In Korea, during the month of May, we celebrate family. Often, we think of the good times and love we experience with our family, but all of us can also think of the bad parts of family.
The first mission field is the family. We need to make sure that our family knows who God is and experience God. Joshua makes a declaration concerning him and his family.
Joshua 24:15 ESV
[15] And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
We need to fear God, and this means to put God first in everything. The first generation of Israelites who left Egypt to go to the promised land wanted to return to their old lives, culture and their old gods.
We might say that we are Christian families, but what is the focus in life? What is that you and your family serve?
Families are not built by words alone. When God is the centre, we are grateful. We might become anxious or sad, but we return to God when He is the centre. When we argue, we can forgive each other. Before we eat, we can take some time to pray to God.
When Joshua declares that he will serve God with his family, the people respond with the memories of grace.
Joshua 24:16-17 ESV
[16] Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, [17] for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.
When we remember how much God has given us and done for us, we experience gratitude. When we are grateful, our words change and this changes our situation.
By remembering grace and what God has done for us, we keep our focus on God. We must remember the answered prayers, the hardships God rescued us from and His intervention.
We can praise God now for what He has done for us. When we put off our praise to God, we start to lose focus on God. We start to focus on our problems and might look for other solutions. This is why Joshua calls on the people of Israel to make a choice today.
Even as Christians, we need to confess that God is Lord. We need to praise God and renew our faith.
When our lives are busy, when our lives are full of uncertainty, when our lives are experiencing pain, we will put God first and confess that he is our Lord.
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
Psalm 105:26 New International Version
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
The God Who Remembers, and the People Who Must Remember
Psalm 195:1-6, & 26
As we get older, we forget more easily. It becomes harder to remember what we have said and what promises we have made. We also have poor spiritual memory.
Biblical remembering is about remembering what is in the Bible but also remembering how this applies in our lives and, more importantly, the character of God.
God does not forget us. He does not forget his promises. It is that we forget God and His promises and what he has done in the past. It is our lack of faith.
When difficult comes, we must remember what God has done for us. Remember the grace He has shown to us. Remember the mercy shown to us and the blessings we receive daily. We should not fall into despair but remember who God is.
We forget too easily. We forget about the grace that God has shine to us. We forget that God never broke the covenant and never gave up on His covenant. God promised He would restore the broken relationship and He did by sending His son.
We all know the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery after he had the dreams from God. In the dream, he was lifted up to a high position. Yet, shortly after the dream he was sold as a slave and separated from his family. Then he was put into prison for a crime he never committed. In God's time, Joseph was redeemed and lived up to the second highest position in Egypt and God was able to rescue His chosen people.
Then when the Israelites were rescued from Egypt, God took care of His people while they were in the desert.
God is faithful. He rescues us and takes care of us. God does not stop after rescuing us. He takes care of us and nurtures us until we become the people of His word.
Coming out of Egypt was grace, but also being rescued from the slave mindset was also grace.
God rescues us from a broken relationship, a self-centered life, a life of sin, a life without purpose. God never stops providing for us and giving us grace. He wants us to be free to live a life according to his will.
The same God who rescued the Israelites, who gave mana and water in the dessert, who rescued us from sin and death is the God Who remembers us, too.
Psalm 96:4-5 New International Version 4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. We are all worshipers. We are worshiping something. As Christians, we claim to worship God. However, if we look at our screen time, we might find that most of our time is focused on things that are not of God. We might worry and think about money, fame or security.
We need to redirect our worship to God.
Psalm 96:4-5 ESV [4] For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. [5] For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
The Psalmist cries out to the people that our pursuits outside of God are worthless. If we continue to worship false gods or worthless idols, our souls will be focused on the wrong things.
It might seem strange in modern times that we pursue false gods or idols, but we often do. Those idols are what we put our trust in. We often put our trust in things that are not trustworthy or eternal. Economies collapse, jobs disappear, health fails, beauty fades, and people betray. It is only God who prevails.
It is God who created everything. He created the heavens; there is nothing he cannot do. Yet, God still cares for his creation. He knows what our needs and the injustice against us and others are.
We can rest knowing that our lives in the hands of God. We should then give our focus to God. and give praise to God who gives us life and who created everything. God deserves our praise, worship, and attention.
When we focus on the world, we will never keep up to the high standards of the world. We will fall into anxiety as we fall further and further behind the demands of the world.
Look at all of God's creation and give Him praise. Acknowledge Him and all he has done. Praise him despite your worldly circumstances and know God is Lord of all.
Sabbath: A Holy Declaration That Overcomes the World
Psalm 92 is the only Psalm for the Sabbath. We understand that the Sabbath is a day of rest, yet many of us are very busy on the Sabbath. There are several volunteers who do many jobs besides the pastor and worship team
However, the Sabbath is a confession of faith in God. No matter what is happening, we will proclaim God's love.
Psalm 92:2 ESV
[2] to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
We put our trust in God, but we need to declare that we experience God's love. We need to do this first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Instead of over thinking, we need to confess God's faithfulness. Once you lay down everything to God, then you can have a deep rest.
Psalm 92:7 ESV
[7] that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
It is easy to be discouraged when we see so many wicked people prospering, and so many righteous people suffer and do not prosper. Yet, we need to remember that the success of the wicked does not last. Grass grows quickly but its roots are shallow. It dries easily and is easily destroyed.
Psalm 92:12 ESV
[12] The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
The wicked will eventually be destroyed forever whereas the righteous will grow like a palm tree or a cedar. The trees grow slowly and their roots grow down deeply. The roots hold the trees in place and after many years the trees are large and mighty.
Psalm 92:13-14 ESV
[13] They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. [14] They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
Still there is more for the righteous who are planted in the courts of the Lord. God's kingdom is eternal and allows for righteousness to grow deeply and completely being nourished in good things. The ultimate ending is lives that produce fruit well into our old age.
Yes, the wicked will have worldly success for a brief time, but eventually it will pass. For those who surrender everything, who surrender all control to God in faithfulness, we will be like well-watered trees in the courts of God.
Let us praise God first thing in the morning and the last thing we do at night.
