Read it... I will get it in gear tomorrow night and catch up on blogging on as many of the 10 chapters that I will be behind on, as possible.... sorry for the delay in comments... trying to catch up on some other stuff, too, right now... but I promise that I am reading the chapters, at least, every night. sandJ
Chapter 7: verse 1... what we do affects not only us, but all those around us (see also verse 24-25) verse 3... getting overconfident maybe? verse 4-5... only 36 men die?... not really that big of a problem considering all the people they have killed... but considering that none of their people had died before, they are probably realizing that there is a bigger problem going on... they may realize that God is no longer with them... and if God is not with them, then they are in trouble!... the smallness of the number of dead also makes me think about how I can get so worked up over small stuff, when really I need to not give up on it all, but instead give up myself back to God, so I'm back in line with where I need to be to seek out God's will and carry on in the right way/direction. verse 7... why are we so quick to blame God for our problems... why do we assume it is something God is doing wrong, instead of admitting we must have sinned... God doesn't move away from us, we move away from Him... He is steadfast... it is us who waver.... kind of reminds me of all the times the people, under Moses, had complained and said things like 'why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert?! It would have been better for us if we'd never left Egypt... it was so great... whine, whine, whine'... kind of funny (sad way, I mean) that it is the leader doing it this time. verse 8-9... as if God can be defeated by or because of man! verse 10... I wonder if God is mad... like, 'why are you down on your face as if worshipping me, when all you are doing is mocking my name and blaming me for your sin! Get up and dont dishonor me by your pretend humility'?... or maybe God is telling Joshua to get up firmly as a way of helping him regain his composure and strength so he can do what God wants him to do to 'fix' the 'problem'? verse 12-13... "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction... you cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it"... God can not be around unholiness (Revelation 21:22-27, Ephesians 5:5)... we must get rid of our sinful ways and not go back to them if we want to remain in fellowship (not salvation, but fellowship) with God (Psalm 32, 1 Thesselonians 4:7, Hebrews 12:1, 2 Corinthians 6:14, and 1 John 1:5-7)... no one can serve two masters (so why do we try to?... see Matthew 6:22-24, Luke 16:13-15)... if things aren't going well, have we considered maybe it's because of us and our sin, not God (and definately NOT God's sin... not that God can sin, but sometimes we like to blameshift our faults wrongly onto Him) verse 14-18... talk about being called out! verse 19... 'give glory to the Lord'... the footnotes say this is a solemn charge to tell the truth... I like that... do we equate telling the truth with giving God glory?... also 'give Him praise'... footnotes say this is also translated 'confess to Him'... do we consider our confession a form of praise?... I would guess that God would rather hear a quiet confession and repentance of sin, than an unrepentful person singing a song of 'worship' on Sunday morning... I think this goes back to the previous verses about consecrating ourselves and getting ourselves/our hearts ready to worship God, so that our confession is a form of praise and our words of truth do bring God glory... worship is not just about pretty singing in nice clothes and smiling faces... worship is about our heart condition toward God... it's a life thing, not a 'once-a-week-for-a-few-hours' thing. veres 20-25... just because we repent does not mean that we will be saved from the natural or just consequences of our sin... our repentance is not about keeping out of punishment, anyway, it is about getting back to being right with God... which happens when we remove the sin from our lives (see verse 26-'then the Lord turned from His fierce anger.')
