Not many military commanders would come up with the campaign strategy that we read of in Joshua 6. The approach to taking the city of Jericho was: 1) circumcise the whole army, 2) march around the city blowing trumpets and 3) after doing this for a week everyone was to shout. We are told that parts of the city wall were 20 feet thick and 25 feet high. Trumpets and shouting don't sound the best approach.
We thought we'd try it at church this morning on a smaller scale.
As you can see - nothing happened. Maybe we didn't march long enough or shout loud enough. Or maybe that was the whole point. God told Joshua in verse 2 that He was going to give them the city - they just had to be obedient to all of God's instructions. For this battle belonged to God.
What battles are you in at the moment? Are these battles that you should be in? 5:13-15 reminds us that God is not the sort of god who can be summoned on demand to give us success. Instead we should be getting involved in the struggles He is already involved in. And then we need to check that we're fighting our battles with God's weapons rather than the world's weapons. Ephesians 6:12 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 remind us that we are in a spiritual battle. And as disciples of Jesus we use the weapons of love rather than hatred and revenge, we look to be last rather than first, we seek first His kingdom rather than our own agenda... It might seem crazy at the time, but no more crazy than shouting at a wall and expecting it to fall down.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Monday 20 October 2008
Past, Present and Future
One of the reasons people flocked to hear Jesus speak was because he gave them the hope and the dream that their future did not have to be defined by their past. Even the present need not define the future. Things don't need to go on being the way they are now.
In Joshua 5 God is preparing the people of Israel to go in and take the Promised Land. And in doing so He deals with their past, 'Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you'. It wasn't that they were to forget their past - for they were about to go on and celebrate the Passover, the annual reminder that they were slaves in Egypt and that God has rescued them. But because of what God had done they were no longer to allow themselves to be held back by the past. God had dealt with that past, and now they were on the brink of moving into something new.
God can deal with our past so that it no longer defines our future. Sometimes we get into destructive cycles of behaviour that are driven by past experiences and it seems that we are just unable to escape. We keep on making the same bad choices. We get into patterns of repeated failure. But it doesn't need to be that way.
How were the people of Israel about to leave their past behind and embrace a new future?
1. They re-dedicated themselves to God, so that He was reflected in their lives.
2. They remembered what God had done for them in the past, without allowing their past to hold them back.
3. They got on board with what God was doing rather than imagining that God was at their beck and call.
In Joshua 5 God is preparing the people of Israel to go in and take the Promised Land. And in doing so He deals with their past, 'Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you'. It wasn't that they were to forget their past - for they were about to go on and celebrate the Passover, the annual reminder that they were slaves in Egypt and that God has rescued them. But because of what God had done they were no longer to allow themselves to be held back by the past. God had dealt with that past, and now they were on the brink of moving into something new.
God can deal with our past so that it no longer defines our future. Sometimes we get into destructive cycles of behaviour that are driven by past experiences and it seems that we are just unable to escape. We keep on making the same bad choices. We get into patterns of repeated failure. But it doesn't need to be that way.
How were the people of Israel about to leave their past behind and embrace a new future?
1. They re-dedicated themselves to God, so that He was reflected in their lives.
2. They remembered what God had done for them in the past, without allowing their past to hold them back.
3. They got on board with what God was doing rather than imagining that God was at their beck and call.
Tuesday 14 October 2008
Remember, Remember
Have you ever forgotten anything important - like a birthday or other anniversary, or an important meeting or appointment? If I don't write things down in my diary as soon as they are fixed there is always the chance that I will forget. Then a few weeks down the road I will have the vague feeling that I should probably be somewhere - but no idea where I should be or what I should be doing. Thankfully with modern technology, between my PDA, my computer and my mobile phone along with a wall calendar most things get remembered - even if sometimes it isn't until the last minute.
So if we need to write things down in order to remember why is it that we often assume we will remember God's deeds in our lives with no written or other form of physical and visible reminder? In Joshua 4 the people were instructed by God to build a stone memorial which would act as a permanent reminder to them and their children, and to all other people, that God had dried up the Jordan allowing them to cross over on dry ground. So the stones would either act as a reminder to those who had forgotten the story, or would be a prompt for a quick history lesson for those who had never heard it in the first place.
