Scripture Carvings...

Sprinkles of kindness ... God's word in bits and pieces ...

"...celebrate because of all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household." DT 26:11

"...the year of the tithe..." DT 26:12

seems to me that when you remember and celebrate all the good things of the Lord the result follows ... obedience in the tithe.

"For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out." DT 29:5

God's perfect provision ... then and now. God may not give us what we want but he always provides exactly what we need.

Moses sings his final song .... You may recall that Moses does not get to enter the promised land because in frustration and anger, he strikes the rock and brings forth water, then turned to the people and said, "I have given you water." (Numbers 20). This act of defiant disobedience means Moses does not lead God's people into the promise. Do you think Moses was bitter about this punishment? (I always feel sorry for him). But listen to his words ...

³ I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
how glorious is our God!
⁴ He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair. DT 32

Moses declares that God is the Rock ... his acts are perfect and God is just and fair. Moses had learned. (the hard way ... but he learned.)

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.”

⁵ So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.⁶ The Lord buried him... DT 34

Moses doesn't get all he wants, but he get's all he needs. In his greatest hour of need (death), God is there to attend to him with gentleness and provision. Am I content that the Lord will provide me with all I need, not necessarily all I want?

"Be strong and courageous." JSH

Six times this phrase is repeated in Joshua. Wonder why? Maybe because Joshua wasn't!? Interestingly, the first five times it is said, it is God encouraging Joshua. The final time, it is Joshua saying farewell to the people ... and he is challenging them to be strong and courageous. The Words that God speaks into your life become your life and your voice. Listen carefully to what the Lord says to you.

¹⁸ Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai. JSH 18

God does the same thing with Joshua that he had done with Moses. Moses raised his staff and God worked. Now God tells Joshua to raise his spear. I find it interesting how God uses different people and uses the different skill sets they have, in order to lead his people. God provides different leaders for what is needed at that specific time for his people. He called Moses to lead the people, because at that time, they needed a shepherd. Then he calls Joshua to lead the people, because then the people needed a warrior.

Why did God bring us the leaders we have now? What about those leaders (what about me) shows us what God is up to now?