January 10th, 2016
Devotional
“Be Courageous: God is Our Help” - Joshua 3: 1-13
Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com
Monday: “Follow the Ark” - Joshua 3: 1-3, Genesis 9: 1-17
A rainbow. Blood brothers. Pinky swears. Marriage certificates. What do all of these things have in common? They are a sign of a covenant. Now it may seem odd to compare pinky swearing to being married, but at their heart they show a binding agreement to either do or not do something. With marriage their are lots of things that are covenant, to be with each other in sickness and in health, to forsake all others, and to be with one another until death, to name a few. With the Biblical covenant of the rainbow, God made one promise to never again destroy the whole earth.
Covenants often were accompanied by a sign to remind people whenever they saw or experienced it of God’s faithfulness. Following the destruction of the earth in the time of Noah, it was a rainbow. Every time the people saw it in the sky they were to remember God’s promise that the whole earth would never be destroyed again. For the people of Israel under the leadership of Moses it was the ark of the covenant, which contained symbols of the people’s covenant with the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. A reminder of the very presence of God, which they were now to follow into the unknown.
What signs of covenant do you have in your life?
What reminders do you have of the presence of God in your life and the lives of others?
Prayer: God of covenant, you know that we needed to be reminded of the promises we made to you and you made to us. Thank you for such reminders in so many forms, Gracious God. Each time we see such a token, may it renew our covenant with you, in Christ. Amen.
Tuesday: “A New Way” - Joshua 3: 4, Matthew 26: 28, Jeremiah 31: 31-33
In today’s scripture passage, Joshua tells the people to follow the ark of the covenant, because they are going a new way that they had not been before. Covenants do not only have signs as reminders, but signs to lead us.
While there were many covenants throughout Biblical history, ultimately, the people’s lack of faithfulness and breaking covenant ended in their captivity, which is where we find them in this morning’s scripture lesson found in the book of the prophet Jeremiah. In a time of complete desperation, God meets the people’s need by telling them that a new covenant is on the way. It will be an unbreakable covenant, one where the very love and law of the Lord will be in the people. Under this new covenant their unfaithfulness and sin will be forgiven.
Enter Jesus. As Christians we believe Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made in Jeremiah. In fact, we remember the covenant God made with us through Jesus, every time we celebrate holy communion and recite the words from the gospel of Matthew, that he shed the blood of the new covenant on our behalf. Christ is continually leading us through the Holy Spirit to new ways that lead to life for ourselves and others.
How do you share with others about the covenant we have because of Christ Jesus?
Do you find it easy or hard to go on the path Christ leads, especially if it is a way you have not been before? Why?
Prayer: Almighty God, you are the God of creating new paths that lead to your life abundant. We confess, O God, that sometimes the old paths we walked seem so appealing because we know what lies before us, we know the way. Yet, you call us to follow you, even in the face of the unknown for your glory and honor. Strengthen us to do so, we pray. Amen.
Wednesday: “The Lord will do Amazing Things” - Joshua 3: 5-6, Genesis 12: 1-3, 2 Sam 7: 12-16
Covenants also remind us of the amazing things that God has done to bless us in the past so we can look forward to the amazing things we know our God will do in the future. Biblically, covenants were a form of law. When God made a promise, God did not go back on it. Perhaps the most famous Biblical covenant was between God and Abraham, when God promised that Abraham’s decedents would number the stars. That he would be a great nation who would be blessed and they would have a land to dwell in. In order to symbolize the importance of this promise and to seal it into law, both Abraham and God traveled through animal carcasses that had been split in half. Perhaps a little odd to us now, such severing of an animal was important to the parties entering a covenant at this time because it symbolized that those who broke the covenant would have similar fate. God did amazing things through Abraham and his decedents because of the promise that was made so long ago.
The next time we Biblically see a covenant established it was between God and David. David was described as the greatest king to rule Israel and a man after God’s own heart. The Davidic covenant was a bit more complex. God promised David that one of his decedents would succeed his leadership. That one of his offspring shall build a temple to worship God as a holy place, set apart. And that through him, the kingdom of God would be established forever.
What promises does God make to us today? How can we live as the people of promise?
Prayer: God, sometimes we don’t know your promises enough to claim them. We have forgotten our scriptural lineage. We have forgotten the promises you made to your disciples and bring to fulfillment through us. Open up the eyes of our hearts, as we study scripture, so we can live into being who you called us to be. Amen.
Thursday: “Go Stand in the River” - Joshua 3: 7-8
There are many old hymns about gathering at the river. Often the Jordan River is used to symbolize the diving life between this life and life eternal. When I hear these hymns and scriptures about the River I used to automatically picture the rivers I know from this area, especially the Susquehanna. Then in 2006 I traveled to Israel and saw the physical Jordan River up close. I was shocked by how narrow and shallow it seemed in certain places. I remember standing in one portion that only went up to my ankles. Our guide, however, told us that there were other areas that were quite deep. It is probably in those deeper portions that today’s scripture took place. Some biblical scholars thought that the waters would have been up to the priests waist as they waded in with the ark of the covenant and then stopped.
They stopped right in the center of the river because that is what the Lord told them to do. To go and stand in the river. Not necessary the most conventional of advice, but they did it anyway. God had a purpose even if they didn’t understand it. This river was the dividing line between their life as it once was and their life in the promise land and they were not going to let anything stop them from claiming the promise of life before them, no matter how unconventional what they were called to do seemed.
Tell of a time God called you to do something unconventional. Why do you think these instructions came? How did the situation turn out?
What are some of the diving lines between your life as it was and your life with Christ?
Prayer: God, thank you for being the God who calls us to do unconventional things in order to build our trust and faith in you. Guide us, each day O God, so we can glorify you with our lips and our lives. Amen.
Friday: “Dry Ground” - Joshua 3: 9-13, Exodus 14: 1-31
God had a purpose to the unconventional instructions given. When those carrying the ark of the covenant took the step of faith to wade into the water, heavy ark and all, the waters flowing downstream were cut off so the people could cross on dry ground.
Even the dry ground of the river bed was a sign of a covenant that the people had with God some 40 years ago. For in the dry river bed they were reminded of the dry Red Sea that parted as they fled Egypt. They remembered once again that their God was the God that brought them out of captivity in Egypt. They remembered so they could move forward. While the people may not have immediately understood God’s unconventional instructions, they did now.
What reminders do you have of God’s faithfulness? How do these reminders help you move forward in your faith journey?
Prayer: God, we praise you for the blessings you bestow upon us every day as we remember your faithfulness to us in the past. Thank you for these reminders that propel us into the future. Amen.
Saturday: Preparing for the Word
You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Be Courageous: The Impossible” - Joshua 6: 8-21
Family Activity: Talk about promises. What promises do we make to each other and how do we feel when promises are broken? What promises does God make to us?
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