Day 7: Joshua 1:18

"Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!" ~Joshua 1:18 NIV

Wh-wh-what!? Wh-wh-what a fascinating verse this is. Standing alone, it's actually kinda intimidating. Which is why one should always consider CONTEXT when reading the Bible. So, a little background check reveals...

Hmm. Moses is dead. And Josh has just been voted the new leader. Actually, God gave him the job. All of the Israelites that sinned against God by not invading the promised land are dead, and a new generation has risen up and is ready to kick out the bad-guys. But, thing is, the Ruebenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had already settled on the one side of the Jordan. All of the other tribes were going to claim land on the other side. When Moses gave the land to these tribes, he made them promise they would help their brothers claim their land on the other side. So, now that Israel is all ready to cross over, Josh has asked for the fighting men of the three (well, two and a half) tribes. The Ruebenites, Gadites and the peeps from Manasseh agree immediately, mobilize their forces, and send a message to Josh saying, "Just as we fully obeyed Moses so we will fully obey you." And that's where this verse is coming from - the end of the message from those two and a half tribes.

See, these tribes knew that God was with Moses, and they knew that God was with Joshua. So disobeying Joshua was like disobeying God, because Josh's orders were coming directly from God. Before Jesus, God was not as prevalent among the ordinary people, He mostly manifested Himself through His prophets, the Levites and leaders, or judges. So in order to follow God's law, one had to be well acquainted with the Torah (basically the first five books of the Bible) or one had to trust the local Levite priest or a prophet or a God-appointed leader.

Essentially the tribes were telling Joshua to stay true to his morals, to God's word - if one of the Ruebenites, Gadites or Manasseh-ites were to disobey his command, they asked him to be "strong and courageous" and to do the right thing: put them to death. Sounds harsh nowadays, doesn't it? But the Israelites were called to be a HOLY people, and God's HOLY Spirit was with them. And since God is a holy God, anything that is not holy is unable to be in His presence - it kinda disintegrates. (Think in Acts when Saphira and her husband lied to the apostles as to how much they sold their house for... it's the same principle. God's HOLY Spirit was so strong that any unholiness was removed instantly, I think.) In any case, that's why this verse is so "extreme."

For all that background, the most I can get out of this verse is to OBEY God, down to the letter, don't let anything stop you from completing His commands. (But make sure they're HIS commands before you go out and do anything violent!) Be strong and courageous as you do so, and encourage your fellow tribes to be strong and of good courage. Yay for building up other Christians! I suppose one just never knows when a good word can save the day...

Day 6: Isaiah 8:13-14

"If you're going to worry, worry about the Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can either be a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way, the Rock standing in the willful way of both houses of Israel, a barbed wire Fence preventing trespass to the citizens of Jerusalem." ~Isaiah 8:13-14 MSG

If we're going to choose something to spend our time, energy and resources on, I don't think it should be worrying. Being scared. That's just a waste of precious resources! Precious, nonreturnable time! And though our energy is renewable, worrying and fretting literally DRAIN energy like watching an HD movie DRAINS your iPod battery. Yes, you can recharge it. But it takes a lot more time to recharge the battery from 15% to 100% than from 80% to 100%. If we're going to worry - it might as well be about things that God is actively involved in, something that can make a difference.

And if we have to be scared of something, I'd much rather be scared of an omnipotent God who loves us with a love so deep and wide that it is infinite than of a Satan who hates us just as strongly. God can really be frightening - but ultimately He loves us and everything He does He does to try and get us closer to Him. And if we have Him, there's no need to be afraid of Satan. I'd hate to have God for an enemy - because, as the Old Testament often shows, when God gets mad, oh boy does He get mad! He sent Israel, His own people, into exile twice, and then let the Romans conquer them. I'd much rather live my life so that God is my Hiding Place, living to please Him and love Him with all I am than drift into wickedness that would make Him a barbed wire fence.

So God help me to live a life pleasing to You, a life of faith. *Amen

Day 5: Deuteronomy 7:18

"But I'm telling you, Don't be afraid. Remember, yes, remember in detail what God, your God, did to Pharaoh and all Egypt." ~ Deuteronomy 7:18 MSG

Here we go, another explicit command to "fear not." Yay! I will follow God's directive, I will complete His orders! I love the emphasis He puts on not being afraid - "But I'm telling you." I'm telling you, God will protect you! What are your fears? I'm telling you, God can get you out of it. Don't be afraid, silly!

