SETTLERS
Today’s Reading: Joshua 16-17
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
Just east of Jericho, beside the Jordan River, is a church that commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. This is also the area where the Children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Joshua 17:13
And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
In the worship of their gods, the Canaanites followed evil practices such as killing their children and offering them as sacrifices. In their temples, as an act of worship, they committed fornication, adultery, pedophilia, and various perverted sexual acts. God knew, as history will prove to us over our readings of the next seven books, that such corruption would soon influence His people. The “forced labour” would soon become “spiritual and moral saboteurs!”
We may want to ask ourselves, “How are we being influenced by the culture in which we live?” Do we tolerate more easily practices that violate God’s laws for sexual behaviour? Does pedophilia produce a revulsion as it once did? Are we as horrified as we once were at the slaughter of the innocent little lives in abortion? Should these precious lives not have the protection of the state? Is there a general decline in personal and public moral standards? If we answer is “Yes,” then we are following the path of Israel. The stories of the moral decline of Israel every three or four generations should be a dire warning to us. Jesus repeated the words twice, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I repent for willingly tolerating moral rot in my generation. You are the Judge in the final analysis, and I must “hold the truth in love.” However, I pray that I will, by Your grace, hold Your standard for human behaviour high, loving people unconditionally, and hating the sin that Your Word declares will ultimately destroy the people You and I love! I weep as I pray for my 13 great-grandchildren in the face of the destruction of the values which sustained my parents in wars, financial collapse, and in family life. God, please help us to be loving and strong in our convictions on right and wrong. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
In some of the recent pictures my son David Reynold has taken for us, they show layer upon layer of City Centres which have been built and destroyed by wars. Of course the rebuilding did not occur until they had repented of taking on the sinful practices of the people around them. Someone said, “The one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.” I believe that in my own life I can prove that statement wrong. When I took a strong stand in support of the word “marriage” to be for man/woman unions only, the Lord clearly said to me, “David, don’t speak out on this issue unless you have the same attitude Abraham had toward Sodom.” Abraham prayed fervently for their protection. He risked his life for them in war. He introduced them to the King of Righteousness, Melchizedek, a man who represented God (Genesis 14). I cried out to God for Abraham’s attitude, and I believe I received this grace. It was a losing cause, but the struggle for God’s standards will not end until God says, “The End.”
Yours for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven,
David
Praise God for today’s scripture and wisdom in the incredible message left to us from David who followed God’s calling to create this daily bible study and 100 words blog. Lord God, we repent of the sick sin in the world. The devil seeks to tempt and destroy God’s children. We rebuke Satan and praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We hold our Heavenly Father on high. We live with the Holy Spirit breath of life sustaining us and the power of Christ within us. God’s blessings fellow saints in the Lord. Stay safe in this snow storm with a multitude of Angels about you.
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6 ESV
I love the Irish sound in this song.
Highly Exalted – Robin Mark with lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OySvhZmvkgY
Amen,Beverlee.
God bless you Beverlee Kay;
Yes Lord we repent for the sin of the world! I know how it must make You feel Lord; this is not how You created the world! In Jesus Name we rebuke the devil; he is nothing; we rebuke all evil by the leaders and the followers! Lord we pray You will send the Holy Spirit over all evil hearts; turn them into repenting, loving, forgiving people; give them the skills to rebuke the devil from their families;friends; enter the hearts of our Pastors to lead in a God filled way; offering communion & forgiveness where ever it is needed! We thank You Lord for all the blessings of this day…
Yes, Praise God for today’s scriptures and David’s comments!
Thank you Beverlee for us always proving us with a song to fit!!
Yes, I still believe in the good moral values that David spoke of and not the opposite. Unfortunately so many are being influenced by the culture around us just like the Israelites were. So we must cry out to the Lord for them. Amen! Trust all are surviving the storm. Blessings and safety saints. Yesterday the Lord sent me some good help with a powerful snowblower and we worked 3 hours getting snow away from one section of my buildings. So thankful for that!
Dear Ger
Praise and thank the Lord for the help you received! Thank you Lord, bless this pp; Lord we thank you for the moisture which we will need in the summer; Lord we pray for Ger and her health; we thank You Lord that she loves You Lord and we thank you Lord that she can post on this prayer site! Thank you Lord in Jesus Name we Pray amen
As I often do,today I shared David’s paragraph beginning with “We may want to ask ourselves,” along with the link to 100 Words.Without Christianity each city/region (whatever?) can set their own moral standards and within those boundaries may be hidden (Hollywood?) a much lower set of morals or anti- morals.God bless
Our Father
Oh God our Father you love us so,
We are blind and can not know
Just how great and kind you are,
Content to love us from afar.
We turn our backs and still you care;
We close our eyes but you are there,
But it’s You we rely on
To lead us on back to Zion.
We hurt you daily by endless sin
But still your light guides us in.
You could not know how weak we are
So you sent us Jesus to bear our scars.
We are a mixture of sin and praise,
But still you lift our spirits to raise
The love that you see in us still,
A desire to follow your holy will.
G W (Bill) Marshall /Oct 10,2011
The Kingdom Is Ours
Oh,Lord,though we have sinned against You
And have done evil in your sight,
You still love us the ages through,
Withholding from us Your just might.
To each of us You have been a Friend,
Your guidance led those who would hear
And shown Your mercy has no end;
As we repent,you draw us near.
Lord,restore to us a right spirit,
For You have washed away our sin
And we know we’re not to fear it
When evil seeks to come within.
Oh,my Savoir,You are always true
And we want to walk in Your light
But there is one who will undo
And e’er seeks to bind us in fright.
Oh Lord,we know Your word is our shield
But relentless thoughts from the snake,
Seek to steal what we must not yield,
For the kingdom is ours to take.
G W(Bill) Marshall/13 Sept, 2015
Sorry;while searching for this one I found the other two:
Our World Forgot
The world forgot what is right
For we were supposed to teach them,
By sharing with them the light
But we could not reach them.
Not long ago I was ‘them’
Until I found the light He gives;
The One the world would condemn,
Who died to show He lives.
They don’t want to know our ways
For they think their ways suit them best,
But we know how it dismays
When one begins the quest.
We must begin to reach out
Or we may loose them all to sin,
So we must defeat the doubt,
To plant the seed within.
Using words at their command
Will allow His word to embed,
Thus they can then understand
How He rose from the dead.
GW(Bill) Marshall/26 July, 2015
Amen, Bill!
Yes, Amen!
Couldn’t post yesterday.I thought my internet was acting up but when I started the PC today it took me to a “computer start up repair”.It seems normal now?
Had to post this one by Robin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1llIIhBMCjU
When its all been said and done–so very beautiful!!!
What beautiful scenery; and truthful words, thank you William
Thank you William for the poems that you share on this blog and that they are always very touching to me so thank you for posting them and God bless
Agreeing with David’s prayer.
Help us Lord to stand for Your morals in a land that is turning away from them, Amen and Amen!!
Reynold’s photo are so right-on is representing the scriptures Thank you Reynold, you truly are a professional photographer!