I'm Following Jesus – Page 1140 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Chapters: Joshua 1-4
Message: Daily Walk With Christ

Hello My Friend,

Can you believe that we have read through six books of the Bible already? Speaking of the Books of the Bible, I have a three year old nephew that sings a song called, The Books of The Bible, he has been saying every book in order by heart since he was two. Now, we do not have to memorize every book in order, but it is important that we keep God’s Word as the heart of all that we do. Why? One word and name, Jesus. [Luke 4:3-4 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.]

Once we receive Christ as our Saviour, our journey is not done, we will face some rough terrain, raging waters, and valleys. By the same faith that made us whole, we will get through it all, because we are not doing this alone, Jesus is with us. The Book of Joshua contains twenty-four chapters, the author is Joshua and it was written to Israel, the timeline for these events is approximately 1451 BC to 1427 BC. Christ is seen in this book as the Captain of Lord’s Host. The purpose of the book was to record the details on how Joshua led the people of Israel into the land promised to them from God, and explains the division of the land among the tribes. What we are to learn from the book is that no moral or spiritual battles are won without God, He gives victory to all who let Him lead them, [Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.]

Now that Moses died and they mourned for him, the time came for the Israelites to take their journey into the land God promised them. God had chosen Joshua to be Moses’ successor, the one who would lead them across the River Jordan, God speaks to Joshua and gives him the command to move forward.

[Joshua 1:1-2,5-8,9 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.]

[Moses my servant is dead;] God never sugar coats anything, He flat out tells you what is going on. This reminds me of when Jesus was summoned my Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus was sick, and waited until he died before heading over there, [John 11]. We cannot sit and wait for God’s blessings to come to us, we need to step forward to receive them, but allow Jesus to be the one to lead us. It does not matter if we are in charge or just employed in the ministry, we must take up our cross, which means, whatever struggles we face, and follow Jesus, [Luke 9:23-24 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.]

Notice that Jesus tells us that we are to take up our cross daily. Our journey with Christ is not a one time thing, it is eternal, and it all starts the second we get saved. As we take up our cross, with Jesus leading the way, we will discover that the journey, even though it does have some challenges, is not as scary as we thought. Now, just like Moses did, Joshua sent some men over into Canaan to search it out, this time only two went over.

[Joshua 2:1,4,8-9,11-13 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.]

[neither did there remain any more courage in any man,] All those fools who spied out the land the first time were scared of nothing, they not only died having never reached the promised land, they ended up in hell because of their unbelief. Of course, it was thirty-eight years later, but they were still more afraid of the people that were led by the Living God. And believe it or not, more people than we think actually want to know how to get saved. Now, the two men thanked Rahab and said they would honor her request as long as she held up to her side of the bargain.

[Joshua 2:18-20,23-24 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: 24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.]

[for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.] This reminds me of the disciples, when Jesus gave them the means to be able to heal the sick on their journey to tell the people about Jesus. They returned to Jesus, proud that they were untouchable, but Jesus flat out told them not to gloat about it, [Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.]

Because of our faith in Christ our soul is in tact, it cannot be touched by Satan, that does not mean that we are untouchable. In fact, Satan will tempt us in the worst way in an attempt to get us to turn away from our faith. This is why it is so important that we get in His Word and stay in it, it is our guide to getting through this journey. Now, Joshua gives the instructions from God on how the were to prepare themselves for their journey.

[Joshua 3:1-5,7 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.]

[Sanctify yourselves:] Do not wait until tomorrow to clean yourself up and get right with God, do it today. Your soul is sanctified in Christ, so, it is safe from the evils of this world, but it is important that we wash our feet. I was listening to a sermon the other day and found myself asking myself how I would respond to Jesus if He just showed up. Let me tell you, I would not want to face Jesus in the midst of having done something shameful. This reminds me of what Jesus said to the man that He healed, [John 5:13-14 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.]

God’s Word us what sanctifies our body as we get in it and do what it is that God instructs us to do. It does not matter if we are saved, sin will always lead to death if we are not repentant. We need to understand that this is not about keeping our salvation, it is about God and how He blesses us while we are here for our faithfulness. Israel was going to get the land God promised them, in fact, the living God would go before them, and guide them every step of the way. The first step was crossing over the Jordan, God commands Joshua to set them all in order, the Levites leading the way.

[Joshua 3:8,13,15-17 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. 15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.]

[That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap] Just picture this scenario, the priests, who were carrying the Ark, walked into the river, which was overflowing with water, the water abated as soon as their feet touched the water. They stood right in the center of it where the water rose up and just stood there as they passed over the River Jordan on dry land. Unlike with Moses, when God just parted the waters of the Red Sea when Moses raised up his staff, they walked into the water with the Ark as it separated. This is a great illustration of Jesus, who stands before us, leading His believers into the Promised land, we may hit some rough waters, but He right there in the midst of them, abating them for us, [Mark 4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.]

God truly is amazing, and His grace even more amazing. Amen! There is not a day that goes by that I am not reminded of just how weak I am, and that it is Christ’s strength that carries me through. I always say that coming to Christ takes great courage, not because we are weak, but we are afraid of the outcome. God does not want us to live in fear, He wants us to be strong in Him, and yes, we are going to have to fight, but we will never have to fight alone, Christ is always with us. Now, Joshua led the new generation across the Jordan, God commanded them to gather twelve stones out of the Jordan, from where the priests stood, one from each tribe was to gather a stone to represent each of the children of Israel.

[Joshua 4:1-3,8-10 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. 8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. 10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.]

[when all the people were clean passed over Jordan,] Now, I know that this means that God spoke to them after all of them crossed over the Jordan, but something else comes to mind here. Until we get saved we cannot pass over into the Promised Land, meaning until we are clean. Only Jesus cleans us and enables us to be able to cross over into the Promised Land once we receive Him as our Saviour, [John 15:3-4 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Joshua 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Our journey to the Promised Land may take us a lifetime to get there, but You are with us every step we take, While on our journey, we know we will face lots of challenges, but with each and every one You promise that You will go before us. You command us only to be strong and of a good courage, so that we might keep our dependence on You, trusting in Your Word that will keep us faithful and sanctified in Your truth. Lord, We know that we can do all things through Christ who is in us, You are our strength, as we study Your word, and walk with You daily, You will give us the ability to defeat any challenge we are faced with. Give us Your power, Your strength, Your might, Your wisdom, and Your guidance, put Your hedge of protection around us, cover us in Your arms, while our flesh is weak, we can be strong and of a good courage by observing You Word and keeping it dear to our hearts. Let us not look to the right or left, just straight ahead, trusting You to help us overcome this pandemic. In Your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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