With this week’s message from Mark, Pastor Scott gave us a “homework” assignment to read Hebrews ch. 11.  As you read it, how has God encouraged your heart in walking by faith?

In our passage from Mark this Sunday we looked at how the tax collectors, people like Levi, were despised in their day.  Yet Jesus reached out to them.

Colossians 4:5 instructs us to make the most of the opportunities we have with those outside the church.  That is impossible if there are any groups of people whom we despise.

Is there anyone toward whom we do not show the love of Christ?  If so, we need to bring it to the throne of grace and ask God to forgive us and cleanse us of such.  The Lord desires all men to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), and it is His own whom He sends out with the good news of Christ!

As we  finished Joshua today, we were reminded of his statement from chapter 24, verse 15:   “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (ESV).  The question is, is this true of us?

Yesterday Scott pointed out the importance of remembering past things that God has done, that there is  value in this.

For example, it is encouraging to think back of how God saved me and has worked in my life.  As a way of remembrance for us, my wife made a small laminated card a while back outlining some of the ways God has led us through the years.  It reminds us of the great things God has done for us (Psalm 126:3).  You may want to consider making something like that.

But as was also brought out yesterday, we want to remember past victories, yet not to stay there, for there are present battles to be fought.

I hope you are encouraged to press on in the Lord; and remember that the Bible record is also our instruction and encouragement for today.

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 ESV)

With today’s message, we saw that victory is possible and availabe in the Lord.  We should be seeing more of victory and less of defeat in our Christian walk.  What has encouraged you regarding this as we have studied the book of Joshua?

In chapter 9 Joshua fails to seek God and enters into a covenant with Gibeon, a violation of what God had instructed (Ex. 23:31-33, Deut.7:1-2).  But now that a covenant had been made, they were to honor it, and they would have to live with the consequences of their decision.

How often do believers enter into a relationship which is contrary to God’s word, whether it be in marriage, or business, or something else because they failed to seek the Lord and act according to His will?  We may realize later that we have made a mistake, we may recognize that we have sinned and turn to God in repentance and confession — God will forgive disobedience –  but we could find ourselves still living with the consequences of our decisions even years later.

Would you say that there are lessons to be learned from Joshua’s error which may help us today?

After the sin of Achan was dealt with, God gave the children of Israel a second chance to take Ai.  What a wonderful thing it is that our God is a God of second chances.  I have needed that countless times in my life.

We can look in the Bible and see how God has given second chances over and over again.  Think, for example, of Moses fleeing Egypt after he killed a man, or David after he committed adultery, or Peter after he denied the Lord.

It doesn’t mean that sin doesn’t need to be dealt with — it does.  But consider what David Guzik points out, as was quoted on Sunday:  “What is past is past.  We must deal with it before God in repentance and dying to self, and then look forward to what He has for us right now.”

Sometimes the moving forward part is difficult, it can be hard to forgive ourselves.  But if we hold onto something that has been genuinely dealt with, and that God has forgiven us for, then we are hindering the work of God is our lives.  The enemy would love to see us beaten down when God would have us rise up and move forward in victory through Jesus Christ.

John 21 is where we find the beautiful account of Jesus restoring Peter.  Take a look at that passage this week and allow God to speak to your heart, knowing that He is continually calling us to follow Him.

Joshua 7 recounts for us the terrible story of Achan, his sin, and eventual punishment in the valley of Achor.  This valley is also referred to in Hosea 2:15, where it is called a door of hope.  How do you think that it could be that it would be a door of hope?

This is what Matthew Henry said of this:  “The Valley of Achor is said to be  given for a door of hope, because when we put away the accursed thing then there begins to be hope in Israel…”

How about us today?  We need to always deal with sin by confession and repentance, and to know the hope that is found in Jesus.  Consider 1 John 1:9; would you say that this verse illustrates a door of hope to us?

In Joshua 6 we see the wall of Jericho come down.

Although God could have just destroyed Jericho  immediately, He instead took a week to have the people of Israel march around the city.  There are many reasons that could be considered for this, but one thing that spoke to me was how the grace of God is seen through the time that God gave the people of Jericho to repent — to recognize the true God and yield to Him.  Rahab was an example of how God would have mercy in such a case.  Another example is the people of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah.  And 2 Peter 3:9 shows us this same heart of God in longing to see people come to repentance.

God is even today giving people time to recognize Him for who He is and come to a place of repentance  — turning to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  As those who know Him, what are we doing with the time?  Let’s ask the Lord to help us by His Spirit to be sensitive to the opportunities that come our way to proclaim Christ to a lost world, and to make the most of those opportunities.

On Sunday mornings we have been in the book of Joshua and have just looked at chapter 5.  There we see where Joshua meets a man and he asks this man if he is for them or for their adversaries.  The answer is “no”, which seems to be an odd answer, but this man continues and explains that he is the captain of the Lord’s host.  We have here what we believe to be an Old Testament appearance of Christ, and the thought that comes to my mind as I think about His answer to Joshua is this:  It is not about whether the Lord is on our side, but are we on His side?