August 2nd, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

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As you read through the Scriptures and come to the Israelites entering the promised land in Joshua 13-19, your reading might suddenly become bogged down. Painstakingly detailed recordings of which land is given to which tribe seem to blur into a giant blob of ink that we’d rather just skip over and ignore.

Why is so much ink spilled on this supremely boring information? It has a point, although it’s probably won’t be the location of your memory verse for the week – God is keeping His promises. Look at the summary in Joshua 21:43-45:

So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Amen. Our God is faithful and trustworthy and His promises are true!

In the midst of this land discussion is tucked an awesome little story about Caleb. Remember back to the people’s refusal to enter the promised land – Joshua and Caleb were the only two men out of their entire generation who were allowed to enter the land. The rest of the nation refused to believe, and as a result, they all wandered around the desert for 40 long years, waiting for the rest of them to die off.

Now, might you also remember what had scared everyone away from believing God?

“…the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there… all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:28, 32b-33)

The Anakites! Only Caleb and Joshua had the eyes of faith to see these men as what they were – big men against a much bigger God.

Forty five years later, we find a much older Caleb discussing the Anakites yet again in Joshua 14:

“And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today… Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken.” (Joshua 14:10, 12)

Caleb, now an 85 year old man, goes to Joshua and asks that the portion of the land where the Anakites lived be given to him. Caleb still understands. He still sees through eyes of faith – he might be just one 85 year-old man, but fortified cities of giants cannot stand against His God. Joshua 15 fills in the rest of the story for us:

“And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.” (Joshua 15:14)

I don’t know what the giants are in your life today. Perhaps you are going through a dark valley in your marriage, struggling with fear and anger and wondering what could possibly heal the wounds that have been inflicted. Perhaps you have a prodigal child, and you have wept over him or her for countless nights, but they seem too far gone for God to restore. Perhaps God has called you to do something that seems impossible to you. You feel small and insignificant and unable to do it – perhaps you feel like a grasshopper in your own eyes, as some might say.

May God give us Caleb-eyes. Eyes that see our huge roadblocks as the tiny bumps they are in light of the bigness of our God. He is big enough. He is faithful. The same God who was with elderly Caleb as he drove giants out of the land is our God today – and He is worthy of our trust.

“Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
Joshua 21:45

We’re continuing our One Summer, One Story series – a fast-paced overview of the “big story” of the Bible! Missed anything? Find all the past posts here. Just a reminder, also, that we have two different “blog ministry projects” going on right now – please consider joining us for Got Milk? and the SOS Project – because although the problems are overwhelming, our God really IS BIGGER!

August 1st, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

Phew!* I survived July! The past weeks have been crazy and full and wonderful – I thoroughly enjoyed my girlfriend roadtrip last week and had a successful women’s ministry training and community outreach, celebrated my 31st birthday, and now need to reorganize my mind and house and schedule that seems to have exploded with all the activity around here! Ha!

So, now we’re back to One Summer, One Story! We left off with the Israelites complaining and ultimately refusing to enter the promised land. We’re going to fast-forward 40 years and meet up with Joshua and the Israelites after they had crossed over the Jordan. This is a repeat post from the Abide series, but I decided to share it again here as it is such an important lesson. God was growing the Israelites in faith school, and entering the land was a new chapter of that journey that is reflected in different ways in the faith schools of our own lives! If you’ve missed any of the One Summer, One Story series, please catch up here!

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On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain.  The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

Joshua 5:10-12

There’s a funny thing about growing stronger in your walk with Jesus. I have talked to so many young believers who begin to flounder as they grow – God somehow seems less… obvious as they mature in their faith.

There are seasons in our Christian lives when getting to know Jesus feels like a new romance – all fireworks and “aha” moments and times with teary eyes. There are also seasons when we learn to abide in faith, just as we learned to accept salvation in faith. He is no less there, no less active, no less wanting for us to hear from Him and delight in Him. His voice does not always come thundering and shaking our lives – sometimes we must learn to be still and listen to His quiet whisperings.

