Observation: This passage speaks of the utter foolishness of men trying to make their mark on the world by working on goals or projects or priorities that were not set for them by God. Everything else, no matter how diligently we pursue excellence and success, will be destroyed in the fires of a God who burns up all works of man’s devising. The only lasting mark we can make is when we do His work in His way. Everything else is rubble.

Application: My perspective is profoundly more limited than God’s, so I have little ability to anticipate all the ways in which my labors may be reduced to rubble. I am like the child who, never having experienced the force of the tides, is building a sand castle at seashore. There is an inexorable power heading toward my diligent efforts that will utterly wipe away any trace of my having labored in the sands, but I am oblivious to it.

In the same way, God is saying that all the things I put my hand to are like that childish sand castle.

It is so easy to look back on my life and shamefully realize the many things I have done that God wasn’t in. The more frightening thing is to examine all the things to which I currently give my life, my time, my money. How much of my current efforts are more kingdom-oriented than those of the past?

To make eternal impact requires constant reevaluation, constant pleas for the Lord to make His view known, and unrelenting willingness on my part to agree with God’s view of things.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that You would find me spending my life more wisely today than was the case yesterday, and that tomorrow I’ll be more effective still. Cause me to be clear-eyed and of good hearing as You evaluate the commitments of my life, for I know that my story is only written in this life, moment by moment.  When the wrath of Your judgment is released, when Your glance of fiery righteousness falls upon the work of my hands at the end of this life, I pray that You will be pleased. Show me how to walk that narrow road day by day.

Observation: This simple statement comes in the midst of a discourse by Paul on death and resurrection—on the differences between those who have eternal life in Christ and will be given new and imperishable bodies in the resurrection, and those who do not know Christ, but are simply “earthy” (1 Cor.15:48). Paul seemed to be stretching the capacity of human language to find words to express the soaring joy of experiencing the last enemy to be defeated: death. The passage comes to its sweeping, exuberant conclusion with this incredible outburst, much like the concluding phrases of the 1812 Overture or the “Hallelujah Chorus”: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (vv. 54–55).

Application: The grandeur and massive sweep of Paul’s words are overpowering, but I am drawn back to his simple statement, “I die daily.”

What an odd thing to say in a chapter that celebrates the end of death. And yet, the reality of daily dying to flesh and pride is the key to the door by which I can experience all the rest. This business of laying down my rights, of surrendering control over my time, my money, even my life itself, this is the essential opening of the passageway that leads to eternal life in Christ.

And that process of voluntary surrender and dying must be done daily; it is never a once-and-for-all kind of thing. My flesh resists, pride screams that it deserves to be supreme, and indeed, as much as I have cultivated pride over the years I’m not surprised that it constantly tries to exalt itself. Yet God calls me to once again lay down all the supposed good stuff of my life as though it was filthy rags, at the foot of His cross, that everything I bring might be covered by His blood as it pours from His broken body.

I desire better things—things better than life itself: an imperishable body, one raised in power and glory.

Prayer: Make me a spiritually discerning man, Lord—one who has been so changed into the likeness of Jesus that You would prepare for me a place at the table when You host the wedding feast for Your dear Son and His bride.

Observation: Israelite disobedience had landed them in Midianite captivity. Hiding in caves, the Israelites were starving because Midianite oppressors repeatedly attacked and destroyed the crops of Israel. In the midst of seven years of such unremitting opposition, the Lord’s angel identified Gideon as a warrior and declared God to be with him.

Application: Can this wimpy farmer be the great leader Gideon, all fearful and tentative? Gideon doubted God’s will or His ability, and needed repeated reassurance, first through the appearance of an angel, then through two different experiences with the fleece, and finally by sneaking into the enemy’s camp. It was during that reconnaissance that he overheard enemies admitting that they were even more fearful than he.

I must learn to take to heart the words of the angel who in Judges 6:12 said, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” God sees things and people as He intends them to be; He creates by His spoken Word. He calls things that will be as though they already are. Gideon’s words belie his behavior. It would take repeated urgings from God for him to become what God had already declared him to be, yet once Gideon’s behavior came into alignment with God’s declarations, the nation had an effective leader.

God has spoken some things over my life that I am not yet walking in. I confess to a certain Gideon-like reluctance to believe that such a thing could be possible. Against all evidence to the contrary, God calls me to walk in what He has declared; His promised results are compelling indeed; all that remains is for me to be obedient.

Prayer: Father, give me eyes to see myself as You see me, as righteous and perfect in Your sight. Increase my faith to believe that all You say about me is true. Cause me to walk in that reality because You have said it is so.

Observation:Israel was in captivity due to disobedience and Deborah, the nation’s prophetess, told Barak, an Israelite military commander, that if he would lead the army against the enemy, God would deliver the enemy into Barak’s hands. But Barak was fearful and agreed to obey only if Deborah would go along. She immediately said that she would go, but that in doing so, a woman, rather than Barak, would get credit for the victory.

