Theme tune to your life

If there was a theme tune to your life, what would it be? How many of us could choose 'My Way' as sung here by Robbie Williams?

The people of Israel had tried to do things their way before - and they'd learnt the hard way that it is better to do things God's way. And as they stand on the banks of the Jordan river, which is in full flood, as they look across into the Promised Land, they are not going to make the mistakes of the past. This time they are going to do it God's way (Joshua 3).

God, in this story, not just shows the people the way (because they have not been this way before), but God makes the way by stopping the river so that the people can cross on dry ground (as their parents and grandparents had experienced in crossing the Red Sea). Joshua's eyes are not on the barrier, the river, but they remain firmly on God. He doesn't focus on the barrier to the promise, he focuses on the one who made the promise.

I wonder what the first guy at the river thought as he put his foot into the water. I wonder what he thought a moment later as the water stopped and he started to walk through on dry ground (not sticky mud). There are times when God wants us to step out in faith. God will do amazing things but not until we put our foot into the water.

Joshua told the people that tomorrow God would do amazing thing among them. They had been waiting for this moment for hundreds of years. But the wait was almost over. When you hear talk of the promises of God does your experience say to you - "yes, that's OK for you, but for me tomorrow never comes". There are no easy answers. There were no easy answers for all those who lived as slaves in Egypt throughout the previous 400 years and more. But God is about to fulfil His promise. Tomorrow does come.

Great Expectations

I wonder how often we allow the past to limit our expectations for the future. We look at our past and even our present and we imagine that things will always be like they have always been. There seems no escape from the rut we are in. And maybe if we don't do that for ourselves maybe we subconsciously do it to those around us. Because (in our opinion) someone has made nothing of their life so far - we assume that their whole life is going to be wasted; that nothing positive will ever come of it.

This week we have looked at the story of Rahab (Joshua 2). When we first meet Rahab she is an enemy of the people of God, she is a prostitute, she is living in a city that will soon be totally destroyed. As Rahab demonstrated her faith in Israel's God by hiding the spies and risked her life by lying to her own king, I wonder what her hopes were for the future. I expect they were short-term - not to be killed along with all the other inhabitants of Jericho.

She could not have imagined that we would know of her life and her story all these years later. (And I'm sure that no one else imagined it either, for she was a foreigner, a woman, a prostitute...). Who dared to dream that she would in time be one of only four women listed in the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1:5). That she would be mentioned among those commended for their faith, alongside people like Abraham, Moses, Noah... (Hebrews 11:31). That she would be used by James as an example of someone whose faith led to actions (for that is the only kind of faith there is) (James 2:25).

God is not limited by our past or our present. When we put our lives in God's hands amazing things can happen that are totally beyond our greatest expectations.

Here we go again!

The summer holidays are over, the new term is in full swing, so here we go again! This session, from September to December we are doing a series at church looking at Joshua. And for Joshua, as he approached the River Jordan, and looked out over the land that God had promised to His people, he may well have had thoughts of 'here we go again'. The people had been here before - 40 years before. 12 spies had spied out the land. Although the report of the land was that it was a good land, 10 of the spies concluded that the people there were too big and strong and there was no way that this land could be theirs. But 2 of the spies (Joshua and Caleb) recognised that it was God who was going to give them the land therefore they need not fear the size of its inhabitants (Numbers 13-14). But the people rebelled against God and therefore they spent the next 40 years wandering in the desert. Moses has died and now Joshua leads the people to the borders of the land. How will the people respond this time? Will they believe that God will indeed go before them? Will they be strong and courageous in the Lord, or will they see the size of their enemies, take their eyes off their God and shake with fear?

Spiritual Warfare

How do you respond to the words 'spiritual warfare'? Some may have never heard the term before and therefore respond 'you what?' Others may think that the term has something to do with the devil and with evil spirits, but their worldview, or their culture, have no room for such things - the whole spiritual dimension has been done away with in the face of science and technology. Others may see that evil spirits have a very real part in day to day life, and as a consequence live in fear. Or maybe their understanding of these things is more cultural than biblical.

In Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul writes his famous passage about the Armour of God. These verses alert us to the fact that there is a spiritual dimension (Paul uses the term, 'in the heavenly realms' throughout Ephesians) and what takes place in the heavenly realms impacts our physical, material lives and vice versa. Although I have explained it like that we should try and get away from this idea of the physical and the spiritual - as if they are two separate things - instead see that they cannot be separated out and should all be viewed together as the present reality.

For some people these are verses that come into their own when Christians find themselves in obvious 'spiritual conflict' situations - for example, going to visit a person who is heavily involved in the occult. But for the rest of the time they are not really that significant.

But it is important to recognise that these verses have a context - the rest of Ephesians. And there is nothing new here. Instead we should see this as a summing up of all that has gone before. Paul has been describing what it means to live a life that is consistent with the amazing calling that we have as Christians. And that's a tall order - one we certainly need God's help with if we are to stand firm. So what are the spiritual battles in our lives? Whenever we know what God wants us to do - we are faced with a choice - to do it or not. At that moment of choice we are in the heat of the battle.

Someone has said something about me at work - do I counter with more gossip, do I seek to defend my reputation, am I humble and gentle and keep silent, and consciously choose to forgive them? Do I consistently work overtime at the office, or do I make sure I am regularly at home to see my children before they go to bed? Am I the best employee I can be or do I go along with everyone else when they slack off when the boss is out of the office?

There are of course times when spiritual attack will be obvious but much of the time it is much more subtle - all those times we have a decision to make. I know what God expects - am I going to be obedient?

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