Judges 9-10; Ps 49; 1 Cor 16

Scripture - Ps 49:13-15 13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them;
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me.

Observation - Psalms discusses a man who puts too much trust in his own ways and his own devices. He believes he is righteous but truly he is deceived and those that follow him are also deceived. It is amazing how many trust in their own ways and then begin convincing others that their way is correct. They are all led to the grave - death will begin to feed on those lives. Life comes through a relationship with Jesus. Allowing His righteousness to guide our lives and His opinions to supersede ours leads us to a redeemed life.

Application - When I think I have it all figured out, that is the moment to begin to stress. Understanding that I am what God has made me and I go where He tells me - is the only path that is right. God will not lead me astray. The bible says "Lean not on your own understanding but all your ways acknowledge him." Today I will allow God to lead my footsteps and go where He tells me to go.

Prayer - Father my life is in your hands. As always I give you permission to direct every footstep and every conversation today.

Judges 1-3; 1 Cor 12

Scripture - Judges 1:6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

Observation - I was thinking about why the Israelites do such a thing. Adoni - Bezek had done the same thing to people that he had captured and they were serving his table and picking up scraps. Looking deeper shows you that someone with no big toes and no thumbs is unfit for battle. The big toes carries 40% of the weight of the body and is the thrusting point for movement. The thumbs allow you to hold the sword and weapons of battle. Basically this man was no longer a warrior. He was stripped of all dignity and honor. We was only fit for picking up scraps. Too often the enemy tries to cripple us by taking our spiritual big toes and thumbs. He makes us Ill-equipped for battle.

Application - As we read in 1 Cor 12 we need all body parts to function. Too often the enemy tries to steal our thumbs and toes by having us touch unclean things and walking where we don't belong. It may not completely kill us but it makes us unfit for battle. Time to touch only holy things and walk according to the scripture.

Prayer - Father keep the unholy from my sight, my grasp and my walk.

Joshua 23-24; Ps 44; 1 Cor 11

Scripture - 1 Cor 11:29-32 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Observation - Paul is giving some fairly strong instruction here in this passage. He is telling the church - when you take part in the Lord's Supper it is a very serious issue. If you eat and drink in this manner and have not taken a serious look at yourself you are setting yourself up for judgment. Paul says that we should take a close look at our actions, take a close look at our heart and judge ourselves so that we do not come under judgment. He goes on to say that this is the reason so many of us are weak, sick and asleep. That we fail to take a close look at ourselves and make corrections. We are afraid to evaluate our performance and discern the weak areas of our heart and actions. This is causing too many to fall away. Self evaluation is the key to growth in business. Business take a very serious approach to looking internally and evaluating performance, process, operations, corporate citizenship, effectiveness and vision. Believers won't do this and therefore are weak, sick and asleep. There is something about looking inside that keeps you alive, keeps you growing, keeps you looking for something more.

Application - The key to growth is looking for points of weakness and correcting them. Understanding that "We all sin and fall short of God's glory" puts us in good company. We all have some weak points. Looking internally at the ones that are causing judgment and correcting them, repenting of them is key. God cannot discipline for growth if we will not look and evaluate what is happening in our lives and in our hearts.

Prayer - Father - help me to continue to look deep inside to those places that are causing hindrance. Father I need you to help me not only identify the weak spots but to correct them.

Joshua 15-17; 1 Cor 8

Scripture - Josh 17:14-18 Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the LORD has blessed us until now?" 15 So Joshua answered them, "If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you." 16 But the children of Joseph said, "The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel." 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph — to Ephraim and Manasseh — saying, "You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong."

Observation - The people of Joseph are complaining about the size of their inheritance. They are concerned that they don't have enough room and that their portion of land is too small to fit the people. Joshua responds - "if you think your land is too small go take some more. There is plenty of land in the hill country and the forest." But fear comes from Ephraim and Manasseh and they begin to look at the strength of the enemy. The iron chariots and the many soldiers. Joshua speaks as we should today - If you want more territory go do the work and you will get more territory. Some things are not free. Actually most things are not free. God knock down a few trees and drive the enemy out of your territory.

