“When life speeds up, slow down.”

Busy or fulfilling? Ask Moses. Israel went into Egypt as a family of 70 and came out a nation under his leadership.

Talk about a time when Moses’ life sped up faster than a tornado! He went from leading a flock of sheep/goats in the desert to instantaneously leading a flock of millions out of Egypt into the desert.

Yet, when his life sped up, Moses repeatedly went up a mountain to spend precious time with the Lord, despite being in contact with Him between visits. It was absolutely necessary to slow life down when it wanted to speed up.

Think about it. Does God really need our help to carry out His plans? He is unencumbered by time. He is, was and will be all at once (Rev. 1:4). All three time descriptors show us that God isn’t caught up in time. Furthermore, God will accomplish His plans on His own timetable.

As we surrender our time to Him, we can play a role in that plan. BUT, life is not about being busy for God. It’s about being with Him in the midst of doing time.

We see this in Moses’ life. When life sped up, God slowed it down by calling Moses up for a meeting.

When our lives get busy, we need more time with the Father, not less. He will get done what He wants done when He wants it done. So, you can either be busy about your stuff or be fulfilled being with and watching Him do what only He can do.

Sometimes more time with Him means less doing for Him. Guess what? He loves it.

“Remember what God has done to keep doing what He wants done.”

The moment we put our faith in what Jesus did (lived, died, buried and rose again), we became a new creation with a God given purpose to keep going.

We see this in the book of Joshua. The LORD freed the Israelites from slavery, just like He did for us through the cross.

He then gave the Israelites a purpose to turn the land of Canaan into Israel, based on His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He has a purpose for our lives as well – the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10).

Joshua took the land, but it was up to each individual tribe to take out the remaining inhabitants. It’s the same with us. Jesus bought us, but now wants to take the junk out of our lives so we can experience life today while being a better witness. Age doesn’t matter, living by faith does.

Caleb believed this. He was forty years old when he told Moses the Israelites could conquer their objective – Canaan – based on what he saw God do the Egyptians. At eighty, he was part of the leadership that followed Joshua in fulfilling that objective. It took five years, but he saw it through.

Yet at eight five, his biggest challenge still laid ahead of him. The land where he was going to live, Hebron, was a hilly region, which made fighting harder. Its cities were fortified, which meant battles could take longer. And if that were not enough, the biggest baddest Anakites (think of Goliath) lived there – the sons of Arba.

Caleb kept going, however, based on what God had already done. He believed that “with the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as the He said.” Caleb saw what God had already done, so he kept doing what God wanted him to do.

Will you let your faith in what the LORD has already done grow to keep doing what He wants done in and through you? Age is a number, but faith has its levels.

May both grow larger!

“Listening comes before doing.”

Joshua heard from the LORD that He would give Joshua victory literally every place Joshua put his foot.

All Joshua had to do was listen and follow. Notice, though, what came first – listen. You have to know what to obey before you can obey it. It’s not coming up with a to-do list; and then, asking God to bless those action steps, no matter how spiritual that process might be.

Our God not only knows the road map, but the steps needed to go down that road as well…every place Joshua was to put his foot.

God told Joshua to get the people ready to cross the Jordan. Joshua followed. God told Joshua how He wanted them to cross the Jordan. Joshua followed. He told Joshua to have the men circumcised. Joshua followed. Joshua received a very unique military strategy to defeat Jericho (Joshua 6). Joshua followed.

What comes next shows Joshua’s failure to listen led to his first failure as a leader – the city of Ai (Joshua 7).

The key point here was that Joshua listened to his military advisors and not the LORD. This failure to listen to God lead to the failure of Israel’s army and the deaths of 36 Israelis.

If Joshua had first listened, he would have heard from the LORD that there was sin the camp, Achan and his family’s sin, which unless rooted out, would lead to Israel’s defeat.

Joshua failed. After a little whining, he owned it. Sought the Lord. Got the information needed to correct it; and then, went back to victory…again and again and again.

Slow down. Listen to the Lord in His Word, in meditation, and in being still to get your daily marching orders before you head into the day’s battles.

Victory comes when we do.

“The easily embarrassed don’t learn.” Jewish Proverb

Moses is about to die and Joshua was his God picked successor to give the Jewish people a homeland.

Joshua, though, must have been a bit timid about his new role. Repeatedly, we read that he was told to “be strong and courageous.” He was told this by Moses (Deut. 31:6), 3 times by God Himself (Joshua 1:6-9); and then from the Israeli leadership (Joshua 1:18).

God also told Joshua that He would go before him, be with him and never leave him. What part of never doesn’t mean never? No matter what came about – victories and/or defeats – God was going to walk with and be there for him.

All Joshua had to do was to hold onto the Lord (be strong) and keep going no matter what happened (courageous).

After a string of victories, though, Joshua fails and wanted to quit (Joshua 7:1-9). Did the Lord leave him? No. In fact, after allowing Joshua a little time to wallow in self-pity, the Lord tells him to stand up and keep moving.

Learn from Joshua. He was embarrassed and slipped back into being discouraged when he failed (we’ll talk about this next week). Yet, he stood up and finished the job the Lord gave him.

The Father has a purpose for your life, which in the midst of, you will learn more and more about who He is and what He can do. Will you make mistakes? Probably.

Know this, however. Your God loves you and is there to give you a hand up. So keep learning. He’s well worth standing up for and knowing!

“If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very core of your walk with Christ.” Blackaby

When have you ever seen a shepherd feed the sheep? They don’t, unless that sheep is sick. Healthy sheep feed themselves wherever the Shepherd takes them.

David’s life was not an easy one in getting to where God wanted him, Israel’s throne. David literally risked his life time and time again only to thrive under hardship. He was hunted down numerous times by his own government only to grow in his faith. He was looked down upon by his own family and betrayed by his own people only to rise above their expectations.

David was always on the move; and yet, David tells us he was being shepherded by God Himself. It was his Shepherd who constantly led him to green pastures and along still waters (Ps. 23:2). It was his Shepherd who moved David, even when he didn’t want to go (Ps. 23:4), to be where his Shepherd knew he should be.

Yet, it never says David’s Shepherd made him eat or drink! David had to do that for himself. When David chose to eat where his Shepherd brought him, though, his soul was restored or brought closer to his Shepherd.

It was his Shepherd, not David, who knew exactly where the food and water was for David to thrive here on earth. David, though, had to want to be healthy and eat and drink where his Shepherd put him.

Just like it was David’s choice to be healthy or sick, so it is with you. Just like David chose to hear from his Shepherd rather than listen to those around him, so must you. And just like the Good Shepherd had plans on David’s life, He has plans on your life as well.

The Good Shepherd wants you to hear from Him so He can lead you where He wants you to go in order to find a true and fulfilling life in an ever changing and chaotic world.

The only questions is: Will you choose to hear from your Shepherd and go where He leads?