Tag Archives: Joshua

We’re Just Dying to Be Known….

What do you want to be known for?  No, really, what do you want people to say about you?  What do you want your reputation to be?  Is it to be known as a nice person?  Funny?  Beautiful?  Wealthy?  Smart?  If you had your way, what would people call you once you leave this planet?

I think I’ve found my title, my epitaph that I want to have said of me.

It comes from the book of Joshua, in chapter 24, verse 29:

“29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.”

I know, I know, it’s in the Bible, so of course they are going to call Joshua “the servant of the Lord”.  But wait a minute.  Joshua was a lot of things.  He was an incredibly brave man.  This is the guy who went into enemy land as a spy, met giants, and came home saying they could conquer them.  This is the guy who was “vice president” under Moses’ leadership.  This is the man who was a brilliant military strategist; he took down one of the best fortified cities in history, with a week’s worth of parades and a big band concert.  This is the leader who organized hundreds of thousands of former slaves into a terrifying fighting machine.  This is the man who lead a nation to victory and peace, at a time where peace was impossible to find.  Joshua was a brilliant, brave, fearless, tactical, stud.

But when it was all said and done, those words weren’t adequate to describe him.  They could have been, and probably should have been.  But above those things, he was known for something else.  He was the servant of the Lord.  His life, in victory after victory, and in struggle after struggle, mirrored God.  His faith defined him to everyone who knew him.


All of the other praises and accolades would have been true.  He was all of those things.  But he was more servant to God than any other single thing.  


That is what I want to be known as when it’s all over.  Whatever God may accomplish through my life, I want it all to come down to being known as His servant.  That begins for you and I today.  Joshua formed that persona early on in life.  He was faithful when barely anyone else was.  He was committed to God when others wanted to quit.  He stayed and prayed when others were asleep.  He listened and learned when others were pursuing their own dreams.  You and I can have that same epitaph, but it doesn’t come at death.  It comes today.  Run after God today.  Pursue Him with all you are.  Be a servant today, and the rest will follow.


I really hope it will be said of both of us, “a servant of God”.  For His sake.  He’s worth it.

Falling Isn’t the Problem. It’s All in How You Land.

Last night I had several conversations with students who were dealing with big things.  We have one student who is working hard to carry out what God is telling her to do.  She is trying to get a group of students together from all over the area, and put on a small Acquire the Fire type of conference.  It’s a huge dream, and she is really serious about it.

I spoke with other students dealing with relational issues, hurts at home, struggles at school, fears, uncertainties, and pain.  Some of the students I talked to last night are trying to figure out their future, what they want to do with their lives, or simply how to handle prom.

Life as a high school student is tough.

I have adult leaders dealing with hurts, concerns for their families, personal pain, uncertainty, empathy for the kids in their small groups, job issues, schooling, and a ton of other stresses on their horizon.

Life as an adult is tough.

So what do we do with all of this?  Today, I was reading through the book of Joshua, and it was verse after verse and chapter after chapter describing the boundaries of the lands and which cities each tribe of Israel inherited when they went into the Promised Land.  It was pretty dry reading, to be honest.  Especially since I have no clue where any of the boundaries or the cities are, or were.  I was lost in the details.

Until I hit one verse, the very last one I read.  It was Joshua 21:45:
“45 Not one of all the Lord ’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”

That was why the long, expansive list of cities, peoples conquered, and land borders was given.  It was all proof.  Proof that God kept His word.  He had promised the impossible, that this rag tag group of wandering ex-slaves would conquer one of the most fortified, protected areas of the world, and that they would claim it all as their own.

They did.  It took five years.


Five years.


Of fighting.  Struggling.  Hoping.  Worrying.  Uncertainty.


Five years.


But God kept every promise, every single one was fulfilled.


So, what promises has God made us that you are still waiting on?  

Some of His promises are 

  • He will never leave us or drop us 
  • He knows us and loves us 
  • He creates all the good things in life 
  • He will give us wisdom if we ask
  • He is our protection 
  • He is a safe place to hide when we are scared
  • nothing can ever separate us from His love
  • nothing can ever take us out of His hand
  • He knows what we need before we ever ask for it
  • He takes care of the flowers and the birds, so He will certainly provide and care for us.

Is there a promise you’re hoping for, waiting for, and uncertain about?  Don’t be.  When the story of your life is told, there will be a chapter 21 verse 45 for you too:


45 Not one of all the Lord ’s good promises to (insert your name here) failed; every one was fulfilled. 

It’s a promise.

God Likes Telling Messed Up Stories

God always surprises me with how bad of a story teller He is. A good story teller will cover all the details that make his side look bad, or that make the other side look good. God never does that. He just lays the facts out as they are, and leaves it up to us to make of it whatever we will.

Take this story, for instance. The Hebrews are marching through the land, and a lot of the nations are deciding whether to fight them or surrender to them. One group comes and acts like they are from far away to fool the Hebrews into a peace treaty. The Israelites listen to their story, and are doubtful. Check out what the story says next:

“14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. ” (I added the italics) They have doubts, but trust what they see, and then don’t stop to pray and ask God what they should do. They act on their own. They know what God has told them to do, they have a “gut feeling” (which is God trying to talk to them), but they ignore it and act on their own. They end up getting burnt by the plan and made fools of.