Application - Saundra and I have been dealing with this very issue as of late. We want more territory from God and the enemy is showing us his strength. His affliction and distractions continue to show us that he is very real and very present. While he doesn't have iron chariots and swords - he does have affliction, pain, distraction and sickness. I believe God wants us to drive them out today. God is telling us to cut down the trees right now and to take possession of the land. We need to keep clearing and keep cutting until we have complete control of the land around us. God is the victor - though they are strong we will possess the land.

Prayer - Father I speak right now to the enemies of our life and our ministry. I ask God for advancement not retreat. I ask for blessing and not curse. I speak life into our house, our church, our family and our ministry. God Bless abundantly.

Joshua 12-14; 1 Cor 7

Scripture - 1 Cor 7:14-16 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

Observation - In this portion of scripture Paul is trying to clear up some major misconceptions about the relationship of marriage and the eternal impact actions of married and unmarried people have. He is trying to explain the sanctity of marriage at the same time encourage men and women to not be desperate to marry but to focus on their call from God. In verses 14-16 Paul gives some encouragement to those living with unmarried spouses. While frustrating to be in a home where the beliefs and views are completely different - Paul says stay there because you have great impact on the unbelieving spouse. You don't know - you might get them saved. He goes on to say that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified or made holy by the believing spouse. In my mind - it shows me God's great concern for this person. God would flow over the grace to that person to encourage them to come to a saving knowledge of His son.

Application - I am reminded of this couple we used to know. The wife came to church and gave her heart to the Lord. She was in some tough situations and began to clean up her actions and change her life. She plugged in to some serving areas of the church and for a few years prayed desperately for her husband to share her faith. I remember the discouragement as we walked through this relationship with her. He would come on special occasions but never really was impacted by Jesus. Then one day about 7 or 8 years later - I heard that he came to church, connected with the pastor, was encouraged to come for a consistent period and then soon after gave his heart to Jesus. Their marriage is better than ever and God is moving greatly in their lives. We toss aside relationships too quickly - we need to hold on and see what God can do.

Prayer - Father help me to encourage those with unbelieving spouses and to pray continually for their salvation.

Deut 13-15; Gal 1

Scripture - Gal 1:6-7 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Observation - Paul makes an assessment of the church at Galatia that really could be made today. This church was passionate about their conversion and the power that Jesus placed in them, but very quickly began to turn to their old ways. They would listen to every wind of doctrine and be turned away to another direction. Paul submits that there is only one gospel and that they should subscribe to it and to it alone. There is only one doctrine - there are not multiple ways to Christ and you must keep singularly focused on the goal.

Application - So many things cause us to be distracted. We take on too many projects, we listen to too many voices, we go in too many directions. Singular focus on the goal to keep ourselves moving forward with Jesus. There is only one way - not multiple ways to Christ. We must focus ourselves on the prize and not be turned side to side on every great idea that comes along.

Prayer - Father keep my mind, my spirit, and my heart focused.

Deut 10-12; Mark 16

Scripture - Mark 16:15-18 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Observation - Jesus words - Go into all the world and preach the gospel - he who believes and is baptized will be saved. Speaking with new tongues, casting out demons, laying hands on the sick - it is time for a revival. Jesus call on our lives is to go into all the world and preach the gospel - getting people saved - healing the sick - casting out demons. It is time to rise up and take our position to move on our land with a great move of God and get some folks saved.

Application - We talk a lot about witnessing, compassion, prayer and power in the holy spirit. I believe it is time for a revival of the kind of belief that will cause us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. I would love to see more missionaries being sent, more evangelists being sent, more preachers being sent. God raise us up to go...

Prayer - Father raise us up out of our places and send us to all the world.

Deut 7-9; Mark 15

Scripture - Deut 7:1-5 "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. 5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

Observation - Reminded that Deuteronomy is a recap of the books of the law and that Moses is again telling and reminding the people of what God had commanded - it brings new emphasis to this portion of scripture. God is telling the people - I am bringing you into this new place and there are seven nations greater than you that I am going to conquer for you and when I do - don't coexist with them. Don't mingle their stuff with your stuff or their families with your families. It brings a renewed emphasis that when we come out of our old lives and into this new life with Christ we must separate ourselves from the things that cause us to stumble. So many people get saved and spend their days in the same things that got them into trouble to begin with. Salvation is a change of heart - but the change of actions is up to us. We need to discipline ourselves not to coexist with sin but to totally avoid it.