To continue, Moses (I'm pretty sure he's the one writing Deuteronomy...) reminds us to remember all of the things God has already done for us. It's like learning from someone else's mistake. If they make the mistake, and you learn from it, then you will avoid that mistake and you won't have to learn the lesson for yourself, wasting time and effort and energy by doing so. By remembering what God did for me or Moses in the past, I can predict that He can do it again in the future. The fact that God is "like a photograph, never changing," to quote FM Static, helps here too. God doesn't change, and if He rescued His people in distress yesterday, He'll rescue them today too. And even if God doesn't rescue me in the same way, (He saved Israel from Egypt one way, from Babylon and Assyria in different ways. I mean, it's the same scenario: He's rescuing Israel from bondage to a super-country. But He does it three different ways!) He still will respond to those who call on Him! It reminds me of Narnia... in Prince Caspian when Lucy meets Aslan she wants Him to charge in and save the day. Aslan says, however, that He doesn't ever do things the same way twice. He still saves Narnia, and returns peace to the land. But He didn't charge in the way he did it in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

So, if I'm afraid that at my new school I won't have any friends... I can look back to when I moved to Poland. God provided friends then - some of my best, as a matter of fact. He'll do it again when I move back to America. :) I suppose that's just the way He rolls.

Day 4: Malachi 3:5

"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts." ~ Malachi 3:5 KJV

The underlying message of this verse is that if I fear the Lord, then "fear not". God will judge those who do wrong, He will be a "swift witness" or as the Message puts it, He will put "compelling evidence against" evil. For the Jews Malachi is writing to, God is saying He will cleanse Israel of "sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, anyone who is inhospitable to the homeless," ~MSG.

For me, I believe this is a promise of sorts. If we honor God and follow Him, He will protect us from those described - modern-day sorcerers, adulterers, liars etc. Since I fear God, I should "fear not" God's wrath and judgement.

Sometimes it may seem the whole world is out to get you. Everything comes crashing down at once. This might be a bit stretched from the verse's original meaning, but I believe it guarantees that God will protect us from hypocrites and that we should boldly continue doing what's right - even if it's not the easy thing. Why be afraid of people?

Day 3: Daniel 6:23

"The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." ~Daniel 6:23 NIV

What is the direct opposite of fear? Some would say it's confidence in one's self. I would say it's trust - complete trust in our God. From the faith we have in our God comes self-confidence and God-assurance.

Here's a quick summary to refresh the story: Daniel had been taken to Babylon when Jerusalem fell as Jeremiah prophesied. God had favor on Daniel and three of his friends, who "feared," or had great reverence for God. God moved Danny and his buddies up through the throngs of Babylonian officers, and Daniel became one of the greatest advisers in the kingdom because God gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams. God gave Danny great favor with the king of the time, Darius. Now all the Babylonian advisers were jealous of Daniel's position and rise to power, and since he prayed three times a day to God, they hatched up a plan to make praying to any god but the king Darius illegal. The penalty for not observing that law was death in a lion's den.

Once the king had agreed to the law it was a simple matter of catching Daniel in the act of praying to God - because you don't just stop praying to God when the world tries to stop you. In ordinance with his law, Darius had to - though he didn't want to - throw Daniel in the lion's den. Darius was very upset, and as they threw Danny into the den he said "May the God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"

Did God rescue Daniel?

Yes, yes He did. He sent angels to close the mouths of the lions. Darius came to check on Daniel, and when he found out that Daniel had survived a whole night in the den he immediately had Danny pulled out and threw the conspirators in!

Lions were considered the most ferocious beast of the time, and for good reason. God made lions killing machines - huge teeth, retractable claws, pure muscle! In the Psalms (and even nowadays) the Lion of Judah is one of the symbols of God. CS Lewis used Aslan, a lion, to allegorically represent God. A lion is a fierce beast.

