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Promises by Desperation Band

Scripture
Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true. Joshua 21:45

Observation
I read this news story last week from Tampa, Florida:

“In the early months of the Civil War, the city of Tampa needed ammunition and other supplies to defend against attack but apparently was short on cash. So it issued a promissory note for $299.58 to storekeeper Thomas Pugh Kennedy on June 21, 1861. Kennedy’s great-granddaughter says the city never made good on its loan. Now, Joan Kennedy Biddle and her family are suing to collect the payment plus 8 percent annual interest. The total bill: $22.7-million.” (Taken from the St Petersburg Times, tampabay.com, March 16, 2008, Janet Zink, reporter)

It will be interesting to see the legal outcome of this way past due debt collection. The prospect of the City of Tampa coughing up some dollars is there from earlier legal precedents.

As I read that news clipping today I thought, the Lord would remember a promise longer than that, and pay up as well with no statute of limitations. The promises of God are something like uncashed checks that he feels compelled to honor. God can no more forget a promise than we are allowed to forget an unpaid bill. Many have had the experience of finding an answer to a prayer long forgotten, because the Lord never forgets.

The promises of God will not let go of us. They cling to us and pursue us until they are fulfilled. Time is involved, as well as obedience, but the words will be accomplished.

The Book of Joshua was written to show how 400 year old promises made to Abraham were completed. God never forgets his word; he won’t forget his promises to us either.

Application
There are times we remind the Lord of the promises he has made to us, but there is another way to live in God’s promises. Instead we can rest in the presence of God and watch the word of God do its work. Though we pray we must always remember that the fulfillment of promises is not up to us, it is all from the Lord. He will not forget them, even if we do.

Prayer
Father, I have a safe deposit box in my heart full of words you have spoken to me. I sift through them wondering what will come of them. I am certain that what you have in mind is bigger and more beautiful than I could accomplish. I’m counting on you to fulfill your word. You will not forget. I trust you in that. Amen.

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Third Day Consuming Fire

Scripture
“Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. Joshua 14:10-12

Observation
In just a matter of days a sole runner will sprint into a stadium in Beijing holding aloft a solitary flame. Crowds will roar as he or she tosses the burning torch into the cauldron and the fire explodes into the night sky. That flame was sparked with the suns rays on Mount Olympus and was whisked around the world. Many will gasp at the roaring flame, but how many will consider the marvel that the fire, carried so far, did not go out?

How can the fire of passion be kept burning over the long run? Caleb had a pilot light that burned for 45 years and was never snuffed out. His desire to conquer the hill country infested with giants as as hot four decades on as it was in his young commando days. How did he keep it blazing on a long journey over windy desert roads?

The secret is in the word “wholehearted”. Caleb followed the Lord with a whole heart, not just on the day when he and Joshua alone believed God, but through every day of the 45 year journey.

There would have been many disappointments along the way that could have put Caleb’s flame out. There was the road, there was the dust, there was the aimlessness and worst of all the company. He was surrounded with 600,000 negative people who needed to pass on before the next door could open. But against odds of 300,000 to one, Caleb kept his torch burning. His flame and Joshua’s fire were the two lights that kept burning in the wilderness.

Application
On the long journey between disappointment and fulfillment it is easy to pass our torch over to those who will snuff it out. The opposite of following the Lord with a whole heart is to give part of our heart over to the negativity that surrounds us. If we do, before long there will only be darkness. Caleb watched his comrades die one by one until at last only he and Joshua were left. Through al those years of disappointment, Caleb still walked with a heart open to hope and to God. Caleb could fight bravely at 85 as well as at 40 years of age because never for one day did he give up the fight in his heart. He constantly tended his flame. What Caleb did, I must do. Wholeheartedness means giving my heart only to One. The flame is too precious to be surrendered to those who do not appreciate its light.

Prayer
Father, today, wholeheartedly I follow you. Amen.

