last Sunday
5Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."
Our pastor had a sermon on the passage of Chapter 3 of the book of Joshua. Good stuff about being prepared. My favorite verse from the whole passage was verse 5. To paraphrase: Prepare yourself and God will do great things!
So am I preparing? Am I getting ready? For what? What am I spending my time on?
Some great books have also crossed my radar this week; one on Prayer by Philip Yancey; another on burdens called The bumps are what you climb on; a third called Grace Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel. I'm focusing on prayer and consistency this new year. For so long I have felt a little overwhelmed by the whole idea of prayer and how/if/why/where/when it works. I've read Stormie O'Martian's books on prayer; and What Happens When Women Pray in the past. But I am a work in progress, so I go to other books on prayer. But then a verse from my Bible study hit me smack in the head. Be Still And Know That I Am God (Psalm 46:10). I don't need to just read other books to prepare, I need to read my Bible (duh) and then Be Still. Go to God and not human authors. Like I said, I'm a work in progress, needing reminders time after time.
On a funny note, we read the following passage also:
Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite."
and my 10 year old leans over and says, "It sounds like a bunch of diseases, like parasites."
Our pastor had a sermon on the passage of Chapter 3 of the book of Joshua. Good stuff about being prepared. My favorite verse from the whole passage was verse 5. To paraphrase: Prepare yourself and God will do great things!
So am I preparing? Am I getting ready? For what? What am I spending my time on?
Some great books have also crossed my radar this week; one on Prayer by Philip Yancey; another on burdens called The bumps are what you climb on; a third called Grace Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel. I'm focusing on prayer and consistency this new year. For so long I have felt a little overwhelmed by the whole idea of prayer and how/if/why/where/when it works. I've read Stormie O'Martian's books on prayer; and What Happens When Women Pray in the past. But I am a work in progress, so I go to other books on prayer. But then a verse from my Bible study hit me smack in the head. Be Still And Know That I Am God (Psalm 46:10). I don't need to just read other books to prepare, I need to read my Bible (duh) and then Be Still. Go to God and not human authors. Like I said, I'm a work in progress, needing reminders time after time.
Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite."
and my 10 year old leans over and says, "It sounds like a bunch of diseases, like parasites."
Good post! It's hard to recommend other books after your Bible comment (obviously), but I thought "Falling in Love with Prayer" by Mike MacIntosh was a very good book on prayer and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteFunny comment about disease names too. I always enjoy when people try and pronounce Bible names out loud. Seems like there are several strategies - 1) Go for what you think you remember what someone else said before, 2) Stumble through it slowly trying to pronounce every syllable individually as you read it, 3) Try and work every name out ahead of time with a pronunciation guide, 4) Just confidently blurt out something and hope that your boldness will lead to it not being challenged. Our pastor goes for the last method, but he's been way off on some of them for sure.
Wanna know something cool? Joshua 3:5 was the central verse in the sermon that was taught the day I was saved. :) I remember my pastor at the time was speaking of the crossroads that we all face in our lives, just as the Israelites were facing, the decisions we have to make and ultimately, the choice to trust God and follow Him. I felt exactly as so many have said before - "Did the pastor know I was sitting in the congregation, because I'd swear he wrote it just for me! That sermon was about ME!" You can't tell me the Lord didn't have a plan for me that day! :)
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