Standing a good 4 feet tall and an even 8 feet long not including the tail, (that's 120 cm and 230 cm to keep things in perspective) lions are the second largest cat in the world, and at one point in time were as widespread across the world as humans (Wikipedia). Granted, that's apparently 10,000 years ago, when there were a lot fewer humans. So it's not like there were 2 billion lions running around. Anyhow. Try to use your best power of imagination and drop yourself into a dark cave where there are several lions. It is pitch black and you can't see anything except for maybe a crack of light from the opening of the den. The smell of rotting bones and manure fills your nose, and a cold draft blows past your back. It's hot in here though, from all of the bodies of hungry lions. Everything you know about lions is that they're hungry and you're fresh meat. You can't see them, you know they're there and you can just barely hear a few velvety paws padding around you.

The lions probably wouldn't have to kill me, I'd have a heart attack just trying to calm myself down, I'd be so absolutely petrified!

If Daniel can find confidence in God in that, then how can we rationalize our fears? God will provide a way out. We've just got to remember that God is good all the time, and He never gives us more than we can take. Lesson of the day: trust God. And the hard part is that trust is a choice...

Day 2: Joel 2:32

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." ~ Joel 2:32 KJV

When frightened or scared... pray! God is bigger than anything the world can throw at us. So when the world is throwing everything it has at me, I've got to call out to the God who made the world. The verse above was written as a prophecy for the end times. Up to this verse, Joel is foretelling the things that God's spirit will do as the world comes to a close. God will pour out His spirit on "all flesh" - on anyone, not just the Jews (the people Joel was writing to at the time.) Man and woman, old and young, all are able to manifest God's spirit! And now it has passed that whoever calls on Jesus will be delivered, redeemed, however you want to put it. The remnant - the few who stand through to the very end (as it is written in Revelations...) will be / are called by God. And we will call upon Him, and this verse promises all people that God will deliver us when we ask!

So again I emphasize, when uncertain or doubting, when terrified and hopeless, pray! Pray this verse, pray to the God who is bigger than any problem I might have. ASK! Jeremiah 33:3 says "Call to me, and I will answer you." It goes on to say "and I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know." Peace, grace, love that passes understanding? We won't know it until we call to God.

God, don't allow me to be too proud to ask You for help when I desperately need it. *Amen.

Day 1: Luke 12:32

"Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." ~Luke 12:32, KJV

Ah, the first! Let's do a little background check on this verse, shall we? Open up your Bible! This verse is in red, because Jesus is talking. Oh... it's plain old black ink :/ Oh well! Maybe in the Fire Bible it's red... In any case. It might be more expensive to print red ink in addition to black. Hmmm... I have a cheapo Bible :O *Coming back down to doing background checks... Reading in the verses up to this one, we see the world-renowned passage of "God clothes the lilies even more splendidly than Solomon in his full glory... how much more will God clothe you!"

See, God knows what I need. He knows I need food and clothes. And water and a shelter. But He wants me to focus on Him, on furthering His Kingdom! He wants 100% of my focus to be on Him .

Wait, what does furthering His Kingdom mean? ...*thinks hard... It's nothing too hard to explain, I suppose: furthering the Kingdom means drawing more people to Jesus. So to seek the Kingdom means we need to be open to God's guidance, we need to be open to the needs of the people around us so we can point them to God. Jesus is basically telling us that who we are needs to involve sharing Him. Whether that's just being oneself - madly in love with the King - or standing in the middle of the Square and proclaiming "Jesus saves!" that all depends on the person. Ugh... being the center of attention is NOT my personality. I get intimidated by meeting kind and gentle new people... I can't imagine telling strangers that they're gonna go to Hell but Jesus can save them.

As far as applying the verse goes... "God!" I might say. "I'm on a mission! I'm going to the grocery store so I can feed myself! I can't just randomly stop and talk to this crying stranger, I have a Skype call with my friend in India!"

But seeking God's kingdom means I stop and talk, I try to help, I share Jesus' love. It'll turn out that my brother went shopping, and my Skype call was canceled later - if I obey God's call. "But what if this stranger doesn't want my help? I'll just be rejected and laughed at?"

It is God's good pleasure to give us valid opportunities to serve Him. So we shouldn't be afraid to do what's on our heart! And even if we are laughed at, or rejected... so was Jesus! And we are called to be a Christian, to be a "mini Christ." So if they plotted to kill Jesus, if they tried to trick Him and stop Him from doing good... how much more will they do it to me! Actually, that's a rather frightening thought O.o But Jesus also had God with Him - so we will also have the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God all on our side. It's always important to see every side of the box.