Reading With the People of God #7 CommitmentSample

Memorization Challenge:

6 Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9 NLT)

Reading Primer: Your Battles & Provision Belong To God

Striving for self is exhausting and fruitless. Fruitless in that what we come up with in our own effort is tasteless and paltry. When we step outside God's will for us and become our own champions, fashioning a god with our hands, we forsake our one TRUE God’s richness. The completeness of God’s protection & provision is what we forfeit when we lean on our own understanding. Amid hardship, trials & persecution, you are not to think something strange or weird is happening to you. Instead, ask God what it is you are meant to learn by ENDURING this valley WITH Him.

Learning to wait on the Lord is learning how He defines the wait.

When we take upon the Lord’s yoke, He does the heavy lifting. He allows us to witness His Glory as He moves on our behalf. His Word never comes back void, but it will always happen in His perfect timing. How often have you stepped outside of His favor and wanted the provision He has spoken into your heart now rather than later? I myself have lost count of how many times I’ve missed His mark in the never-ending pursuit of learning this rhythm. Thank God for His unending Grace!

A blessing rushed is sour like that of unripened fruit.

Just as rushing a blessing will spoil the harmony & peace of waiting on the Lord, coveting & envying another’s blessing through a jealous heart grants access to the enemy. With our eyes fixed on our circumstances and the blessings we believe we deserve, we make unwise, prideful decisions. It is easy to be deceived this way…ask me how I know. Thank God for His superabundant Grace and His tireless pursuit of our hearts. God’s wisdom is from above! It is pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy & good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. If it isn’t those things, it isn’t God; if it isn’t God, we must declare we don’t want it!

- Ardena Hamill, Celebrate Recovery, Encourager