Prayer – Lord, I am aware of the importance of studying Your word. How can I know You—and have a closer relationship with You if I don’t dig into the scriptures and learn more about You?
"Be
strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to
possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong
and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do
not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you
will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction
continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey
everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-9 (Underlined for
emphasis.)
Meditate.
Be strong. Study.
This
passage of scripture was God’s instruction to Joshua before the Israelites crossed
the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Moses had been the leader of the
Hebrew people from the time they left Egypt and arrived at the land that God
swore to give to his ancestors—but due to his rebellion, Moses was not allowed
to enter that new territory. It didn’t matter how strong or otherwise obedient
he had been…he didn’t get to go on. He looked over into the land that he had
spent more than forty years marching the Israelites towards their new home. God
had given him those Ten Commandments and the laws for them to follow. Now, it
was Joshua’s time to be the new leader and to take the people into that
Promised Land.
God
gave Joshua the command to be strong and courageous. He repeated that a
couple of times to make sure that Joshua got the message. Another command God
gave Joshua was to…study this Book of Instruction continually. Study all
the time—continually. That is without ceasing. Other translations (KJV and
NASB) translate “study” as the word of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;
but thou shalt meditate…. Just concentrate on the following verse…
Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything
written in it. To obey God’s word a person has to know it…and it
know it takes an intention effort. Meditating on the word is one technique of
studying God’s word. But there is so much more to studying than mediating. We’ll
look at more options in the next few days. Will you join me in a search for studying
God’s word? Your choice.
Open the Torah and study
God's word for yourself.
Synagogue Torah in Safed, Israel.
Verse of Salvation ~ For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of
evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:12-17 NLT
© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character
Coins in the Bible: New Testament Stories
No comments:
Post a Comment