-
- Joshua sends back home the fighting men who were settling on the other side of the Jordan.
- He leaves them with a summary of commands, of how they should live.
- They are to love God, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, cling to Him, and serve Him all their heart and soul.
- If any of us would do those things, we’d be set for life.
- Nothing else would matter; well, it would all matter because we’d be with Him and living for Him, so it would all have purpose.
- Nothing else would matter in the sense that you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. You’d be like the Israelites at this point in their history, at rest.
- That’s the goal to get to that rest. We get there by loving God, walking in His ways, keeping His commandments, clinging to Him, and serving Him heart and soul.
- At the same time, we get there as a gift from God. He call us, brings us to Himself, forgives us, cleans us, gives us His righteousness, works in us to will and work according to His good pleasure.
- It’s all His work.
- Our job is surrender ourselves to Him to work out His good pleasure, the kind intention of His will.
- Why wouldn’t we want to surrender to a good, loving, powerful, faithful, true and just God’s kind intentions for us?
- Those phrases about the kind intention and good pleasure of His will are from Ephesians 1.
- Of course, that’s what we want! If we think or act differently, we’re deceiving ourselves. Our choices for ourselves will never be as good and perfect as God’s choices.
- Our choices in selfishness lead to death. That’s not what we want.
- Our choice to surrender to His good work leads to life. That’s what we want.
- It’s all a matter of what do you believe. Do you believe the Bible is true or not?
- If you believe it’s all true, then it’s a non-choice to give up selfish ways and surrender your life to God to work in you His purposes.
- The only reason not to is that you don’t really believe through and through.
- If that’s the case, hope isn’t lost! Ask Him to help you in your unbelief. He will never abandon or forsake His children.
- He promises to be found by those who seek Him and He never lies.