I wonder if it was a strange transition for the Israelites when they entered the land. This was the promised land they had spent their entire lives wandering in the wilderness for. This second generation of people to come out of Egypt had eaten manna for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day of their lives. Six days a week they woke in faith that when they moved that tent flap, manna would be there. And every single morning, it was! They had to depend on God for His very obvious provision constantly.

And now, as they entered the land, the manna stopped.

God was still providing for them, but it was less obvious that it was directly from His hand. Now they had to plant, grow, harvest the grain in order to provide food for their families. It was tempting for them to begin thinking that now they were on their own, fending for themselves – rather than continuing to lean on God as the giver of all good gifts. It makes sense that the book of Deuteronomy, Moses’ last address to the people before entering the land, is full of the refrain “do not forget.”

As you grow in your walk, you might be tempted to think that God is less active in your life. He is still there, friend. He is still moving and whispering and orchestrating every detail. His voice is often quiet – you must be still and listen. His ways are often difficult to understand, but you must daily choose to trust.

Faith is not a one-time occurrence. Live a life of faith, and ask God to teach you each and every day to see Him in the shadows, hear Him in the quiet, obey Him when it’s hard to understand.

He is still feeding you. Choose to abide in Him and trust that He will continue to meet you in new ways, quieter ways, deeper ways.

Abide. in. Him.

July 11th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

Image from visualBiblealive.com

If you’re new here… we’re continuing our One Summer, One Story series – a fast-paced overview of the “big story” of the Bible! Missed anything? Find all the past posts here.

Last week we spent some time considering the theological significance of the plagues against Egypt and the beautiful picture of redemption contained in the Passover account. Today we’re going to pick up with the people in the wilderness – although it pains me to do so, we’re skipping over the well-known story of the crossing of the Red Sea for the sake of time!

First of all, just consider for a moment the staggering number of people that Moses is leading into the wilderness with only the clothes on their backs and a few provisions that would last them several days or weeks at most. Erase that mental picture that may be in your mind of a couple of hundred cartoon people walking together in the desert.

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

Exodus 12:37

In the MacArthur Bible Commentary he points out that “a conservative estimate based on the number of men, probably the fighting men twenty years of age and above, would give a population of two million.” (p.100)

TWO MILLION people. No Walmart stores in sight. A desert without food or water supplies. Mothers nursing tiny infants {and tiny infants being born every day!}, little toddlers crying because their feet were tired and they wanted a snack, elderly people being pulled on carts or helped along as they walked.

We have a tendency to be really tough on the Israelites. But seriously – if I were in this crowd of two million people in a seemingly hopeless situation with the most powerful leader of the world chasing us down in chariots trying to kill us, carrying my hungry babies and worrying about how we would feed them in the desert and what might become of us… I’d have an awfully hard time trusting God. Wouldn’t you?

They were in faith school. After 400 years of not hearing from God, living in Egyptian culture and surrounded by worship of Egyptian gods, passing along stories of a God who made amazing promises to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob but not really knowing Him personally… they needed to be re-introduced to Yahweh. They needed to know that He is sovereign, sufficient, aware of their needs, compassionate toward His people, zealous for His holy name.

He was tangibly in their midst, guiding their every step.

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

Exodus 13:21

As they stood, paralyzed with terror, penned on one side by the Red Sea and on the other by Pharaoh’s approaching army, they were reassured of God’s ability to deliver them, and then saw with their very eyes the waters split in two and give them a miraculous way of escape.

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

…But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant.

Exodus 14:13-14, 29-31

As they grew hungry, they were consumed with fear again and grumbled against God and Moses, but God displayed His faithfulness even in the midst of their faithlessness – for each and every day they had food to sustain them and their families.

The LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

Exodus 16:11-12

On and on through their journey they faced new lessons in faith school. Was God able to deliver this defenseless and unarmed people from hostile enemies? Could God provide water? Would God provide food for them? Was He trustworthy – would He keep His promises?

The answer again and again: Yes. Yes, He is faithful. Yes, He is trustworthy. Nothing is too hard for Him.

