Joshua 1

Joshua one is an introduction to Israel without their original leader Moses. Joshua, who was Moses’ assistant, is chosen by God to lead Israel into the long awaited promised land. During this transition of leadership the Israelites claim that they will do all that Joshua commands and Obey him as they obeyed Moses. The irony of this is that the older generation made the same claims to Moses and as we know that generation disobeyed days after that claim. They forgot their allegiance to God through Disobedience to the words that God had given them through Moses. Thankfully this new generation mostly obeyed god. Many of them learn from the mistakes of their parents who God had told to teach their children about the mistakes they made. This all plays into what I think are two key verses in the first chapter of Joshua; Joshua 1:7-8 "Only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it today and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (ESV). The lord gave a command, a command to be lived and chosen by Joshua to obey. With this command it can be assumed that if it went disobeyed there would be consequences as outlined in previously written scripture. As God gives Joshua the choice to follow Him and reap the rewards or fall away and be given into the hands of sin. We too have the choice to live for Christ or live for ourselves. There is no in between with sining and walking in the Holy Spirit.

Charity

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

The Bible talks a lot about having charity and being kind. In fact, the Bible has a whole chapter, 1 Corinthians 13,  (sometimes called the “charity chapter”) dedicated to this subject.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3)

Even if we are able to do great and wonderful things, if we do not have charity, it does not even matter. All that we do only adds up to nothing worthwhile or necessary.

"Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (1 Corinthians 8:1) If you could speak with the tongue of men and angels (which is to speak their language), or be able to understand everything, or even remove mountains, we could become puffed up because of it. Thinking we are so cool to be able to do things such as those, but if we have charity, it will help us balance that out and make our works and actions worth it.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-9)

Charity is the model of who we want to be as Christians. She is strong,  will stay strong through tough times or situations, and never fail. To say the charity suffereth long means that she is patient, vaunteth not herself, means that charity does not boast or brag about itself. "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colossians 3:14)  We want to be able to live our lives through charity and have it on our minds and hearts always.

“But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:10-11)

A verse that I love is in Ecclesiastes, it reads: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) 

There is a time for everything, and that includes times we should move on. That is the theme in the verse, when he became a man he put away childish things, or things a child would do.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

(1 Corinthians 13: 12-13)

There are things we will not be ever able to understand in our lifetime, and that does include things about God, but there will be that time when we will understand, we just have to wait for it.  

Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, it shows what it looks like when we have charity in our lives and practice it. The Good Samaritan is only found in Luke.

25 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10: 25-37)

The Good Samaritan is the one who showed kindness to this certain man. He could have been like the priest and Levite who walked past and did not care. Maybe they said to themselves, “This is not my business.” The Samaritan was on a journey. He might not even have had the time to stop. He could have hurried on, but he did not. He chose to stop, and by doing that, he showed traits of kindness and patience. (When dealing with a sick and broken body, elements of patience are needed.) He did not behave unseemly. He let the injured stranger use his beast and also made sure he would be taken care of. Even though he was not the one to physically nurse him back to health, he still showed charity by taking him to the inn and paying the host to do so. He made sure that the man was alright.

We may not have to help injured people along our paths, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. Our way of showing charity doesn’t have to be some big deed that the world would call amazing. If some little thing you do comes from your heart with charity, it is a big deal.

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5–8)

SANCTITY OF LIFE

Babies never choose to die. That is what everyone needs to remember in this constant battle over

the life and death of unborn children. They say that the little baby inside of the mother’s womb is just a

clump of cells. Just an unimportant thing to throw away, but it’s not. It is a tiny life, a little girl or boy who

will bring somebody joy, make a difference in someone’s life, and be someone’s best friend. From conception

that child is made in the image of God and loved by Him. Psalm 139: 13-14 says ‘For you formed my inward

parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

’

Sadly, countless women throughout the decades have been blinded by the lies that are constantly

being forced in their faces. We recently had to drive by the abortion clinic in my town, and there were ladies

standing in front of it holding up huge colorful signs that said ‘Abortion is legal’ and ‘Abortion is safe’

. It may

be legal here in California, but safe? That is a blatant lie. Is it “safe” for the unborn babies, who are

aborted? Who are killed in their own mother’s womb? No. It isn’t.

No one should have the right to take the life of an unborn child, and yet they do. The doctors, if we

can even call them that, are evil and disgusting, but as Christians, we need to pray for them. It’s important

that we pray for them to repent, and that if they do not repent, that God will stop their evil deeds

immediately.

Abortion is the number one cause of death in America, and yet it is still supported. Our very own

president- who everyone thinks is such a “great guy”

- even supports it. It is extremely hard to see the good

in all of this chaos, but we can rely on God and know that he is working things out for our good and His

glory. He has a plan through all of this and we can count on that. So, with that in mind let’s pray and fight with passion for the sanctity of life!

-Dale