Chapter 8: verse 1... the need for encouragement is an ongoing thing... especially after hard times. verse 2-29... another great military strategy... this one is kind of comical, too... the pictures I am getting in my head of the generalities of these battles is so entertaining... the details are yucky, but the battle strategies themselves are awesome. :) verse 8... 'see to it, you have my orders'... can we be trusted that implicitly to obey the orders we are given by God? what would be the consequence if we don't? how would this battle have turned out if the people were not trustworthy and obedient? what lesson can we take from that for our own lives? verse 14-17... this worked because God can turn our mistakes into triumphs... He uses all things for good (just as Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20... what you meant for evil, God meant for good)... God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) verse 18-19, 26... reminds me of Moses and the staff that he held up (with help) so the Israelites could win the battle over Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16)... although this time it seems more of a signal that a reflection of God's ongoing power, (but might be the same-see verse 26)... either way, the similarities still might have reminded Joshua of the previous battle (that he was at), and given him extra confidence... isn't it cool how we can look back at the previous 'battles' of our lives, see God's faithfulness in helping and restoring us, and then find renewed hope and faith because of it verse 27... I wonder why God let the people take plunder from some places and not others... did it have to do with the religious and ritualistic practices (or lack of them) done by the people they were conquering?... like, were they forbidden to take from people that worshipped gold statues or other idols, but could take plunder from those that didn't have tangible idols?... or was it for some other reason? verse 29... cursed are those who are hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:33, and Galatians 3:13) verse 30-31... when God gives us victory over and area of our lives, or over a struggle or some such thing... whenever God grants us a victory, we should thank Him and give Him praise and worship for His awesome power and graciousness of might. verse 31... 'an alter of uncut stones'... does this just mean that they build it out of boulders and things that were already lying on the ground instead of making a specially shaped carved thing (which could be taken as a carved idol)? is that so the people did not get tempted to use the idol as a 'graven/carved image'? do we let our religious symbols become idols instead of just reminders in our lives? how do we avoid this? how do we ensure that our focus remains on the ONE that should be worshipped, instead of on the act of worship or the tradition of worship or the vessel used for worship? God's desire is to provide us with memory aids, not give us something to replace Him with... it is because of our weaknesses (that we need help in rememberence), not because of an imperfection in Him (it is not that God needs something to make Him worthy of our worship) verse 32... so, is the 'which he had written' referring to Joshua writing the law of Moses, or Moses writing the law of Moses, or Joshua writing the things on the stones that he had copied from things previously written?... Moses wrote down the laws that God had given him (remember the 10 Commandments thing)... but the meaning of this verse I am not sure about verse 33-35... see Deuteronomy 11:29-30, and Deuteronomy 27:1-14 (includes things about the stones from verses 30-32 of this chapter of Joshua)
The IDEA: Romans 1:12-That we may be mutually strengthened, encouraged, and comforted by each others faith. Have you ever read the whole Bible before? We have never done it. We want to share God’s Word, but how can we if we do not know it.
The PLAN: Ecclesiastes 4:12-One person is easily overcome, but two can stand together and conquer. Three is even better, though, as a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. With each others help we can succeed-So, let us team up and read the Bible in a year.
The DATE: We will start Dec 26, 2009 - Dec 26, 2010.
The FYI: We will read 3-4 chapters each day, starting in Genesis, and post thoughts daily. If you do not have a Bible, you can access many translations at www.biblegateway.com. You can also download an audio for each chapter at: http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm
Read it... I will get it in gear tomorrow night and catch up on blogging on as many of the 10 chapters that I will be behind on, as possible.... sorry for the delay in comments... trying to catch up on some other stuff, too, right now... but I promise that I am reading the chapters, at least, every night.
ReplyDeletesandJ
Chapter 7: verse 1... what we do affects not only us, but all those around us (see also verse 24-25)
ReplyDeleteverse 3... getting overconfident maybe?
verse 4-5... only 36 men die?... not really that big of a problem considering all the people they have killed... but considering that none of their people had died before, they are probably realizing that there is a bigger problem going on... they may realize that God is no longer with them... and if God is not with them, then they are in trouble!... the smallness of the number of dead also makes me think about how I can get so worked up over small stuff, when really I need to not give up on it all, but instead give up myself back to God, so I'm back in line with where I need to be to seek out God's will and carry on in the right way/direction.
verse 7... why are we so quick to blame God for our problems... why do we assume it is something God is doing wrong, instead of admitting we must have sinned... God doesn't move away from us, we move away from Him... He is steadfast... it is us who waver.... kind of reminds me of all the times the people, under Moses, had complained and said things like 'why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert?! It would have been better for us if we'd never left Egypt... it was so great... whine, whine, whine'... kind of funny (sad way, I mean) that it is the leader doing it this time.
verse 8-9... as if God can be defeated by or because of man!
verse 10... I wonder if God is mad... like, 'why are you down on your face as if worshipping me, when all you are doing is mocking my name and blaming me for your sin! Get up and dont dishonor me by your pretend humility'?... or maybe God is telling Joshua to get up firmly as a way of helping him regain his composure and strength so he can do what God wants him to do to 'fix' the 'problem'?
