i know, i know ... its been soo long!
but you guys, figuring out a new work schedule, adjusting to a new 'normal'... its taken me 3 weeks.
so i am playing catch up today with the Joshua Code. regular scheduled blog posts will resume tomorrow and hopefully i will keep up with the blog going forward again!
i've missed you guys- hope to hear from you guys again soon, always love reading your comments :)
w e e k - t h i r t y t w o
“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old enough he will not depart
from it.”
p r o v e r b s 2 2 : 6
. . .
SEE HIM WITH AN OPEN HAND – ‘I
release you’ (Luke 15:11-13)
SEE HIM WITH OPEN ARMS SAYING – ‘I receive you’ (Luke 15:20-24)
SEE HIM WITH AN OPEN HEART SAYING – ‘I restore you’ (Luke 15:25-32)
We all need to be
parents (like in Luke 15), a father with an open hand and with wisdom enough to
know that the way to lose you kids it to hold them too tightly and that the way
to ultimately keep them is to let them
go when the time comes. We need to be parents with open arms, always ready to
make a way for our children’s new beginnings. And we need to be parents with
open hearts that are both transparent and encouraging.
The real message of
Jesus’ story is that our heavenly Father deals with us in the same way that
this father (see Luke 15) deals with his prodigal God our Father has open hands,
toward us. We are not puppets; we are real people. And the love we voluntarily
return to Him is indescribably vulnerable to Him. He too meets us with open arms. And
never were those arms opened as wide as they were on the cross. Finally, God
shoes us His open heart. He opened it on the Calvary for the whole world
to see, and He invites us into His arms today.
As you memorize this
verse, meditate on the loving and forgiving heart of our Lord and as Him to put
a heart like that in you. Open your hands, open your arms, and open you heart this
week to those needy and hurting people around you.
------w e e k - t h i r t y t h r e e
“This Book of the Lord shall not depart from
your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that
you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make you way prosperous, and
then you will have good success.’
j o s h u a 1 : 8. . .
THE JOSHUA CODE INVOLVES A CONSTANT PRACTICE
We are to over and over and over God’s
truth in our minds to deepen its impression on us and to see it in our hearts.
The word meditate indicates that Scripture is to be like a tune that we
cannot get out of our minds. It just permeates our thinking processes. Living
out the Joshua Code involves constant practice.
THE JOSHUA CODE INCITES A COMPLETED PURPOSE
Our completed purpose, in the eyes of
God, will be to move beyond simply reading and studying the Bible, to an act of
obedience as we put these words into practice in our own experience.
THE JOSHUA CODE INVOKES A CONDITIONAL PROMISE
In the initial psalm, the psalmist indicated
that his delight was found in the Law of the Lord and ‘in His law He meditates
day and night’ (Psalm 1:2). Thus, we then complete the purpose of not simply
hearing the Word, but also doing it as we put it into practice through personal
obedience.
Here is true success
in life: to stay in the WORD of God until we find the WILL of God so that we
can WALK in the ways of God. The WORD. The WILL. The WALK. The Joshua Code
invites us to feed on the Bible because it reveals to us God’s will for our
lives. And success is the ability to first find the will of God for our lives…
and then act upon it,
do it!’
As you memorize this
verse, meditate on it by reading it enough times to put the inflection of each
and every word it contains… and then do what is says. And then? You will have ‘good
success’.
------
w e e k - t h i r t y t h r e e
‘Whoever compels you to
go one mile, go with him two.’
m a t t h e w 5 : 4 1
. . .
THERE IS A MANDATED MILE MOTIVATED BY LAW
Often the most difficult part of the
Christian life is getting started on the first mile.
In fact, they want to
enjoy the little extras of the second mile, but they do not want to deal
with the requirements
of the first mile.
THERE IS A MIRACLE
MILE MOTIVATED BY LOVE
It is the miracle mile that separates
certain individuals from others.
The second mile is only made possible by being obedient to the first mile.
Someone who journeys
on the miracle mile also has a way of lightening the load of those around them.
One cannot travel the second mile without the influencing others. It only takes
one second miler in a home to change the entire environment. It only takes once
second miler on a team or in the office to do the same. The miracle mile, the
second mile, is motivated by the love of Christ.
Incidentally, the
second mile is the mile our Lord Himself walked. He knows the road very well. It
was love that took Him on the miracle mile to the cross.
As you memorize this
verse, meditate on what ways you can go the second mile today. It will brighten
your road and lighten someone else’s load.