Application: As parents, we begin early to instill confidence in our children to respond positively and instantly to instruction. We speak encouragement to them, hoping to teach them to do more than they believe possible. In the instant we take our hands off the bicycle seat so the child will realize his abilities are greater than he thought, fear strikes his heart. But such fear is a passing thing; it is founded on the simple need for greater skill development, which comes quickly as forward momentum carries him along.

Fear misapplied is an awful thing. Barak’s fear, for example, revealed lack of confidence in his leader. He allowed the enemy to loom too large as he considered all that might go wrong. How many times have I been confident in knowing God’s instruction, yet fearful in its execution?

Once such fear has become rooted in the mind, it then moves to the heart, paralyzing any desire to do right. Finally, it takes over the will and derails any intention of obedience.

Fear’s opposite is faith—faith to obey God’s instruction and then to trust that any result is something He can use for good, either in my life or in the person or situation I am dealing with.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for those times when I have known what You wanted me to do or to say, yet failed to act because of fear. I ask You to so bind me to Your purposes for my life that I would never again permit fear to govern my words or actions.

Observation: Psalm 105 is a remarkable record of God’s fulfillment of His covenant with Abraham. It is a clarion call to praise and worship in recognition of God’s faithfulness to Israel from their earliest history. He reminds them of the famine in Canaan and His preparation of Joseph to be their deliverer as Egypt’s prime minister. He recounts the signs and wonders performed through Moses and Aaron to deliver them out of Egypt, and speaks of His watchcare during their years in the desert. The chapter closes as it began, with a reminder of His covenant with Abraham (Verse 42) which He says He remembers forever (Verse 8). As a result, God says He gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for.

Application: This psalm is like a love letter tenderly written by a father who wants his children to remember their family heritage. We all long to know our roots, to have some sense of the characters and events that formed us. “What were their struggles, their victories?” I wonder. “What sort of demons did they have to face down for me to be here today?” We give our parents blank legacy books and hope they would fill them with remembrances that might paint a fuller picture of the family’s heritage.

Psalm 105 is God’s legacy letter. He focuses primarily on His divine initiatives rather than on the people’s shortcomings, and He closes by pointing out that they fell heir to what others had toiled for.

Think about the implications of that statement. There are some who toil and some who reap. Some spend backbreaking lives working in their own strength to build their kingdom upon the earth, only to see it slip through their fingers in the end as God rewards those who have “kept His precepts and observed His laws” (Verse 45). How futile are my best efforts outside the will of God. He says that in the end, the fruit of such toil will bless others. In this I glimpse the truth of Proverbs 13:22, “…a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.”

Just as for Israel, God has had a plan for me from the beginning. I, too, have a promised land where His reward awaits. It is my choice to end my personal desert wanderings, pursuing rewards I hope to create for myself. Ultimately, my desire is to be God’s heir; only in His inheritance will I find “rest from my enemies…and (live) in safety” (Deut. 12:10).  Everything else is just “stuff”.

Prayer: Lord, You have promised an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. Bring my heart into alignment with Yours. I don’t want to waste another minute pursuing less than Your best.

Psalm 44:1-3: Our fathers have told us the work that You did in their days. . . . You . . . drove out the nations; . . . For by their own sword they did not possess the land, and their own arm did not save them, but [they were saved by] Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence.”

Observation: God was making it crystal clear, both in Joshua and in the Psalm, that it’s He who has won the battles. He has cleared the land, He, by His strength, not by men’s chariots and horses and swords and mighty armies. It is God and God alone who wins every victory.

Application: It is apparently easy to forget the truth of this simple lesson, because God pounds it home repeatedly through Scripture. I do have a role; I am His hands, His feet. I can choose to obey; I give time and money and even life itself.

But what then seems to eventually happen is, as I review the wonderful victories that resulted from partnering with God, arrogance and pride creep back in. I begin to think the victory was achieved because I was so very good. I must be awesome; after all, look how God was able to work through me! From there, it’s a small step to building a whole perversion of God’s teaching that was intended to emphasize the wonderful qualities of faith in Him. I marvel at what power and authority my prayers must have, what great mountains have been moved due to the strength of my faith.

What poppycock! What horrible distortion of God’s truth. If I am to take the land and occupy it, whatever the “land” might be, it will happen only as the result of His right hand, His strong arm, and the light of His presence. In myself, I am nothing, but in Him I can do all things.

Prayer: Lord, I ask You to bind me so thoroughly to Your Word, to Your heart, that I will never again stray. And I pray that You would loose from me every chain, every habit, every plan and scheme of the enemy designed to draw me off course. Cause me to hold the things of this world so freely that You can use them, and me, any way You want.

Observation: The heads of the Levitical households approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua to remind them that God had promised that they would be given cities in which to live and land where their cattle could be grazed. In response, all the tribes of Israel contributed to the support of the Levites as God had commanded.

Application: These verses paint a compellingly attractive picture of the future.  Over a period of many years, the people had accepted all the assignments God had given them. They had overcome every enemy because they consistently responded in obedience when God directed them to act. And now they would be able to enjoy the fruit of that obedience. They could enter into rest as Joshua sent them to their homes and families. They had experienced the reality of verse 45, with not one of the good promises of the Lord failing to come to pass.

