HOLY GROUND, HOLY LIFE When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you…

GOD SAYS THIS TO YOU! “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:7-9             Moses had died…

LIFE IMPACT Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. —Deuteronomy 34:7-9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And…

CHANGED HEARTS And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live…  “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that…

REJECTION OF GOD RESULTS IN CONFUSION OF MIND The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind. —Deuteronomy 28:28             Deuteronomy chapter 28 is speaking of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience.  Again, as I mention previously, part of God’s judgment has to do with the mind.  When he judges a person or people they become confused.  They are blind to the truth and they are acting in madness or craziness.  They are not thinking right.              This is what happens when God gives a people over to their own sinful desires (Romans 1:24, 26, 28).  Their thinking becomes darkened.  Even though they think they…

GOD’S JUDGMENT— INSANITY Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.  Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your…

LIARS WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. —Deuteronomy 19: 18-19             Wow… this would be helpful if it was applied today!  How many people today are being accused falsely of something and the person accusing knows it is false?  If a false witness were to pay the penalty they wanted for those they falsely accused then maybe lying about others would decrease. There are so many lies floating around the…

A NATIONAL DISGRACE You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. —Deuteronomy 16:19             What was spoken to Israel centuries ago in this passage still applies to us today.  We are not: To pervert justice To show partiality To accept a bribe To be blinded by a bribe To subvert the cause of the righteous by a bribe Oh, how justice is perverted in our nation.  Where is the justice for the babies that are slaughtered in the womb?  How is it that our top…

HE IS FULFILLING HIS PURPOSE FOR YOU! I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.  God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness…  For your steadfast love is great to the heavens. —Psalm 57:2-3, 10             God is fulfilling His purpose for you!  You say it does not feel like it.  Well, let us not go by what we feel.  Instead, let us go by what God says.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Do you see it in this…

HE IS TO BE OVER ALL And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? —Deuteronomy 10:12-13             What did the Lord God require of Israel? They were to fear the Lord their God They were to walk in all His ways They were to love Him They were to serve Him with all their heart and soul…