But then, there’s more to the story. Later, when they confront this group of people about their lies and deceiving them, look at what they tell the Jews:

“24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.” (Again, the italics are mine).

Did you catch that? These people who were Israel’s enemies had heard the same info that the Hebrews had heard. They hadn’t heard it from God or experienced it themselves, they heard it all second hand as rumors. But they believed it AND acted on it. They were saved because of it.

So, God shows us that the people He chose still aren’t smart enough to stop and listen to Him, and the people who are not God’s chosen hear second hand about Him and act in obedience to Him.

That’s a messed up story.

But the bigger question at hand is, which one am I going to be? Will I be the one who knows what is right, or the one who does what is right? There is a HUGE difference! Titles, knowledge, belonging to a group, none of that matters in the end. It’s what we do with what we know.

There is something in your life that you’re wrestling with today, that you are worried about. Are you going to do what seems like the best choice to you, or are you going to stop, and ask God for advice, and then take it, whatever it is?

Sometimes the stories don’t change very much, even 4000 years later, do they?

Stealing a Dead Guy’s Robe Will Get You Everytime!

Remember the last time you did something you knew you weren’t supposed to do?  You had a plan, but you knew that carrying it out was wrong?  Or maybe you had a sense that God wanted you to wait on something in His time, but you forced the issue and carried out your own plan?  Yeah, me too.

I struggle so much with waiting on God sometimes.  I want something, often something that is actually a good thing, but God tells me to wait.  Then I have that crazy tough decision to make; do I wait and trust Him, or move forward on my own schedule?  So many times I’ve moved forward on my own, and pursued whatever it was in my sights.  Again, often it’s a good thing.  It could be something good for my family, some part of ministry, an opportunity to serve, or a long list of other good things.  Sometimes it’s not.  But it’s the timing that is the big issue.  God says “Not now”, and I say “No, now”. 

It always ends up burning me in the end.

I was reading in Joshua 7 today.  This guy named Achan is a Hebrew.  They move into the Promised Land, march around Jericho, blow the horns, and the walls fall down.  Veggie Tales has a great version of the story in one of their videos.  I don’t remember Achan being in any of the kids versions of the story, though.  You see, God tells them when they capture Jericho to destroy it completely.  Don’t take anything out of it.  Achan doesn’t listen.  He takes a robe, some gold, and some silver.  Then he buries it under his tent. 

He knows it was wrong to take the stuff.  There isn’t anything wrong with a nice robe, or money.  But he wasn’t supposed to take it.  He did anyway. 

Thirty-six Hebrews die because of his actions.  In the next battle, they get spanked in the fighting, and 36 people die.  Because of Achan.

God shows everyone whose fault it was, and he confesses.  But it’s too late.  Achan is killed, along with his family, and then their bodies are burned.  God really wants us to obey.  He’s serious about it.  If he let Achan live, he would pull down the rest of the nation. 

Here’s the crazy part.  They march back to the city where they were beaten, due to Achan’s sin.  They attack it, and capture it.  But before the battle, God tells them to take the good stuff out of the city, then burn it. 

Did you catch that?  God says to take the stuff.

Achan missed it by a couple of days.  If he had listened to God, no one would have died, and he would have received more stuff.  Just a couple of days.  Achan couldn’t see down the road, and he decided to not trust God.  He did it his way, and he and his family suffered for it.  It killed them.

We can be the same way.  We simply need to learn that God is really generous, and loves to give gifts to those who trust and obey Him.  If we will listen to Him and wait, amazing things come our way.

I promise.

A 4000 Year Old Reason Why I Love Youth Ministry

There is this verse in Exodus 33 that really sums up why I love doing youth ministry.  The chapter is talking about how Moses had set up a tent outside of camp and called it the “Tent of Meeting”.  Anyone could go there at any time and pray.  It was a little retreat for anyone who needed it.  But when Moses went there, God showed up in a very special way.  Here’s the verse I love:

“11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.”

Moses knows God and is known by God.  Remember, Moses was a wealthy trust fund baby who killed a man.  He was a coward who hid when there was trouble.  He was a wimp who argued with God when God directly told Him what to do.  He was hot tempered and volatile.  But He loved God, and God loved him.  So God would meet with him like one friend hangs out with another.

But catch that phrase at the end.  His young aide Joshua did not leave the tent.  This dude from his youth group lived out at the tent of meeting.  Why?  Because he wanted to be where God was.  Even though God only showed up from time to time, it was enough.  He didn’t want to miss a minute.  So even when Moses left, he stayed.  


I love that about students.  They will do or give whatever it takes when they decide something is worth living for.  They are passionate, sacrificial, and dedicated when they set their mind to something.  I love this bit about Joshua.  It makes me love and respect him so much.  And it gives me hope.  What God was doing in him, He is doing in students today.  I see it.  God continues to work like this in our kids.  And it’s just as exciting now as it was then.  


I love youth ministry.