’s will for the money you have?
Do you give regularly and if not, why not?
How does this become your prayer today?
“Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” That is good advice that we could all get behind, but it seems like a strange place to apply the idea of what we have been looking at lately and where the writer goes right after that in this passage. How does God’s promise of never leaving or forsaking us, which is a quote from our passages this week, have anything to do with money? This passage is written in the context of speaking to a church. They have just been called out to live lives that are persevering and not wavering from the truths that they know. God has called them to a lot. He has also called us to a lot. To live like that requires a lot of sacrifice. The heart of the call to follow Jesus has a piece of generosity and support that surely translates out to the financial side of things as well.
We can barely get by on what we have…much less give some away. Who in the world has enough to just give money away? Not in this economy and with these prices?! You need to look out for your own and what you need. That is just the way it is right now, maybe one day we can all get to places of just having abundant money to be able to give away! That is all the wrong way to think about it and that is why this passage brings this up. God calls us to be givers. It is really hard to not get that in the Bible when we read it carefully. This call is not to be future givers or “when we get stable” givers, but givers the way we are. Therefore, God does not call us to do what He does not also equip us for. Will you run out of resources? Well, then God’s call would have been too much and “He will never leave you or forsake you.” He does not call us out to no resources or abilities. He calls us and then supplies every single day, every single step of the way. We have to be faithful.
How do you struggle with putting all of these thoughts in the correct order and processing God’s will for the money you have?
Do you give regularly and if not, why not?
How does this become your prayer today?
Devotions
Archive
2025
2024
January
March
May
June
July
August
September
2023
January
February
July
October
1 Comment
Great inspiration to hear hat God does not just send us; that He goes with us and will not leave us. Great weight of love and support in that message! A great start to the week!