On Holy Ground

"And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, 'Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy." And Joshua did so."  Joshua 5:15

In Joshua 5:13 we read that as Joshua was near Jericho he saw a lone man with a sword. Following God's earlier command to be courageous, he approached this stranger to learn whether he was friend or foe. The truth was...he represented the LORD, not an earthly people. And where he chose to stand made the land holy (pure, set apart for God's use).

Years earlier Moses had an encounter on holy land. While he was attending his father-in-law's flock of sheep on the west side of the wilderness, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 

"The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, 'I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.' When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:2-5

Loose your shoe from off your foot...remove your sandals from your feet...for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. This begs a question.

Do we make time to approach God? Both Moses and Joshua did. Do we recognize we are approaching Him in His holiness? That our meeting ground is holy? Do we come only with our laundry list of prayer needs to throw heaven-ward? Or do we fall on our faces in reverence before Him? 

These two passages of scripture really convict me about how casual I can be with God. In this age of God's grace through Jesus, we can be too familiar in our attitudes toward Him. We humanize God, because that's what we understand--humans. We have the blessing of calling Him "Father," yes. But along with that blessing, we must never forget respect, reverence.

He is Holy God. And he tells us:

"For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy:" Leviticus 11:44a

The nation had endured forty years of judgment. During that time God had given them the means to approach Him through the tabernacle, the sacrifices. and laws that dictated everyday life. They understood the terms of purity.

"For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible." Leviticus 17:11

The sacrifices looked ahead to the day Jesus would offer his blood on the cross as our sin offering, our atonement, our redemption, our purification. 

"God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:2

May we make time to be quiet in the presence of the LORD and--like "shoes"--take off the things that separate us from Him. Let us take the time to adore Him and hallow His name. Let us recognize time with Him is our holy ground.

by Marilyn Allison

 

Hostility

"But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him." Colossians 3:8-10

“I am not your scapegoat! Stop being a victim and blaming me for your problems, and for goodness sake--stop lying!!!”

Hurt, confusion and a whole lot of anger went into those thoughts of mine. Words and feelings I couldn’t even speak became ‘AAAGH!’ Tears of bitter disappointment and grief streamed down my face. Grief for the misunderstanding and broken relationship that caused this outburst.

"Really?"

The word stopped me cold.

“Oh no, Lord! I'm justified in my anger!”

Tears continued to run down my face as I tried to explain my right to be angry. 

“God I’m done! How can I be blamed for something I didn’t do?”

But I couldn’t escape the truth that word, ‘really’, represented. It intruded into my pity party, pierced through my heart, mind, and spirit. 

God, my Saviour, Redeemer and yes--my Scapegoat--had taken my lies, my sin, upon Himself--when every word He’d ever spoken was absolute truth. As my scapegoat, He became a victim of hatred, violence and unspeakable pain. He was lied about and judged. For me. What Grace.

Finally, my tears went from anger to tears of acceptance. Sometimes life is unfair and people will disappoint and lie and blame, but Jesus never will. Jesus is our Prince of Peace and I’m learning to accept this: if I want to live in His peace, I have to put away my anger and hurt. I have to love above and beyond what I’m capable of doing on my own and extend grace the way it was extended to me.

“Really...” What love and power that one word held for me that day.

Hurt and anger try to flare up now and again and the loneliness I feel for that person sometimes feels insurmountable. But...my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is my peace and comfort. The truth is anger and hurt cannot reside where Jesus is.

"For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  Hebrews 12:3

by Eve Montano

 

Remember

"We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD's covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:6-7

The nation Israel finally stopped walking in the circles of judgment for their unbelief and, by the miraculous intervention of God, they crossed over the Jordan riverbed on dry ground. They were entering into a faith walk to claim the land of promise.

God opened the door for them and He wanted them to remember something. Twelve men, a leader from each tribe, shouldered a substantial stone (think boulder) on his shoulders, taking them to the place they would camp for the night. There, at Gilgal, Joshua followed God's command to pile them into a memorial. When their children would ask, "What are these stones?" they were to tell them it was a reminder that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of God's Covenant went across. It was to be a forever reminder that God intervenes with power in the lives of His people.

These were people like you and me. They had clear instructions regarding right and wrong--what constituted righteous behavior--and the sacrifices demanded in order to receive forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with God.

They would have battles ahead, both physical and spiritual. They took their self-focused, complaining, impetuous natures with them wherever they went.

Between the Red Sea and the Jordan, when circumstances got tough they were prone to remember what they liked about Egypt. They fixated on the past and their former ways of living. The people reaped forty years of monotonous wandering and grief as their unbelieving elders died off.  Nothing they gained through those forty years had any lasting value.

Years later God warned their own descendants against looking back at their old lives.

"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."  Isaiah 43:18-19

There is no contradiction here. We are not to look back and dwell (meditate, mutter) on past hurts or failures, or even past times of rest and plenty, as though we couldn't progress past them. We are to look at the memory of God and what He has done to bring us this far. AND, we are to believe that He will still intervene for our good according to His purposes. 

Isaiah reminds us God will do a "new thing." Joshua declares "tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you." 