Scripture
Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” Acts 28:10-12

Observation
Paul’s life was uneven. There were hurried times of planting churches; there were slowdown seasons when nothing much seemed to happen at all. The years of prison and prison ship seemed to be the most wasteful of his life. No churches were started. Instead the starter of churches, writer of the Bible and mentor of great leaders was locked up in a dripping prison cell for months on end while his case bounced through the court system.

But instead of prison time we can view Paul’s saga as a palace tour. In those tedious years Paul would personally meet the High Priest, Felix, Festus, King Agrippa, Publius and eventually Nero himself. Within a lifetime of the crucifixion, world leaders would have a personal audience with a representative of Christ. Paul took an all-expenses-paid palace crawl. Only God could arrange something like that.

Application
If we are faithfully following Christ, there are no off-seasons. God tours through detours. While Paul was in prison, in the brig, floating on shipwrecked timbers and coughing up seaweed, his life may not have felt to him divinely led. But Christ was leading him. Paul was an envoy to royal courts. That perspective kept him from self pity. He spoke with eloquence and confidence for he did not see himself as a prisoner but as an ambassador.

Prayer
Father, help me to not judge life seasons by the accommodation but by the purpose you have designed for me. Help me to live up to all the responsibilities each life detour entails and to make the most of them. Amen.

Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

Scripture
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” Genesis 39:16-17

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40:23

So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16 (NKJ)

Observation

Joseph had a dream planted in his heart by the Lord. It was more than just an idea that Joseph had for his life. It was a plan that God has for him. That dream was like a seed buried deep in him. One day, in right conditions, that seed would grow. Meanwhile, that seed would need to remain hidden from view under prison clothes deep in his heart.

There were people that God put into Joseph’s life who made holding onto dreams difficult.

He first met the Dream Taker, Mrs. Potiphar. When she couldn’t steal his dream with her swinging hips she turned to purgery. Because Joseph made the right choice, she could snatch his cloak but she could not steal his dream. Sometimes we have to leave our reputation in the hands of others so we can hold onto the dream God has given to us.

Then Joseph met the Dream Faker, Mr. Cupbearer. Joseph showed genuine concern for his injustice, and gave him a great gift of hope. But words were forgotten and all the promises made were never delivered. There are many people in life who will promise opportunity and never deliver. Networking is a remarkable advantage in life. God can use it to open doors. But there are many who never deliver. Their lack of performance does not in any way hinder the power of a God-given dream. A true dream can survive disappointment.

The only reason Joseph’s story survives nearly 4,000 years later is because he met the Dream Maker, the Lord himself. As David Seamonds said, “Joseph was in prison but he did not let prison get into Joseph.” The last two years of waiting were the most important. Marinating in disappointment, Joseph never let it mutate into discouragement. Instead he came to the conclusion that he had been given a God given dream, which only the Lord could fulfill if he would so choose to do. His first public words tell it all: So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” He now knew that God alone could fulfill dreams.

We built our first house with the rustic feel of a ski lodge. Strewn about the job site were many left over blocks of timber. One hefty chunk of wood lay sunk in a mud puddle. I had walked around it many times, until the day came to craft the mantle piece. I needed a nice, thick slab of Cyprus pine to do the job. When I measured I found that the only one to fit the bill was the muddy beam in the puddle. I cleaned it up and went to work with my planer and router. Once the outer husk was peeled away, the beauty of heart of the wood sang out. With a sand and shine I fixed the mantle on top of the fireplace as the feature of the room. Just as mud could not deter the purpose of that board, so too disappointments from Dream Takers and Dream Fakers cannot inhibit God from working his purposes out through us.

Application
I could give some names for Dream Takers and Dream Fakers in my life. But I know there is a Dream Maker watching over me. He has surprised me before and he will likely do so again…when the time is right.

Prayer
Father, you alone interpret dreams. Fulfill through me what you have placed deep inside of me. Amen.