Application - Holy things are holy. God is calling us to dominion and to a life that is lived separate of the old things. Things that co-mingle with us from our past can only cause us to stumble today. Today I must keep holy the things that are holy and avoid the things that are not - to keep them completely removed from my life.

Prayer - Father give me strength and power to conquer lands but to remove the enemy in them and not to co-exist with them.

Deut 1-2; Mark 12

Scripture - Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Observation - To understand the greatest commandment ever given. One of the teachers of the law in the midst of great debate over the scriptures comes and asks that very thing'; What is the greatest commandment? - Jesus replies "To love God will all your heart and your neighbor as yourself" To think that it all comes down to these two things. All of the law is held on these two things. Really all that God wants is for His people to love Him and to love each other. We get this so wrong. Trying to find the right doctrine, fighting amongst ourselves. Could you imagine a world focused on loving God and loving each other.

Application - In the midst of all the programming and plans - the greatest lesson we can teach is to love God and love each other. Everything in hinged on this...

Prayer - Father, make it my focus not only to love you and love those around me, but to teach that word continually.

Num 32-33; Mark 10

Scripture - Num 32:1-8 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." 5 Therefore they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." 6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?

Observation - The children of Reuben and Gad came to Moses and wanted to settle outside of God's plan - in a land that looked like it was pleasurable and sustaining. They had surveyed the land by their own human estimation and determined that it was good for their business. They proposed to Moses that they stop their and dwell in that land. Moses' response was quite direct. He said "Why would you stop here while the rest of us are fighting for the land God intended" "Why do you want to discourage the whole group with your actions". It is amazing to me the principle nestled in here. When we stop in a place that looks right but is shy of God's purpose - not only do we abandon the greater mission, we discourage the rest of the troops. We never want to stop shy of God's ultimate plan for our life. We need to keep fighting and keep moving forward to walk in the land HE has provided - not one that meets most of our earthly criteria.

Application - The land we are in may not be the land we are designed for. Even though the results are relatively good - God wants phenomenal results. We need to keep moving and taking ground until we have been given a release from God.

Prayer - Father - Don't let me survey the land based upon my assessment. This is all yours and I am simply honored to be a steward over it. Help me to keep my eyes on the real prize.

Num 30-31; Mark 9

Scripture - Mark 9:40 For he who is not against us is on our side.

Observation - In this portion of scripture Jesus is dealing with the disciples about someone getting involved in ministry that is not traveling with the disciples. This man was driving out demons and ministering to people and the disciples tried to stop him - but Jesus said "whoever is not against us is for us" - I get the feeling from the words Jesus is asking "Whose side are you on?" You are either for Jesus or you are against Him. There is no in between - kind of goes back to that lukewarm scripture. Too often we try to stop people from doing ministry because they haven't been with us - but what we end up doing is pushing them to the other side.

Application - Once we determine that we are for Him. We should let people grow into their ministry maturity. I can see the disciples assessing the situation with this man and determining that he isn't doing it right, he isn't saying it right, he isn't telling it right - when people only get it right when they are allowed to do it wrong enough. There was this story of this new employee that was working with this very large customer. The employee put together a transaction for this client and it was placed incorrectly. The deal ended up costing the his company over $1 million dollars. When the new employee realized what was done - he began to pack up his office and leave the company. The owner came by and asked - "what are you doing?" The employee responded - "I am leaving, you couldn't possibly want me here after a mistake like that?" The owner asked "Are you going to do it again? And did you learn anything?" The employee responded "Of course, I will never do that again" The owner said "Then get back to work - we just spent over a million dollars training you".

People need a chance to fail in order to succeed.

Prayer - Father help me to see the failures as an opportunity to learn and to grow. To invest in those that are working in your business and remembering that they are not against you but for you.