May we set up our memorial stones to remind us of the miraculous power of our loving Father. Whatever the circumstances of our lives may be, let us choose to see them as opportunities for God to reveal Himself to us in new ways and strengthen our faith. Let us obey the command of Joshua 1:9 and courageously claim our promised land--because the Almighty Creator of the Universe goes with us.

by Marilyn Allison

Prepare Your Heart

"And Joshua said unto the people, 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." Joshua 3:5

This week I've been thinking about preparations. When my daughters were young, December was a month of preparation. First there were the usual activities of cleaning and decorating the house, choosing and wrapping presents and ordering the main course for Christmas dinner. These tasks were sandwiched in between church services, children's plays, and parties for adults and youngsters, as well. Every Sunday the sermon focused on another aspect of "The Christmas Story," and heightened our anticipation of celebrating the Christ Child's birth.

Once Christmas was past, a new set of activities set in. You see, my eldest daughter was born on New Year's Eve. Every year I considered her birthday wishes early in the month--as in, what will we give her for Christmas and what will we save for her birthday--but preparation kicked into high gear on December twenty-sixth.

I needed to know what would please her. Who did she want to invite to her party? What theme did she want that year? We would make time together to visit the bakery to order her cake, then visit Target or the craft store to pick out plates and party favors. All of our preparations were meant to show her she was greatly loved. I made time to please her.

What response was I looking for in the heart of my daughter? Of course, it was an "attitude of gratitude." As she matured, I hoped she would see my love for her motivated the effort made to put on the best party ever. 

In Joshua 3:5 the nation Israel was instructed to sanctify themselves. God was about to do something wonderful for them, something they couldn't imagine. It was important for them to prepare themselves.

The Hebrew word used for sanctify is qadash. It also means to consecrate, purify, set apart and dedicate.

"Then the LORD told Moses, 'Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing." Exodus 19:10

Washing away the dirt was always a part of making themselves presentable to the LORD. They were to rid themselves of the effect of the world. We know that God looks on the heart, so what are we to 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." Joshua 1:8

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:1-2

Joshua led the nation in consecrating (cleansing) themselves before the LORD. It was an act of faith based on God's Word. It prepared them for the victories that were soon to follow. For three days, while they cleansed themselves--spiritually and physically--they could see the raging current of the Jordan River at flood stage. They were not camped at a place where it would be easy to ford--cross over--the river. It would take faith to be obedient--and to wait and see how God would provide.

Where are you on your journey? Are you caught up in all the things that have to be done--work and school schedules--others' expectations of you or your own expectations for yourself? Have you slipped into a mindset that leaves God on the back burner? Are you ill? Heartbroken? Suffering in pain? Discouraged? Despairing of ever feeling good or happy again?

The worst time in my life EVER could be attributed to my being so caught up in the things of the world that I failed to prepare my heart to do good. It took me spending much time in God's Word--crying out for Him to search my heart (Psalm 139:23) and cleanse me--before our fellowship could be restored.

God wants to do wonders in your (and my) life. Are you ready?

"Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  O give me back my joy again; You have broken me--now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. .Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey You."  Psalm 51:7-11

by Marilyn Allison

 

Bring Your Mess

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Got the keys? 
Check.

Diaper bag?
Check.

Wispy blonde hair, weighed down by clumpy mascara?
Wait...what?

I pivoted on my heel and peeked into the bathroom again. Big brown eyes scanned my face, looking for a smile. My daughter's sneaky two-year-old fingers had found mascara and adventurously brushed it through her hair.

“Brushie my hair, Momma!’

Wow. Wrong brush, baby.

I knelt down and scooped up my beauty queen.

Then, my son's voice cast itself sheepishly on my back, “Uh oh”.

I slowly turned to look. 

Oh, Eli…not the house plants.

Dirt. Every. Where. 

I surveyed the damage, my skunk-striped cutie balanced on my hip.

I quickly realized it wasn’t just my 3-year-old son caked in soil.

I yanked back my cry. 

There was Micah, my youngest, shoveling fistfuls of earth into his mouth. His one-year-old jaw labored up and down--like a cow chewing its cud. 

At least it’s organic. 

*****

Aaron was out of town on a business trip.  It had been months since I’d  gone to Bible study. And to be fair, I had a diaper bag full of excuses. But THIS was the day I felt a strong tug in my heart:
I needed to be surrounded by other women. 

But, I couldn’t go now. I couldn’t walk through those heavy church doors and let others see me as the mom who let her two-year-old dye her hair black. Or, the mom who clearly fed her boys dirt for dinner and didn't make them bathe. 

No, thank you. Not today.

My shoulders drooped. I would stay home and miss fellowship…again. I ran my hand under the bath water, it grew warm--like the tears collecting on my cheeks.

As I lined up the troops for clean up, a worship song came rushing into my heart. 

The chorus rang, “Come, just as you are…”

Whoever wrote that, hasn’t had a day in the life of the Masters family, I thought.

But, it kept looping, like a broken record in my head, “Come, just as you are...”

The spirit was calling me to fellowship, telling me it was OK to come, ‘as is’. If anyone could understand the mishaps of motherhood…it was other women!

I felt a surge of energy and shamelessness pour over me.

I quickly turned off the bath water and announced to my three ragamuffins, ‘Momma’s decided we’re gonna take this mess with us!!”

Yes. We would take our mess with us. 

Isn’t that what true fellowship is all about?

We don’t need to have-it-all-together-- to be together.

by Jenna Marie Masters