It’s Always Been That Way!

As I begin our Tuesday post, I’m multitasking – Bible study, laundry and football.   You think I’m kidding.

Perhaps I really will be brief with this one.   :)

Joshua 2.

Rahab.

Usually referred to as Rahab the harlot.  But oh I like Rahab. She’s one of my favorite Old Testament Saints. She did become a Saint, you know? From women of red to a woman in RED. By faith she was washed in the blood of the LAMB as surely as you and I.

Joshua sent spies to Jericho. They came to Rahab’s house. The king sent his assassins to her house looking for them. She concealed them. And when the henchmen (as Leah Adams called them in our work book) went on their way, Rahab had a word with Joshua’s men.

9. And said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land,

and I made a note in my margin: “how did she know?”

and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.  10. For we have heard

And there’s my answer!

Romans 10: (King James Version) 17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It’s always been that way — faith comes when we hear the truth and believe.

(10) how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.  11. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is GOD in heaven above and on earth beneath.

And when she heard and believed their GOD, He became her GOD, and she found much courage.

So will we!

Praying for These

ABBA, You are awesome! Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. For giving us Your Word and for making It live for us and in us! I pray to love Your Scriptures more and more. And I pray that for our Readers too.  We bring our Prayer for These People and our IDOK Troops, collectively, and ask that You individually meet each need in JESUS name. Amen and amen.

Until Wednesday —

Kathie

Got Milk?

May I just throw some notes on this page for your Monday review?

Doing my workbook assignment has given me a chance to visit several books of Holy Writ today and I’ve had a really good time!

One such reading was at Joshua 7: 1-26 and I made some notes and highlighted a couple verses as follows (more or less):

v. 9 “ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?” (NASB)

Joshua was praying here after a serious military defeat and, I think, Joshua got a little emotional and had some temporary memory loss.  :)  I think he was afraid (but then who wouldn’t be) and forgot Who he was talking to. So I’m sitting here safely in my chair, how many millenniums later, talk about arm-chair quarterbacking! –  and thinking had he remembered God’s promise to Abraham he would have prayed differently. He might have said to himself as he prepared to pray, ‘okay, we will not be completely destroyed, the Messiah has been promised to us. But something is definitely big time wrong here, we need to do something, but what?’

But, honesty and integrity demand that I ask myself, would I, do I, when I am deep in the ‘trenches’ of fear, defeat, failure, disappointment, loss, lack, etc., etc. remember the promises YAHWEH has made to me?  How about you?

And I could end right here and it would be a word for all of us to remember. Remember and do better. And I want that for us. To learn to do better. And we will.

But then you would wonder why the title is ‘Got Milk?’.

You see this military defeat was brought about because there was sin in the camp.

The LORD responded to Joshua’s prayer, in part, this way:

13.   . . . you cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.” (NASB)

Would you like to know what I get from this for us today? Good. Remember that commercial, ‘Got milk?’ Yes? Well, . . .

Got practicing, hidden sin in your heart (life)?

Then you can expect defeat.

We cannot expect the lavish favor of God upon our lives when we are harboring sin of any kind within our hearts or our practice.  Neither can we expect to meet additional temptation without defeat if we are practicing hidden sin.
Our only hope is to R E P E N T.
And then we will be strengthened and blessed.

1 John 1: (New International Version, ©2010)9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Now THAT is good news! GREAT news!  Big sins, little sins (in our estimation), ALL sins — when we repent (that is finally agree with Him that it is sin and be willing to turn from it), HE will forgive and cleanse! And we get to start over again!

Got Milk? Deal with it before it sours and makes a really stinky mess!

I am grateful, ABBA, that You are LORD over all things; all that concerns us as well as those things that we are not even privy to, to concern us. I commend now our Readers to You for blessings. Thank You for this lesson. I pray You will use it to bless and minister in JESUS’ name. I bring as well our IDOK Troops, and every concern of every Reader now and for as long as Readers come to these pages, asking that You tend us as You will to honor JESUS and conform us to His Image. Amen and amen.

For those of you who read from your email inboxes and have not visited THE WHITE STONE online for a while, let me invite you to visit again.  I hope you will find some fun things and encouraging ones as well.

Until Tuesday!

Kathie

Scripture passages above were obtained from Biblegateway.com

Fire Study

This has been a study day, but not much IDOK writing. Leah over at The Point began our on-line study of From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest – Creating A Godly Legacy today. So I viewed the video, answered two questions and did Day 1 of Week 1 of my workbook and after a walk started background reading for Sunday School.  Nothing of any significance done in the house but the study has been been just what I wanted to do! So let me pull something from my study materials and share a short :) word with you for our Friday time together.

We are in I Kings 16:29 – 22:53 – well that’s the background Scripture – and no I’m not finished reading it all yet.  Got some good notes though.

Read with me I Kings 18:36-39

Verse 36. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said,

Now let me stop right here to say the prophets of Baal had been calling on him all day, screaming, hollering, yelling, cutting themselves, jumping up and down, even tore down the altar of the LORD with all their hysterics, jumping and dancing around.  And as you know, Baal answered not a word. No fire. Nothing. Zilch!

Lets get back to Elijah. “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”

They yelled, screamed, begged, pleaded; Elijah talked! That is what prayer is TALKING TO GOD.  Do you love it?

Verse 38. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.  When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.”

Well, it’s about time!

And yet have we not all been so far out there in left field that God had to rain ‘fire’ to get us to get down so we could get up? Have we not all yelled, screamed, danced around the truth, and mutilated our testimony? Well, Praise the LORD! Perhaps not all, but for those of us who have “You (HE) have turned their heart back again.” That’s what Elijah asked for and that is what he got.

Let’s see what else we can learn from Elijah’s prayer. He began by reciting who God is. That always helps. To know Who you are talking to. Especially when we are talking to GOD. To know Who He is and Who He has been to YOU. What His history is with you. It is really good to remember that when we are talking to Him. Now I may be naive but I don’t think Elijah was worried, at this point, about his reputation or God’s; but He was reminding himself by reminding God that GOD always keeps His word and His character never changes. It would be good for us to keep that in mind too when we are talking to Him. And Elijah was concerned about the people. We should be too. All peoples. Family. Friends. People we like. People we don’t like. Concerned enough to pray that the LORD will turn wayward hearts back to Him or to Him for the first time. And may it be that we begin this praying before it takes fire hot enough to burn stone to get their attention or ours.  I’m just saying….

Let me encourage you to visit Leah’s Blog even if you are not doing the study.

And stop by Praying for These and refresh the names in your mind.

Well, DADDY GOD, it’s on the screen. You are so good to me! Do what You will with it in the hearts of our Readers. And thank You for the good work You have begun in each of us. I pray we won’t back down now but keep on keeping on with You. Thank You for reading with me the Names on our list; thank You for loving them and seeing their faces and their hearts and their needs, even the deepest ones. And thank You for working with them and on their behalf. Our IDOK Troops too. Those home and those abroad – we pray for holiness and for transformations as well as peace and safety and protection.  Now thank You for Elaine, she blesses me every time I read at her blog. I do so pray that You will completely heal her and more than make up to her what the cancer has taken. And thank You for Leah and Kimberly and so many other sister Bloggers out there. Thank You for this media of sharing. Help us, help me, be careful with it. Help us value people, treasure them and lift them up and yet at the same time never, ever, ever compromise what You have spoken in Your Word.  To balance hating the sin but loving the sinner. Thank You for loving on our People in JESUS NAME.  Amen and amen.

Holy hugs till Monday!!

Kathie