As Christians we have the communion service (eucharist, mass, breaking of bread...) which acts as a physical and visible and regular reminder of Jesus' death on the cross for us and of his love for us. But are there things we could be doing to help us remember God's goodness in our lives?
We could keep a prayer diary - where we record our prayers and God's answers. As we look back through the pages, the weeks, and months we will see how God has answered our prayers.
We could keep photographs and combine them with verses of Scripture that remind us of significant events in our lives, where God has done something for us.
I have a small cross next to my bed, made out of a spent bullet cartridge, a reminder that the sacrificial love of Jesus conquers all, that love is greater than hate.
Maybe you have other creative, physical and visible reminders of God's love for you that you would like to share with us here.
So if we need to write things down in order to remember why is it that we often assume we will remember God's deeds in our lives with no written or other form of physical and visible reminder? In Joshua 4 the people were instructed by God to build a stone memorial which would act as a permanent reminder to them and their children, and to all other people, that God had dried up the Jordan allowing them to cross over on dry ground. So the stones would either act as a reminder to those who had forgotten the story, or would be a prompt for a quick history lesson for those who had never heard it in the first place.
As Christians we have the communion service (eucharist, mass, breaking of bread...) which acts as a physical and visible and regular reminder of Jesus' death on the cross for us and of his love for us. But are there things we could be doing to help us remember God's goodness in our lives?
We could keep a prayer diary - where we record our prayers and God's answers. As we look back through the pages, the weeks, and months we will see how God has answered our prayers.
We could keep photographs and combine them with verses of Scripture that remind us of significant events in our lives, where God has done something for us.
I have a small cross next to my bed, made out of a spent bullet cartridge, a reminder that the sacrificial love of Jesus conquers all, that love is greater than hate.
Maybe you have other creative, physical and visible reminders of God's love for you that you would like to share with us here.
Sunday 5 October 2008
Harvest 2008
Even if you're not responsible for paying for the food you eat then I'm sure you're aware that food prices are going up, along with energy bills, petrol ... all making the cost of living more expensive than it was a year ago. But even with the effects of the credit crunch and the downward turn in the housing market, if you are reading this (i.e. you have access to a computer and electricity) it is unlikely that you are doing so with an empty stomach. For many of us in 'the west' increased food bills probably means little more than less luxury items it the weekly shop - and maybe we look out for the odd bargain more than we did before.
But for many people living in countries like Bangladesh failed harvests simply mean that there is no food. In a good year a farmer might sell a proportion of his rice to the government and keep some back for his family, therefore providing valuable income with which to buy essentials, such as medicines, and also having enough to eat, and seed to plant the following year. But when turmoil in the earth's weather systems causes disastrous flooding which wipes out your crop then you have nothing. And when you have nothing - you die.
Today is our harvest service, in which we thank God for His provision, but also recognise that we who have much have a responsibility to those who don't. Once again this year we are supporting the ongoing work of BMS World Mission. If you were not at one of our services you can download the video, filmed in Bangladesh, and the meditation (based on Matthew 25:31:46) at www.bmsworldmission.org/harvest2008.
But for many people living in countries like Bangladesh failed harvests simply mean that there is no food. In a good year a farmer might sell a proportion of his rice to the government and keep some back for his family, therefore providing valuable income with which to buy essentials, such as medicines, and also having enough to eat, and seed to plant the following year. But when turmoil in the earth's weather systems causes disastrous flooding which wipes out your crop then you have nothing. And when you have nothing - you die.
Today is our harvest service, in which we thank God for His provision, but also recognise that we who have much have a responsibility to those who don't. Once again this year we are supporting the ongoing work of BMS World Mission. If you were not at one of our services you can download the video, filmed in Bangladesh, and the meditation (based on Matthew 25:31:46) at www.bmsworldmission.org/harvest2008.
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