by Timothy Howe
The Promised Land
Joshua 22-24 wraps up the story of Israel entering into the Promised Land. The Promised Land was the name given to ancient Canaan after God promised to Abraham that his descendants would one day inherit the territory as their own. Hundreds of years had transpired from the time of the initial promise until it actually takes place. Entrance into this land was evidence that God keeps His word.
Sidetracked
The story of the Israelites moving into the Promised Land is one about delaying God's best. About 40 years previous to the events described in Joshua the Israelites stood on the brink of receiving the promise when they rejected it and chose to live in the desert. They made this decision based on fear, lack of confidence, and the personal wisdom. Had they chosen to set aside fear, had they chosen to be confident in the Lord, had they chosen to walk in His wisdom and not their own, they could have received the promise an entire generation sooner.
Completion of a Plan
The book of Joshua is one that many people have trouble with due to the war narratives and seemingly capricious nature of God. Sometimes it is hard to make out what actions are the result of directives from God and which ones are from man. Ultimately, the story is about the fulfillment of a plan that God had for His chosen people - a people not chosen on merit, but chosen on account of the faithfulness of their ancestor Abraham. What God begins, he completes.
An Inheritance
Joshua 24:28 tells us - So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. The reception of the Promised Land is recorded in Joshua with the final note being this word about their receiving their inheritance. When I think of an inheritance, I usually imagine someone just getting it. There does not usually seem to be any work involved. So if the Promised Land was an inheritance, why did they have to conquer it? In looking at the entrance into the Land, it seems that when they did try to do so on their own terms they suffered humiliating defeats or made inappropriate compromises. When they followed God's plan it was sort of like just accepting an inheritance. This leads me to conclude that maybe they kept trying to make things harder that they actually were. The Land was already given to them. All that they had to do was go and possess it. Yet even this they turned into a matter of hard work as if to prove how worthy they were to receive it.
A Purpose for Every Person
I am convinced that God has a plan for everyone, a purpose for every person, and that His plans have our best in mind. Sometimes we don't realize them until later. We just have to wait.
What promises from God are you waiting on right now?
What hopes in God are you clinging to right now?
Hang on. Don't give up. Be faithful and the Faithful One will act.
Ask yourself,
How am I being sidetracked from God's best for me?
Am I truly willing to wait until God completes His best for me?
Will I accept His inheritance?
What is my purpose in this world?
by Timothy Howe
In Acts 16, we see where God prevented Paul from going down the path he was headed and gave him a new vision. Now we see Paul's response.
Paul
responded to the Lord’s vision
When God
gave Paul a clear vision, Paul did not ignore it. He responded. He acted.
He was willing to respond.
Paul knew the truth that one cannot use the two words "No" and "Lord" in the same sentence. Since his life was already surrendered to God, there was no issue for him to struggle with, "Should I go to Macedonia or should I stay here?" When the Lord spoke, he was willing and eager to say, "Yes."
He was able to respond.
We have already seen that Paul had put his life in a position that he could move at the impulse of God. Paul had left behind any hindrances that could have encumbered him. He was sitting in Troas so that he could cross over right into Macedonia the moment that word came from God. He made himself well prepared even though he was previously unaware of the exactitude of God's call because he had continuously sought God's will in his life up to this point.
Paul responded to the Lord's vision immediately
Once Paul knew what the Lord expected of him, he responded immediately. He did not dither and worry about when the right moment might be to respond. He did so right away. Upon receiving the vision, he informed his team of their new directive and they set out. There was no delaying in order to set affairs straight. Since he was willing and able, he went.
Paul responded to the Lord's vision correctly
The vision Paul received explicitly told him what to do. He was to take the gospel to Macedonia. Paul did not veer from this call. He went directly to Macedonia where the Lord had already orchestrated events so that Paul could meet Lydia and eventually start a church.
Paul responded to the Lord's vision completely
Paul's response was "all in." He followed it completely, not adding to our taking away from God's call. He avoided the pitfalls of distractions along the way. The text indicates that at least Luke joined the team at this point suggesting that Paul retooled his team for the task God had given him. Paul accomplished the goal God set for him. Going to Macedonia, Paul preached the gospel to the God-fearer, to the crowd upset about the healing of the servant girl, to the jailer and presumably to the magistrates.
Are you both willing and able to respond to the Lord's vision for you? Will you do so immediately, correctly and completely. Doing so, may cause personal suffering - remember Paul was beaten and went to jail in Macedonia - but it can bring tremendous glory to God.
by Timothy Howe
This week I am focusing on Acts 16 in which Paul and his companions take the gospel to Macedonia, in what is our first record of the gospel reaching Europe. It was a time of an unparalleled advance of the Gospel. It is easy to assume that all went according to plan. But this would be wrong.
Paul was already successful in ministry
You will recall that Paul possessed a very fruitful ministry up to this point and had previously experienced a successful missionary journey. Now he was revisiting some of the places where he had started churches.
Paul had a good strategy
Paul's strategy up to this point was to go first to the synagogue, reason with the members how Christ fulfilled the scriptures, and work with believers in starting a new congregation. This strategy led his team to start numerous churches.
Paul had a good plan
Paul began this second missionary trip for the purpose of strengthening the churches which had been founded on the earlier trip. This was a good idea considering the hostility they were subject to. During this time he determined to set out to a new region to spread the gospel. This made sense based on what he had already accomplished.
God prevented Paul from carrying out his plan
Next something strange happened. The Scriptures tell us that the Spirit of Jesus prevented Paul from going to this new region. This does not make human sense. Paul was already doing a good work. We should presume that he would have been just as successful in this new area. Certainly, it would have been good to carry the gospel to a new place.
God wants what is best
Human sense does not compare to a Divine plan. Yes, it would have been good to start churches in the new region, but God was less interested in what was good. Instead, He pushed Paul towards what was best. God had a plan so much bigger than Paul could have imagined. This week we will see what that plan was. But first, we need to understand that in order to carry out His plan for Paul's life, God had to first prevent Paul from accomplishing Paul's plan for his life.
What is God preventing you from doing right now?
Whenever you get frustrated that things are not going as expected, it might not be that things are just not working out. Ask yourself the question - "What is God preventing me from doing?" This will help you to open your eyes to see what else he might have in store.
