Post 139 Benefits of Following The Lord

Hello,

This week I would like to expound on the topic of following the Lord.

In the book of Joshua in the Old Testament, the Israelites were crossing the Jordan river and about to enter the land that God had reserved for them. There were many tribes the Israelites would have to conquer in order to gain the territory.

Of course the tribes were not happy about giving up their land and therefore three major military campaigns and over thirty enemy armies, would attempt to stop the Israelites. But Joshua was their leader and Joshua followed the Lord and trusted Him wholeheartedly- because of this he was rewarded. Joshua knew that it didn’t matter what he saw with his human eyes- massive armies, strong men with knowledge of the land- He knew that God was on his side. We need to remember that we are always a majority when God is on our side.

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”(1 John 4:4 NLT)

God is the same yesterday, today and forever and therefore He will be with us in our battles too.  Joshua and the Israelite armies slowly conquered the land and came to their homeland in Canaan-  but they weren’t perfect in thier journey-they made mistakes along the way and lost some battles. Their mistakes were due to disobedience to God. We too can lose some “battles” in life when we are disobedient to the Lord. When both sides are disobedient, we see in the book of Joshua that the Lord will allow His believers to lose because He knows that through their loss they will analyze the reason and correct their behavior or repent of past behavior.

A starting point to know if we are off course are the Ten Commandments which we can all look up. (Be sure to not refer to the Catholic Ten Commandments because they are different than the ones Moses left for us.)

Also: “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19ESV)

This passage adds a few more sins to be aware of:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21ESV)

So the life God is looking to bless, is the life lived by Christians who are constantly aware of their behavior and speech and working at making it line up with the Word of God. We will NEVER be perfect, but we sure can be self aware and with humility change our ways. When it seems hard we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us- this is what the Holy Spirit longs to do- to be the helper of all people who have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever“(John 14:15-16)

I hope you receive extra blessings this week as you put into practice these verses of Scripture!

Lisa