Oh, how I want that fruit in my life! I was struck by the statement that they should return to their tents to enjoy all those good promises of the Lord.

My earthly body is referred to as a tent in the New Testament, a temporary, fragile dwelling when compared to the magnificent, glorious, permanent dwelling that Christ Himself has built for the eternal pleasure and rest of the saints. What a wonderful day it will be when I hear His summation of His good promises kept in my life, and I am invited to graduate to that awesome, perfect dwelling that He has made for me!

Prayer: Father, keep close accounts with me. When I begin to stray or to tire, bring me back into the center of Your purpose for my life. I don’t want to miss any of the good promises You have for me here. I long for the day when You will call me home, fully at peace and rest in the dwelling place You have fashioned just for me.

Observation: All Israel had assembled following the conquering of the land, but seven tribes had not yet divided and claimed their inheritance. So Joshua devised a plan for having tribal representatives reach agreement as to what portion each tribe should take.

Application: The cry of Joshua to the Israelites is the same as the cry of God’s heart to His people today: “How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord has given you?” Some among us have heard the Gospel and know intellectually what God purchased on the Cross, but still fail to walk in it. Others have been baptized in the past; still others have confessed Christ as Savior at some point, but have never fully laid hold of the reality of a changed life. How the cry of God’s heart for us today is reflected in Joshua’s words!

My heart is heavy with thoughts of so many friends and family members who are in similar situations described above. They have heard but not responded. They know what Christ has done but have turned away or put off their response.  Because of that, many will go into eternity in their lost condition.

Then I examine the ways in which I fall short of “taking possession of all the land which the Lord has given” me, and I am undone by what I see. My personal priorities leave no room for thinking critically of others; instead, I must fall on my face in repentance for pursuing an inheritance of my own design rather than laying claim to His riches.

Prayer: Lord, You have offered me such a wonderful, wide expanse of rich land, so much opportunity to impact the world for Christ, and yet I fall so far short.  Teach me day by day what it is to be truly responsive to You, not just to have a glad heart about all You have done for me. Help me turn that gladness into a good use of time and resources so land purchased by Your blood will bear much fruit.

Observation: The context here is that Joshua and his army were having enormous success confronting and defeating every enemy they came against, but each success had come through repeated consultation with God. One of the peoples yet to be confronted, the Gibeonites, knew they would be defeated, so their leaders created an elaborate lie about being from a far-off country (one that Joshua would not have to fight), and that they had come to pay homage.

Application: Joshua and his men were taken in by the lies because they did not consult God. Instead, Joshua entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites, and then was “stuck” with allowing them to remain in the nation after the deception was discovered because of the covenant he had foolishly made.

Gibeonites were the illegal immigrants of that day. They had entered the country through deception and cunning, knowing that legitimate channels would have remained cut off from them. Joshua’s failure to act wisely laid the groundwork for future problems for the nation.

I must understand that my greatest vulnerability may well come in the midst of a string of victories. I can become overconfident and complacent, and begin to think past victories have been won because I’m so good. But failure to consult God at each step can lead to tragically unintended consequences. The enemy never surrenders his attempts to defeat me or to lead me into compromise, so I must remain vigilant, constantly seeking God’s face.

Prayer: Father, keep me mindful that You are the source of every good thing in my life. Keep me from the sin of presumption, as though I know so well what You want for me that I would act without having instruction or guidance from You.

Observation: These verses draw a distinction between the spiritual and the natural, what one can hear and know and understand when walking in the Spirit and being taught by God versus those who are primarily oriented toward worldly things.

Application: In this passage is the core of my struggle, flesh versus spirit, temporal versus eternal. Everything about my natural life has taught me to pursue natural knowledge and to hone natural skills. From earliest childhood I received an allowance that I might “learn the value of a dollar.” There was financial reward for presenting good report cards. I earned a bicycle by selling countless boxes of greeting cards. Later, I was granted scholarships for excellence in select areas. Through constant reinforcement I was taught to accumulate things and that financial rewards follow hard work. Finance has been but one of many areas of life to which similar principles have been applied.

While this has been the lesson of life, it is not the lesson of Scripture. In order to achieve the kingdom of God, I had to unlearn things I once so diligently pursued. It is hard work precisely because it required an undoing of so much. I had been groomed in one way, but I found that way went against the grain of Christ. What I gradually have had to admit is that even someone who has professed to believe in Christ can still find himself primarily attuned to the things of this world. He wants to pursue the “good” things life offers and he reasons from a worldly perspective even while trying to apply his thoughts to spiritual things.

Prayer: Lord, I repent of those times when my words, thoughts, or actions were birthed out of a worldly mindset. Forgive me for my constant tendency to treat things of this world as more important than the eternal priorities and perspective you want me to have. Renew my mind; restore my heart to Your priorities today.  Thank You Lord.