verse 12-13... "I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction... you cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it"... God can not be around unholiness (Revelation 21:22-27, Ephesians 5:5)... we must get rid of our sinful ways and not go back to them if we want to remain in fellowship (not salvation, but fellowship) with God (Psalm 32, 1 Thesselonians 4:7, Hebrews 12:1, 2 Corinthians 6:14, and 1 John 1:5-7)... no one can serve two masters (so why do we try to?... see Matthew 6:22-24, Luke 16:13-15)... if things aren't going well, have we considered maybe it's because of us and our sin, not God (and definately NOT God's sin... not that God can sin, but sometimes we like to blameshift our faults wrongly onto Him)
verse 14-18... talk about being called out!
verse 19... 'give glory to the Lord'... the footnotes say this is a solemn charge to tell the truth... I like that... do we equate telling the truth with giving God glory?... also 'give Him praise'... footnotes say this is also translated 'confess to Him'... do we consider our confession a form of praise?... I would guess that God would rather hear a quiet confession and repentance of sin, than an unrepentful person singing a song of 'worship' on Sunday morning... I think this goes back to the previous verses about consecrating ourselves and getting ourselves/our hearts ready to worship God, so that our confession is a form of praise and our words of truth do bring God glory... worship is not just about pretty singing in nice clothes and smiling faces... worship is about our heart condition toward God... it's a life thing, not a 'once-a-week-for-a-few-hours' thing.
veres 20-25... just because we repent does not mean that we will be saved from the natural or just consequences of our sin... our repentance is not about keeping out of punishment, anyway, it is about getting back to being right with God... which happens when we remove the sin from our lives (see verse 26-'then the Lord turned from His fierce anger.')
Chapter 8: verse 1... the need for encouragement is an ongoing thing... especially after hard times.
ReplyDeleteverse 2-29... another great military strategy... this one is kind of comical, too... the pictures I am getting in my head of the generalities of these battles is so entertaining... the details are yucky, but the battle strategies themselves are awesome. :)
verse 8... 'see to it, you have my orders'... can we be trusted that implicitly to obey the orders we are given by God? what would be the consequence if we don't? how would this battle have turned out if the people were not trustworthy and obedient? what lesson can we take from that for our own lives?
verse 14-17... this worked because God can turn our mistakes into triumphs... He uses all things for good (just as Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20... what you meant for evil, God meant for good)... God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)
verse 18-19, 26... reminds me of Moses and the staff that he held up (with help) so the Israelites could win the battle over Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16)... although this time it seems more of a signal that a reflection of God's ongoing power, (but might be the same-see verse 26)... either way, the similarities still might have reminded Joshua of the previous battle (that he was at), and given him extra confidence... isn't it cool how we can look back at the previous 'battles' of our lives, see God's faithfulness in helping and restoring us, and then find renewed hope and faith because of it
verse 27... I wonder why God let the people take plunder from some places and not others... did it have to do with the religious and ritualistic practices (or lack of them) done by the people they were conquering?... like, were they forbidden to take from people that worshipped gold statues or other idols, but could take plunder from those that didn't have tangible idols?... or was it for some other reason?
verse 29... cursed are those who are hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:33, and Galatians 3:13)
verse 30-31... when God gives us victory over and area of our lives, or over a struggle or some such thing... whenever God grants us a victory, we should thank Him and give Him praise and worship for His awesome power and graciousness of might.
verse 31... 'an alter of uncut stones'... does this just mean that they build it out of boulders and things that were already lying on the ground instead of making a specially shaped carved thing (which could be taken as a carved idol)? is that so the people did not get tempted to use the idol as a 'graven/carved image'? do we let our religious symbols become idols instead of just reminders in our lives? how do we avoid this? how do we ensure that our focus remains on the ONE that should be worshipped, instead of on the act of worship or the tradition of worship or the vessel used for worship? God's desire is to provide us with memory aids, not give us something to replace Him with... it is because of our weaknesses (that we need help in rememberence), not because of an imperfection in Him (it is not that God needs something to make Him worthy of our worship)
verse 32... so, is the 'which he had written' referring to Joshua writing the law of Moses, or Moses writing the law of Moses, or Joshua writing the things on the stones that he had copied from things previously written?... Moses wrote down the laws that God had given him (remember the 10 Commandments thing)... but the meaning of this verse I am not sure about
verse 33-35... see Deuteronomy 11:29-30, and Deuteronomy 27:1-14 (includes things about the stones from verses 30-32 of this chapter of Joshua)
Have a wonderful night!
God Bless,
sandJ