"You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." Joshua 23:14
"As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11
No matter what happens, God's will will be done. He fulfills every single one of His promises. So yup, that even includes God's promise of salvation! In fact most of the Bible's prophecy has already been fulfilled. Which means we're drawing closer and closer to the completion of His work. When all is said and done, God's word remains good, true and legit. This gives us good reason to trust in all His promises.
"But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave to you; to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." Joshua 22:5
God makes His commandments very clear. He tells us to trust in His holy ways and to hold fast to Him. We are to give our entire lives in complete trust, submission and reverence.
"The whole assembly of the Lord says: How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! And are you now turning away from the Lord?" Joshua 22:16
The one thing God repeats over and over again is to not worship any idols. God absolutely hates it when we begin to put our trust anything besides Him. The biggest idol that we worship today would be ourselves. Instead of acknowledging the Lord we begin to lift our own name. The more we increase ourselves the more we decrease God in our lives. But the more we humble ourselves the easier it is to place our trust in Him. The decision everyone must make is if they will place themselves under the authority of God or if they will follow after their idols. There is only One who can save us from our sins.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
"The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account. Joshua 22:22-23
God knows our entire heart. And ever tho we deserve God's almighty wrath for our disobedience, unfaithfulness and rebellion, He has extended His hand of grace over our sins. God will call us all to account for our faith. Only He knows if we have true fellowship with Him or not. And God will righteously judge our consequences based on if we have trusted His Son.
"Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9
Even if we may not understand or see why God does things, we must always remember to trust in His way. Sometimes I've questioned whether God really knew what He was doing, or whether His plan for me was right or not. But it turns out that God is God and all knowing. Even if we have suffering and tribulation, His will is perfect and full of meaning. And if your persistent, God will often give you a glimpse of His blueprints. Then you begin to fully know your identity in Christ and know exactly what your supposed to do in life.
"But just as every good promise of the Lord your God has come true, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you." Joshua 23:15-16
Like I said before, God clearly lays out His boundaries for our good. He warns us of sin and tells us to turn from our idols. But because of His love, He allows people to choose curses over blessings. If we don't fall under God's grace, then we must face God's justice. In order to discuss the Bible in its entirty we must also warn others about the consequences of sin.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14-15
God presents us with two options. We can choose to follow and serve Him as Lord or choose to follow our own man made gods. We can have blessings, fullness, and the abundant life of the Spirit or choose to follow our sins and reject God's grace. Yielding our hearts to God and trusting in obedience should not be a chore. It should be a joy to meet with God and soak in His words of love. God never forces us to love Him back, but gives us an infinite of reasons why we should. When we say Jesus is God, we are claiming that God reigns supreme in our lives and that He has complete ownership of us. We as Christians must stand for His righteousness and hate our sins. The decision is yours. Who will you serve?
I know a secret place. A place I can go to get away from the world. A place of still calmness and peace. This place is found only in Jesus. This is a place where it's just you and God, one on one. You will experience the most intimate love of the Father. He reveals Himself little by little, and grows our faith stronger and stronger. However, God is a jealous God. He wants our hearts completely and entirely. God is a jealous God because what is His will often turn from Him and say "No thank you, I don't need you, I'll find something better to love." But like the Father in the prodigal son, He allows us to go our way, but immediately accepts us unconditionally. His love and grace covers all of our sins, if we would just come to Him.
At the Cross
I know a place, a wonderful place
Where accused and condemned
Find mercy and grace
Where the wrongs we have done
And the wrongs done to us
Were nailed there with Him
There on the cross
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