The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Joshua 1-2, Psalm 105
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Background Information: Joshua 1-2, Psalm 105
Joshua picks up after Moses has died. Joshua is Moses’ successor and has a long track record of faithfulness and good leadership. Several times you will read, “Be strong and courageous” with the qualifier, “…for the Lord is with you.” This is human grit, empowered by God’s grace. Since God is going to be with them, they must and they could, choose to be strong and courageous. God will give them victory that is unable to be explained in mere human terms, and yet they must go into difficult military conflict. The first test of their ability to balance grace and grit is Jericho. It was a strategic, fortified city state that had to be defeated if they were to proceed into the land. Spies are sent ahead as before, and they return with a good report (though they have to run from enemy combatants who were pursuing them). This is a good example of being “strong and courageous.” Though their lives had been at risk, they were confident that the Lord would give them victory. If we want to grow in our faith, then our faith as it currently is must be tested. We are prone to want gain without pain. Though understandable, this is not how it works. Every type of human growth requires testing and trial. The growth of a muscle, or relationship, or a skill…all require a kind of pain. In Jericho the spies encounter a woman named Rahab. She is an example of a Canaanite who follows the one true God and is saved. Rahab is one of five women who make it into the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter one. A Canaanite prostitute is not hidden, but highlighted in the Lord’s background. She is not highlighted because of her former life of sin but because of her faith in the one true God that was expressed in her choice to take a great risk. Her faith was revealed in her actions. She was strong and courageous, and the Lord was with her. Grace and grit.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for the team from River that is leaving soon to go to Central Asia. Ask God to guide this team to share the gospel boldly. Pray that the Lord would remove the blinders from the eyes of unbeliever so that they might see and believe that Jesus is the way.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call some now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.
Review the Storyline Map: Where we are in the Bible
Act 1 God’s Plan for All People
Scene 1: The Creation: The God of all of life.
Scene 2: The Fall: Rejecting God’s vision for life
Scene 3: The Flood: God judges and makes a covenant to preserve life
Act 2 God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a Covenant People
Scene 2: Deliverance: God rescues his people.
Week 11:
Scene 3: The Sinai Covenant and law: God embraces and instructs his people
Day 1: Deuteronomy 16-19
Day 2: Deuteronomy 20-23
Day 3: Deuteronomy 24-27
Day 4: Deuteronomy 28-30
Day 5: Deuteronomy 31-34
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Day 6: Joshua 1-2, Psalm 105
Scene 5: Kings and Prophets: God shapes a kingdom people
Scene 6: Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Scene 8: Exile: God disciplines his people
Scene 9: Return: God delivers his people again
Act 3 God’s New Covenant People
Scene 1: Christ’s coming: God’s true king arrives
Scene 2: Christ’s ministry: God’s true king manifest his kingdom
Scene 3: Christ’s deliverance of his people: God’s work through the death, resurrection, and enthronement of his king
Scene 4: Christ’s church: God’s people advance the kingdom
Scene 5: Christ second coming: God future for the kingdom