Moses’ summary of this time in Israel’s history is profound, recounted as the people stood poised to enter the promised land 40 years later:

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Faith school is never easy. No one is eager to enroll – the lessons are grueling and difficult. But He is trustworthy: He is revealing what is in our hearts, He is humbling us and teaching us to depend on Him alone, He is showing Himself great in our lives.

Whatever the challenging circumstances you face – remember this:

• You may not know what will happen tomorrow, but He is guiding you today.
• He will fight for His people. Trust Him. Rest in Him.
• He knows your needs. He wants to reveal Himself in your life – and we won’t really know Him until we are humbled and forced to depend upon Him.
• As a man disciples his son, so the Lord disciplines you. It is because He loves you.

Yes, He is faithful. Yes, He is trustworthy. Nothing is too hard for Him.

June 28th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

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We human beings have a chronic condition, a family trait common to the entire human race: faith amnesia. Even when we have believed God and trusted Him wholly in the past, once He provides what we needed, we have a tendency to transfer our faith from the giver to the gift.

I wonder about what Abraham’s relationship was like with Isaac – the source of their laughter. Abraham had waited 100 years to have this child with his beloved wife Sarah. They had waited 24 of those years after receiving a promise from God Himself that an heir would be born. Abraham had learned to believe God through years of wandering, not knowing where he was going – believing in a promised land that would not be his during his lifetime, believing that a nation would come through a son who was not yet born and whose birth seemed impossible, believing in a Promised One who was thousands of years removed from his own life.

I wonder if, holding baby Isaac in his arms, his faith was both strengthened and… misplaced. It would have been so easy to begin looking to Isaac as the one who would fulfill God’s promises – instead of looking to God as the One who would fulfill the promises. I don’t know if Abraham struggled with that – but I think I would have. And I think God’s unexpected and shocking command would have completely rocked my world.

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Genesis 22:1-2

I just cannot fully fathom it. What was Abraham feeling? Did he tell Sarah where they were going? Did he sleep that night? We don’t know. All we know is this:

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

Genesis 22:3

As he had done more than thirty years before… Abraham left. He obeyed God without a clue how the events before him would unfold. We don’t know what all he was thinking and feeling, but the book of Hebrews tells us this:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Hebrews 11:17-19

Isaac was the promised son. They had waited a quarter of a century for his birth, and this shriveled elderly couple had laughed and cried and rocked a miracle child in their arms. On that crushing day when God said, “Abraham, go sacrifice Isaac on the mountain,” Abraham is not being tested to reveal his loyalty or the depth of his love. His faith was being tested. His faith in God as the promise-keeper. The question he had to have been pondering on this long and painful journey up to the mountain with his son was this: If Isaac is killed, can God still fulfill the promises?

This passage in Hebrews 11 is incredible – notice that it says, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead.” This is Genesis 22. Abraham had never heard of anyone being raised from the dead! His faith in God’s trustworthiness as the Promise Keeper had grown to the point that he believed in the core of his being that even if he had to kill Isaac and burn him to ashes on that altar, that God, in His mysterious and wonderful ways, would somehow make Isaac whole once again… and together they would walk back down that mountain.

One little word in Genesis 22 underlines this thought:

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

Genesis 22:4-5

WE will come back. Somehow, someway – God is going to keep His promises. It’s not about Isaac fulfilling the promises, it’s about God as the Promise Keeper.

Sometimes, God will take us to the mountain – He will allow us to struggle with this: do I really believe Him? Do I believe HE is good, or do I simply love His good gifts? Do I believe HE is my provider, or have I made His provision my idol? Is it really all about God after all? Do I believe He is who He says He is?

Have you struggled with faith amnesia? Has God called you to “go to the mountain” in faith?

Around the web with Kristi… I’m all over the place this week!

• Join me at Kristine McGuire’s blog, Kristine ReMixed – God loves you too much to leave you content in your self-sufficiency.
• Join me at Laura Krokos’ blog, Beholding Glory, as I consider what it means that God’s name is “Jealous.”
• Join me at Scripture Dig as we think about what we really want – do we want God, or just the good “stuff” He gives us?